Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part IV

 

This proceeds from my previous articles outlining my approach to community-based "regime change" activism.  I encourage you to read them to embrace the foundation for what follows.

Part I
Part II
Part III

Using basic social skills, personally engaging others face-to-face, we get people talking and listening about problems we individually and collectively face.  We talk about what ails us.  Most people love to complain.  Misery loves company.  Next . . .

We tactfully and respectfully navigate the discussion to those critical issues which are the direct consequence of government policy and can only be solved by our elected officials.

We find common ground.  This should be easy.  So much has gone wrong over the past several decades, it is almost impossible to find someone who hasn't been negatively impacted by the mess we find ourselves in.  Americans on the whole are hurting.  Individually we are victims of much misguided decision-making.

We continue to talk.  And most importantly . . . to listen.

Maybe this doesn't sound like much of a breakthrough, but if we get this far -- having a comfortable adult conversation about one or more specific things which are contributing to the ongoing dysfunction -- it actually is quite noteworthy, taking into consideration the current environment.  More typically now whenever anything appears to remotely involve politics, we expect to see folks either maniacally shouting or withdrawing into a coma-like state of mute detachment.

Talking and listening thoughtfully and graciously represents dramatic progress! 

So . . . where we heading with this?

Time for a refresher on the Constitution.

Congress makes laws.  The president enforces them.

Granted, this clear division of labor has in recent times been compromised, with abuse of regulatory powers and signing statements by the president, and the wholesale surrender of war making powers by the Congress.  Let's still be clear.  And I offer this both as a warning to the ebullient Bernie Sanders supporters, and to those anxiety-ridden progressives who live in fear of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump ascending the presidential throne:

Without a supportive Congress, nothing positive -- or for that matter negative -- will get done, especially if the new president is isolated.  It will be animus, gridlock, confrontation, blame-gaming, a show of distrust and open hostility between the executive and legislative branches which will make the past decade look like a friendly game of flag football.  This would certainly be the case with either Trump or Sanders.  Perhaps the most frightening prospect is a Hillary presidency, since her most menacing and treacherous policies, both domestic and international, presently have widespread support by our current corrupt, corporate-owned legislature.

There is no question that a strong, visionary president would be a good thing.

But a responsible, responsive, representative people's Congress is absolutely crucial.

Strong, visionary congressional action is a matter of survival for our nation.

Nothing will change until we change the laws.

Laws won't change until we change the law makers.

This is exactly where our grass-roots, boots-on-the-ground, community-based campaign must be entirely focused.

It is about electing individuals to Congress, both the House of Representatives and Senate, who will be directly accountable to their constituents.  The immediate goal of our efforts is to elect representatives who will pass legislation on a number of issues which are clearly important to voters.  These are things the public wants done . . . but aren't getting done.

This means one of two things.  Either the incumbents running for office come around and do what the voting public demands.  Or they are replaced with fresh candidates who have made a binding commitment to do so.

Back to our "conversation" with our neighbor, cousin, street cleaner, bartender, war vet.

We have been talking and listening.  It is obvious that the person we are talking to feels passionately about one, maybe several of the key issues.  Here's what unfolds next -- for each and every issue -- using Social Security here as an illustration:

 

"I see you feel as strongly as I do about keeping Social Security intact and if anything improving it.  Can I get you to sign this?"

"What is it?"

"It's a petition."

"Oh great!  Another petition.  Those never work."

"We think it will this time.  We're coming up with a way to force our elected officials to do what they say they're going to do."

"Who is we?"

"Well, 'we' is folks just like you and me.  This isn't a political party.  It's just citizens who want to see some important things get done.  Get some serious problems solved."

"How?  Politicians say one thing and do another."

"Exactly.  That's why we need to demand they stop playing games.  People like us have to stand up for ourselves.  The politicians are like children and will get away with whatever they can.  So if you and I don't take a stand, it'll never change.  We have to try.  If enough of us raise enough hell, stick together and refuse to take 'no' for an answer, we just might pull this off."

