February 2003

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Letters

Open letter to the editors of the Boston Globe, Barbara Brown, Brookline, MA

Here is some good news that the Globe didn't print.In Brazil, the new president just suspended the purchase of almost $1 billion worth of military aircraft.Why? He did it so that this money can be devoted to ending hunger.As President da Silva declared in his inaugural address:"So long as there is a single Brazilian brother or sister going hungry, we have ample reason to be ashamed of ourselves. If at the end of my term of office, every Brazilian has the opportunity to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, then I will have completed my mission in life."

How wonderful it would be if President Bush took up the same mission. We have 13 million children without an adequate supply of food. Bush could announce that the $250 billion estimated cost of a war on Iraq isn't worth it. What a wonderful policy it would be to use these billions of dollars saved to provide food and shelter for all Americans. Bush could be a shining leader of a people who beat their swords into plowshares.

Larry Dansinger, Monroe, ME

Most Peacework readers are probably outraged at how much of their federal income tax and federal telephone excise tax money is going to the Pentagon (over 50%), possibly to be used to attack Iraq. You may be one of them.

If you are, maybe it's time you became a conscientious objector to paying for war, a war tax resister. Many forms of war tax resistance (WTR) are not legal, but most who do it find the act is freeing and their conscience is clearer. It also gives less money to the Pentagon. They take seriously General Alexander Haig's comment, "Let them march all they want, as long as they pay their taxes."

I personally have done war tax resistance since 1977; it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. There are risks to be sure, but, for me and many others, they have been worth taking. For brochures and contact information on local war tax resisters, you can contact me at the Maine WTR Resource Center, PO Box 776, Monroe, ME 04951, 207/525-7776; invert@acadia.net, or call National War Tax Resistance at 800/269-7464.

Lawrence Reichard, Stockton, CA

Thank you for running the speech by Manning Marable in the December/January issue. Marable drew the connection between US imperial colonialism and racism at home, but I'm not sure he completed the connection and brought it full circle.

In order to sell the notion of imperial domination and brutal exploitation of the third world to the half of our population that actually votes, the ruling class in this country must continually cultivate racism at home. In today's political climate this campaign must be subtle (witness the Trent Lott debacle). Latin Americans are paternalistically painted as hotheads who cannot manage their affairs, and are prone to overborrowing, drug running, and coup d'etats. We go in there and bust heads once in a while for their own good. Asians like being exploited, and forget Africa, as has world capital. But Arabs are fair game. You can take the gloves off on these guys.

I'm not sure Americans would put up with the brutal exploitation of third world peoples without a constant campaign of racism at home. Neither, it seems, is the ruling class sure of this. Thus we have a country in which Colin Powell is secretary of state and Condoleeza Rice is national security advisor; yet in the 1990s black income as a percentage of white income was less than before passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. They let a few sit at the table and slam the door on the rest.

It is the Willy Hortonization of American politics that allows the likes of George W. Bush to threaten 30 million Iraqis with massive death for month after month.

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