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Since world public opinion now favors democratic means,
I believe the time has come for the people of the world
to unite in establishing institutions of global democracy.
The evolution of education and the ability to communicate
almost instantly with technology anywhere on the Earth
enables us to organize ourselves in this global village.
So many problems which the nations have failed to solve
cry out for responsible decisions from global institutions
that can represent the interests of all the people on Earth
as well as those who will come after us in the future.
First, humanity demands that human rights be protected
in every country of the world regardless of social system.
Second, military disarmament will probably not be secure
until there is a world authority that people and nations
can respect and rely on to act in the best interests of all
without allowing favoritism to any ethnic group or nation.
Third, economic relationships need to be based on justice
rather than military power and exploitation by the wealthy.
Fourth, big decreases in military spending will enable
every society to provide better education and health care
for all their people in the best way they see fit locally.
Fifth, the environmental crises require world cooperation
so that comprehensive solutions can be implemented globally.
Also the prevention of wars will help humanity and nature.
Sixth, at the same time world institutions can protect
and allow various social groups to express themselves freely
so that the rich cultural diversity of peoples can flourish.
Seventh, when such global peace and harmony is nurtured,
when everyone works together in a fair and just economy
so that all are relatively well educated and healthy,
and the creatures of the Earth are respected and sustained,
giving future generations a safe home environment,
then personal and social enlightenment will bloom everywhere
and bear much fruit in the arts, humanities and sciences
that a great spiritual renaissance as never seen before
will turn this planet into a paradise with knowledge
and a marvelous school for souls to learn more about
the nature of creation in relative comfort and ease.
Sanderson Beck, "A Plea for Love" (1992)
I was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1947 and had a happy
and peaceful childhood growing up in the Pacific Palisades.
My
parents were Republicans, and I had a conservative upbringing.
When I was a freshman at the University of California at Berkeley,
I participated in the earliest phase of the Free Speech Movement
that was led by Mario Savio in 1964.
The Dean of Women had made
a rule that literature could
no longer be passed out on the edge
of campus.
Nonviolent student protests eventually resulted in
opening up
the entire campus to this First Amendment right.
At
first I wanted to study psychology and political science,
but
I did not like the way the course in each I took was taught.
I
decided to major in Dramatic Art, because I wanted to study life,
motivation,
and
emotions as well as theories, and it was more
experiential than most academic subjects.
I believed very strongly
in freedom, and during the summer of 1967
I did an independent
study, reading just about everything written by Jean-Paul Sartre.
After I graduated in December of that year, I continued right
on in graduate school.
As a graduate student I no longer had a deferment from the
draft.
I knew I could not go into the military, because
I would
not give up my freedom to such an organization.
Although I had
little religious background,
I decided to apply for Conscientious
Objector status.
When I was 16, I had started reading the Bible;
but I got bogged down in Chronicles.
Now I began with the New Testament and was impressed with Jesus in the Gospels.
I read the Portable World Bible and other existential philosophers
such as Ortega y Gasset and Friedrich Nietzsche.
I was drawn to
Eastern philosophy and was so overwhelmed by
Lao-zi's Dao De
Jing that I used that as the basis for my conscientious objection
to war.
Although I had been raised to compete and strive in sports,
to be an Eagle Scout,
and get good grades, I responded very deeply
to this peaceful philosophy of not striving.
During the summer
of 1968 I was doing research to write a screenplay
on Phaedra
and discovered the Minoan civilization.
While radicals were rebelling
against the police in the streets,
I was being pulled up to spiritual
ideas.
I did not like the riots and decided to leave Berkeley.
I came back on a weekend in October and on a peace march met friends
from my high school who gave me a ride to Santa Barbara,
where
I enrolled in the Religious Studies program at UCSB.
There I was lucky to find a roommate, Venustiano Olguin, who
had worked closely
with Cesar Chavez and came to UCSB to study
nonviolence and Gandhi.
I was to give a presentation to the seminar
of Mircea Eliade on the same day
I was called before my draft
board in Westwood.
I asked for an extension; it was denied, and
I appealed.
In the spring I met Bishop James Pike,
who broke bread
with us after a one-day fast for peace.
Finally in December 1969
I told the draft board that
I could not hurt another human being, because we are all one.
I said I had never been in a fight in
my life.
I was granted Conscientious Objector status.
As I was
having mystical experiences and no longer had financial support
for my studies from my parents, I decided to give up all my possessions
and dedicate my life to God through the Christ,
which I believe
is a divine energy in us all.
At that time I met John-Roger, who
had founded the
Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA)
and
called himself the Mystical Traveler Consciousness.
His ability
to soul travel and help people spiritually amazed me.
I had taken
some psychedelic drugs, but in June 1970 I decided
to give those
up for good and have not taken any illegal drugs since.
I completed my Masters degree in Religious Studies in June
1971,
and the next year
I was ordained a minister by John-Roger
through the office of the Christ.
In Los Angeles I was very active
in MSIA, co-authored and directed a musical comedy,
and served
on the ministerial board for two years.
I founded a spiritual
university called the University of the Golden Age (UGA),
co-edited
and published Across the Golden Bridge
about 62 people's
experiences in MSIA,
taught philosophy in community colleges,
wrote and had published
Living In God's Holy Thoughts,
and went to UCLA
for a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Education.
In
1976 I began teaching at the World University in Ojai.
After I
wrote a 500-page dissertation on Confucius and Socrates,
my faculty
committee at UCLA sabotaged my thesis
because of my spiritual
philosophy and wholistic approach,
deciding I had to do it over
their way.
I decided to complete my Ph.D. in Philosophy at World
University,
and I moved to Ojai in 1979.
When President Carter reacted to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
with more militarization, I became very concerned and wrote him
a letter.
I began teaching courses at World University in world
peace
and Gandhi's nonviolence as well as in philosophy, religion,
and psychology.
After translating the Gospels from Greek
and putting together a book on the soul,
I began researching and
writing The Way to Peace, which became the 282-page book
that has been replaced by this much longer revision under a new
title.
I was horrified by the policies of Ronald Reagan
and began
to consider the need for civil disobedience.
I was only earning
$400 a month but lived simply,
though I collected a library of
used books.
