Tag: 99%

Gratitude on Thanksgiving

Posted on by patdaniel

Today, Thanksgiving Day, 2011, we are thankful that we did not grow up in a country that deals daily with armed conflict on its own territory. We are glad that we have been sheltered from bombs, terror, and torture.

First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie A. Brownscombe
First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie A. Brownscombe. Image in public domain

We also are thankful to be activists during an era when activism is growing around the world–activism aimed at ending economic inequality, social injustice, and costly and wasteful wars. We are grateful for the U.S. Bill of Rights and Constitution that protect our rights to activism and free speech.

We are thankful to be part of the 99% who are recognizing that we can have a voice, that we need to speak out against those members of the 1% who have gained so much control over the lives of ordinary peace-loving, justice-seeking people around the world.

We feel a rush of happiness seeing a police captain join the Occupy Wall Street movement and speak out against ruthless militarism in fellow wearers of the badge. (See story and video about retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis  arrested at OWS).

We feel pride and intensified optimism when we hear a veteran speak out against the tragic wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. For example, see the great new essay by Ross Caputi, a frequent contributor to this blog.

Please join us in being grateful for all people of conscience who resist war and other forms of inhumanity. Enjoy the celebration on this video or this one.

And check out the New York Times article about the benefits of gratitude, including mention of a research study showing “…that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked…”  Perhaps gratitude provides a path to world peace.

Finally, we are grateful for you, dear readers of Engaging Peace, for your comments, your stories, your commitment to peace in your own lives and work.

Please submit your own comments about what you are grateful for this Thanksgiving Day.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology, and Pat Daniel, Managing Editor of Engaging Peace

Veterans and the Occupy movements

Posted on by kathiemm

Tomorrow, Friday November 11, 2011, is Veterans Day in the United States, and for many it will be a holiday. Unfortunately, as has often been true historically, veterans in America are not doing well. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates and suicides among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are skyrocketing. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycDZFKNAHEM .)

KMM at Iraq War Vets at Occupy Boston
Kathie Malley-Morrison visits the Iraq War Vets tent at Occupy Boston. Photo by Dan Goodwin, used by permission.

Although these wars have generated huge profits for corporations like Lockheed Martin, veterans can have a very difficult time obtaining the benefits that were promised when they enlisted.

In these financially troubling times, perhaps it should not be surprising that many people in power are arguing that veterans are not entitled to all of their entitlements.

It should not be surprising, then, that many veterans groups, like much of organized labor, are very attracted to the movements to Occupy…Wall Street, Boston, Tampa, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Burlington….the list goes on and on, in the US and beyond.

Most veterans are probably well down near the bottom of the 99% of our society who are suffering from current political policies and economic inequality.

It is not benefits to veterans, all of whom have probably been wounded in one way or another, that have caused the economic problems in this country. It is the bankers and war profiteers, the speculators, the fraction of the 1% at the top for whom profits are king and other lives are dispensable.

Probably the greatest barrier to peace is that many of the people in power have not figured out how to profit from it.

A recent Pew Research Center poll (see report at http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/Pew-Military-Report.pdf  ) finds that 1 in 3 post 9-11 veterans view the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as a waste. What is your view? Where and how can you express it?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

But early morning (Occupy Boston, part 2)

Posted on by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: This is Part 2 of our guest post from  John Hess of UMass/Boston, reporting on Occupy Boston.]

Occupy Boston signs of freedom and the movement
Photo by Twp. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 unported license.

When you hear chants like “How do you solve the deficit? End the wars and tax the rich!” and “They got bailed out, we got sold out,” you are in the company of people with a very good understanding of the current situation–neatly summed up in the chant “We are the 99%!”

Where all this will lead, we don’t yet know.  But there seems to be a growing wave of discontent that first showed itself in Wisconsin. I read that demonstrations of support for Occupy Wall Street have occurred in over 100 cities and that mini-occupations like Occupy Boston are spreading, even to Europe.

What drives this movement is clear to me:  it’s common sense based on the obvious fact that most of us are not being treated fairly by this economy, this social system.  We work when we can get a job, but are not properly rewarded.

Reports show that real incomes for most Americans have dropped significantly since the recession officially ended.  Education (coupled with hard work) has been the traditional path to a better life for most Americans, yet educational costs are now staggering.

My university, UMass Boston, has seen state funding drop from some 77% of the budget in 1985 to around 26% this year.  The shortfall has been made up by heavily increased student fees, which are now over $9,000 of the approximately $12,000 it costs in-state students to attend our commuter school.  Why?  In large part because we will not tax the rich or the corporations. (I have been told that the head of GE pays less income tax than his personal assistant.  Even if he doesn’t, I’ll bet he doesn’t pay much.)

There is much cause for optimism.  A generation, no, a nation, seems finally to be waking up, even though it is but early morning and we are still rubbing the sleep from our eyes.  Maybe another slap of cold water will bring us fully awake to seize the new day that is dawning.

John Hess, Senior Lecturer in English and American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston