A Cry from the Sinking Ship
by Mary Shepard, WAMM
The 2000 election was an event that will be viewed in history as cataclysmic. But living with it as we are, one would never know it. We say to ourselves, "This was a coup," but the seductive calm with which it has been handled by the media and what was left of the opposition party makes it seem like a pretty ho-hum affair. In fact it was a coup not unlike those suffered by other nations--nations with which we associate violent upheavals at all levels of society. So far the fallout here is only reported in isolated dictatorial actions, which are never connected in a way that would reveal the range of our national loss.
The ship of state, to use an old metaphor, was punctured in many places below the water line and was leaking our precious democracy for some time. Only those in the lower decks knew what was happening. The captain on the bridge and his officers could ignore the cries from below. The passengers in the suites and fancy restaurants could not hear them. As the water began to rise to their level they assumed the leaks would be fixed. But suddenly a hole tore loose, taking in so much water it was impossible to ignore the danger. This was the election that revealed that the ship was doomed.
Many passengers still refuse to believe it. Others can mentally grasp the reality, but do not act; they do not prepare to save what is salvageable, nor do they even prepare a plan to abandon ship and call for transfer to a safer boat. There is an old saying that "to know and do nothing is not to know."
The first step for those who care about our lost democracy should be to face the reality and absorb it. It is chilling to hear naive protesters say there will be a day of reckoning for legislators who are, as we speak, taking back all our hard-won gains in human rights. Without a democracy we have no assurance of clean elections. Similarly, threats to sue the predators who are privatizing and cannibalizing our natural resources should be reassessed. Without a democracy we cannot be guaranteed an uncorrupted judiciary.
To hear friends say that "after all, Bush is our president and he was elected, so we must put up with him until we can vote him out," is to realize that many citizens have been so conditioned to believe we have a democracy that they cannot conceive of any other name for our system of government.
The signs of our plight are everywhere. In fact, the usurpers are not even bothering to conceal or obfuscate what they are up to. The lines are drawn. The walls are up. The preparations for violent measures to keep us in our places have been prepared. We need to study what the people of other nations have done who have suffered the same loss. We need to rethink all our tactics.
It is too bad these power hungry-people do not understand that, as fellow passengers, they will share whatever fate is in store for the rest of the ship.
Global Nonviolent Peace Force
As we venture into the new millennium, we stand at a significant crossroad. Will the next century bring an incessant stream of devastating armed conflicts and brutal violence, like the horrors we have seen in Rwanda and East Timor? Or are there alternatives to the endless repetition of such catastrophes?
There is an alternative, one that builds upon the recent experiences of many organizations that have successfully experimented with the application of "Third Party Nonviolent Intervention" techniques in areas of advanced conflict. Out of these experiences has grown a new wave of deliberate nonviolent intervention carried out by some 20 or so organizations around the world. The Global Nonviolent Peace Force builds on this legacy.
Mission:
To mobilize and train an international, nonviolent, standing peace force. The Peace Force will be sent to conflict areas to prevent death and destruction and protect human rights, thus creating the space for local groups to struggle nonviolently, enter into dialogue, and seek peaceful resolution.
Goals:
1. To build the organization needed to create and maintain a standing Global Nonviolent Peace Force of 200 active members, 400 reserves, and 500 supporters (building up to 2000 active members, 4000 reserves, and 5000 supporters over 10 years)
2. To develop the theory and practice of third-party nonviolent intervention, in order to significantly increase that tool's effectiveness. (The understanding starts with the experience of existing peace teams, human-rights, humanitarian, and military organizations.)
Global Nonviolent Peace Force
801 Front Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55103
651-487-0800 (phone)
651-489-1335 (fax)
info@nonviolentpeaceforce.org
www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org