In the summer of 1981 I was called before the MSIA
ministerial board,
because I had offered $25 donation instead
of the expected $125
for their ministerial training seminar.
I
raised the issue of civil disobedience because John-Roger had
said
that ministers should obey all the laws.
The board did not
think that was important,
and they revoked my ministerial credential
for being too poor.
In September 1981 I read in the Los Angeles Times about
the nonviolent action
to stop the nuclear power plant at Diablo
Canyon.
I took the nonviolence training at the camp, joined an
affinity group,
and the next day was arrested for the first time.
The men were put in an old gymnasium for more than a week,
and
I found the experience very instructive and inspiring.
In 1982
I worked on the campaign to freeze nuclear weapons and had
a letter
complaining about the Cold War mentality of Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger printed in the Los Angeles Times.
I attended
a World Federalist conference,
PSR's forum on the medical consequences
of nuclear war and other peace activities.
I started a networking
organization called the World Peace Movement,
formulating and
printing in a brochure the following Principles, Purposes, and
Methods:
Principles
1. The earth is one world, and its human beings must learn
to live in peace with each other or perish.
2. The human race is one and interdependent;
the good of each depends on the good of all
and our love for each other.
3. The way of love and peace is nonviolent
and does not hurt anyone.
4. The uniting power of love, peace, and friendship
is stronger than the divisive strife of hatred, war, and enmity.
5. The conversion of a hostile and militaristic world
into a peaceful global society is primarily an educational process
of changing consciousness from fear, suspicion, and mistrust
to love, confidence, and trust in the human capacity
to solve problems, cooperate, and establish justice.
6. Every human being has the equal right
to life, liberty, security, and justice.
7. Respect for individual freedom and dignity requires
the protection of all human rights
by means of a universal system of justice.
8. Justice in human affairs evolves through democratic means
and due process of law.
9. The use of force is justified only when a legal authority,
designated by consent of the people,
is required to restrain and bring to justice a violator of the law.
10. A law enforcement official has legal authority only
within the territory of the people who designate that official.
No nation has the sovereign right to use any force
outside its national borders.
11. War, the use of force outside one's territory,
the threat to use such force,
and the sale or transfer of military weapons outside one's territory
should be prohibited by international law.
12. International wars and internal oppression of human rights
are allowed to occur because there is no enforceable world law.
13. Enforceable world law and justice may be established
by instituting a democratically elected federal world government
to protect human rights and solve international disputes
through a compulsory system of jurisprudence.
14. In a federal world government each nation would maintain
sovereignty over its own internal affairs,
except that the federal world government
would have legal authority to protect human rights
and settle international disputes.
15. Education, communication, democratic process,
and nonviolent protest of wrongs are the purest
and most effective means of social reform.
Peace and justice are attained only by peaceful and just means.
16. Biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons
are so horrendously deadly to people
and damaging to the environment for such long periods of time
that only deluded minds seriously contemplate their use.
17. Belief in deterrence of war
by massive armaments and nuclear weapons
is based on fear, suspicion, mistrust, and insecurity;
this weapons policy perpetuates
more fear, suspicion, mistrust, and insecurity in the world.
18. Those people who have moral courage and faith
in the justice of their economic and political philosophies
and in the nonviolent social change of democratic processes
will support enforceable world law
instead of massive national armaments.
19. Huge expenditures on massive armaments of destruction
are a colossal waste of human and material resources,
causing poverty, inflation, and a lowering of the quality of life.
Such resources could otherwise be used for
improvement of the environment,
food production and distribution,
education, health, and other beneficial purposes.Purposes
1. To awaken the inner peace that dwells in the hearts of all beings.
2. To create the consciousness of world peace
and to foster friendship and harmony among all people.
3. To promote and protect the human rights of all people,
regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status, as delineated in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.
4. To assure international justice and universal human rights
by developing ways to preserve them,
such as a federal world government,
democratically elected by all the people of the earth,
with a world court of justice having compulsory jurisdiction
to decide all cases of international disputes
and violations of world law and human rights,
and with a world peacekeeping force
of individuals from all countries
who would be dedicated to the whole of humanity
and who would enforce world law
and the decisions of the world court of justice
by the most peaceful means possible.
5. To achieve disarmament and the total elimination of
all biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in the entire world.
6. To purify and maintain a clean
and ecologically balanced environment
for our health and prosperity and for future generations.
7. To alleviate poverty and hunger, and to improve the health,
education, and living conditions of all people on earth.
8. To encourage all schools from the primary grades
to the university to offer peace education from a global perspective.Methods
1. To live peacefully and lovingly as examples to all.
2. To educate ourselves and others by every means
to increase awareness of the oneness of life,
the interdependence of all beings,
the ecological unity of the environment,
the way of love and nonviolence,
and the urgent need for transnational attitudes,
programs, and institutions for the sake of mutual survival.
3. To communicate by every means the truth
and the facts which reveal and nourish world peace.
4. To pray and meditate and expand the consciousness of peace.
5. To respect and nurture human rights
with tolerance and understanding.
6. To refrain from contributing to the preparations
and activities of war and from hostile and aggressive attitudes.
7. To protest nonviolently against oppression, militarism,
nuclear weapons, pollution, and violations of human rights.
8. To work for the total elimination of
biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in every country.
9. To promote and practice world citizenship,
and to work to organize a world constitutional convention
to plan the democratic institution of a federal world government.
10. To use all human wisdom, sciences, and technologies
in developing and purifying the environment,
eradicating hunger and sickness in all countries,
and making global education available to all people.
11. To communicate closely with all peace organizations
and dedicated peace workers
to facilitate the forming of a united worldwide network
to bring about the establishment of world peace.
In January 1983 I participated with the Vandenberg Action Coalition
in an occupation
of Vandenberg Air Force Base to protest the upcoming
testing of the MX missile,
a destabilizing first-strike weapon
capable of destroying ten Soviet missiles.
Defense expert Herbert
Scoville had stated that the MX missile would not deter
a Soviet
attack but would give them an incentive to launch their missiles
on warning.
About two hundred of us were given letters banning
and barring us from the base, and we were released.
The next month
I was arrested in Orange County in
an action organized by the
Los Angeles Catholic Worker.