"How?  How are you going to get these guys with all their money and powerful backers to pay attention?  How can you make them do anything?"

"

First, we're going to get 40,000 people to sign this.  Look what it says.  'I will only vote for a candidate who will protect Social Security and work to increase benefits.'  I'd say that's pretty clear."

"And how will we know they will actually do this?  What's my signing a petition got to do with making my congressman get his butt in gear?"

"It's a place to start.  We will build on it to demand action.  For one thing, you're saying this is very important to you.  If fact, you're saying if he wants your vote, he had better step up to the plate."

"And they'll promise to do it, get elected, then break their promises."

"This time we won't let them."

"Hah!"

Most people are pretty jaded and pessimistic about the possibility of moving the system.  Inaction is the norm, the status quo the accepted state of things.  Resignation is endemic.

Many will want to argue at this point that we're wasting our time.

This is not an argument you can win.  No one knows for sure what will work and what will not.  And frankly, those skeptics have history on their side.  For the average American things are going backwards.  Very little is getting done, unless it benefits the rich.

At the same time, that's not an excuse for not trying.  Not trying guarantees failure.

"If we don't try, then we'll never get anything done.  If you don't want to see Social Security destroyed, then sign this and we'll take it from there.  It can't hurt."

That's all that needs to be said for now.  Here is what the petition pledge looks like:




What does a person have to lose by signing this?

Or signing similar petitions on other issues they feel strongly about?

Some might still be reluctant.  They may want to know why we need signatures on the petition.  If they press the matter, then explain what happens next -- which is what I'll discuss in detail in Parts V and VI of this series.

"Once we know we have enough voters behind this, we'll demand that each candidate signs a legally-binding contract.  That will be the 'absolute commitment' to do what you've asked them to do."

"And if they refuse to sign it?"

"We don't vote for them and we find someone who will.  No contract, no vote."

"They're not going to like this."

"But we will.  And we'll get something done for a change that we want done."

This idea is so simple, yet so powerful.  But there's only one way it can work . . . 

 

People must unite not under party banners, but as a voting bloc around issues that are important to them.  Party labels -- also very much the case with ideological labels -- muddy the waters, get people unfocused on what's truly consequential.  'Democrat', 'Republican', 'liberal', 'conservative', 'libertarian' -- even more so with  'socialist', 'Tea Party', and 'Green Party' -- have now become so emotionally charged, clear thinking becomes difficult, constructive dialogue impossible.

Forget the labels, affiliations, philosophies.  Stick with the issues.  They're staring us right in the face.

I hate sounding like a broken record, but please look again at the issue polls cited in my previous two articles:

75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the "Citizens United" U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal.
74% of American voters are for ending oil industry subsidies.
93% of voters want GMO labeling on their food.

These are huge consensuses.  These are the big issues.  To set the stage for real reform, to get our future elected officials listening, these are the issues which draw a line in the sand.  Either the candidates commit to getting these things done or they simply don't get elected.  Period!

This is how we force candidates to pay attention.

Why will they pay attention?

Their jobs depend on it.



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]


Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part IV

Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part III

 

Most people don't like to talk politics. Many simply refuse to talk politics, fearing a possibly acrimonious argument, or having to endure what they would view as an assault on their dearly-held unassailable beliefs.

On the other hand, it seems to me that Americans love to complain and quite freely carry on about personal problems, things which annoy them or thwart their pursuit of a decent life.
Just as all politics are local, all politics are personal.

That is, what happens in the remote, unfathomable corridors of power affects people every day of their lives on a very personal level.

Cut Social Security and Medicare, grandma must choose between medications and buying nutritious plum pudding.

Keep the minimum wage low, both parents have to work two or three jobs and there's no one home to watch the kids.  Families disintegrate.

Keep the country at war, there's no money to fix to potholes which rattle the car when you drive to the funeral for your son or daughter who got sent back in a body bag.

You get the point.

