From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #23 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Friday, October 2 1998 Volume 01 : Number 023 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 20:32:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) The Peace-Industrial Complex One of the biggest obstacles to peace is the power of the Military-Industrial Complex. To bring about peace, we must convert it to the Peace-Industrial Complex. If defense contractors could make large amounts of money at peaceful pursuits, they would no longer be opposed to peace. To do so, I propose that the following divisions be set up in the Department Of Defense: I. Public Works Division to solicit bids from "defense contractors" to build public transit systems in cities all over the U.S.. II. Environmental Defense Division to solicit bids to build anti-pollution systems and renewable energy systems, which the EDD would then give to businesses and government agencies for free to stop them from pollution. III. Anti-Crime Division to fight organized crime, using armies of specially trained detectives, accountants, lawyers, and military personnel to track down organized criminals. I also propose that the U.S. Army reforest the Sahara and perform other ecological missions. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 20:58:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) How Peace Came To The World In 1986, the Christian Science Monitor published "How Peace Came To The World" (edited by Earl Foell and Richard Nenneman), a collection of essays about how peace can come to the world. Have you read it? Has a sequel been written? - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 10:00:47 -0400 From: Rosalie Tyler Paul Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) The Peace-Industrial Complex This is a great track to be exploring. If peace were $$profitable, we'd have it. Let's hear more ideas for moving in this direction. Rosalie Paul, Peace Action Maine. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 10:22:36 -0400 From: Peace through Reason Subject: (abolition-usa) News: Boeing $10 million fine for arms violations 10/01/98- USA Today -- http://www.usatoday.com/news/nds16.htm Boeing accepts fine for arms violations SEATTLE - Boeing agreed to pay a $10 million fine over allegations it disclosed American technology secrets to foreign companies working with the aerospace giant on the Sea Launch commercial rocket project. The fine, the largest ever for violations of the Arms Export Control Act, will not stop a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation into the allegations that Boeing shared technical information with Russian and Ukrainian partners in the project. Boeing neither admits nor denies the allegation, spokesman Tim Dolan said Wednesday. The $500 million project to launch satellites from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean has been on hold since the allegations arose in July. Work will now resume, officials said, with the first launch as early as next year. The violations did not damage national security or harm U.S. foreign policy, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer quoted an unidentified source as saying. Part of the penalty - $2.5 million - will be used to set up a computer system so that government agencies can monitor all dealings among the Sea Launch partners. Boeing has a 40% stake in Sea Launch, and is overall project manager, but the technology primarily is that of other nations. The 3-year-old program, which has contracts for 18 launches, will use a modified version of the Soviet SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile to boost satellites into space from a platform positioned at the equator. By The Associated Press - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 12:30:08 -0400 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Chicago Thanks Peter for lots of great suggestions. I think we need to come out of Chicago organized as a national campaign geared to the 2000 elections. I hope we can come out of this meeting with a Campaign Manager, who has had experience managing a US Presidential Campaign. I think we need to organize by Congressional Districts, and try to establish a minimum contact network by State. I don't think Gore will have smooth sailing to the nomination. In the wings are Gebhardt, Wellstone, Kerry, and Bradley (who has been dropping hints). I hope we can set up a process at the meeting to reach each one of them, and whoever else appears, and ask them to champion the abolition banner--much like Gene McCarthy helped the country to organize politically to end the war in Vietnam. If none of them will do it, we need to get our own candidate.(Jackson?, Brown?) Internationally, the NPT will be meeting again in New York this spring. It was an utter disgrace last time. Maybe this is the time to have a parallel PrepCom and bring up Zia Mian's amendment proposal. We need to get some friendly governments to participate. Perhaps MPI can help us here. Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment 15 East 26 St. New York, NY 10010 212-726-9161(tel) 212-726-9160(fax) GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000: A Global Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 13:03:55 -0400 From: Norm Cohen Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Chicago Dear Friends, As someone working out in the trenches in southern New Jersey, I'd caution you that while all of these ideas going by are fine for those who know about abolition 2000, or care about nuke weapons, to the vast majority of "ordinary joes" our issue just does not ring a chord with them (basically their eyes glaze over and they start talking about some tangential issue like water pollution). And this goes for the vast majority of local college students I talk to. Let me toss out this suggestion: the only way to get our message out to the masses is through the media, so would it be possible to copy what amnesty intl, greenpeace, farm aid, etc have done so well: an internationally televised special concert (or series) in late 1999 on a theme like "peace in the new millenium" (something sexier than that). We must have contacts with musicians, performers, networks, couldn't this be pulled off? This is not in any way to criticize the wonderful work we do; I've been in it since 1981, many of you longer than that; its just a question of how we best move from preaching to the choir to preaching to the masses. Peace Norm Cohen Executive Director Coalition for Peace & Justice PO Box 2344 Cape May NJ 08204 609-886-7988 ASlater wrote: > Thanks Peter for lots of great suggestions. I think we need to come out of > Chicago organized as a national campaign geared to the 2000 elections. I > hope we can come out of this meeting with a Campaign Manager, who has had > experience managing a US Presidential Campaign. I think we need to > organize by Congressional Districts, and try to establish a minimum contact > network by State. > > I don't think Gore will have smooth sailing to the nomination. In the > wings are Gebhardt, Wellstone, Kerry, and Bradley (who has been dropping > hints). I hope we can set up a process at the meeting to reach each one of > them, and whoever else appears, and ask them to champion the abolition > banner--much like Gene McCarthy helped the country to organize politically > to end the war in Vietnam. If none of them will do it, we need to get our > own candidate.(Jackson?, Brown?) > > Internationally, the NPT will be meeting again in New York this spring. It > was an utter disgrace last time. Maybe this is the time to have a parallel > PrepCom and bring up Zia Mian's amendment proposal. We need to get some > friendly governments to participate. Perhaps MPI can help us here. > Alice Slater > Global Resource Action Center for the Environment > 15 East 26 St. > New York, NY 10010 > 212-726-9161(tel) > 212-726-9160(fax) > > GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000: A Global Network for the Elimination > of Nuclear Weapons > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 11:27:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Peace Action - National Office Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Chicago Norm! Wonderful idea, I had a similar one myself and believe that such an event would provide nice entertainment during our Congress next year in New Mexico. Bruce - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From owner-abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com Fri Oct 2 09:54:28 1998 > Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 13:03:55 -0400 > From: Norm Cohen > Organization: Coalition for Peace and Justice > To: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Chicago > References: > Sender: owner-abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > Reply-To: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > > Dear Friends, > > As someone working out in the trenches in southern New Jersey, I'd caution > you that while all of these ideas going by are fine for those who know about > abolition 2000, or care about nuke weapons, to the vast majority of "ordinary > joes" our issue just does not ring a chord with them (basically their eyes > glaze over and they start talking about some tangential issue like water > pollution). And this goes for the vast majority of local college students I > talk to. > Let me toss out this suggestion: the only way to get our message out to > the masses is through the media, so would it be possible to copy what amnesty > intl, greenpeace, farm aid, etc have done so well: an internationally televised > special concert (or series) in late 1999 on a theme like "peace in the new > millenium" (something sexier than that). We must have contacts with musicians, > performers, networks, couldn't this be pulled off? > This is not in any way to criticize the wonderful work we do; I've been in > it since 1981, many of you longer than that; its just a question of how we best > move from preaching to the choir to preaching to the masses. > > Peace > > Norm Cohen > Executive Director > Coalition for Peace & Justice > PO Box 2344 Cape May NJ 08204 > 609-886-7988 > ASlater wrote: > > > Thanks Peter for lots of great suggestions. I think we need to come out of > > Chicago organized as a national campaign geared to the 2000 elections. I > > hope we can come out of this meeting with a Campaign Manager, who has had > > experience managing a US Presidential Campaign. I think we need to > > organize by Congressional Districts, and try to establish a minimum contact > > network by State. > > > > I don't think Gore will have smooth sailing to the nomination. In the > > wings are Gebhardt, Wellstone, Kerry, and Bradley (who has been dropping > > hints). I hope we can set up a process at the meeting to reach each one of > > them, and whoever else appears, and ask them to champion the abolition > > banner--much like Gene McCarthy helped the country to organize politically > > to end the war in Vietnam. If none of them will do it, we need to get our > > own candidate.