We are pleased that our presenters, and first recipient of the Pat Beetle Peace Award, provided copies of their comments, reproduced below.
- Maureen Aumand
- Susan DuBois
- Tom Ellis
- Larry Wittner
Maureen Aumand
- “Our work is bigger than party politics. Genocide in Gaza, destruction in Ukraine/Russia, the threats of nuclear war and climate catastrophe, and the violence that comes home in the form of poverty, racism, and exploitation are realities we all face. If the past week (or year) has left you feeling drained, or tempted to give up – don’t.”
Of course how not to give up and how to most effectively think, organize and act as advocates for policies that hold sacred universally – a peaceful planet where human rights, well being, and sustainable existence are givens—-under the now elected Trump government is the question of the moment.
In thinking about this, these last few days, I have come to the conclusion that there are two different directions at which we need to focus our analysis.
The first requires a deep dive into the question of why support was so widespread and overwhelming for a convicted ,misogynist felon, who obviously knows and understands or cares about little beyond the piecemeal, scrambled word salad of his own vengeful brain and ambition. Even a glance at the county by county results of the presidential election shows how we bleed red across the nation( except in the tiny east coast bubble we happen to live in. )
Of course the pundits are full of post mortem. There are a few analysis that strike me as particularly salient for anti war, anti militarism efforts.
People are afraid; this fear is easily manipulated ; this fear makes self interest prevail; this fear induces anger and rage / a good number of our fellow citizens don’t ’t know history or geography and thus are deprived of context for this historical moment with which to choose; people trapped within the confines of a consumer , “ entertaining ourselves to death “ culture (compounded by the exigencies of daily life) are distracted ; people assume war is inevitable and the ever increasing obscenity of US war spending is thus seen as necessary; the population is moving away from an international vision of the US in the world to one of closed border, nationalism/ our two party system trivializes and marginalize options for genuine choice….
the echo chamber which in Chomsky’s words serves to help” manufacture consent” has moved from the most times elite controlled main stream media which once created its own kind of echo chamber albeit with a tacit commitment to fact checking and some form of reality based “truth” into the hands of the wild west world of social media, which has no reigns as it algorithmically shares and feeds and re-shares whatever stokes people’s fears, rage and the self interest engendered by those fears as a basis for legitimizing a candidate who in reality is such a danger / this echo chamber of social media also recognizes that fear …Made more understandable by the rapid social and technology driven changes of the past 75 years… works to create anger and names the enemies … immigrants… diversity… etc , the proverbial THEY as well as a mythical deep state which needs to be disrupted and destroyed… democracy, human rights be damned…. Let Elan Musk… the boy genius decide!
Who in the world is that silly / freaky Jill Stein anyway!
In this context how do we who are eager to define the true embedded, bi partisan deep state which is the military/industrial/congressional ….complex actually get large numbers of people who are angry, self interested, made afraid, misinformed, overwhelmed and manipulated to open their ears, minds and hearts and see the true enemy which embedded in our nation’s tropism toward militarism and war and which robs and endangers them in real and profound ways??
How do we reach and talk to people where they are at: about peace and justice in clarifying ways is essentially the question?
Of course that brings us to us: the “ peace movement”.
How do we speak to one another, align with one another, analyze and strategize locally, nationally, globally more realistically and effectively together. The election results this week … as well as the polls throughput the election cycle …do not indicate that issues which we are so clear in ourselves such as the militarism which rules, the raging wars ( though polls indicate that Gaza may be something of an exception and an inroad to an answer) the rumbling threat of nuclear war, even the destruction of long standing democratic , foundational principles and practice or the obvious inroads of climate catastrophe do not come near the top of the lists of people’s concerns.
For the sake of argument and the simplification of my own thinking in preparation for these few short minutes, I have made a list of what we might have to do to break through the stultifying, soul destructive echo chamber which has apparently blinded and cudgeled the country.
