Sweatshop Free Peace Symbols

Dear Friends in Peace,
I joined the JRPC Council three months ago. I was a bit apprehensive to write for the newsletter,
being so new to the Council, but Betsy encouraged me to write about a topic I brought up to the Council
last month. I am a fourth grade teacher at Lewis and Clark Elementary in Missoula. I work with another
teacher at L and C to take one hour each week to discuss various issues of peace with our students, as
well as work with them on projects in our classrooms that encourage peace, justice, and tolerance. The
students get very excited and involved in our projects and love working on peace issues. Often times,
when we have the kids draw their visions of peace, the peace symbol shows up in their drawings.
On the “onemillionpeacesigns.blogspot.com/2009/04/origin-of-peace-symbol” one woman wrote:
“Few symbols are as widely known and loved. The symbol was deliberately never copyrighted and can
be used freely for any purpose. Despite the possibility of exploitation, the free use of the peace symbol
is fitting as a symbol of freedom.” What I’ve noticed in the past year is the popularity of the peace
symbol and peace paraphernalia (shirts, necklaces, earrings, sweatshirts, shoelaces etc.) the kids like to
wear. The peace symbol turned 50 last year so that may explain the resurgence in its popularity. When
I ask them where they’ve gotten their “outfits” I most often get the response of Wal-Mart, Target, and
Clare’s Boutique. When I did a little internet research on companies that use foreign sweatshops to
produce their clothing, my suspicions were verified that Wal-Mart and Target were among them. While I
understand trends and the enthusiasm of young people to purchase clothing that is popular, I feel we
owe it to our younger generation to educate them about sweatshop labor and help them make good
choices when they make their purchases.
This year I plan to use some of our peace meetings to educate my students about sweatshop
labor. I will encourage them to explore their options when making “peace” clothing or accessory
purchases. Since the JRPC Store sells fantastic looking “fair-trade” peace items at wonderful prices, I’m
going to encourage my students to buy there. I love my students’ enthusiasm to wear such a simple yet
meaningful symbol, yet I feel it is my job to educate them so they aren’t just “wearing” the symbol but
“living” it as well.
Sincerely,
Jane McAllister
JRPC Council Member

Replace fear with hope

Fear. In the euphoria of January 20, 2009, I thought we had left it behind – that no longer would the weapon of fear be used to lead the masses. But it seems those who ruled before – not the Bush administration itself, but the big money, ultra-conservative forces behind it – are again frightening and inciting the masses. And again, the media repeats the lies and distorts the truth by simply headlining the negative, as exemplified by the coverage of President Obama’s event in Belgrade. But what frightens me most is that the huge effort to defeat any meaningful reform of our broken healthcare/health insurance system goes beyond this one issue. In the words of today’s Democracy Now! guest Rep. Raul Grijalva, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, “that fear is being fed by a very organized, well-financed effort to undermine not only healthcare reform, but to begin to undermine any ability for this administration to get anything done by questioning the legitimacy of the President and, more importantly, by questioning the legitimacy of anything that remotely looks like a change of direction in this country.” So, yes, this direction frightens me. Am I submitting to my inferior self? I think the key word in Mencken’s quote is “permanent emotion,” and that is what we can all resist. First, I believe I must replace my fear with hope, and then I must act to replace others’ fear with hope wherever I can. Let us try to understand and communicate with those who are afraid of change and the Obama administration and confront — with love, compassion, and truth — their fears. Let us not consider them inferior (permanently afraid); rather let us reduce “the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable” to alleviate their fear. That means we all need facts at our fingertips to dispute the misinformation that is flying around. We can’t just chuckle at and agree with Barney Frank’s remark that having a conversation with someone who repeats such “vile, contemptible, nonsense” is like “trying to argue with a dining room table.” I know from experience how painful it can be to try to discuss issues with good friends or family with whom we disagree, but we must do it! Fear can paralyze or activate. Are we, too, afraid? Too afraid to act?

~Ethel MacDonald, JRPC Coordinating Council Member

Healing U.S. Health Care

Dear friends,

She had this sound advice earlier -”So how about in honor of the American solider you quit making things up”! We have other headlines that blare, “health care reform is on life support”. Some are shouting and jostling in town hall meetings to make their point. It seems socialism is an outcry to most solutions. Weather it is for economy, health care or other issues, Karl Marx is coming to town! We are loudly discussing health care with some “very creative” arguments from death panels to government intervention in your care. However, like private insurance policies, we cannot claim health care is an “existing condition” issue. It is also not clear why some argue health care reform is an Obama issue and not ours? He with the senators, congressmen, government employees and their families has the best healthcare. And they have you to thank for it! Twenty six percent of people in this country rely on taxpayer-supported health care and it will only increase with aging population. We have 9.4% unemployment today (compared to 4.9% in Dec 2007) and the uninsured (15%) numbers fluctuate wildly with the economy. Preventing coverage for existing condition or losing coverage is a constant threat. Most of us rely on our jobs for health insurance (53%). No wonder eighty percent of Americans want health care reform.

