Sunday 11 September 2011

On this the 11th day of September 2011, let's remember how our nation's leaders took advantage of the tragic events of 9/11/01, 10 years ago, and capitalized on fear and shock, in order to foist upon and project upon the world an era of increased American militarism and efforts toward expanded global political and economic dominance.

May all of the victims of war rest in peace, and may we live to see a day where human beings no longer destroy each other.


Olympic Mountain View
March 2010 Seattle Washington

New Stuff

I have a couple new posts on Olyblog, and I posted a note on Facebook about boycotting against states that demonstrate aggression. My blog at OlyBlog can be found at http://olyblog.net/blog/berd and I will post the text of the note from facebook below the fold here.

Competition and Consciousness

From some ideas relating to the post I previously mentioned on OlyBlog:

Competition may have its place. But when competition gets to the point of subduing, subjugating, demeaning—of behaving in ways that are downright cruel (or even just unfriendly,) then what good is that!

Mean-spirited competition, oppressive competition, divides—it opens up corridors for greed and avarice, toward pursuit of conquest.

Competition and Consciousness
When there is competition to get rich, and there is also insufficient consciousness and caring about others' well-being, then we wind up with social situations ripe for the outbreak of violence—violence even to the extreme point of war.

Because the real cause of war is competition over material resources, and the quest for material and economic superiority.

And truth is the first casualty of war.

Root Out the Seeds of War

John Woolman (1720 - 1772): "May we look upon our Treasures, and the furniture of our Houses, and the Garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these possessions or not."

Lately I have been thinking about how to build a mass movement of nonviolent resistance to defy the political status quo. The political status quo in the USA is a plutocracy (that means rule by wealthy elite.) The real-political situation in a plutocracy is similar to a dictatorship—except in the USA it relies on popular media messaging to promote consumerism and complacency, along with a host of other harmful attitudes and myths, like racism, classism, ageism, genderism, homophobia, and myths like those of independence, scarcity, and meritocracy.

It seems to me that such a mass movement of popular nonviolent resistance will require a lot of popular education about how the current socio-economic/political establishment is actually harmful.

Many of us are just plain hood-winked, and don't understand how harmful our system is, or why it is the cause of so much suffering. People may sense that there is something wrong, but they may not understand what it is, nor why.

Another world is possible. It DOES NOT have to be like this! We can have progress without destruction, without violence, without oppression, without poverty, without war!

War is terrorism (mouseover)

This is from Friday the 27th of August 2010 at the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation weekly peace vigil at Percival Landing.

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War is terrorism with a bigger budget. [view larger]

All war begins with aggression, and aggression is never right. Aggression is always wrong! period.

I also attached this to a letter posted on the White House Facebook page:

Dear President Obama and Administration,

How can peace come to the world when the USA acts with aggression and belligerence in pursuit of policies of dominance?

Aggression is never correct. It's always wrong.

For the well being of all people and the world, the USA needs to change from aggressive policies, to peaceful policies.

Sincerely,
Berd

more photos: http://olyblog.net/some-recent-photos-20100828

From Tacoma

This photo is from Tacoma Washington, near the County City Building. I was there to attend a trial for a friend of mine who was charged with disorderly conduct after blocking a military vehicle.

Parking lot near County City Building
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In this photo, Mr. Ellsberg is seen in the witness stand, in the court of Pierce County Judge Maggie Ross, where he gave testimony in a trial where the state was prosecuting a war protestor in a case of nonviolent direct action civil resistance.

Ellsberg delivered a brilliant testimonial about his life and experience, ranging from education at Harvard, to service in the Marine Corps, to consulting with the White House and State Department, to releasing the Pentagon Papers, which detailed incriminating documents, that related to the invasion and occupation of Vietnam, by the US government.

The jury delivered a disappointing verdict, finding the defendant guilty, a strike against the claim of necessity.

But it seems to me that the defendant, Patty Imani, who is a care-giver by trade, is a winner anyway, because of her principled and courageous act of conscience in resistance to aggression.

An Act of Nonviolent Civil Resistance

Update, it's about 1pm on Monday, and I feel super bad, because I slept through my alarm and failed to make it to the protest at Ground Zero. I guess this is proof that I need to take care of myself. I am sorry that I let down my friends, and I hope the protest went well. I will look forward to being able to participate in the future.

The following is something I intended to publish earlier, though I stopped it from being published after my friend called and woke me up, and I realized that I had slept through my alarm and wouldn't be able to make it to the protest in time to participate. -Berd

This post is set to self-publish at 6 am on the morning of Monday the 9th of August, which is the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city Nagasaki. I will be on the Kitsap peninsula at that time.