There's no reason to "talk politics" with people. There is very good reason to talk about the problems we're all to one degree or another victims of.  These are the problems which are NOT GETTING SOLVED by our government representatives.

I promised in the previous article in this series, I would suggest what to say after "Would you like a cupcake?" or "Nice weather we're having today."

I can't dictate specific sentences.  There's no set-in-stone script for this.  I can offer general guidelines and the overall direction such conversations should take.

First off, what to avoid:  There should be no reference to ideologies or ideological leanings -- conservative, liberal, socialist, libertarian -- nor any mention of political parties.  Period!
The labels don't matter.  We live in the same community.  We're all Americans.

Second:  Stay away from generalities. "All politicians are crooks." Like Abraham Lincoln? "I believe in America and the Constitution."  So what?  "Our congressman is a good man."  He probably is, but he is still not doing his job.  "My family has always voted Democrat."  Right.  And there are people who always eat ice cream for breakfast.  That doesn't mean it's a very smart thing to do.

These broad, sweeping exhortations may be satisfying in some way, and may even be true.  The truth is, in terms of getting anything of substance accomplished they go nowhere.  They lead directly to resignation and apathy.

Stick to tangible issues, the stuff that puts people in a bad mood, everyday! This usually means bread-and-butter, life-and-death issues.  These are things which because of bad public policy cause growling stomachs, empty savings accounts, astronomical credit card debt, sickness and the difficulties of getting medical treatment, disappointment, despair, heartache, disillusion. A battered citizen is not impacted by philosophical differences or observations about the human condition.  They are feeling pain.  Neglect.  Abuse.

Third, and perhaps most important:  DO NOT TALK PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS -- unless of course the person insists on it.  Yes, the presidential race is exciting, dramatic, baffling, entertaining, frustrating, infuriating.  But just leave it alone for now.  Even if you agree with the person you're talking to, it is both a distraction and a dead end.

And if you don't agree, the potential for constructive engagement will be totally destroyed.

We need to talk about problems and solutions, not add to the deafening din of discord and division.  At the end of the day . . .

We all face the same opponents and challenges.

We all have identical, similar, or related problems.  If those problems are not solved, then we will all -- with the exception of the very rich and powerful who will move someplace else or start a colony on the moon -- suffer.  Individually and collectively we will pay a heavy price.

So what do you talk about?

Remember the percentages from the previous article:

75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the "Citizens United" U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal.
74% of American voters are for ending oil industry subsidies.
93% of voters want GMO labeling on their food.

Look at the level of agreement we share on many issues.

Frankly, we have a lot to talk about and if those percentages are correct, there are very good odds that whoever you are talking to is already negatively impacted by our elected officials not addressing at least one, but more probably several of the items listed above.

It will all come to the surface. 

Like I said, there is no script.  But just as examples, here are some openers:

"My kid is still living with me.  He's working at Walmart and can't make ends meet.  With the crash back in 2008, we can barely make ends meet."

"My mom and dad might have to move in with me.  They've been working hard all their lives but Social Security just isn't enough."

"Did you know that the high school ran out of money and can't afford to buy new text books?  Probably doesn't matter.  My son can't afford college anyway."

"Your garden looks great!  You're very smart.  Who knows what they put in our food these days.  Did you know one out of every three Americans now gets cancer?"

"My nephew got killed in Afghanistan.  He was only 20 years-old.  Why are we fighting in Afghanistan?  Will these wars ever end?"

It's just a matter of looking at who you're talking to, sensing what is important, finding some common ground, then both sharing the frustration and acknowledging the need to do something about solving the problems.

Listening . . . common sense . . . and basic intuition go a long ways.

Anyone reading this is intelligent and caring.  Otherwise, why would you be reading this?  Why would you have made it this far in this article?  You could be watching TV, a movie from Netflix, or updating your Facebook page.

I know you care.  I also know that -- again if the percentages above are anywhere close to accurate -- you personally have been slapped around and brutalized by the insensitivity and inaction of our elected representatives.