I cited out of jail so that I could
moderate a panel discussion at the
Mind-Body-Spirit Festival on
Nuclear Disarmament with
Daniel Ellsberg, Danaan Parry, Richard
Moss, and Yogi Bhajan.
In March about eight hundred of us were
arrested at Vandenberg, and most stayed
in custody in solidarity
with those of us who had been banned before.
Most of the men were
put in the gym at the Lompoc prison camp, and the experience
was
similar to Diablo Canyon with many educational and entertaining
activities.
I had written a letter to Col. Farney warning him and the base
that they were
violating international law, and I quoted the Nuremberg
Principles.
In May at a long meeting taken up mostly with people
reflecting on the previous action,
I was able to get the Vandenberg
Action Coalition to approve a letter
I wrote to President Reagan,
declaring that unless the US Congress stopped all funding
for
the MX missile, there would be a nonviolent occupation of Vandenberg
AFB.
I signed the letter, and copies were sent to every member
of Congress
and to major newspapers and media networks.
I insisted
on my right to be tried by a federal judge
and represented myself
in the trial at Los Angeles.
Ironically, Judge A. Wallace Tashima
would not let my expert witness,
Dr. Jimmy Hara testify on the
effects of nuclear weapons,
because he would not allow the defense
of necessity nor international law.
However, his attitude seemed
to soften during the one-day trial,
and he did not sentence me
to any more time in prison.
The lawyer Leon Vickman was challenging
the legality of nuclear weapons
in the Provisional District World
Court and asked to add my case to his suit; I agreed.
My action
was also defended by the legal opinions
of Dr. T. P. Amerasinghe
from Sri Lanka and A. B. Patel of India.
Meanwhile we organized a local group to protest the testing
of cruise missiles
at the Point Mugu Naval Base; a cruise missile
had even crashed in the national forest near Ojai.
In the San
Francisco Bay area the Livermore Action Group declared June 20,
1983
International Day of Nuclear Disarmament; so we planned our
action for that day.
The US Government used this opportunity to
begin testing the MX missile in mid-June,
and so only about forty
people were arrested at Vandenberg then.
After much preparation
eleven of us blocked traffic
going into the Pt. Mugu base on June
20.
We stayed outside the federal property line so that we would
be given a jury trial.
Later it was discovered that they had painted
the line in the wrong place,
and so those charges were dropped
so that we could be
tried without a jury by a federal magistrate.
We were found guilty, but sentencing was delayed.
On August 6
several people began a water fast for life to stop the nuclear
arms race.
In solidarity I fasted on juices and ended my fast
when they did after forty days.
On the 28th day of the fast I
was arrested in the office of Congressman Lagomarsino,
who refused
to see me; but I was not prosecuted.
In October 1983 there was a world-wide effort to stop the deployment
of the cruise missiles in Europe, and that was the weekend that
the Reagan administration chose to invade Grenada.
I joined the
action at El Segundo organized by the
Los Angeles Catholic Worker and the Alliance for Survival.
In the Los Angeles jail I was badly
treated for refusing to submit to a chest x-ray.
The elderly Glafko
Sikelianos (son of a famous Greek poet) and I pleaded not guilty
and represented ourselves in a jury trial.
Although the judge
and most of the jury were African Americans
they did not really
seem to understand the ideas and methods of Martin Luther King.
Refusing probation, Glafko and I were sentenced to 120 days for
trespassing.
After a month in jail the lawyer Doug Booth got us
a sentence modification hearing,
and later our sentences were
suspended.
We both went back and had to serve two-thirds of our
21-day sentences
in the Ventura County jail for the Pt. Mugu action.
I was moved by the support we got at the sentencing hearings,
and the time in jail was easily spent reading.
I had appealed
my Vandenberg case to the federal circuit court of appeals;
but
I was not allowed to present oral arguments,
because I was in
jail on these other cases.
I wrote a short book called IRENE:
Realizing World Peace
and had 2,000 copies printed in March
1985.
The vision of how we can bring about a peaceful world
is
expressed in rhymed couplets.
When angels do descend to Earth, they call,
"Let there be peace on earth, good will to all."
Relating so, they know the way that's best:
In living love the sacred heart is blessed.
Can human beings find that clear purity
In using love for our security?
Can we with our intelligent good will
Bring healing to a troubled world that's ill?
When what is best the people truly know,
They feel and think, and then they make it so.
Each person does what she believes is right
For her to do by her own inner light.
People don't act on what they know is wrong;
They love something to which they want to belong.
But if we don’t love what is truly good,
Then we don’t know the way we really could.
Our love depends on whether we're aware,
Because we give ourselves to where we care.
Thus when we act by this limitation,
The consequences bring education.
Humans evolve and learn through interaction,
Always seeking inner satisfaction.
For all to take responsibility,
Becoming wise with full ability,
Would bring to our society new birth,
A living paradise set up on Earth.
Ignorant abuses must be prevented
By institutions global now invented,
For clearly people are not angels yet,
So every need and problem must be met.
To learn and grow without hurting others
We all must love our sisters and brothers.
With all on earth as one big family
Our differences we can settle happily,
For common needs and wants are similar;
Our hopes and dreams are so familiar.
To survive as a civilization
Changes must come in one generation.
Our greed, intolerance, oppression, and fear
Will not just magically disappear,
But we can awaken greater love, sharing,
Communication, justice, and caring
By working all together for the whole
Of the world and the good of each soul.
We'll find a way to govern the nations,
Preventing war's cruel abominations
With effective global law and government
Protecting human rights, environment,
Democracy, and due process of law,
With peace and dignity the prophets saw.To find out where a peaceful world leads
Let's start with just the basic human needs.
Everyone surely wants to breathe fresh air
And drink the water that is clean and clear.
All people want to have enough to eat,
With adequate shelter, clothing, and heat.
If we want a peaceful world of wealth,
It must be based on every person's health,
For who would want to live with pollution
When in our hands there is a solution?
World, national, and local government
Can monitor the whole environment
To keep the water and the food chain pure
To prevent diseases as well as cure.
All natural resources we can share
If we discover systems that are fair.
Every local culture can grow their foods
To be supplemented by trading goods.
Less land will be taken for raising meat
So that crops can be grown for all to eat.Now no one wants to be killed in a war
Or be facing nuclear weapons in horror.
