Tag: Larry Bassett

Dear Mr. President., regarding those tax bills….

Posted on by kathiemm
Feed the people, not the Pentagon. Artist Roger Roth. Published courtesy of Larry Bassett.

Note from Kathie MM: It’s that time of year again. Just 12 months ago, I published a post by Larry Bassett entitled Ain’t gonna finance war no more — another effort in a long line of efforts to pursue peace and social justice rather than war and destruction.

April is upon us and most people, excluding the obscenely greedy at the top of the military industrial complex, are trying to be “good citizens” and pay their “obligations,” although  the vast majority probably have doubts about the fairness and integrity of the system.

So Larry is back, promoting reflection about what it all means, and sharing his tax return.

 

By Larry Bassett

Here is what I am sending them this year, a greeting card! No gift enclosed!

Here is the front of the card:

My tax return. April 17, 2018. By Larry Bassett.

And here is the back of the card:

Dedication to my parents.

 

 I had substantial federal taxes in 2016 and 2017 because of taxable income that I inherited from my father. In the past my resistance had been for much smaller amounts, and since I am retired with relatively low income I would usually owe no federal taxes. But I have seized this opportunity to redirect almost a quarter of a million dollars to good causes in several years. I believe the IRS will have a hard time collecting from me, but whatever they do they will not be able to undo the many people and organizations that I have helped. I am still trying to poke the bear since if the government ignores me my resistance has had limited impact. I resisted $130,000 last year and so far the IRS has sent me five letters and filed the usual tax lien. Maybe I will get their attention when the documentary about my WTR action is released. For more about that, go to The Pacifist Facebook page.

 

That’s not enough! Artist:
Roger Roth. Published courtesy of Larry Bassett.

 

 

 

 

 

 Note from Kathie MM:  It takes courage in today’s world to believe in and work for democracy, for human rights, for social justice, for ways to be ethical when constantly confronted by corruption.  What are your views on the ways in which Larry Bassett faces these challenges? I am sure all of Engaging Peace’s readers look for ways to make the world a better place.  Please share your stories with us.

The Pacifist

 

100 new peace activists, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

By Kathie Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella

Be not afraid!  You are not alone! There are thousands of advocates and activists across the world who are bringing conscience to the struggle for peace and justice. They are willing to endure the dangers of speaking for peace and justice, wherever human and legal rights are violated by people in power.

In the face of abuses and oppression, we recall the iconic peace and justice leaders of the past, including Mohatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Samuel Gompers, Caesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, Rachel Corrie, Philip & Daniel Berrigan, Glenn Paige, Hedy Epstein, and Malcom X. Peace advocates like these are testimony to the enduring human quest to resist oppression and to claim liberty, even when the cost is life itself.

This is the second list of living peace and justice advocates and activists we have compiled and published to celebrate Reverend Martin Luther King’s enduring contributions to peace and justice.

We are eternally grateful for Rev King’s efforts to free people and nations from the brutal oppressions of governments, nations, societies, organizations, and individuals who support racism, prejudice, violence, and war.

We have chosen to demonstrate our responsibilities and commitment to Rev King by identifying another 100 living peace and social justice leaders and models, starting with 50 new names. You will recognize many of the names, while others have not yet received the  attention they deserve. 

Please help us make the lists grow. The list will include emerging local community activists as well as some who have already attracted media attention. Although our current lists include mostly journalists and academics, we welcome people from other disciplines.  Please use the comment section at the end of this post to nominate a wider range of peace and justice activists.