Everyone wants the mess to be cleaned up. Everyone wants life to start looking up again for the vast majority of Americans who have been marginalized and ignored for too long.

So just talk.  Talk and listen. 

Maybe people won't talk politics.  But once the floodgate is open, people will talk about what's hurting them, what's now holding them back, how they are getting screwed by the system and those who have looted the country and run America into the ground, how they had wonderful dreams and hopes for their children which have been betrayed, how the American Dream is being destroyed.

They will talk.  You will listen.  Then you will propose something very simple.

That something will be introduced in Part IV of this series.



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]


Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part III

Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part II

 

It looks like the American public, or some significant portion of it, is waking up.  There is now a new populist uprising in the making.  Long beaten into submission, the cowering lumps of disengaged despairing doormats have finally seen the writing on the wall, are breathing a new life, and getting ready to strike back at their oppressors -- the 1% and the .1% and the .01% -- who just about have it all, but want even the few remaining scraps.

The statistics have been clear for some time.  Everyday Americans -- the 99% -- have been getting royally screwed. Government of the people, by the people, for the people has been turned into a hollow slogan, a fading recollection of a noble, now irrelevant, improbable, and ostensibly inoperable idea.

In spite of the best efforts by the media -- always in service of the rich elite -- to hide the rotten news mounting during this democratic devolution, people have grown increasingly aware of the problems and outcomes.  They didn't need to look at charts and statistics.  They felt the pain personally.  Individual wealth for everyday Americans is shrinking. Wages and purchasing power are in decline.  People are in debt up to their eyebrows.  Schools, roads, whole communities are falling apart.  The water isn't even fit to drink.

The Sanders/Trump populist uprising is the inevitable result.  Eventually, the pain becomes unbearable and people understandably look for some way or some one to fix things.  Sanders has some great ideas, Trump has a big mouth.  They each in their own unique and characteristic ways represent a "savior" to the masses.

But neither of these men, or any presidential candidate for that matter, can get the job done.  That is written in stone.  Read the Constitution.

How does it get done?

We get it done.  Sure, you can follow the campaign, go to your favorite candidate's rallies,  watch the battle for the presidency unfold on the boob tube.  After all, it's the best reality show in town.  Better than Mud Wrestling With The Stars!

Then, when you want to actually do something for yourself, your family and friends, your community, your country, please tear yourself away from this insulting media circus and begin to actually change the world for the better.

Forget about the labels.  Forget Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right wing, left wing, socialist, Green Party, Tea Party.

Americans actually agree on a lot of important things.  Arguably most!

With all of the shouting, the cage fighting of the Republican debates, the far more civil and intelligent but still largely irrelevant Democratic debates, muddled by the sports-team-like coverage of all matters political by our entertainment-oriented media, you wouldn't know this.  But most Americans actually share a host of values and priorities, and even more surprisingly, specifically agree on much of what needs to be done and not done.

Here is a short list of things U.S. citizens by sizable majorities agree on:

75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the "Citizens United" U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal.
74% of American voters are for ending oil industry subsidies.
93% of voters want GMO labeling on their food.

These are huge majorities!

These astonishing and powerful consensuses get lost in the trivialization, marginalization, and other weapons of mass distraction and sheer propaganda we all endure just trying to find out and understand what's going on.  We are teased, taunted, cajoled, manipulated, titillated, dazzled, disturbed, and generally overwhelmed by the main stream media.

But we are not informed.

If anything we are confused, sometimes outright misinformed.

Thus we lose focus.  We can't keep our eye on the prize, because from watching television we have no idea what the prize even is.

Worst of all -- and it almost appears to be intentional -- we are divided.

We are set against one another, encouraged to vilify and blame others, the very people we actually agree with on a lot of things, the very people who are our natural allies as we fight for our survival in the class warfare the rich and powerful wage on us.