(Jackson?, Brown?) > > > > Internationally, the NPT will be meeting again in New York this spring. It > > was an utter disgrace last time. Maybe this is the time to have a parallel > > PrepCom and bring up Zia Mian's amendment proposal. We need to get some > > friendly governments to participate. Perhaps MPI can help us here. > > Alice Slater > > Global Resource Action Center for the Environment > > 15 East 26 St. > > New York, NY 10010 > > 212-726-9161(tel) > > 212-726-9160(fax) > > > > GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000: A Global Network for the Elimination > > of Nuclear Weapons > > > > - > > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > > > > > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 11:40:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) REGIONAL REPORTS FOR CHICAGO MEETING REGIONAL REPORTS FOR CHICAGO MEETING Dear Chicago meeting participants, One day is a very short amount of time to plan a national campaign! In order to keep our agenda moving effectively, the planning committee would like to encourage those of you with groups that are part of existing REGIONAL abolition networks to present coordinated reports. We are aware of regional abolition networks in Michigan, Florida, Northern California, Colorado, New England, and Metro New York. (Let us know if there are others!) Rather than having each person report on their individual group's "micro" activities*, we'd like to hear how the different regions are organized, and a little bit about their priorities, plans, and activities. People from a region might want to talk in advance about how to divide up their presentation. (Note: Don't worry -- if your group is not part of an existing network, you'll still get to make a report.) The purpose of this reporting is inform and inspire each other, and also to piece together a picture of our existing "infrastructure"and resources and identify gaps. Following are some suggested questions to consider in planning your regional report: *How do you define your region? (ie. geographical boundaries) *How is your regional network organized? What's its history? (very brief) *How many groups are involved? *How often do you meet? *What are your priorities? *What kinds of activities are you involved in? (*Here's where you can give examples of "micro" activities) *What resources/tools do you have to share? (eg. videos, t-shirts, sunflower seeds, etc.) *What are you planning for the future? *Is there anything in particular that your region asked you to bring/propose to the Chicago meeting? Thanks for your cooperation. See you in Chicago. -- Jackie ******************************************** WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, CA USA 94612 Tel: (510)839-5877 Fax: (510)839-5397 wslf@igc.apc.org ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 ********** Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 20:04:35 EDT From: JTLOWE@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Chicago Let me say again I would urge a name that doesn't need to be explained (Like abolition 2000) and a single message, like Stop the War. What succeeded in Vietnam was due in part to the simplicity and resonance of the message. So much brain power is involved in thi s effor it would not seem beyond the scope of people's capabilities to deal wih one of the first orders of business, the name of the campaign. Peace and health, colby lowe - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 18:38:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Chicago: a few odds and ends for the mix Pamela Meidell has offered to synthesize the ideas and proposals posted on the US abolition list-serve for presentation at the Chicago meeting. Here are a few odds and ends for the mix: 1) City resolutions -- A number of US cities (and many more in other countries) have already passed resolutions supporting nuclear abolition. (Check out the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Abolition 2000 website for a list of cities, as well as a model resolution: www.wagingpeace.org/abolition 2000) While I wouldn't make pursuit of city resolutions a high priority in isolation, it is an activity that can easily be built into other local organizing efforts, in conjunction with town meetings, etc. For example, in northern California, groups in different cities host the quarterly gatherings of our regional Abolition 2000 network. The local host group tries to get their city to pass an Abolition resolution around the time of our meeting. So far we have succeeded in getting Oakland, Santa Rosa and Davis, CA to pass abolition resolutions. In some cases (though not neccesarily in our experience), the process of convincing a city to pass such a resolution can provide an organizing and media opportunity in and of itself. A related idea is to revitalize the Nuclear Free Zone (NFZ) movement by going back to cities that passed NFZ ordinances in the 1980's and getting them to reaffirm and update their positions by passing abolition resolutions. In addition, abolition resolutions might be "piggybacked" onto new NFZ laws, which tend to focus on nuclear waste and transportation issues. Note that over the last few years, a large number of Native American nations have declared themselves NFZs as part of their effort to resist nuclear waste dumping on their lands. Chuck Johnson, the former director of Nuclear Free America has recently established the Nuclear Free Zone Project, a clearinghouse for NFZ information, in Salem Oregon. His e-mail address is: nukefree@juno.com/phone: (503)365-1354 2) Someone at our September northern CA Abolition 2000 meeting suggested that we organize our US abolition campaign by Congressional District. This idea really captured my imagination, not only as a vehicle for supporting specific candidates or legislation (although that could certainly be useful), but more because of its potentially transformative nature. What I mean is that, over time, by identifying or establishing a viable and visible local abolition group in every Congressional District, we could invade every "cell" of the body politic. I think I'm getting a little carried away with my rhetoric, but I'm sure you get the idea.... ******************************************** WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, CA USA 94612 Tel: (510)839-5877 Fax: (510)839-5397 wslf@igc.apc.org ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 ********** Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 18:38:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Chicago and beyond: Food for Thought Greetings, USA Abolitionists, This message is from me, personally, not speaking on behalf of the planning committee. Thanks to Joseph Gerson for reminding us of the enormously difficult political hurdles we face as we attempt to build a powerful US movement for nuclear abolition. I am inspired to re-post Betty Burkes' incredible speech from our Oakland, CA Abolition 2000 conference in Feb. 1997 (below, following this message). On the subject of the year 2000, speaking only for myself, as one of the principle drafters of the Abolition 2000 Statement I always viewed the year 2000 as a goal or aspiration for the completion of negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons within a timebound framework, rather than as a "realistic" date. What Abolition 2000 conveys to me is a sense of urgency about the need for the nuclear weapon states to "start talking" NOW!! If anything, the urgency has increased since 1995. I strongly agree with Joseph about the need to plan a long term campaign strategy, but I urge us not to get hung up on the use of the year 2000 as a "marker." (I'm not ruling out a name change at some point -- how about, "Abolition NOW!") Perhaps it would be useful to think of the remaining time before 2000 as a lead up to the beginning of a "countdown" to abolition in the new millenium. After all, after 2000 there are scheduled to be 999 more years beginning with 2_ _ _ (if we make it). Looking at it that way, I'm sure we'd all agree that our goal is Abolition 2000 rather than Abolition 3000! -- Jackie Cabasso =========================================================================== WHAT CAN ONE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT LEARN FROM ANOTHER? COMPARING ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH ABOLITION OF SLAVERY Text of speech delivered by Betty Burkes, President of the U.S. Section of WILPF, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, at the Northern California Abolition 2000 Conference on February 22, 1997. I sincerely believe that the best thinking happens when we are fully engaged in the process of discerning the questions, naming the challenges they present to us personally and collectively, and then framing an inquiry that allows us to think critically about the issues and finally to fully and deeply, with our whole heart, journey beyond where we have erected barriers and perhaps gotten stuck either in our hope that things will change or our fear that they will not. Looking back to the past, to history, helps us make sense of the present and is an opportunity to discover new possibilities for the future. I am pleased to be here today among America's most dedicated deviants and unshakably decent individuals whose willingness to accept individual and collective responsibility, and whose impulse to act against injustice may, someday, secure this planet for future generations. So what if anything does Abolition 2000 have to do with the Abolition movement of the 1830's, 40's, 50's and 60's? Is there a relationship between the goals of that movement and Abolition 2000? The Abolitionist movement failed to secure the socioeconomic transformation of the nation that it supposed the abolishing of slavery would conclude. If the abolition of nuclear weapons does not secure such a transformation in the power relationships of the nation, then we will have failed to secure the peace and security we all hope for. What can one Abolitionist movement learn from another? First, the Abolitionist movement was revolutionary and those involved embraced the revolutionary realities of the anti-slavery agenda. Herbert Aptheker holds that the Abolition of slavery presupposed a revolution of power relationships in America. The institution of slavery was a major component of the social, political and economic order in the U.S. and to attack slavery was inescapably to call for extensive social change. It was a highly organized movement, with local, and national associations, constitutions, publications, elected or appointed leaders and full-time activists--professional revolutionaries. They were women and men who, in solidarity, defied the social and moral conventions of their times. They refused to accept the limitations and negative images society sought to impose upon them. Many of them left the safe and privileged comfort of ignorance and thrust themselves into arenas. They were clearly out of step with their neighbors. Henry Thoreau mused that if an individual does not keep pace with her companions, perhaps it is because she hears a different drummer. "Let her step to the music which she hears, however measured or far away." The Abolitionist movement was a black-white movement. It was a male-female movement. It was fully conscious of its challenge to property rights and was a fundamental challenge to the constructions of power and money. Black people were the first and most lasting Abolitionists, those