I am planning to participate in nonviolent civil resistance/disobedience against the immoral and illegal maintenance of nuclear weapons by my government, the United States of America, by entering the roadway in an effort to blockade passage into the base. As these Trident nuclear missile weapons system exist in a first strike capacity they are illegal under recognized legal agreements. As such, this is a big part of why I see the USA as a rogue nation.

These maintenance of these weapons furthers the American Empire, an empire which is also immoral and illegal. I call for an end to imperialism.

When I enter the roadway and risk arrest, I will do so in an effort to raise awareness about, and prevent the conduct of, an immoral and illegal military infrastructure. Either way, I enter the roadway to block traffic in a sincere effort to prevent harm, to save lives, and to give voice to the vision of a world that is based on mutual respect and reciprocity, rather than conquest and domination.

I will carry a statement similar to the following, when I enter the roadway.

Peace,
Berd

By peacefully entering the roadway in front of the Gate to the Naval Submarine Base Kitsap-Bangor, on Monday the 9th of August 2010, I take meaningful action in nonviolent civil resistance to the immoral and illegal actions of my government. I resist the maintenance of weapons of mass destruction.

I act against bullying.

I act against imperialism.

I act against aggression.

And I call for change.

I call for peace. I call for respect for the rights of all people, all around the world, the rights of whom are denied by the policies of my government, of the USA. People deserve to live in peace, and to be free from the fear of the threat of nuclear war.

By taking action to resist, and risking arrest for doing so, I stand for a world that is much different than the one we have now. I stand for a benign world that is altruistic, a world that seeks to serve life and to meet the needs of all people.

I stand and voice my desire for a day when people don't feel the need to wield power over others, whether they do so in order to feel safe themselves or for other reasons.

I have a message for the soldiers, sailors, and other military personnel of the US military: I want to be your friend. I mean that sincerely. From where I stand, I see the government as a guilty partner, an abuser, and an enabler of tremendous abuses.

I believe that we have that in common, that we are essentially victims here, the victims of an abusive society, one that is enabled and perpetuated by the government of the United States of America.

What I want is for you, and for all people, to have meaningful work that is enjoyable, and constructive. I want you and all people to have economic security, without weapons, and violence, bullying and belligerence.

I want to be happy, and I want you to be happy. I want happiness and joy for all people.

So here I stand: a witness to the annihilation, 65 years ago today, of the residents of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. May it be that such atrocities never happen again—to anyone.

For the immediate abolition of all nuclear weapons!

Sincerely,

Robert Friend Weber (Berd) Whitlock

Beyond Vietnam, April 4, 1967—Speech by Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

I downloaded the following from here: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence
By Rev. Martin Luther King
4 April 1967

Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City

More on the Social Forum

I was impressed and I am still struck with the spirit, or theme, of caring that was evinced during the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit. I believe that properly caring for myself includes caring for the well-being of all other people. I understand that all people are interconnected, and interdependent upon each other. So when I hurt another person, I am also hurting myself. I believe this is true for everyone, whether they are aware of it or not.

So it was great to see so many dedicated caring people committed to making the world a better place—all in one place, in Detroit, a city which has seen its fair share of suffering as a result of the consequences of a boom and bust economic system, as well as other unfavorable social trends and pressures (violence in the media, corruption in government...a generally abusive socio-economic-political system...)

It was also great to see so much resilience in the face of such unfavorable trends and pressures.

I have been uploading more photos to my flickr pages, here. I also posted a blog article about being back in Olympia on OlyBlog, here.

Be well, and I hope you survive the warzone this weekend. It's July 3rd and it already sounds like Armageddeon in my neighborhood. Though I do remember a time when I was very enthusiastic about the fireworks...

I guess the fireworks wouldn't bother me if they weren't a celebration of war. If they were instead a celebration of life, and of a stable society, and the mutual health and prosperity of all people.

For now, I don't think fireworks make sense, because there is so much that is wrong with the world. It would make more sense to spend resources on fixing the problems in the world, on fixing the problem of inequality in distribution of wealth and resources.

Peace!
Berd

Happiness does not equal having or controlling more than others. Happiness = serving the mutual well-being of all people. Liberation from economic instability!

Liberation from economic instability and liberation from economic violence—for all!

That includes all people everywhere, without regard to age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, nor any other defining characteristic! (that includes hairstyles)

People Need to Be Able to Distinguish Between Right and Wrong

I found the following quote in the front pages of a book called Nonviolence. The book is by Mark Kurlansky:

"To kill one man is to be guilty of a capital crime, to kill ten men is to increase the guilt ten-fold, to kill a hundred men is to increase it a hundred-fold. This the rulers of the earth all recognize and yet when it comes to the greatest crime—waging war on another state—they praise it!"

"It is clear they do not know it is wrong, for they record such deeds to be handed down to posterity; if they knew they were wrong, why should they wish to record them and have them handed down to posterity?

