[Peace-discuss] David Rovics anti-recruitment tour

[David Green]

This should be relevant to the anti-recruitment
working group:

Subject: Fw: [David Rovics] Counter-recruitment tour
of US high schools 
-- how to do it?

Hey folks,

 

The busy fall tour continues.  I'm presently on an
airplane heading  
towards 
Salt Lake City and other points southwest, after
participating in the  
spirited events surrounding yesterday's debate between
tweedledum and  
tweedledumber 
in St. Louis.  (For details on the rest of the tour,
it's all  on 
_www.davidrovics.com_ (http://www.davidrovics.com)  in
the "gigs"  
section.)

 

I had a particularly powerful experience at Morton
West High School in  
Berwyn, Illinois a few days ago.  It made me realize
that I really need 
to  do lots 
more performances at high schools.  The military, for
one, is going  
all-out 
to reach that age group and I want to do that, too. 
It seems clear  to 
me 
that it's a more impressionable age group than the
colleges (where I  
perform 
frequently).  And at the high schools where I've
played, the  students 
in 
different classes come to my performance instead of
doing their  normal 
class that 
day, so it's a real chance to communicate with people
outside  the 
choir.

 

Specifically, my idea is to do a "counter-recruitment"
tour of high 
schools  
(and colleges, too, but especially high schools). 
I've got a page up 
on my  
website for that purpose (go to _www.davidrovics.com_ 
(http://www.davidrovics.com)  and click on 
"counter-recruitment" on 
the menu to the left), but 
otherwise I have no idea how  to proceed.  If you know
of relevant 
listservs to pass 
this message on to,  or if you know high school
teachers or 
administrators you 
can pass this message  on to or write to yourself, or
if you have any 
ideas 
or feedback to share with  me, this would all be most
welcome.

 

Following is the text of the counter-recruitment
section that appears 
on my  
website.  (It's better on the website, as there it
includes relevant 
links  to 
websites and song lyrics.)  Thanks in advance for your
time and  effort 
in 
helping me to make this idea a reality!

 

--David

 

Counter-Recruitment Presentation

 

Military recruiters are an increasingly common
presence in high school  
cafeterias around the US. In an effort to give
students the opportunity 
to think  
critically about the military and the negative aspects
of it that the 
recruiters  don't talk about, David Rovics is
available to come to your 
high school and 
 balance the discussion with a coherent and
entertaining anti-war 
perspective.
  

David is a staple musician in the US anti-war movement
and has 
performed at  
hundreds of rallies, conferences and other events
throughout the 
country --  
often for dedicated crowds of a few dozen at a vigil
and often for 
hundreds of  
thousands of people on the streets of New York City,
Washington, DC and  
elsewhere.
  

His presentation mixes relevant information with
relevant original 
songs. In  
a folksy, accessible way David will present the
viewpoint that rather 
than a 
war  of liberation, this is a war about oil --
"Operation Iraqi 
Liberation" 
(also the  name of song) as it was briefly named by
the Bush 
administration 
(thus  proving that material in the modern era comes
"pre-satirized" 
from the 
powers  that be).
  

He will talk about the disillusionment of the soldiers
in Iraq, provide  
resources about what they themselves are saying about
the war (such as 
_www.militaryproject.org_
(http://www.militaryproject.org/) ), talk 
about  the dangers of 
Depleted Uranium munitions, Post-Traumatic Stress and
other  hazards 
soldiers 
are exposed to, and tell stories about disabled and
neglected  veterans 
returned from Iraq, such as "The Face of Victory."
  

He will discuss the apparent contradiction between the
basic tenets of  
Christianity ("thou shalt not kill") and the seemingly
irreconcileable 
"war  
without an end." David will ask the question, "Who
Would Jesus Bomb?"
  

He will talk about the US, international law, the
Nuremberg Principles, 
and  
individuals such as helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson
("Song for Hugh 
Thompson"),  who decided to abide by them.
  

He will bring the human element into the discussion
about war and talk 
about  
the civilian toll with songs like "Hiroshima" and
"Song for Basra."
  

He will discuss the historical justifications versus
the realities of 
wars in 
 which the US has participated, from the Alamo to the
Lusitannia to the 
Gulf 
of  Tonkin.
  

Finally, he will provide information about groups in
civil society who 
are  
involved with assisting soldiers and veterans in
various ways, such as 
Iraq  
Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out,
Veterans for 
Peace, the  
War Resisters League, and the Central Committee on
Conscientious 
Objectors 
(all  of which appear on the "links" page at
_www.davidrovics.com_ 
(http://www.davidrovics.com/) ). 
 

Common sense says that students should be exposed to
both sides of this  
argument. A functioning democracy requires an informed
populace. A real  
"volunteer" military requires soldiers who know what
they were actually  
volunteering 
for. To provide your school with this opportunity,
contact David  now, 
before 
more of your students make decisions which they may
regret for the  
rest of 
their lives. You may also visit _www.davidrovics.com_ 
(http://www.davidr
ovics.com/)  for more information  about David, his
life and work.


David  Rovics
www.davidrovics.com
drovics at aol.com
(617) 872-5124
PO Box  995
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130



		
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