|
|
From the Eye of the Storm
Another march, more signs, and the war continues...
The anti-war protests of the past few years have completely failed to stop the ongoing carnage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. This is not due to the mere indifference of one politician or another. Protest-as-usual has not and will never pose a threat to the forces that create war. The "anti-war movement" has reduced understandings of the war to paralysis-inducing cliches like the profiteering of Halliburton, war for oil, the Bush regime's evil plots, the issue of illegality and so on. Real opposition to war requires placing war in a larger context instead of reducing it to piecemeal issues.
Our world is ruled by the dictates of capitalism. Everything is valued for its ability to be bought and sold, whether it's land, food, people, DNA, or bombs and tanks. The globe is divided like a giant chessboard by states and capitalists vying for control of resources, territories, and populations. War is an integral part of the political strategy of all states, a negotiation of power through organized violence. War is also one of many engines of the global economy, spinning the wheels of profit and misery. Within this system we are simply pawns, sacrificed as cannon fodder for their wars, manipulated as slaves to their work economy, and treated as empty vessels for mass consumption.
How do we stop the war? We can stop the shipment of essential war supplies out of the northwest such as Stryker vehicles. We can demonstrate solidarity with soldiers who resist like Ehren Watada and Suzanne Swift. We can disrupt the operations of banks, contractors, and manufacturers involved in the war. We can refuse the daily routines of school and work by walking out and striking. Ultimately we must stop the economy that makes war necessary. We should learn from the failure of calling for peace and love, let's bring the social war instead.
-some people against war and work
|