Peace – Act Now
If you want peace, you have to do something about it. After all, George Bush wanted war and successfully pursued his ambition. To get control of our government again and end its relentless march to war, we have to do something drastic. Unlike Bush, though, we should not engage in violence. As can be seen from the reaction of the US to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the events still taking place in Iraq, violence only brings more violence. Instead of reacting against violence with more violence, one idea is to just take a day off for peace. Basically, shut the country down and take a break in the name of peace. If you read this and are interested, please contact any organization you belong to and ask them to join in the effort. If you know of any similar effort, please contact me and I will join with them and encourage others to do the same.
The dismal record of the Bush administration pushed the need to work for peace to the foreground. February 15, 2003 saw a massive demonstration of worldwide support for a peaceful resolution to the situation in Iraq. In spite of this spectacular protest, Bush declared that he would not change his policies and as we all know, invaded Iraq.
Sometimes you just have to act outside the system to fix it. Letters, phone calls, and demonstrations are just expressions of opinion. If we want to make an impression, we have to take action.
Essentially, letters and phone calls are ways of asking our government not to start more wars and to end the ones already started. There may be threats attached that somebody will not be re-elected, but that has little impact. This is a democracy and the government is our servant but we've come to believe that we've got the notion upside down. Instead of us asking our government to not go to war, the government should be asking us for permission to use our people and resources to wage war, and we should be given very good reasons.
So this is a call to act – take a peace holiday; shut the country down in the name of peace. Stopping the economy for a day is one of the few actions that will grab the government's attention. If we shut the country down for a day, it will be a clear demonstration of who actually runs the country - we the people.
Let us work together and show that our determination to have peace is stronger than our government's to have war.
Bob Matlin