Turn off your TVs.  Hide your smart phones under the mattress.  Let the screensaver on your computer do whatever it does -- swimming fish, go-go dancers, shooting stars -- and don't disturb it to watch the latest Trump riots or primary predictions.  It's mood lighting.  Recycle your USA Today, your daily newspaper, your weekly and monthly magazines.

Then . . .

Go talk to someone.  Anyone!

Your neighbor, your cousin, your kid's teacher, that lady down the street who is always working in her garden, the guy who polishes his car three times a week, your ex-spouse, anyone in your community who you can approach without getting shot.

Maybe you could bake some cupcakes or buy some wonderful muffins from the bakery in town.  Or make a trip to Costco, if all the bakeries in your area are now out of business.

Start out with something like this:

"Would you like a cupcake?"

In Part III of this series, I'll suggest where you go from there, while you're munching away on whatever treat you brought along with you.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part II



 

Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part I

 

Is the Bernie Sanders revolution real?

Let's be optimistic here and say for argument's sake that it is.

Meaning that Bernie Sanders -- and ironically even Donald Trump -- has awakened a new populism in America.  U.S. citizens are demanding fundamental change in the way government does business.
This uprising, this surge of awareness, is not complex or theoretical.  It is simple and pragmatic.  

From both camps, the enlightening Sanders campaign and the frightening Trump campaign, we see frustration and outrage.  The battle cry is the same.

People are saying . . .

"We're getting screwed and we're not going to take it anymore!"

This could be an incredibly powerful vehicle for serious reform, regardless of how the presidential election is decided.  In spite of how the presidential election turns out!

But there's only one way that can happen.  And it doesn't depend in the least on who ends up in the White House.

Remember . . .

A president is a lightning rod.

But a president is not the lightning.

We the people are the lightning.

And that "lightning" does not find its effective expression in one person.

We the people are the energy, the force, the real movers-and-shakers behind fundamental change.  We the people and only we the people can shape the future we want.

The Bernie Sanders revolution, which many are hailing as a truly historic populist revolt, can only be real if we the people individually and collectively -- starting from the very bottom and working our way up -- make it real.

It starts with each individual.

Each individual makes his or her unshakable commitment to what it important.

To what is non-negotiable.  To what is absolute.

That commitment spreads outward from there.  Family members, friends, neighbors.

It all starts at a personal level with each person and then diffuses through the network of individuals each individual regularly and not so regularly comes in contact with.  One by one each person engages those who are to varying degrees part of his or her life.

One by one, they individually and collectively come to terms with what is important.

To what is non-negotiable.  To what is absolute.

This is how to build a revolution.

It's not about cheering for one man and expecting that one politician, regardless of how eloquent and charismatic, to do the work for us.  Especially since that man may not even get elected.  Especially since that man might end up being a truly horrifying demagogue, whose own otherwise despicable party even rejects him -- Donald Trump.  Or might not be a man at all but a war mongering corporate toady and unapologetic lapdog for Wall Street who happens to have a vagina -- Hillary Clinton.

There is still time to harness the energy of the Bernie Sanders revolution.

There is still just enough time to make it happen if we want it.

Specific advice starts with Part II of this series.

While you're waiting, you might take your Birkenstocks to your local cobbler and make sure they have plenty of tread.



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part I

How to Become a Target for State Assassination

 

In my recent article Peace is as American as . . .?, I argued that while there have been anti-war movements, there has never been a real "peace movement" in America.

What's the difference?

The absence of war is not peace. 

More accurately, in our times the absence of war is a truce.

A truce is the abatement of conflict with no guarantee that war will not break out again.

Peace is a state where no conflict is ongoing or possible.

Big difference!

There are over 15,000 nuclear weapons held ready for use by nine countries.



Just because we are not at this point in time using them does not mean we are at peace.

It's like living among pallets stacked with dynamite, serving breakfast on a table-size crate of TNT, and claiming that you feel safe and secure knowing that if you're careful the whole thing won't blow sky high.

