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W A M M: Making Waves for 25 Years
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by Polly Mann, W A M M
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With twenty-five years of activism
behind us, we wish that the state of
the world meant our work was done.
But it’s not, so jump in and help!
There are more waves ahead. |
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When a group of women began meeting to discuss the formation of an antiwar organization back in 1981, there were no blueprints or examples. There were antiwar organizations, but none that fit the model we had in mind. However, certain requisites were decided early on: an office and paid full-time staff. We all had great respect for the agenda and politics of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), but the structure we were contemplating was not similar to that of WILPF. Therefore, we struck out on our own. Once we had collected enough money for a month’s rent and a small salary for a staff person, we were in business.
All of us had been active against U.S. involvement in Vietnam and were opposed to this country’s nuclear buildup. We believed that at any time the government could involve us in another war, and we felt compelled to find a vehicle for protest. That vehicle turned out to be Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).
There was a clearly defined need, and we set out to meet it. So, what and how are decisions made? They’re not clean-cut and decisive like corporate decisions. They usually involve conversations, questions, debate, and sometimes changes, even major changes. In my opinion, instinct is an important part of the decisions—not blind instinct but instinct born of observation, years of experience, and compassion. Tasks most often are not assigned but volunteered.
And then there’s the question of what WAMM will concentrate on. Militarism, of course, but does that mean we deal only with war and soldiers? What about the economy? What about the government programs that are discontinued because funds have been diverted to the Pentagon? What about the natural resources consumed by the military? What about women as soldiers and the sexual harassment they are subjected to?
It has taken me years to understand that opposing militarism alone is not the answer. The military is but the mercenary doing the bidding of an out-of-control economic system. There is no way that U.S. exploitation of the resources and labor of Third World countries could continue without the muscle of the U.S. military. There is hardly any issue today affecting us as citizens that is not affected by our military policy
Years ago several WAMM members supported workers on strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, and a photograph of these members holding a WAMM sign appeared in newspapers across the country. There had been no official endorsement of the strike, but nevertheless WAMM was there. Perhaps the linkage between issues is not obvious to everyone, but I believe there is a connection between the low wages paid to workers and the military.
Where are the military finding recruits for Iraq? Not in Harvard or Yale or even, I suspect, at the University of Minnesota. They’re finding them among the unemployed, workers at low-paid jobs, and high school graduates without college opportunities. If there were a plethora of well-paid jobs, recruiting would be much more difficult. Why should the poor be forced into the military?
But we can go even farther afield than that. What about library services? Public library hours are being cut. Why? No money. Why? Because funds at all levels are being drained off by military needs. Why are there so many people at major intersections with signs asking for money? In a truly civilized society the system would be finding ways to meet the needs of these people. Don’t tell me they are all hopeless alcoholics or lazy. Every single person is important. Every single person has or should have someone who sees him/her as a human being and not an outcast. This country has the money to not only take care of its citizens but also to act responsibly toward all people everywhere. That it chooses not to do so is because of greed and the love of power as exercised by leaders, both governmental and corporate.
Lyndon Johnson expressed this so well when he once said, in referring to our so-called enemies, “Those people want what we’ve got and we’re not going to give it to them.” The connection between globalization as defined by the corporations and the military was made by “free” trade advocate and foreign policy pundit Thomas Friedman back in 1998: “The hidden hand of the global market would never work without the hidden fist of the U.S. military.” (Friedman, more recently, was an ardent cheerleader of the war on Iraq.)
So what is WAMM to do in examining and acting on all these facets of militarism? How can it determine what issues it should or should not address? It is, after all, a volunteer organization, its strength coming from the convictions of its members. If a committee on the particular issue or country already exists, join it. If the issue is not being addressed, then talk to other WAMM members, ask questions, do research, and act. Some committees, once active, no longer exist. Does that mean they failed? Not at all. It simply means that there is no volunteer able or willing to work on that issue at the present time.
Often spread thin, it is difficult for WAMM to address every issue. At present there is no committee representing any country on the entire continent of Africa as hundreds of thousands are dying there who shouldn’t be. What could such a committee do? The same as other committees. It could research, write letters to the media and Congress, set up tables at conferences, conduct speak-outs or teach-ins, speak at churches, seek persons from the local African community who are willing to speak, and on and on.
There are many single-issue organizations that do fine work. But militarism is not a single issue. It is an octopus encircling and squeezing the breath from all life forms within its reach, and WAMM’s response has to be just as complex and all-encompassing. With twenty-five years of activism behind us, we wish that the state of the world meant our work was done. But it’s not, so jump in and help! There are more waves ahead. |
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Word UP
I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have: three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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© 2007 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete April 2007 Index - click here
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