We won't allow the military to kill
Civilians innocent of any bad will,
And those who work in defense industries
Will surely rather earn their salaries
For doing useful and constructive tasks
That answer calmly when the conscience asks,
"Am I contributing to peace and life,
Or does the work I do fuel greater strife?"
The sale of weapons we must not permit
To any country; we would challenge it.
No military aid or troops must go
Outside a nation's borders, and although
We must enforce the laws that keep us free
It must be by the right authority.
No nation has the sovereign right to be
A police force in some other country.
International laws can only be
Correctly served by world legality.
Certainly people want to feel secure
Aware that laws and police will assure
Us all that criminals are apprehended
When human rights violations are intended,
And people want their law courts to be fair,
Protecting the accused's rights everywhere.
People want their freedom of expression
Of art and speech, writing, and religion.
Within these broad and universal rights
Let social groups each live by their own lights.If all the world’s peoples want these things,
And since we have the technical means, that brings
Us to the social and political
Questions of how to make our ideals real.
How can we organize society
To fill all needs and safeguard liberty?
When people have become aware of what
Is best for all and have found the ways that
Will work to make our dream be manifest,
Then we will see that it was all a test
For us to grow in love for all mankind
And understand the universal mind.
If we’re to live peacefully together,
Then we must learn to trust in each other
And have faith that human institutions
Can work for us to find real solutions.
If we will work for social improvement,
We can magnify our enlightenment.
And thus the values that we’ve seen above---
Peace, health, prosperity, human rights, and love---
Require major political revision;
Now look into the future for this vision:The basic needs of all are being filled;
There is no war, and none are being killed,
Because the people of the world agreed
That desperate problems created the need
To form a democratic federal
World government that would represent all.
Every person may vote in elections.
World laws and courts provide the protections
For human rights, ecology, and peace.
The living standard is on the increase
Among the poor and middle class persons,
Disarmament prospering conversions.
Once a sufficient number of people learned
That change and social justice can be earned
By using methods that are nonviolent,
We no longer were fearful and silent
In facing up to violent repression,
But started acting to remove oppression.
Our moral power from an inner source
Was not intimidated by threat of force.
Nuclear weapons soon became useless,
Because immoral threats were powerless.
No nation could maintain or justify
Its genocidal weapons with a lie.
The treaties on nuclear disarmament
Agreed upon by every government
Proved that peaceful judicial processes
Can replace large military forces,
When backed by strong and active moral will
That’s pure and free of any threat to kill.
Humanity’s concern for its safety
And for the long-standing misery
Of poor people and the environment
Inspired a democratic government
To form based on a world constitution
To keep the peace and find a solution.
Peacekeeping forces loyal to the world
Constitution enforce the law of world
Authority, replacing the nations’
Military forces’ occupations.
Threat of invasion has become so slight
That now the nations have no need to fight.
Disputes receive the world court’s decision,
Which is accepted by world opinion.
Our technical and human resources,
Lost before on military forces,
Are now directed to food production
Throughout the world with good distribution,
Environmental cleanup and health care,
Renewing energy for all to share,
Providing everyone education,
Inspiring arts, and communication.
Nuclear power plants have been removed
As natural technologies improved.
While every person’s basic needs are met,
There still are ways for those who wish to get
More money, if we work a little more,
Take jobs less popular or needing more
Training, creating value we can sell
To other people, if we do it well.
Most people now pursue education,
Spiritual growth and celebration;
We play in sports and learn new crafts and arts,
But most of all we share with open hearts.
There still are difficulties day to day,
But now they’re handled in a humane way.
The few convicted criminals receive
True rehabilitation to relieve
The circumstances that did cause their plight,
Instead of punishment which isn’t right.
The difference between the past and now
Is that the good in people has learned how
To use its power to prevent nations
From using armies and corporations
To exploit people, violate their rights,
And dominate their lives with strife and fights.
But now society is much more fair,
For everyone is learning how to share
And help the struggling with some special care
So that everyone can be more aware.
Then I diagnosed the many causes
of wars such as population pressures, eating of meat,
tribal hunting,
territoriality, male dominance, military organization, warrior
elites, honor,
religious conflicts, weapons technology, the nuclear
arms race, superpower rivalry,
a military economy, psychological
factors, masculine aggression, ambition for power,
belief in deterrence,
competition, apathy and despair, and various other current problems.
Then I gave a prognosis, describing the tendencies since the reaction
to the dramatic
events of 1979, when the conflicts with Muslims
over Middle-Eastern oil
accelerated as did the superpower arms
race.
The elections of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan made
the 1980s
dangerous from the hostile policies of these western
powers.
I examined the current political trends with the wars
in the Middle East
and Central America and the nuclear arms race.
The current economic trends were also short-sighted.
In the last section of the book called "Healing"
I described
how I believed we could bring about world peace.
I
suggested that a popular peace movement
could change the policies
of their governments
to reverse the arms race and end the wars,
and Green politics could begin healing the Earth and society.
I prophesied that Europe would remove all their nuclear weapons
and become a nuclear-free zone.
I predicted that West and East
Germans would unify into one nation,
followed later by the reunification
of the Koreas as Asia was also demilitarized.
A Pan-African movement
would also throw off military support.
The Scandinavian countries
would lead the way by showing how a balance
of some socialism
and a free market can work well.
Corporate profits would be taxed
to help to improve the environment,
and as society became more
efficient and less materialistic,
the work week could be reduced
gradually from forty hours to 24 hours or less.
Eventually as disarmament proceeded, the people of the world
would join together to form a democratic government to resolve
international disputes and protect human rights everywhere.
A
World Assembly would be elected by the people to make world law
and nine presidents from North America, Latin America, Europe,
Africa, North Asia,
West Asia, India, China, and East Asia would
be elected to the World Executive Counci
to make sure that world
law was enforced by an International Peacekeeping Service.
Each
president would appoint one justice to the World Court of Justice.
So far only a small part of this has actually happened;
but I
believe that something like the rest will occur if we are to survive.
I mailed a copy of IRENE
to about 1,300 peace organizations,
more than two hundred of them
outside of North America.
When I heard about the Great Peace March, I went down
to Los
Angeles to talk to them about their plans.
I was aghast at how
naïve they were about the processes
needed to keep a moving
city of 5,000 functioning well.