Bear with me while I share my list:
Silence: right now swimming in the sea of words that pummel us, we may need to give ourselves time first for quiet and reflection… I am tempted to propose that we organize a retreat first for ourselves, perhaps guided by the question: WHY DO WE CARE ANYWAY
Study and Semantics: It seems to me that we need to continue to deepen our activism by developing a discerning, thoughtful practice of reading perhaps together the best experts and deepest thinkers on the imperative issues which confront us. And then begin to study how to translate into understandable, heart born vocabulary, a vocabulary which is not self reflective, jargon filled , pedantic, ideological, doctrinaire and thus alienating but which engages fellow citizens. So often it feels that we speak in ways which sound academic, angry, alienating. I believe that our communication of the issues needs to be born of deep intellectual understanding but spring ultimately from the heart of our concern
Spotlight: i don’t know about you but I find myself tired of talking about the guy whose last name begin with T. I believe it might be more productive for me anyway to escape from the reductionism which focuses on the person and try to deepen my understanding and resulting conversations on the issues which threaten.
SOLIDARITY and Strategy Are there better, more thoughtful, more cooperative , more mutually aware and better coordinated ways that we can organize and act locally, nationally, globally.
I know this is an old question but it seems important to revisit in the face of that red map.
Are there new strategies; are there hierarchies of strategies?
Do we hold precious our own silos which keep us alienated one from another and therefore less focused and effective. Are there hierarchies of issues we should consider? In educational theory, there is an idea called : “assured readiness first learning “ which says that in order to understand a mire complex thing you need to understand the simpler more foundational fact, detail, idea which underpins it first.
Sympathy: i think it is important that we revisit often why we care. We live vulnerable and interdependent on this small blue dot in a vast universe at this unique moment in time. What has to drive us is loving concern and care for our fellow planetary riders …why care at all without that.
I think that’s as we over and over again contemplate our continued way forward, this realization and heartfelt understanding is what should focus our holy rage at those forces which threaten us all and guide our actions and outreach as activists
A holy rage that calls us to build a bulwark against hate and ignorance and injustice , a wall of strong bonds of compassion and love.
Susan DuBois
- I didn’t have a written version of the presentation I did as part of the panel discussion at the November 10, 2024 Peace Action event, but here’s a summary of what I said, from my notes and recollection of the question-and-answer part of the meeting. The title of the panel discussion was “Which way forward for the peace movement?”
I introduced myself as being one of the three co-chairs of Ukraine Solidarity Capital District (USCD) but said that I would be speaking as an individual because it was likely I’d be talking about things on which USCD hasn’t taken a position or things that are my individual experiences and opinions.
Here’s the mission statement of USCD: “Through our words and actions, the members of Ukraine Solidarity Capital District stand for Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, and its right as a sovereign and democratic state to pursue whatever national goals it thinks best. We condemn the Russian aggression, invasion, and occupation and demand that the Russian Federation immediately stop its war on Ukraine and completely withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory.”
Ukraine Solidarity Capital District was started in late 2022 by persons who have been involved for a long time in the peace movement and/or the left but who were dismayed by the positions being taken by some major peace groups about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The positions of these groups would have led to Ukraine essentially surrendering and being overtaken by Russia. Since then, USCD has expanded to include members from a variety of political backgrounds.
We have been trying to focus attention on the Ukrainians, rather than just looking at geopolitics from a U.S.-centric perspective.
As the participants at the Peace Action meeting were aware, there have been conflicts within the peace movement about Ukraine both at the national level and locally. For basically all of our lives (and this was in the context of both the audience and the panel largely being members of the Baby Boom generation) the peace movement was about opposing wars started by the United States and opposing U.S. aggression. This included the war in Vietnam, the wars in Central America in the 1980s, the Gulf War and the invasions of Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In opposing these wars and other U.S. military interventions, there was more or less unified opposition to U.S. policy from people who had become involved in the peace movement for different reasons and often for more than one reason. These reasons included religious or ethical pacifism, support for non-violence as the primary and preferred means of resolving conflicts, humanitarian reasons involving prevention of suffering and oppression, personal connections with the countries being invaded (particularly in the case of the Central American wars), support for international law, leftist politics of various kinds including some
that are authoritarian, and campist views that divide the world into the U.S. imperialist camp and an anti-imperialist camp.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the peace movement is dealing with an aggressive war and invasion started by another country, specifically Russia. The current Russian Federation is pursuing Russia’s historic imperialism against Ukraine that goes back to the tsars and then Stalin. A war in which Russia, rather than the U.S., is the imperialist invader poses an unfamiliar situation for the U.S. peace movement, one in which the varying motivations of U.S. peace activists have led them in various conflicting directions.