Our healthcare is indeed on life support with burgeoning costs and no real relation to better care. We spend 3 times more per person than most industrialized countries and our costs for healthcare eats up seventeen percent of GDP. So does the government really impede proper care or the private sector really serious in keeping your costs down? It seems the ones that are coming between you and proper health care reform are the pundits and politicians who seem to simplify complex issues or solutions with a strange chorus — “socialism”. If they mean “you have to earn it” and “everyone does not deserve health care”, then they are arguing our principles. Alternatively, if they are arguing free market solutions to reduce costs, this global market place will lean towards exporting or importing health care? For example our own medicines are much cheaper in Canada. If you want a hip or heart surgery, go to India or Mexico where the costs are less or provide visas to incoming medical professionals. They want us to believe in free market economy as a cure all. In reality our free market economy has examples like billions in agriculture subsidies to big agri-business, bloated defense expenses for cost plus contracts or bailout reckless behavior of big companies. Neither the government, nor the private enterprise has all the solutions. They both have drawbacks. Those scary interpretations of solutions need to be taken with a grain of salt. In the end “no reform” will mean paying more for less care.

We have what we build and we need to constantly work out the kinks. There are specific faults in health care or reform proposals, but no one claims it to be perfect either. People need to listen as well and come to an informed compromise. There is no, “either you are with me or against me” on this one. Health care reform is like any ad for a pill. They tell you how great it is in solving a problem, but side effects are a long list as well. Our initial goal should be to “fix it”, not “perfect it”. Let us start discussing great ideas from all sides. Between war, economy and health care we have many pills to swallow. And they are showing side effects, but there is no alternative to civil discourse. Civility and vigorous debate can happen at the same time. We need this more than ever.

Srini Mondava

Coordinating council Chair

Reducing/eradicating nuclear arsenals

Dear friends,

At 8:15 this morning a moment of silence was observed around the world in commemoration of the 64th year since the US bombed Hiroshima and later Nagasaki. The atom bombs we dropped in Japan ushered us into a new age of warfare where large scale destruction was not only possible, it was real. And it has remained an imminent threat. Many organizations and individuals have been working to rid the world of nuclear weapons since the realities unfolded in the 1940’s. And today for the first time in ten years, the Senate is again considering ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which failed to pass in 1999 because of fears that, without testing, we could neither maintain reliable weapons nor guarantee the compliance of other nations. Further, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, originally signed in 1982, and including nuclear weapons, will expire in December of this year, and talks are ongoing to negotiate a renewal and expansion of this treaty. Recent rejections of funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead is another sign of hope.

Clearly, we are poised to move closer to a world without nuclear weapons. But closer is not there. The Quinnipiac University in CA recently polled US voters and found that 61% believe the US was right in bombing Japan at the end of WWII – only one in five believe it was a mistake. Support is weaker but not low among young voters, women, minorities and Democrats. Even given this, A University of Maryland poll found that 84 percent of Americans supported the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’s requirement for total nuclear disarmament. We cannot remove the threat of nuclear war as long as post 9/11 fears spur the development of new weapons – including nuclear ones. And we cannot keep doing what we tell other countries they cannot do and expect a secure and peaceful world. As the Quinnipiac poll suggests, we will feel justified in using what is in our arsenal to respond to the threats we perceive around the world. In remembrance of those over 200 thousand who died 64 years ago this month at the hands of the world’s first nuclear bomb and the hundreds of thousands who died later and continued to suffer, let us educate ourselves about the issue and talk with our representatives. Friends Committee on National Legislation has some good background information and resources at www.fcnl.org/nuclear. Fold a crane, send it in a letter, engage in conversation and ask that we honor the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by making real progress to the day when we can say for certain, never again.

In memory,

Betsy

What is a “Good War”?

Dear friends,

Sen. Feingold may not look like Jeannette Rankin, but he has taken a courageous step in her shadow. I applaud him for his lone vote against the Lieberman amendment to the defense authorization bill. He stood up against it because it would mean expanding troops in Afghanistan (See the article from The Nation in the “Of Interest” section below). And thanks to Congressman Jim McGovern who put forward HB 2404 demanding an exit strategy for Afghanistan.

While many sit by and pay little heed to what is happening in Afghanistan because it is “the good war” – justified and necessary, the conflict there becomes more and more deadly. And what is a good war? When is it necessary? Which deaths are necessary? For eight years, Afghanistan has taken a back seat to Iraq, and now to Michael Jackson’s funeral, our demands for universal health care, and even my own need to start planning for the peace party. But peace can never really take a back seat. And war – even one that some argue is necessary – never does solve problems.

There are no easy answers or quick solutions, but we must continue to ask the questions and work to understand the options. Thank you Senator Feingold and Representative McGovern for reminding us, like our beloved Ms. Rankin, that peace takes courage and perseverance…

Betsy