Apparently the staff expected
to give the orders and that everyone would just obey.
One person
even said to me, "What is there for them to decide? They
can't not march."
They wanted each marcher to raise $1,000.
I decided that if I was going to have to raise more money (after
sending out IRENE)
that
it would be for my book The Way to Peace, which I published
in 1986.
By the end of the year I had decided to go on my own peace
tour in 1987,
and I sent out a mailing to more than three thousand
peace groups in the 140 cities
on my itinerary from April to November
and to about 300 Unitarian ministers.
My strategy was to influence
the policies of the candidates running for President
so that we
could elect someone who would go along
with the enlightened proposals
of Gorbachev.
I drew up a "Peace by 2000" petition that
asked politicians to work
for a plan of complete nuclear disarmament
by that year.
I hoped that each peace group would make copies
of the petition and circulate them.
I also included an article
of about 5,000 words called "Will We Make Peace in 1989?"
that described the current issues and how I believed we could
solve them.
The mailing also contained the brochure on the World
Peace Movement
Principles, Purposes, and Methods, a local news
article about my peace efforts,
and my schedule so that they would
know when I would be in their city.
I received about thirty responses
to this mailing
offering to arrange some event for my visit.
Except when I spent a few days in a big city,
I traveled nearly
every day except on Sundays.
I kept a peace journal that I wrote
in about once a week,
summarizing the contacts that I made, what
I learned about their activities,
and what we worked on together.
At the beginning I spent extra time in San Francisco
preparing
for a large mobilization rally in April.
Then I proceeded up the
coast to Seattle.
In Great Falls, Montana 22 peace groups had
gathered to hear me speak.
I managed to contact the most active
peace workers
in each city and gave out the materials, sold a
few books,
and cooperated as best I could with whatever they were
doing.
After crossing South Dakota I went down to
Little Rock
for the Unitarians General Assembly.
Then I went to Oklahoma and
turned north.
In Dubuque I was able to speak to Michael Dukakis,
who claimed he was converted to disarmament,
and in Des Moines I talked briefly to Joe Biden, who actually said
I would be in
trouble if he were elected.
From Minnesota I went east across
the Midwest to New England.
In New York I picked up copies of
my new book LIFE AS A WHOLE:
Principles of Education Based on a Spiritual Philosophy of Love,
but I did not sell many copies of that on the rest of my tour.
I met every person in the Plowshares 8 except Carl Kabat, who
was in prison.
I attended the Atlantic Life Community retreat
in Pennsylvania and went to
a trial in Virginia, where some from
Jonah House were convicted.
In Washington Senator Jesse Helms
invited me into the Senators elevator
which gave me the chance
to warn him that a vote for aid to the Contras
is a crime according
to the Nuremberg Principles.
I also found that there were fine
peace activists
in the deep South, though not as many.
Miami was
the only city where I was warned that
peace bumper stickers could
be dangerous for your car.
I stayed with people wherever I went
and never had difficulty finding hospitality.
I stayed in several
Catholic Worker houses.
I found that most of the active peace
workers were generous and kind
although they were often financially
poor.
Those in smaller cities tended to be more friendly,
and
some of the more sophisticated were not too helpful.
At St. Mary's
University in San Antonio I was their featured speaker
during
their conference on conflict resolution.
On my last stop in Las
Vegas I was arrested at the test site;
but everyone was released
without any consequences.
When I returned home to Ojai, I had
just enough money
to pay off the debt for publishing LIFE
AS A WHOLE.
I had met with about six hundred peace groups
and stayed in 130 cities.
When I visited the Walnut Creek Peace Center on my tour,
Chuck
Goodmacher told me that they were planning
Nuremberg Actions to
block the trains at Concord
that were taking weapons to Central
America
I felt drawn to this area and favored the approach of
using international law.
I was in New York City on September 1
when I heard
that Brian Willson had been run over by a munitions
train at Concord.
So after I completed my peace tour, I decided
to go
up to Concord and join Nuremberg Actions.
The first night
I was there, I saw a truck coming
out of the base and stood in
front of it.
They moved me out of the way and said
they thought
we had an agreement about that.
I attended the meetings, worked
as a volunteer
at the peace center and began blocking trains.
I was hoping to organize a peace community there.
When Scot Rutherford
purchased a house in a
poor section of Pittsburg near Concord,
I moved in there.
I was planning on going south to see my family for Christmas
and bring back my library that I had reduced to 1500 books.
So
on December 23 I was not planning on getting arrested;
Greg
Getty refused to put his arms behind his back, and because the
deputies
were inflicting pain on him instead of picking him up,
I decided to join him.
As I walked into the closed road, I was
immediately put in handcuffs and arrested.
We were soon released,
and Greg, Spalding, and April
went south with me to help me move
my books and things.
Brian's wife Holly Rauen and I organized
an event at Bill O'Donnell's Catholic church
in Berkeley so that
people could hear Katya Komisaruk speak about how she
destroyed
the Navstar computer at Vandenberg
in her plowshares action before
turning herself in.
Brian Willson also spoke, and there was good
music.
I did not like to spend long hours at the vigils in the
cold wind by the highway
and preferred to study and write; but
I was intent on blocking every train I could.
I also managed to
teach a class on Literature and Psychology
at John F. Kennedy
University one night a week.
I was getting arrested at the tracks
about once a week,
and for a while they would just take names
and let us go.
Shawna even used the name Emma Goldman, and they
did not know the difference.
In February we had a fast, and I
sent a letter urging
every member of Congress to vote against
aid to the Contras.
After that, Saul Steinberg of Coleman Publishing
no longer sent me any
more copies of my book The Way to Peace
even though I owned the books.
I had seen a photo of him standing
next to Ronald Reagan.
When I was indicted for the arrest before Christmas, I did
not want to waive time.
So I defended myself in the first trial
of Nuremberg Actions,
and Lowell Richards represented Bill Minkwitz.
Lowell and I decided not to challenge any jurors.
An outstanding
videographer named Mark Coplan was allowed to tape the trial.
Judge Cunningham seemed reasonable on many things, but he would
not allow us
to present international law or the defense of necessity.
He did allow me to explain my motivation, and in the closing argument
he let me read and interpret the Nuremberg Principles.
Because
my arrest was questionable on this day, the jury acquitted me.