"If a man on seeing a little black were to say it is black, but on seeing a lot of black were to say it is white, it would be clear that such a man could not distinguish black and white. Or if he were to taste a few bitter things and were to pronounce them sweet, clearly he would be incapable of distinguishing between sweetness and bitterness. So those who recognize a small crime as such, but do not recognize the wickedness of the greatest crime of all—the waging of war on another state—but actually praise it—cannot distinguish between right and wrong. So as to right or wrong, the rulers of the world are in confusion."
—Mozi, China, Circa 470-391 B.C.


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SO: Why do we have rulers in this world whom are either unable to distinguish between right and wrong, or uncaring about perpetrating wrongful (i.e. harmful) acts?

Thousands of Years of War Have Not Brought Peace

Thousands of years of war, and we're still without peace. This is something I heard Rev. James Lawson say during an event in Olympia, Washington.

It is true. Thousands of years of violence and war, and the world is no less violent than it was thousands of years ago. If anything, the world is more violent.

On this memorial, I wish for an end to violence, an end to all violence, an end to all war. I wish that the root causes of war be addressed, so that no person has to suffer the unnecessary violence that is the product of war.

I wish for a true enlightenment for the people of this planet, so that we may live in harmony, cooperatively, and without doing harm to each other, nor to the natural world that bounds and surrounds our societies.

I wish for an end to all unnecessary suffering.

I wish for renaissance of nonviolence - that more and more people learn about the practice, potential and promise for creating a wholly new cultural paradigm (one that is based on respect and cooperation, compassion and kindness - rather than dominance and bullying, and taking without asking.)

The potential for nonviolence to bring such a shift is exciting, and I hope more people learn about nonviolent resistance. Berd

...A peaceful world: ecological sustainability, economic justice, economic stability... economic cooperation - not domination... mutual prosperity for all people: include everyone!

Distributing War Resisters League Truth about Income Tax Flyers at the P.O.

Scott Yoos distributes WRL (War Resisters League) Where your income tax money really goes flyers at the Olympia Post Office.

A Photo from the 2009 Iraq War Anniversary Protest in Olympia

End All War

Human beings commit war upon each other. Human beings do harm to one another. It isn't right.

There is a better way.

Another world is possible.

War Taxes and War Profits

In the USA, almost half of collected income taxes are used to support the military industrial complex. I think that such militarism is wrong, i.e. morally incorrect.

And as if such an expenditure on the military is not bad enough, to add insult to injury: some people are actually profiting off of the sales of military and war related products and functions.

And as if that's not bad enough, the wars our government are engaged in are not even defensive!

The body politic is paying for (is subsidizing) profits reaped from what are essentially imperial ventures, wars of profit. I think that is just plain wrong (as well as basically disgusting, in the sense of offensive.) War is the worst violence. And aggression is the worst crime, because in aggression therein cumulatively lie all manner of harm and violence.

I believe that no one deserves to profit from war. And indeed, that no one should profit from war (nor any other harmful economic activity.) What do you think?

Please inform your lawmaking representatives, at all levels of gov't, of your beliefs on this matter.

Also, on tax day in Olympia, Washington there will be War Tax Resistance Leafletting. There might be similar efforts in your neck of the woods.

Peace,
Berd

p.s. I have a letter published in today's (Thursday, April 8) edition of The Olympian newspaper: April 8, 2010 Letters to the Editor | The Olympian

Protest to Mark Seven Years of Iraq War

This past weekend (March 19 through March 21) marked the seventh anniversary of the beginning of the Bush Administration's war in Iraq. People rallied near and far. On Friday, people gathered at Percival Landing especially to mark the war. I posted the following on OlyBlog: Protest Marks Seven Years of Iraq War

US Out of Afghanistan!

At the Oly Peace Vigil

War Only Benefits Capitalism

War is a Government Riot! (Mouseover)

War is a Government Riot!
(this is a mouseover - try it! move mouse over the image—be patient, sometimes it takes a minute for the secondary image to load!)

Celebrate the Vision of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

Here are some resources to help celebrate the vision of MLK:


original size: Excerpt from Martin Luther King Nobel Peace Prize Lecture 1964

Read the full text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Full text of the Nobel Lecture: MLK Nobel Lecture 1964

Listen to the speech MLK delivered on April 24, 1967 - one year to the day prior to being assassinated: Beyond Vietnam

Celebrate the vision of Doctor and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.!

"Fighting for Peace is like Fucking for Virginity"

Olympia, Washington
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I must admit that I am not a fan of this particular slogan. For one, I don't like the comparisons between fighting and "fucking", nor peace and virginity. For two, I think it isn't family friendly, nor particularly welcoming.

But I do like the photo, and the person holding the sign.

more information about the protest: Army Recruiting Station Protest

One thing is for sure, we need to end these wars - and we need to end all imperialism - for the sake of the well-being of all people.