Category: Articles

As Slingshot goes to press, all indications are that Bush is planning to invade Iraq in March or sooner — with or without international partners, with or without evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or has aided Al Qaeda and probably without giving UN inspectors the time they say is necessary to complete their work. If the war hasn’t started yet by the time you read this article, no matter how inevitable war looks, it’s still worth it to do what you can to stop the war. Bush is counting on all his tough talk to create a sense of inevitability and resignation in order to bring both people in this country and parts of the international community along for the ride.

It’s up to us to make it clear to folks in the US and the rest of the world that people in the US are not united behind Bush’s preemptive war of aggression. The more people here and in the rest of the world sense that this is Bush’s war, not America’s war, the more people and countries will feel comfortable publicly breaking ranks with Bush. If Bush is going to make Iraq the first example of his new doctrine of military preemption, it’s up to us to make sure it’s his last example of this horrendous policy. It’s up to us to make it clear for the whole world that Bush is isolated — isolated in his own country and isolated around the world!

The media has been pushing the idea that “war is now inevitable.” But just because Bush has the power to order a military attack doesn’t mean the war will necessarily be easy for Bush. It’s our job to make it as difficult and costly for him as possible. Maybe this can prevent the war, but even if it can’t — even if it’s too late to actually stop a war against Iraq — we can limit Bush’s victory in crucial ways.

Bush is going out on a limb on this one, straining international relations even with many US “allies” who are very uncomfortable at the idea of a nuclear armed America with a policy of preemptive strikes. By the time the bombing started during the Gulf war, Bush’s Dad had assembled a coalition that had agreed to pay all of the costs of the war. That is highly unlikely to happen this time. There is a real question as to whether other permanent members of the UN security council — France, Russia, China — might veto a US war resolution. Such a veto would be almost unprecedented.

This is to say nothing of the regular people in the rest of the world — people around the world now understand that the US is the greatest threat to world peace. Even if ultimately Bush has the power to make war, he’ll be doing it against the opinion of the rest of the world — regular people, ruling class elites and governments alike.

All of which indicates that — far from domestic attempts at protesting a war before it starts being futile and doomed — they are absolutely crucial . When the rest of the world looks at the US and sees it vocally split down the middle over the prospect of war, they can see Bush for the wannabe emperor he is — one with no clothes, and a small, shriveled dick Chenney running the show. Bush can talk like a Texas cowboy, but everyone knows he’s a cokehead fratboy born with a silver spoon in his mouth who ducked out of military service in Vietnam.

There are opportunities to protest the war all around us all the time — some organized by others, and some you can do yourself. The key is to do something at every opportunity before the war can begin.

If you’re reading this and a US war against Iraq is starting or is ongoing, it’s still crucial to express your protest and outrage against Bush’s preemptive war of aggression — and better yet, to stop business as usual in any way you can. Are we going to just lie back and let Bush do it — Hell No!

There are a wealth of actions already planned during the first few hours and days of a military invasion of Iraq. Check out the list at the end of this article. There will likely be protests in every big city and small town across the land. But disruption and protest shouldn’t stop after the first few days of a Bush war. It is crucial that we create increasing levels of chaos and disruption during the duration of the war.

Bush is counting on fighting the war on his terms, far away, using vastly superior high tech weapons against a population no one can see. He’s not counting on having to fight on two fronts at once — one of them right here at home. For a lot of us, it’s clear that we must stand with the people of the rest of the world against war and murder, not with Bush’s empire. Living here in the belly of the country making the war, we’re in the best position of all to fight this war.

All of Bush’s high tech weapons out in the desert depend on a vast industrial infrastructure functioning smoothly here at home. The home front is a soft target. A few hundred people can shut down transportation and disrupt the ability of workers to be productive. A few thousand people could play hide and seek at key military installations and prevent their normal functioning. A few tens of thousands of people could require Bush to reassigned troops from Iraq back to the home front. It’s up to us to increase the cost of war as much as possible. Act with bravery, take to the streets, stay away from your job, strike in secret under cover of darkness — but don’t let business as usual continue while the US carries out its war of aggression.

