[Peace-discuss] Commentaries from the UFPJ list-serve

[Brussel Morton K.]

----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Zeese
To: ufpj-disc at lists.mayfirst.org
Sent: 4/6/2009 2:15:20 PM
Subject: [Ufpj-disc] So now what?

While 10,000 is a respectful showing at this time when most Americans  
are still riding the wave of "hope" we still need to question our  
strategy and tactics because they are not working.

I thought a march on Wall Street combining the peace issue with the  
economic collapse made a lot of sense.  The March on the Pentagon,  
which seems to have brought out a similar number of people, also made  
sense.

While I prefer to see the peace movement less divided, I don't think  
combining the marches would have made much difference -- if there were  
15,000 or 20,000 marching on Wall Street or the Pentagon -- would the  
result have changed?

Weekend demonstrations serve their purpose of bringing people of like  
mind together and building camaraderie, but the media ignores them and  
they have little or no impact on the government.  They help those who  
participate to feel good, but they have not worked for more than a  
decade.

Sadly, the electoral system no longer works either.  Obama was able to  
be defined as the anti-war candidate by the traditional media based on  
a speech he made before being elected to the U.S. senate.  The media  
ignored his pro-war voting record, the specifics of his plans for a  
slow and incomplete withdrawal from Iraq, escalation of Afghanistan,  
attacks inside Pakistan and expansion of the U.S. military  and  
focused instead on a speech.  Most peace voters voted for him because  
we live in a manipulated election system - a system controlled by big  
money interests, corporate media and two big business parties.  Many  
essentially voted against their interests and others made protest  
votes for Nader, McKinney or Barr -- knowing they had no chance of  
getting elected.  Neither choice was satisfying or accomplished our  
objectives.

We need to develop new strategies and tactics. While we can continue  
some of the work we already do, at the center of our efforts need to  
be economic and political boycotts and refusal to cooperate with  
corrupt systems and institutions.  We need to organize Americans on a  
broad scale to make these effective.  It is a major challenge for all  
of us and will be a major challenge for Americans.  But, the economy  
will continue to worsen, the Afghan escalation will sour and more and  
more will be willing to criticize Obama, the two parties and the big  
corporate interests that are the men behind the curtain of American  
politics. We need to chart a new course and get to work making it a  
reality so we can take advantage of opportunities that are coming.

KZ

Response comment:

Namaste Kevin:

Good note, it is refreshing to see somebody acknowledge that it is a  
waste of time and resources to continue with the old decrepit strategy  
of shouting in empty streets with numbers that are not significant in  
a country as big as this, even a million people would not be  
significant. One march a year for the purpose you stated which is  
camaraderie and feeling good would be enough, and more significant if  
it is in a special date like Sept. 21 the International Day of Peace,  
or Gandhi's birthday, or MLK's anniversary etc.

You are right we voted for Mc Kinney, just for the sake of making a  
statement.Your idea of "economic and political boycotts and refusal to  
cooperate with corrupt systems and institutions" sounds very good we  
worked on it very hard last year with a very active and committed  
group but again wasn't large enough and the impact that was not that  
significant. It is definitively a very powerful tool to obtain results  
but again it has to be preceded but significant education and  
acquiring the mass necessary to attain the impact. It is easier to  
implement because it doesn't require much effort form the actors, like  
mobilizing to another city an spending a lot of money travelling and  
sometimes missing work etc.

The massive education campaign is key. In Venezuela they were able to  
eradicate analphabetism in three months, somebody that had been going  
on for decades. They used the Cuban system that has produced similar  
results in Bolivia. That is the kind of campaign that is necessary,  
otherwise we will be facing the same results. We have to remember that  
this is the most powerful empire on earth at the moment and probably  
the most powerful in history, this is not an ordinary struggle and  
people need to realize that.

We have been working on economic alternatives since 2001 and have a  
pretty good package, last Thursday we had a presentation at the FOR of  
D.C.,.and was very well received. Of course we have to adapt it for  
different audiences, but the bottom line remains the same. Besides  
there are many other economic alternatives being develo9ped and there  
are wonderful people doing beautiful things, which is another  
important component of the overall strategy. Screaming to tell  
somebody what to do doesn't take us anywhere, if we can demonstrate  
that we can deliver and come up with solutions that we can implement  
will give credibility and devel0p trust that is what is needed.  
mainstream people are not going to bother otherwise, why would they  
side with somebody that all they do is to cry and complain when the  
other side is running the show and providing what they need.

Sorry to insist on this aspect but to challenge the empire strong  
alliances are necessary, the indigenous people all over the world are  
really presenting a good battle, paying with their lives and  
tremendous sacrifices, but there is always a price to pay, and unless  
people are willing to do that, not much will be accomplished, and it  
boils down to coffee shop conversations and posturing. We are not  
suggesting a violent revolution or any form of physical violence, that  
is why the boycott idea is very appealing, it could be effective and  
swift especially under the present circumstances.


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