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Jan Slakov's response to Tim Doyle, followed by Steve d'Apollonia's
response ... with a little something from Lonely Planet, for good measure
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Dear Tim and other Sust-mar subscribers,
Tim, in your message posted to sust-mar you wrote:
"Therefore, while I do understand your point of view Jan and those
like you, I have to go against the tide here and support force. Not now or
ever do I want to see my family and friends endangered because of madmen so
we must eliminate them now before it gets worse."
Big questions, here: Can we "eliminate" madmen? Would it be good to do so?
I believe, as Quakers would say, that "there is that of God" in each of us.
Gandhi said (essentially) that each person has a piece of the truth.
Therefore, as horrible as I find some of the things some people do, I cannot
believe it is right to "eliminate" people. ... Also, even terroists have
some "piece of truth"; I know that killing people the Bush administration
perceives to be terrorists will spur others to take their place. (NOTE: I
have a posting which shows that the FBI considers those who "aim to bring
about change
in the United States through revolution rather than through the
established political process" terrorists. I suppose I am one then, for I
can see that the established political process favours corporate
globalization; I think we need a non-violent revolution (in our values and
our way of living and of defending ourselves).
Now, I would like to send two more items to help reply to your assertion
that [military] force is what's needed now. The first is an excerpt from a
message from Randy Shutt, a US activist whose thinking seems very close to
my own:
> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 16:00:15 -0400
> From: Randy Schutt <rschutt@vernalproject.org>
> Subject: Civilized People Don't Bomb Civilians -- An Eye for an Eye Leaves
> the Whole World Blind
<snip>
> There are lots of good-hearted people in the Middle East who end up
> supporting murderous military actions because they see that as the
> only way to end oppression and exploitation. There are lots of
> good-hearted people in the United States who end up supporting
> murderous military actions because they see that as the only way to
> provide safety. It is time for the good-hearted people of the world
> to get together and find mutually satisfactory ways for us to live
> together, safely and without dominating each other. And it is time
> for us to challenge the militarists and the terrorists who insist
> that killing and dominating other people is the only way to go.
>
> --Randy
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Randy Schutt
> The Vernal Project
> Working to increase the skills and support of progressive activists
> <http://www.vernalproject.org>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
**********************************************************
Second item: an article I wrote for the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
(NS branch) newsletter:
Things are Changing - for the better?
Dear VOW friends,
Crisis = danger & opportunity; the Chinese symbol for crisis is composed of
the other two symbols, and that etymology is very telling.
It's clear that many people, many out of fear and or hatred, others probably
because they are coldly calculating how to cling to the power and wealth
they monopolize, are advocating a war that would undermine democracy here
(and particularly threaten peace & justice activists) and would cause untold
harm and the subsequent rise in hatred towards the West elsewhere.
On the other hand, don't you find that our position as activists is
changing, and changing for the better? Before I felt almost like a pathetic
evangelist (!) trying to talk to people about nonviolence. Now non-activists
like relatives and friends are grateful for the peace messages I send.
And I'm learning how to bring peace efforts "home". For most people,
questions of war seem too distant; but they can relate to racism that could
affect their neighbours, their communities.
It is really important to link anti-racism work with our peace activism. We
called our Digby peace/anti-racism vigil "Walking with our brothers and
sisters". We are encouraging people to look out for their neighbours,
especially visible groups who could be the target of racist attacks. (Don't
forget that many racists are too ignorant to make much distinction between
Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, you name it!) We can offer to accompany people who
would feel safer going shopping or whatever with accompaniment. Faisal Samad
(902) 449-6065, a Muslim youth activist, is keen to pass our offers of help
along to local mosques. (But maybe it is most effective to do this
"unofficially", to just let friends and neighbours know we're keen to be of
service if they want.)
Of course, reaching out to neighbours helps build community. And, when you
think about it, community-building is probably the best "defence" we could
have against terrorism. ... Just remember what happened when the Nazis
invaded Denmark. There was enough solidarity in Danish society that
virtually all Danish Jews were saved and Nazis sent to Denmark got kind of
"co-opted" and weren't really able to be "good" Nazis! ... Perhaps in a less
individualistic, in a more caring society, the suicide pilots of September
11 would not have been able to sustain their hatred towards the US.
In any case, I think many people realize attacking countries deemed to be
sympathetic to terrorists is about as suicidal as flying a plane into a
building... And also, more and more people realize it simply isn't morally
justifiable. So our long-held idea of building common security as being the
best and surest road to peace makes more sense than ever now.
all the best, Jan
Creo que el mundo es bello,
que la poesía es como el pan,
de todos.
(I believe the world is beautiful
and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone)
Roque Dalton
Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS, Canada B0W 3T0 (902) 837-4980
---
Cyberjournal home page -> http://cyberjournal.org
~================================================~
To subscribe to the cyberjournal simply send an empty message to:
<cj-subscribe@cyberjournal.org>
~================================================~
To keep posted on the democratic renaissance send an empty message to:
<renaissance-network-subscribe@cyberjournal.org>.
Note: Besides the renaissance network list, I also moderate a peace and
human rights list called "Bruna's list", a Canadian oceans protection list
and a list for Nuclear Abolition activists.
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Visit the Green Web Home Page at:
http://fox.nstn.ca/~greenweb/
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