One juror refused to convict Bill, and so his was a hung jury.
In March 1988 the sheriffs began holding people in jail for up
to 48 hours
(not counting weekends) and then releasing people
without charging them,
using some statute designed for holding
prostitutes, drunks, and drug addicts.
That meant that an arrest
on Thursday or Friday resulted on four days in jail.
Then they
would release us without charging us.
I refused to bail out even
for my last class, and my teaching opportunity
faded to giving
one small workshop on nonviolence.
In June we learned that the US Customs was stopping trucks
carrying medicine
and toys for children from crossing the Texas
border,
because they were going to Nicaragua.
So a group of us
went to the Customs building in San Francisco
and were arrested
sitting outside the door they locked to keep us out.
We were given
a trial fairly quickly, and some of us
were convicted for being
in front of the door.
I refused to cooperate with probation, and
it was terminated "with prejudice."
Thirty people from
Nuremberg Actions were indicted
and tried together in Concord, but once again the jury was hung.
I helped Mark with the videotaping
by holding the shotgun microphone.
Expert witnesses included Karen
Parker on international law,
ex-CIA agent David MacMichael, a
judge from El Salvador,
and the Vietnam veteran and physician
Charlie Clements.
I offered to write and edit a Nonviolence Handbook; but Holly
said they already
had one from the Pledge of Resistance, though
no one seemed to be using it.
Greg would cook soup at the house,
and I let him use my car to take it to the vigil.
Richard Wilhelm
told me he was eating only raw oats; he was not complaining,
but
I was concerned that people living at the tracks
were not even
getting enough to eat.
I finally convinced a meeting to authorize
$75 a week for food.
Efforts to draw more people into the campaign
were not very successful.
There was a large demonstration on a
weekend;
but the fence gate was locked, and no one was even arrested.
We did have one action occupying the area by the nuclear bunkers,
and Diane Poole poured her blood.
I was discouraged when I was
not invited to be on KPFA radio,
because a newly hired coordinator
wanted "people with jobs."
When Joe Cohen completed
his walk across the country from Georgia,
he stayed at peace house.
I had met him several times on my tour, and he offered to let
me rent his house
on 125 acres of pine forest in Georgia for only
$100 per month.
So in September 1988 I decided to leave, and after
house-sitting
for my vacationing parents, I moved to Buena Vista,
Georgia.
I had been arrested in Concord more than forty times
in the ten months I was there.
On May 6, 1989 I participated in a Pax Christi protest
at the
Trident Submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia.
Twenty of us were
arrested for stepping over an imaginary line on the sidewalk
outside
the fence near the main gate that they had arbitrarily drawn,
because my friend Joe Cohen and others had tried
to climb the
fence in a previous protest.
Also 54 others were arrested for
blocking the road into the base;
but they were not even charged.
Before I stepped over the line, I said,
This base is in violation of international law;
it is in violation of the United Nations Charter, the Pact of Paris,
the Nuremberg Principles, and the Geneva Conventions.
It is an obscenity against humanity
and an abomination in the sight of God!
Today I am taking one more small step for peace in the world.
At the time the Navy was playing loudly over and over a tape
of the commander
warning people they would be arrested so that
it was difficult for people to hear.
Because we were obviously
peace protesters, they would not even let us
walk to the building
where people normally requested permission to enter the base.
We were released and later ordered to appear for arraignment
on June 12, and
several protesters came back from New Orleans
and Michigan for the arraignment.
Because of these distances most
agreed to pay a fine or spend five days in jail.
Only Miriam Hope
and I pleaded not guilty and requested a trial by a federal judge.
Once again our right to a trial by a jury was denied,
and on July
11 we were tried by Judge Alaimo.
Miriam wanted more time to prepare
and was supposed to have at least 30 days;
but Judge Alaimo decided
that 29 days was enough.
These facts were later missing in the
court record.
After the prosecution presented their case, I made
an offer of proof
for the defense of necessity and international
law.
Judge Alaimo kept interrupting me and asked if I wanted to
testify.
Only when I was testifying did he inform me that he had
ruled against my defense.
Judge Alaimo asked me several questions
as if he were prosecuting me.
During Miriam's testimony Judge
Alaimo agreed to assume that
the Trident submarine is the worst
weapon ever invented.
In my closing argument I said among many
other things that Gorbachev
was moving the Soviet Union toward
disarmament,
while the United States was developing these offensive
first-strike weapons.
Judge Alaimo found us both guilty but postponed sentencing
so that an investigative report could be made.
I said I did not
want to travel back and forth again and would refuse probation
or a fine;
so he allowed me to start serving my time.
I was taken
to the new but already over-crowded Glynn County jail.
During
the ten weeks I waited for my sentencing hearing
I read many books
and did some writing.
Even though she was not in jail, Miriam
was sentenced before I was and was allowed
to pay her fine to
a charity and had to do 500 hours of community service.
Knowing
I would probably get the maximum sentence of six months,
I spoke
to Judge Alaimo for about an hour at my hearing without using
any notes.
I had had a long time to think about it and gave an
impassioned speech about
my concern for our country and the danger
of a nuclear war,
how absurd militarization was, the value of
nonviolent methods,
and I explained the many efforts I had made
to bring about peace.
I also complained that many inmates in the
jail
were waiting several weeks just to be arraigned.
I was given
the maximum sentence and never did pay the fine.
I said I wanted
to appeal and was assigned a public defender for that.
Because of the overcrowding I advised the officer running the
jail to stop
accepting federal prisoners, and soon I was transferred
to Taladega, Alabama.
There we were crowded three men into single
cells.
When the televangelist Jim Bakker was brought to Taladega
only two men
were put in each cell in his building so that the
media
would not learn how overcrowded the prison was.
I even had
to go to the hole for one day,
because every cell in our building
had three men.
After about a month I was transferred by plane
to
El Reno in Oklahoma and from there to California.
This was
apparently done so that California would prosecute me for the
Nuremberg Actions at Concord even though moving me for that purpose
was a clear violation of federal prison policy.
California does
not extradite for misdemeanors, and they did not try to pick me
up.
I was taken to the camp at Lompoc.
I considered myself a political
prisoner and refused to work for the Government.