  1. Abu-Nimr: Mohammad Abu-Nimr 
  2. Adams: Glenn Adams 
  3. Arbuthnot: Felicity Arbuthnot
  4. Arrigo: Jean Marie Arrigo
  5. Arredondo: Patricia Arredondo
  6. Awad: Murbarak Awad
  7. Baez: Joan Baez 
  8. Barber: Reverend William Barber 
  9. Barnat: Ilyad Barnat 
  10. Bassett: Larry Bassett
  11. Belle: Deborah Belle
  12. Bigombe: Betty Oyella Bigombe
  13. Blackmon-Lowery: Lynda Blackmon-Lowery
  14. Blume: Art Blume
  15. Bowen: Kevin Bowen
  16. Bretherton: Diane Bretherton
  17. Bryant: Brandon Bryant
  18. Burghardt: Tom Burghardt
  19. Cacciatori: Joanne Cacciatori
  20. Campos: Pam Campos
  21. Caputi: Ross Caputi
  22. Carruthers: Charlene Carruthers
  23. Chappell: Paul Chappell
  24. Chomsky: Avi Chomsky
  25. Chossudovsky: Michael Chossudovsky
  26. Christie: Daniel Christie
  27. Clark: Ramsey Clark
  28. Connolly: David Connelly
  29. Cox: Lynell Cox
  30. D’Andrea: Michael D’Andrea
  31. Dunbar: Edward Dunbar
  32. Correia: Antone De’Jaun Correia  
  33. Degirmencioglu: Serdar Degirmencioglu
  34. Drake: Thomas A. Drake
  35. Fihn:  Beatrice Fihn
  36. Finklestein: Norman Finklestein
  37. Flowers: Margaret Flowers
  38. Fox: Matthew Fox
  39. Furtado: Michael Furtado
  40. Gagnon: Bruce K. Gagnon
  41. Giffords: Gabrielle Giffords
  42. Gillotti, Michael Gillotti
  43. Goldberg: Whoopi Goldberg
  44. Green: Paula Green
  45. Hall: Mitchell K. Hall
  46. Handwerker: Steven E. Handwerker
  47. Haney: Craig Haney
  48. Hazare: Anna Hazare
  49. Hines: Denise Hines 
  50. Jackson-Lowman: Huberta Jackson-Lowman

This is a somewhat condensed version of a post that appeared today on Transcend Media Services.  Part 2 will appear 2/19/2018 on this blog.

Ain’t Gonna Finance War No More!

Posted on by kathiemm
Larry Bassett and his mother in front of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, 1985.

by Larry Bassett

I have happily just passed the nine-month mark of my first year of massive resistance. I mark this new beginning of my life on June 11 with the death of my father and with my commitment to redirect as much of my inheritance as possible to make a better world.

Dad left me $1 million with instructions to distribute about half of it to grandchildren and great grandchildren and special others. I did that and set to work on my half.

My commitment to civil disobedience in honor of my mother who became a criminal for peace in her later years is acted out in my case with war tax resistance. I will resist the $128,005 I owe in federal income tax next month. I will have donated more than that amount to meet human needs internationally and nationally and locally.

To honor my father and mother, I am trying to do as they did many times in their lives in trying to directly help the less fortunate. They were brave and compassionate by giving money and offering a place to stay in their home and loaning other personal goods.

My parents found that helping others was not always free of risk. People who were ill and without resources sometimes took advantage of them. But my parents knew that they had much and others had little.

Since I live in the Internet age, I have had a much broader range of people in need. While I have given to many charities, I have also tried in a very small way to help some individuals in Haiti and Kenya and Uganda who had little compared to me, who had been left with so much by my father.

My effort with individuals has taught me a lot about the desperation of poverty. I have often remembered my first job out of college working with the poor in Pontiac, Michigan. Back then I came to the conclusion that what the poor need most is money. So when I found the international charity GiveDirectly that gives cash to the extremely impoverished in East Africa, I knew I had found an Organization that I wanted to support significantly.

My mother once spent 30 days in jail for merely “crossing the line” at a plant in Michigan that produced a part of a missile. What she learned from that experience was that the women who shared her jail cell were poor and black. She learned that the justice system needed reform.

The government learned and continues to learn that the biggest result of putting peace and justice people in jail is that they are creating people who diligently work to change the system.

I do not know what the justice system will do when I refuse to pay my federal taxes in April. I am a little bit scared of what they might do just as I was scared in 1985 when they took me to court. But sometimes as my parents knew, and as they taught me by their example. you have to do what you have to do.

As I write this post, I am remembering her and my father with pride just as they were proud of me back then.

Larry Bassett is a peace activist and son of peace activists; he has worked for the Conscience and Military Tax Campaign (CMTC), National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC), and National Campaign for a Peace Tax Campaign (NCPTF  You can learn more about him at facebook.  To read the story of his successful confrontation with the IRS, go here  To read an inspiring set of quotes that he has assembled regarding war, peace, government, humanity, etc., go here .