who endured it, survived it and combated it. Without the initiative of the Afro-American people, without their illumination of the nature of slavery, without their persistent struggle to be free, there would have been no national Abolitionist movement. The participation of black people in every aspect was indispensable to its functioning. Racism permeated slavery in the United States--characterized it, justified it, and sustained it. Racism permeates the culture of war and weapons in the U.S. today, characterizes it, and sustains it. Abolitionists understood that the abolition of slavery was not just a moral or ethical issue, but it had far reaching consequences for reorganizing and reordering the social, political, and economic habits of America; that if they were successful, it would revolutionize power relationships in America forever. They were not successful. The Abolitionist movement is not to be confused with the abolition of slavery. Slavery was abolished, but by order of the government, not by the white abolitionists, not by blacks. Howard Zinn reminds us that it was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, not John Brown. "In 1859, John Brown was hanged, with federal complicity, for attempting to do by small-scale violence what Lincoln would do in large scale violence several years later, without conscience or heart--end slavery. With slavery abolished by order of the government, the dominant group could set limits to emancipation. The ending of slavery did not lead to radical reconstruction of national politics and economics, but a safe one, in fact a profitable one. The emancipation following the end of slavery, was essentially a betrayal of the abolitionist movement. The ending of slavery did not bring justice or freedom to the emancipated slave or to free blacks. The persistence of racism prevailed. Power relationships did not change. One hundred years later, the civil rights movement began as an appeal to white America's conscience and evolved into an insurrection that was violently and successfully put down. That is my fear for the Abolition 2000 movement, that we not be maneuvered out of our revolutionary vision for just and environmentally sustainable communities. If nuclear weapons were abolished tomorrow, like slavery, by order of the government, we would not have the radical reconstruction of national politics and economics to ensure such communities. The dominant group would once again control and limit our emancipation from nuclear weapons, derail what we seek through the Abolition 2000 movement. To realize a secure and livable world for our children and grandchildren and all future generations, the stated goal of Abolition 2000, requires more of us than achieving a world free of nuclear weapons. Securing a livable world for our children and grandchildren and all future generations requires that we make some inquiry into the culture of war and violence we inhabit, check out how we participate and are organized to acquiesce in our own exploitation. Like the Abolitionist movement of the 19th century, Abolition 2000 must be about reshaping the principle of power upon which our culture is based. I want to read a quote from Starhawk's book, Dreaming the Dark. "We must shake up all the old divisions, like race, gender, class. The comfortable separations no longer work. Though we are told that such issues separate; that rape is an issue separate from nuclear war, that a woman's struggle for equal pay is not related to a black teenager's struggle to find a job or to the struggle to prevent the export of a nuclear reactor to a site on a web of earthquake faults. All these realities are shaped by the consciousness that shapes our power relationships. Those relationships in turn shape our economic and social systems. They are presently shaping the destruction of the world." The institution of slavery was a major component of the social order in the United States, and to attack slavery was inescapably to call for extensive social change. Nuclear weapons is a major component of the social order in the United States now, and to attack them is a call for social change in the world. We are a culture organized around death, killing, war, profit, and violence, where power is based on the principle of power-over others. Power over is the power of punishment, weapons, competition, the power of annihilation that supports all the institutions of domination. Nuclear weapons serve the preservation and continuance of that culture. As I consider my involvement in this abolitionist movement of the 1990's, I ask myself, "Is Abolition 2000 preparing to give leadership and study to reordering this culture when we are successful in abolishing nuclear weapons?" One of the defining qualities of the Abolitionist movement was anti-racism. Is that a defining quality of Abolition 2000? Does it need to be? Have we confronted our personal weapons of racism, classism, elitism, and heterosexism in our movement to Abolish nuclear weapons? We live in a culture that glorifies war to the extent that the dominant class is even willing to destroy the planet rather than chance the outbreak of uncontrollable democracy. How do I participate in destroying the planet? The slave-holding class possessed wealth far in excess of any other property owning class prior to the Civil War. They owned all the arms of the federal government and controlled its domestic and foreign policy. This economic and political domination assured the slave-holding class effective control over the structures of the society. The Abolitionist led a movement whose basic claim was the termination of the bases of this power. It meant the overthrow of the ruling class in the old way such a class can be overthrown, by the elimination of the property upon which its power rests. In this case the ownership of human beings. The system of slavery, like the system of nuclear weapons, had needs that conflicted with the ethical and moral views of the Abolitionist which resulted in communities of Resistance. It is in the wisdom and persistence of those communities that our success rests. Perhaps another question in this inquiry is, do we activists against nuclear weapons have the courage to revisit what the civil rights movement left undone?