So I was taken
across the street to a maximum security prison
and put in the
hole for a month.
Because they would not let me use the law library
or a typewriter to work on my appeal,
I agreed to work and went
back to the camp.
My lawyer had refused to argue my right to a
jury trial or international law,
because he was afraid of being
fined for a "frivolous" appeal.
So I used his research
on my solid First Amendment argument and wrote the appeal myself.
I was allowed to work on this at the camp until the deadline of
December 18.
Even though I applied for an extension, I had to
take a job during the last two weeks;
but I managed to finish
my appeal and mail it before I was released on January 5, 1990.
By then the Berlin Wall had come down, and the new decade brought
a new era.
I was given $25 to get a new start in life and was
flown back to Georgia.
My appeal was later denied, and I was not
even given
the opportunity to make an oral argument.
The questionable election of George W. Bush and his warlike
policies,
especially after September 11, 2001, caused another
major crisis for the world.
So I decided that I could travel around
the United States again in order
to make my books available personally
and speak to people about world peace.
I scheduled an itinerary
of 180 college campuses to visit in seven months.
In November
2002 this crisis inspired me to run for President of the United
States
myself as a Democrat in an effort to raise public awareness
on more enlightened solutions for peace and justice issues.
I
hoped that I would gain enough support to be included
in the televised
debates before the Democratic primaries.
I sent the following letter on January 6, 2003 to the United
Nations with supportive
signatures by 79 people from Citizens
for Peaceful Resolutions in Ventura, California:
Dear Secretary-General Kofi Annan,
For twelve years the military forces of the United States
and the United Kingdom have been violating international law in Iraq.
Those of us in the world peace movement are
especially concerned about the imminent war threatened against Iraq
by the United States and the United Kingdom.
We believe that the numerous attacks on Iraqi air defenses and
other targets in the so-called “no-fly zones” are illegal by
international law according to the United Nations Charter,
Article 2, Sections 3 and 4, which read,3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such
a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or us
of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,
or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.These attacks and the preparations for the aggressive war are
also crimes against peace according to the Nuremberg Principles,
which are defined as,Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression
or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances.Although the economic sanctions that were imposed on Iraq by the
United Nations Security Council in 1990 may have been justified
in order to get Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, since that goal has
been achieved, we believe that they are no longer justified.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children have died as a result
of these immoral and illegal sanctions.
We believe they are crimes against humanity according to the
Nuremberg Principles, which are defined asMurder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against
any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds,
when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in
connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.They also clearly violate the Geneva Convention Relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,
Articles 27, 30, and 31, which read:Article 27. Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances,
to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their
religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs.
They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be
protected specifically against all acts of violence or threats
thereof and against insults and public curiosity.
Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honor,
in particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault.
Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age and sex,
all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration by the Party
to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based,
in particular, on race, religion or political opinion.
Article 30. The High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them
is prohibited from taking any measure of such character as to cause
physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their lands.
This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishment,
mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the
medical treatment of a protected person, but also to any other measures
of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.
Article 31. No protected person may be punished for
an offense he or she has not personally committed.
Collective penalties and likewise all measures of
intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.The stated purpose of these sanctions and the threatened war against Iraq
is to make sure that they do not have any weapons of mass destruction,
and we support thorough inspections in Iraq by agents of the United Nations
to make sure that Iraq does not have any such weapons.
Thus far several weeks of inspections have
not revealed any evidence that they do.
If any programs for developing weapons of mass destruction are found,
they should simply be dismantled.
A war over this would be unnecessary, immoral, and illegal.
Yet the United States and the United Kingdom are in clear violation of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Article 6, which reads,Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations
in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the
nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament,
and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament
under strict and effective international control.Therefore we call upon the United Nations General Assembly, as the
representatives of the political voices of humanity, to pass a resolution
condemning these violations of international law
by the United States and the United Kingdom.
We further request that the United Nations Security Council keep
their inspectors in Iraq to prevent an aggressive war by the United States
and the United Kingdom against the people of Iraq until the United States
removes its threatening forces from the region.
We also ask the International Court of Justice to bring charges against
the United States and the United Kingdom so that they will cease and desist
from committing these crimes against international law.In the Light of God,
Sanderson Beck
for the world peace movement
The practical Nonviolent Action Handbook was published
in January 2003 to assist
peace activists, and the long, one-volume
edition of
Guides to Peace and Justice came out in February.
During the weekly marches for peace in Santa Barbara I urged people
to do more
and recommended a general strike if Bush gave Saddam
Hussein an ultimatum.
I said I would begin a juice fast and did
so on March 17.
As the war began two days later, we formed an
affinity group in Ventura
to protest at Republican Congressman
Elton Gallegly's office on April 1.
During the next two evenings
I marched with protestors in the streets of Santa Barbara,
but
only a few people had been arrested for
blocking traffic on the
101 freeway in the afternoon.
I urged people to protest at Raytheon
or Vandenberg Air Force Base
as a more direct confrontation with
the war activities.
I was arrested on Saturday March 22 for crossing the line at Vandenberg
AFB,
where they were using computers and the space command system
to direct the shock-and-awe attacks on Iraq.
I made a short speech
while Captain Quigley
was reading a warning into a loudspeaker.
I had to shout and complained that US hypocrisy was demanding
a weak country
disarm while the US had more weapons of mass destruction
than anyone.
I appealed to Christians to follow what Jesus taught
by loving our enemies.
I said that I was running for president
on a true disarmament platform,
and I
prophesied that there would
be a new nonviolent revolution "to throw the fascists out."
After I was taken into custody, I appealed to the soldiers in
riot gear
to become conscientious objections by refusing to obey
illegal orders
according to the Nuremberg Principles.
Two women
had been arrested before me; after being questioned by the FBI,
we were released with court dates in June.
The next day I helped facilitate nonviolence workshops in Santa
Barbara
at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and in Ventura.
Some
in Santa Barbara were considering protesting at Raytheon,
the
county's largest employer and one of the biggest weapons manufacturers.
On Monday I felt called to return to Vandenberg AFB, and I arranged
to announce
my intentions on KPFK's Morning Show with Sonali Kolhatkar
and then on KCSB radio.
In the afternoon I crossed the line at
Vandenberg AFB and again asked to speak
to the base commander
to tell him to stop committing war crimes.