When confronted with a situation that doesn’t fit the past patterns, it can be difficult to change gears. Familiar approaches and familiar rhetoric might no longer be useful or accurate. Information sources that one relied on in the past might no longer be reliable. I find this to be particularly so with information from campist groups that see the U.S. as a uniquely destructive force and that are also hand-in-glove with the Russian or Chinese governments.
It is particularly troubling that the geopolitical view that sees the war in Ukraine only as a proxy war between NATO and Russia leaves out the people most directly affected, namely the Ukrainians. This view portrays the Ukrainians, to the extent that it mentions them, as pawns of the West or as hapless victims or as Nazis, rather than as a capable country fighting for its survival against its historic imperial master.
The Ukrainians have been showing in the most concrete ways possible that they do not want to be under Russian domination. In some ways, the Ukrainians’ struggle reminds me of that of the Nicaraguans in the 1980s, against the U.S.-supported Contras. Few peace activists in the 1980s insisted that the Nicaraguans should resist imperialism solely by non-violent civil disobedience and negotiation, without fighting.
Ukraine is a diverse country, in terms of politics, religion, nationality and regional history.
It has far-right groups, as do the United States and many other countries, although the far-right in Ukraine has much less influence in the Ukrainian government than the far-right has (and will soon have) in the U.S. government.
Ukraine also has leftist and labor groups. Leftists in the U.S. could probably learn a lot, to our advantage, by observing and interacting with the Ukrainian left. The Ukrainian labor, gay rights, feminist, and democratic socialist activists are dealing simultaneously with resisting the Russian invasion of their country and with contesting neoliberal economic policies of the Ukrainian government and socially conservative traditions. In the U.S., we are dealing with a far less intense version of this, resisting Trump and his Project 2025 while simultaneously contesting the neoliberal policies pushed by most Democrats. Peace activists and the left in
the U.S. can also support initiatives of the Ukrainian labor movement.
[At the Peace Action event, I made available a flier with book titles, web links and other information about Ukraine and particularly the Ukrainian left, a copy of which is attached with the present document.]
What are the implications for the peace movement if Russia were to win its war? A Russian victory would be a blow against nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament efforts. In 1994, under an agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine agreed to give up the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union when the USSR broke up, in return for assurances from Russia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom that they would respect Ukraine’s independence and its territorial integrity within its 1991 borders. Russia has blatantly violated this formal agreement. What other country would want to give up, or refrain from getting, nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances on paper, if Russia succeeds in defeating
Ukraine?
A Russian victory against Ukraine would also strengthen what’s called the “red-brown alliance” between some far right and far-left forces, essentially making fascism ascendant. The affinity among Putin, Trump and Orban, plus far-right parties in other European countries, is part of this picture. The “multi-polar world” sought by Russia is a reversion to a 19th or early 20th century balance of empires, with the small and medium-sized countries dominated by the few imperialist countries. I think we should be trying to figure out how to bring about a “non-polar”world, in which the small and medium-sized countries can successfully resist domination – – not an easy project but an important one.
The panel discussion is titled “Which way forward for the peace movement?” I think that peace activists need to oppose aggression consistently, whether the aggression is being done by the U.S., by Russia, or by some other country. Some pro-Ukraine leftists in the U.S. are using the slogan “From Ukraine to Palestine, occupation is a crime.”