Our Nobel Peace Prize president has committed $1 trillion dollars to "update" America's bulging nuclear arsenal. Capable of destroying the planet and every living organism on it 25 times over, it needs to be made more efficient.

Do you feel the peace?

We occasionally see surges of anti-war sentiment. More recent than the game-changing demonstrations against the Vietnam War, immediately before the Iraq War, impressively large crowds assembled to object to the announced attack.  While the numbers were in the hundreds of thousands in Europe, across the U.S. demonstrations drew tens of thousands of "anti-war" activists.  CBS reported protests in over 150 cities.  I personally marched in Portland, Oregon where it was estimated that 58,000 showed up.

Even more recently in September 2013, when pressure was mounting on President Obama to attack Syria around the false flag use of chemical weapons -- allegedly by Syria's Bashar al-Assad but later demonstrated to be by rebels who were trying to hoodwink the U.S. into a full-on bombing assault -- again impressive numbers of people voiced their opposition. The White House and offices of our congressional representatives were flooded with calls, emails, letters.

I still maintain that a fuss over a particular war, or some misguided military aggression by the U.S. military does not constitute a "peace movement".

The truth is that America does not embrace peace.

America promotes war.

“The greatest purveyor of violence in the world: My own government, I cannot be silent.”

Who said that?

Martin Luther King, in his speech at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967.

He was assassinated one year later.

Unfortunately, what Dr. King said is more true now than ever.

Evidence?

By a long shot, every year the U.S. is the leading exporter of military equipment in the world. In 2014, our military-industrial complex, as advocated and supported by our own government, sold over $36 billion in weaponry.  In 2015 it increased to over $46 billion.

Everything but our most advanced weapons -- we have to keep them in reserve for when all the other weapons we sell are turned on us -- is for sale.  Fighter planes, bombers, bombs, artillery, guns, killing machines and devices of every shape and size.

I could go on for hours citing examples.  But here is one from just last week.

Yes, the Pentagon in its infinite wisdom is selling $683 million worth of smart bombs to a country which is destabilizing the entire Middle East.

Though a member of the NATO alliance, Turkey has lately proven to be a wild card, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pursuing his own highly nationalistic and treacherous agenda. Selling more weapons to this renegade, arguably psychopathic ego-maniac, is like giving an armed grenade-launcher to a 3-year-old child to chase the dog around the yard.

The U.S. continues to supply Saudi Arabia -- one of the most ideologically-extreme, brutal, anti-democratic monarchies in the world, responsible for horrifying war crimes in Yemen, egregious crimes against its own citizens, and a major player in plans to destroy Syria and eventually Iran, even if this triggers a major war with Russia and carries the possible risk of starting World War III -- with some of our most advanced weaponry.

Such decisions to militarily equip saber-rattling, autocratic, aggressive, dangerous regimes would be the target of a real peace movement in America.  These are clear, frightening and appalling examples of America's wanton propagation of lethality and potential for hellish destruction across the face of the Earth.

Our silent acquiescence represents the opposite of peace.  It is nothing less than our tacit approval and championing of war.

I occasionally hear faint whispering from the enlightened but tiny minority of Americans who understand this -- more like muted whimpering than a concerted call to action.

This is not a peace movement.  It is an anomaly.  At the same time . . .

What can we expect?  Americans are addicted to war.  The idea of peace does not even get enough attention to be scoffed at. It's such a quaint, silly sort of notion, the simpleminded province of "peaceniks" and "peace creeps", evidence of weakness and cowardice, clearly an infliction of modern day Don Quixotes and other delusional brainiacs.

It's appropriate and inspiring to revisit the words of John F. Kennedy:

 

"What kind of peace do I mean?  What kind of peace do we seek?  Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war.  Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave.  I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women -- not merely peace in our time but peace for all time . . .

Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it . . .

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.  We all breathe the same air.  We all cherish our children's future.  And we are all mortal."

John F. Kennedy spoke these words at American University, June 10, 1963.

He was assassinated five months later.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



How to Become a Target for State Assassination