I told Sergeant Malcolm
Walton that if they released me,
I would keep coming back until
I could go before a judge with my charge.
He arranged for me to
be arraigned in Los Angeles on Wednesday and let me go.
I stayed
at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, and
on Wednesday morning joined
their weekly protest at the federal building.
Because Martin Sheen
was there, numerous media were present.
Before being arrested
with two other women, I was allowed to make
a very brief
statement
in which I called for massive civil disobedience to stop the illegal
war.
After an hour I was released and walked next door
to my arraignment
for the Vandenberg arrests.
Magistrate Patrick Walsh showed his
prejudice by saying he would not allow
any argument related to
international law even though he knew nothing yet
about my case;
he quickly denied my motion for a new judge.
He permitted me to
defend myself and allowed me to have
the advice of a public defender,
Davina Chen.
In solidarity with the 2,300 people in San Francisco
I remained in custody for a month until the hearing on April 24.
On that day Judge Walsh would not hear my arguments in response
to the
prosecution's motion to disallow any defense using international
law,
necessity, crime prevention, and the first amendment.
He
urged me to go home, saying "The war is over," and I
did not have to pay bail.
That weekend I attended the Book Festival
at UCLA and saw a woman handing out
ANSWER flyers about an anti-war
conference; she was doing it furtively
because she had been warned
she could not do that.
I risked arrest for handing out my presidential
campaign brochures in the
outdoor areas outside of the limited
"free speech zone" they set up near one entrance.
I
talked with the UCLA official in charge about their policy,
and
he told me that I could do so.
I was then interviewed on the KPFK
news and explained how this "little victory"
had changed
their repressive policy about free speech.
The day before my trial the prosecuting attorney told me that
they would stipulate
to the fact that Vandenberg AFB was involved
in the Iraq War
so that none of their officers would have to testify.
At the trial on May 1 during my testimony and closing argument
I tried to explain that
I was merely trying to stop the ongoing
crimes of murder, crimes against peace,
and violation of the UN
Charter and other treaties,
but Judge Walsh kept trying to limit
my time
and went past the lunch break well into the afternoon.
I defended myself on the Vandenberg charges,
and Davina provided
an excellent technical defense on the charge at the federal building;
but Judge Walsh ignored all but the most narrow-minded issues
and found me guilty on all three counts.
On May 13 he sentenced
me to probation and community service
even though I told him that
I would not accept probation.
In the Nonviolent Action Handbook
I had recommended refusing probation,
and I would not accept it
even though I was alone in this case.
I went back to court on
August 3 to be sentenced for refusing the probation
and was given
another three months in prison.
I considered myself a political
prisoner and would not accept a job
because I needed to work on
my appeal.
I found this time in prison to be a spiritual experience.
I attended a conference in Santa Barbara sponsored by the
Nuclear
Age Peace Foundation in May 2004 called
Charting a New Course
for US Nuclear Policy that included David Krieger,
Helen Caldicott,
Randall Forsberg, Jonathan Schell, Daniel Ellsberg,
Richard Falk, Alice Slater, Brent Blackwelder, Michele Boyd, John Burroughs,
Jackie Cabasso, Michael Flynn, George Lakoff, Adil Najam, Thomas
G. Plate,
Tom Reifer, and Douglas Roche.
I wrote and distributed
the following proposal:
As Randy Forsberg suggested,
I think we should formulate specific goals,
but I think we also need to discuss strategies
for effectively achieving those goals.
Complete nuclear disarmament,
providing clean water for everyone in the world,
health care and education for all,
and phasing out nuclear power
would mean a radical revolution in the United States.
I think we need to realize that
the current US Government is a criminal regime
and that even to pay its taxes is to be complicit in its crimes.
I believe that we can bring about these goals in our lifetimes
if we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices.
Because the problems are complex and immense,
I think we should proceed in stages.
To begin the discussion I am making the following proposal:OBJECTIVES:
1. Reduce nuclear weapons so that no nation has more than 100.
2. All national military forces must be withdrawn
from nations outside their borders and be greatly reduced.
3. IAEA or UN inspections must ensure that #1 has been achieved,
and then they should make sure that
all remaining nuclear weapons are also eliminated.
All nuclear materials must be monitored
until nuclear power plants are phased out.
4. All disputes between nations shall be settled
by a judicial process in an international court of justice.
5. Violators of international peace shall be arrested
and brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
in as nonviolent a way as possible.
6. We should make sure that everyone in the world
has access to clean water, health care, and education.STRATEGIES:
1. Boycott the US Government by refusing to pay its income tax
or cooperate with its crimes
until the first three objectives are achieved.
2. Dedicate our lives to working for these goals full-time
and by donating income above the taxable level to nonprofits.
For some this may mean nonviolent civil disobedience
and refusing to work in prison for an oppressive government.
For others it may mean communicating with people
and organizing nonviolent demonstrations.
After getting out of prison I have completed the first six
volumes of the
Ethics of Civilization and revised and extended
Guides to Peace and Justice
into this two-volume History
of Peace.
In 2005 I wrote and published two short books.
The
Art of Gentle Living is a self-help book with a spiritual
philosophy and psychology
with ideas how we each can live joyfully,
lovingly, peacefully, and frugally
so that we can be happy and
get along better with others in an increasingly crowded world.
Topics include spiritual awareness, conscious self-mastery and
cooperation
with the natural self, understanding feelings, using
clear thinking,
practicing compassionate communication, and demonstrating
ethical economics and politics.
Best For All: How We Can Save
the World is a visionary book that suggests practical
solutions
to the most challenging crises humanity faces today in the current
global emergency
by focusing on alleviating poverty, disarming
the weapons of war, creating global democracy,
radically reforming
the United States government,
using restorative justice to improve
the judicial system,
developing ecological management for a sustainable
economy,
freeing communication from commercial pollution,
inspiring
spiritual awakening of truly humane values, and implementing these
reforms
by using nonviolent strategies for social and political
change.
The appendix includes proposed drafts for a Global Disarmament
Treaty,
a Federal Earth Democracy Constitution, and a revised
US Constitution.
This is a chapter in Guides to Peace and Justice from Ancient Sages to the Suffragettes,
which is published as a book.
For ordering information, please click here.