We also need to re flect on our reasons for being peace activists and think about how those apply in particular situations. We may come to different conclusions than others with whom we have worked in the past, or take different approaches even if we agree on a lot of things.
We need to question our assumptions, particularly in situations that are unlike ones we have dealt with in the past or where the circumstances have changed. In the past year, I have had to revisit some long-term assumptions I had about Israel.
I also recommend looking for multiple sources of information about any particular issue, and looking at the motivations and affiliations of these information sources. The perspectives of the people most affected should carry particular weight, and those people might have a variety of perspectives. We should be seeking out the most factually-sound information we can get.
There are multiple ways to support the Ukrainians, some of which are consistent with pacifism including conflict resolution efforts that could be helpful for post-war Ukraine, or support of Russian anti-war activists large numbers of whom are in exile or in prison. There are also multiple ways of resisting the injustices and violence that Trump might inflict in this country. And there are conflicts in many countries that do not have visibility in the U.S.
Tom Ellis
- Introductory comments
With the Trump victory, we will have to devote considerable attention to preserving what remains of the federal separation of powers and the checks and balances.
Our national government is a mess and the US is rushing toward fascism. Today, the United States is much more of a billionaires club than a republic. We have allowed corporations to become far too powerful and individual people to accumulate wealth without limits: tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars. We would benefit from a constitutional amendment eliminating corporate constitutional rights, other than freedom of the press. We, as a nation, should confiscate the billionaires’ wealth and limit personal wealth to $100 million or less.
We should fully publicly finance election campaigns. We need to break out of the two-party straitjacket.
We need to change how we vote. Instant runoff elections and open primaries tend to hurt extremist candidates, as Sarah Palen experienced two years ago. Thus changing how we vote may help stabilize the nation.
We should recognize that we need a peace party in the United States, and the Democrats are not it.
We need to develop effective methods of persuading people that peace, diplomacy and disarmament are preferable to war, brinkmanship and war preparations. We will have to build larger coalitions with: (1) immigrant and refugee communities; (2) LGBTQ groups, especially trans, many of whom are extremely scared right now; (3) reproductive rights activists; (4) poor people; and (5) people of color. We will need to be extremely vigilant next year to lock any effort to transform the United States as Germany was in 1933.
The United States, Russia, and Ukraine
I do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I favor an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine with no forward soldier and weapons movements or armaments deliveries from abroad, negotiations to end the war, and the replacement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with a continent-wide security arrangement that includes Russia.
I doubt Russia will depart Crimea while NATO exists. The US should make certain that no US-supplied weapons are used in Russia because doing so might spark a nuclear war.
Establishing warm and friendly US-Russia relations lays the groundwork for agreements and treaties that reduce military spending, advance nuclear disarmament and peace, and stabilize the climate and biodiversity.
The United Nations
We should advocate for restructuring the Security Council by enlarging it to include every nation with fifty million or more people and to end the ability of any nation to veto resolutions. This would empower the Security Council to threaten and impose political sanctions on warring nations, and hopefully prevent and quickly end wars.
Wars and war preparations
The primary reason the United States and Israel do not want peace is because both nations wish to permanently maintain their enormous armaments manufacturing infrastructures. Both nations are vast laboratories of weapons research and development; both are eager for opportunities to battle-test their newest killing techniques and technologies.
Making a genuine, warm, loving peace with the world would eliminate the need for enormous military establishments in Israel and the United States. Without peace between nations, we have no hope of making peace with the environment.
We should also recognize that solving planetary environmental health problems requires serious, sustained international cooperation that can not occur simultaneously with multiple major wars and massive armaments manufacturing.
Related goals we should advocate for include ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, enlarge nuclear weapons free zones, and enact much stronger gun safety laws in the United States.
One issue we may be able to win is to advocate for decommissioning the 400 aged long-range, land-based Minuteman III ICBMs, and canceling its replacement, the Sentinel ICBM.
The United States, Israel, and Palestine
The US should end the special relationship and establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel, similar to what the US has with Costa Rica. No more unwavering support, no more financing, arming. and enabling ethnic cleansings, targeted assassinations, and genocide.
