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This is the outline of a talk I once gave at the FOR Peacemaker Training Institute.
FIRST, DO NO HARM (Hippocrates): consider consequences short term and long term, intended and otherwise.
EARTH FIRST/GAIA (Lovelock): the earth, its creatures and its elements are a single organism of interacting, interdependent parts; avoid tribalism, nationalism, classism.
PRACTICE RIGHT LIVELIHOOD (Buddha): avoid co-optation; avoid vested interests; overcome addiction and distraction; seek socially useful projects/employment/avocations
PROPERTY IS THEFT (Proudhon): own less; consume less; avoid debt; travel light
TRUST THE ROAD (EK): take risks; security is an illusion; get beyond the US & Western bubble
SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY (Thoreau): live simply so others may simply live (Gandhi)
SLOW IS BEAUTIFUL (Schumacher): speed kills; freedom is never having to be in a hurry; drive less – walk and bike more
BITE LESS, CHEW MORE: pace yourself; don’t over-extend; value quality over quantity
GOD IS IN THE DETAILS: be mindful; treat all work as craft
QUESTION AUTHORITY (Socrates): write pointed letters to the editor; resist the machine – avoid being a cog; access non-US and alternative media
NEITHER A LEADER NOR A FOLLOWER BE [EK]: subvert hierarchy; subvert patriarchy – no bosses here! avoid concentrating power
KEEP MEANS AND ENDS CONSISTENT (Gandhi): the personal is political; every act, every purchase, is a vote
RESIST MILITARISM: violence breeds violence
IF YOU WANT PEACE, WORK FOR JUSTICE (Pope Paul VI): peace without justice = structural violence
DON’T LIE…or fib: lying is covert violence
BUILD COMMUNITY: mend fences; don’t compete – cooperate; include others; care for the “least of our brethren” (Jesus)
Ed drew these points from many sources. Reach him at [email protected].
Holding Trump accountable for his illegal war on Iran
The devastating American and Israeli attacks have killed hundreds of Iranians, and the death toll continues to rise.
As independent media, what we do next matters a lot. It’s up to us to report the truth, demand accountability, and reckon with the consequences of U.S. militarism at this cataclysmic historical moment.
Trump may be an authoritarian, but he is not entirely invulnerable, nor are the elected officials who have given him pass after pass. We cannot let him believe for a second longer that he can get away with something this wildly illegal or recklessly dangerous without accountability.
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