--To demand the reorganization of power relationships in this country? Are we willing to take on the iron triangle of power, to resist the gang of three, the Pentagon, the corporations and Congress? After all, Alice Walker says that Resistance is the Secret of Joy. Abolition without revolution is our failure to wrestle with the real issues of peace and freedom. We have all been deeply shaped by the culture we live in. The attitude s of war are embedded so deeply that we are rarely aware of them. Only when we know how we have been shaped by the structures of power in which we live can we become the shapers. Knowing our history is a beginning. With knowledge and insight, Abolition 2000 must abolish nuclear weapons by we must also reorder the relationships of power in the world, in order to secure our goal of a livable planet for our children, and grandchildren and all future generations. - ----------------------------------------- To reach Betty Burkes, please contact WILPF, 1213 Race St., Philadelphia, PA, 19107 USA Tel: +1 (215) 563-7110; Fax: +1 (215) 563- 5527; E-mail: wilpfnatl@igc.org ******************************************** WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, CA USA 94612 Tel: (510)839-5877 Fax: (510)839-5397 wslf@igc.apc.org ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 ********** Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 23:28:48 -0400 From: Norm Cohen Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Chicago: a few odds and ends for the mix Hey, maybe I'm missing something here. We've got Peace Action organized already in, what is it, 27 states; there's WRL, there's the other active groups. Peace Action is doing Peace Voter '98 work & will do PV 2000 work in many cd's and certainly abolition is a major theme. So isn't this a framework already in place? Norm Cohen Coalition for Peace & Justice NJ CD2 Jackie Cabasso wrote: > Pamela Meidell has offered to synthesize the ideas and proposals posted on > the US abolition list-serve for presentation at the Chicago meeting. Here > are a few odds and ends for the mix: > > 1) City resolutions -- A number of US cities (and many more in other > countries) have already passed resolutions supporting nuclear abolition. > (Check out the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Abolition 2000 website for a > list of cities, as well as a model resolution: www.wagingpeace.org/abolition > 2000) While I wouldn't make pursuit of city resolutions a high priority in > isolation, it is an activity that can easily be built into other local > organizing efforts, in conjunction with town meetings, etc. For example, in > northern California, groups in different cities host the quarterly > gatherings of our regional Abolition 2000 network. The local host group > tries to get their city to pass an Abolition resolution around the time of > our meeting. So far we have succeeded in getting Oakland, Santa Rosa and > Davis, CA to pass abolition resolutions. In some cases (though not > neccesarily in our experience), the process of convincing a city to pass > such a resolution can provide an organizing and media opportunity in and of > itself. > A related idea is to revitalize the Nuclear Free Zone (NFZ) movement > by going back to cities that passed NFZ ordinances in the 1980's and getting > them to reaffirm and update their positions by passing abolition > resolutions. In addition, abolition resolutions might be "piggybacked" onto > new NFZ laws, which tend to focus on nuclear waste and transportation > issues. Note that over the last few years, a large number of Native > American nations have declared themselves NFZs as part of their effort to > resist nuclear waste dumping on their lands. Chuck Johnson, the former > director of Nuclear Free America has recently established the Nuclear Free > Zone Project, a clearinghouse for NFZ information, in Salem Oregon. His > e-mail address is: nukefree@juno.com/phone: (503)365-1354 > > 2) Someone at our September northern CA Abolition 2000 meeting suggested > that we organize our US abolition campaign by Congressional District. This > idea really captured my imagination, not only as a vehicle for supporting > specific candidates or legislation (although that could certainly be > useful), but more because of its potentially transformative nature. What I > mean is that, over time, by identifying or establishing a viable and visible > local abolition group in every Congressional District, we could invade every > "cell" of the body politic. I think I'm getting a little carried away with > my rhetoric, but I'm sure you get the idea.... > ******************************************** > WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION > 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 > Oakland, CA USA 94612 > Tel: (510)839-5877 > Fax: (510)839-5397 > wslf@igc.apc.org > ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 ********** > Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #23 ********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.