06 June 2007

a day late for peace!





Assuming you had access to relatively limitless resources, what do you think would be the ideal event to protest the Iraq War?

this topic showed up after two very synchronistic occurrences. we watched the u.s. vs. john lennon a few nights ago. the massive numbers of people that came out against the vietnam war blew my mind. that level of civil disobedience seems to have fallen to the wayside long ago - or is simply too tired to stand on its own legs anymore. enter the article i read the day following (go read before proceeding!) in this month's utne reader that got my mind going... the author is critical of protesting as a means to end, making the argument that protest must coincide with more action - more dialogue - more engaging on a day to day basis. they simply aren't listening to us, no matter how loud we scream.

at first i thought this must be the april fool's addition of utne in june. criticizing protest? utne? but i let it sink in, and i think he makes many valid points. we must be that change, in our own communities and lives. the protests have not stopped this war that never should've even started in the first place. i know they have made a difference in slowly changing public opinion, but it simply isn't enough. i know that protests also serve a greater function of bringing like minded people together in one place with a common goal. there is comfort there, but...

and here were are.

my ideal event would be a nationwide strike. no work, no school - sock it to them in language they can understand. money. loss of lots of money. easier said than done in a country where the majority of us are working our asses off to make ends meet, and barely at that. we are still making what people earned in the 70's if we adjust for inflation, yet working longer hours. we all deserve more in the wealthiest country in the world.

soldiers - refuse to fight?

there needs to be a groundswell. we need to sing until the prison walls crumble from the vibrations...

and let us not forget the lesson in lysistrata - perhaps women do need to take over the proverbial "public funds building" and withhold sex until peace is won. laura? you with me?

i must be peace. i'm forever working on that one myself.

Describe in detail how you would plan, recruit for, and conduct the event.

i would inundate the world's airwaves, media and minds with peace - not fear of everything and hatred.

i would call on everyone in opposition to this war to stop funding the machine with their labor and lives., and in turn, create lives that we truly want to live.

i would encourage soldiers - all those who fight - to lay down their weapons. there is no war without a warrior. i would fly over to where you are and bring you all home - i have unlimited resources, right? speaking of which - i'd buy off bush. don't think for a second he wouldn't go along. i'd buy 'em all off.

i would feed the world. hungry people fight.

idealist? you betcha. to my core. though in my world, this is realism. and it is only a start.

something has to give. something different must occur. the old ways just aren't working. there has to be more. and this "war" needs to end NOW.

i'll still protest my heart out, all the while trying to think of other ways to engage. i wish i had the answer. all i know is this - bebe's world depends on it.

"a new world is possible... on a quiet day i can hear her breathing."
~arundhati roy

a song, on my mind:

Ani Difranco - Willing To Fight

 The windows of my soul
are made of one way glass
don't bother looking into my eyes
if there's something you want to know,
just ask
I got a dead bolt stroll
where I'm going is clear
I won't wait for you to wonder
I'll just tell you why I'm here

'cause I know the biggest crime
is just to throw up your hands
say
this has nothing to do with me
I just want to live as comfortably as I can
you got to look outside your eyes
you got to think outside your brain
you got to walk outside you life
to where the neighborhood changes

tell me who is your boogieman
that's who I will be
you don't have to like me for who I am
but we'll see what you're made of
by what you make of me
I think that it's absurd
that you think I
am the derelict daughter
I fight fire with words
words are hotter than flames
words are wetter than water

I got friends all over this country
I got friends in other countries too
I got friends I haven't met yet
I got friends I never knew
I got lovers whose eyes
I've only seen at a glance
I got strangers for great grandchildren
I got strangers for ancestors

I was a long time coming
I'll be a long time gone
you've got your whole life to do something
and that's not very long
so why don't you give me a call
when you're willing to fight
for what you think is real
for what you think is right

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posted by supergirlest @ Wednesday, June 06, 2007

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