The United States should declare its independence from Israel and vicious Zionism, end weapons sales and gifts to Israel, and lead international efforts to impose political sanctions on Israel until it fully complies with the recent UNGA resolution ordering Israel to vacate all the territories conquered in the 1967 war.
I would strongly oppose imposing economic sanctions on Israel or any other nation such that Israelis would starve to death, as Israel, with US help, is now inflicting on Gaza Strip Palestinians.
Economic Sanctions
The United States should end its economic sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and many other nations, and offer to establish diplomatic relations with every nation.
Thank you
Larry Wittner
- My name is Larry Wittner and, starting with my participation in a peace demonstration in the fall of 1961, I have been active in the peace movement — arrested twice, tear-gassed numerous times, and elected to local, state, and national peace movement boards. I’m also a former Professor of History at SUNY/Albany and an ?a historian of the peace movement.
Today, I’m sorry to report that the result of the recent U.S. elections is more horrible than you might think. Given the two factors that are most likely to destroy the human race – nuclear war and climate collapse – the takeover of the U.S. government by Donald Trump and his crew of rightwing fanatics, combined with the authoritarian, murderous regimes already in power in countries like Russia, India, China, Iran, North Korea, and Israel, probably spells doom for the world.
Now please note that I have said “probably.” I do believe there’s a possibility of avoiding this catastrophe – although it’s not a very likely one. And I think the peace movement can play an important role in increasing the chances of human survival.
The main threat to human survival comes from the behavior of the major military powers. Some people in the peace movement seem to believe that only the United States – or mostly the United States – is responsible for the murderous conflicts among nations. But this is a rather warped view of events, for the United States is a very recent arrival in human history, and for thousands of years before that there were plenty of wars. And, I believe that, if the United States miraculously disappeared tomorrow, there would still be plenty of wars!
If we look beyond the devil theory of history and think systemically, what we find is that most wars (and the weapons that accompany them over time – from spears to nuclear missiles) grow out of the conflicts among nations. Within nations, when conflicts inevitably erupt, there are laws, as well as police, courts, and governments, that play a major role in resolving these conflicts.
On the global level, however, there exists a situation approaching international anarchy. Although we do have the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court, they are relatively powerless when major crises occur. They issue laudable statements, while the most powerful nations frequently ignore them and go on their merry, marauding way.
Thus, for example, the Russian government is currently continuing its massive military invasion of Ukraine and proceeding to annex its territory, while ignoring the demands of the UN and the International Court of Justice to end Russia’s aggression and withdraw from Ukraine. And, similarly, the Israeli government ignores the demands of these world organizations to end its brutal war upon and occupation of Palestine.
From the overwhelming votes in the UN General Assembly to condemn the Russian and Israeli invasions, we can see what the vast majority of the world’s nations want done in these terrible situations. But, alas, there is no implementation of their call for national independence and peace.
Where does this leave the peace movement? The peace movement has been effective, at times, in stirring up grassroots public protest against great power military aggression and the nuclear arms race. Even so, if it is to head off the doomsday scenario that now confronts us – or the slaughter occurring right now in Ukraine and Palestine – it desperately needs the existence of effective global governance. Or, to put things differently, the movement needs a stronger United Nations – strong enough to resolve conflicts among nations and, thereby, maintain international peace and security.
The task of strengthening global governance is difficult, but not impossible. There are ways to limit the use of the veto in the UN Security Council, to transfer security issues to the General Assembly (where there is majority rule and no veto), and to increase the jurisdiction of international judicial bodies. It’s also necessary and possible to provide the UN with an independent source of income to fund an expanded range of activities. It’s time – indeed, long past time – that the citizens of the world threw their weight behind these and other UN reform measures.
So I’m suggesting that the peace movement – without abandoning its important role in building grassroots activism – also back efforts to transform the United Nations into a government for the world. With such a government, we – the citizens of the world — have a better chance to restrain outlaw nations and avert the catastrophes that now loom before us.