Actions planned once the war starts:

• Mass nonviolent direct action is planned in San Francisco at 7 am at Market and Main (Embarcadero BART) on the 1st business day after war starts. (Check out the cool flyer reproduced in this issue.) www.actagainstwar.org 415-820-9649
• Mass rally at 5 p.m. on the day the war starts (next day at 5 p.m. if the war begins at night) at Market and Powell Streets, followed by a march through city neighborhoods. www.internationalanswer.org. 415-821-6545. There will be an anarchist Black Bloc at the 5 pm demo.
• The Morning After the War Starts —Walk Out/Stay Away! Organize Walkouts From School, Work, etc. Spend the morning leafleting for people to join the anti-war movement. In San Francisco converge at noon at Civic Center Plaza to protest the war.
• Saturday after a war starts there will be a mass rally and marches at 7th and Market St at noon.
• East Bay demonstration the day war starts at 5 p.m. in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland (12th St. BART).
• For information about protests outside the Bay Area, check United for Peace, www.unitedforpeace.org which is nationwide and lists events in large cities and small towns alike.
• The regular March 8th Global Women’s Strike may be at a crucial time. Check www.womenforpeace.org
• Other places to check for actions (of course highly incomplete): www.code-pink4peace.org, www.notinourname.net.
  

With the US mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops to assert its unilateral military dominance over the world community, it’s easy to forget about the other game in town: the continued campaign for world dominance by corporations and the capitalist system. But these two forms of dominance are like two faces of the same coin. If people around the globe really want to fight the US military machine, we’re ultimately going to have to fight global economic structures like the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO exists to concentrate wealth and power into western corporate hands. The United States military exists to serve those corporate hands — and eats out of them.

The best chance in years to fight the WTO is coming this September 10-14, 2003 in Cancún, México, when the WTO will conduct its Fifth Ministerial Summit. Grassroots organizations around the Western Hemisphere and around the world are already raising a powerful call: Shut Down the World Trade Organization. Whether you can travel to Cancún to fight in the streets or whether you stay in your local community to disrupt business as usual between September 10-14, it’s high time for a global uprising to challenge corporate globalization and the WTO.

It seems like ages ago when tens of thousands of regular people brought the WTO to its knees in Seattle in November, 1999. In only four short years, we’ve gone from a people’s offensive against the corporate monster, to a state of apprehension in the face of attacks on freedom and peace at home and abroad. The attack on September 11 has been used as an excuse for the greatest expansion of US military, intelligence and police power in memory. Under these circumstances, it’s easy to forget how to set the agenda, rather than just reacting to each new Bush administration attack. It’s absolutely crucial that we fight for something. It’s time to attack Bush’s attempts to create fear by raising some very important questions:

Who really benefits from the war on terrorism? Who really benefits from the World Trade Organization and corporate globalization? Are these things making us “safer” or are they creating a world of decreased equality, increased violence and decreased freedom? Are they creating a world in which the earth’s natural life-support systems have been irreparably damaged? Will our grandchildren be born into a world without wilderness, without clean water and air — into a life of fear, with no privacy, no freedom, no hope, and no happiness?

It’s not too late to stop the forces that seek to concentrate power in the hands of the few. The real purpose of the WTO and the war on terrorism is the concentration of power. The WTO seeks to strip local communities and individuals of self-determination over how we feed ourselves and provide for our other human needs.

People all over the hemisphere are organizing to stop the WTO. In México, hundreds of people have attended planning meetings, resulting in a global call for action and education against the Cancún WTO meeting. An organizational meeting in November included 89 Mexican and 53 foreign non-governmental organizations representing 16 countries from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. In the United States, thousands of people are making plans to travel to Cancún for the WTO summit. People are discussing the idea of organizing educational caravans which could wind across the continent and end up in Cancún. It’s likely September 10-14 will see coordinated local actions in hundreds of cities and town across the world to denounce the WTO.

Now is the time to start organizing WTO related events and actions. Form your own ad hoc planning group, or contact some of the folks already working on this campaign. (See end of article for contact list.)

The ABCs of the WTO

The WTO is just one institution created to promote economic globalization — the merging of the whole world into a single huge market with “free trade” rules designed to increase the power of huge corporations at the expense or workers, local populations and the environment.

The WTO’s job is to impose trade sanctions against any signatory country which “maintains barriers to trade.” These “barriers” can mean almost anything, including laws that impose labor or environmental standards on industrial production. For instance US laws that prohibit the sale of shrimp caught in nets that endanger sea turtles are considered “barriers to trade” by the WTO.

Any country which is a member of the WTO can request that the WTO take action against another member-country which has laws that are allegedly “barriers to trade.” WTO trade experts who are drawn from big business and who are not elected by any government meet in secret to decide if the challenged law is a “barrier to trade.” The WTO’s decisions are not subject to appeal and an “offending” nation must decide between repealing its law or suffering crippling trade restrictions.

Free trade means freedom for huge corporations to produce and sell products without regard for the welfare of people or the environment. Under free trade, transnational corporations are free to search the world find the cheapest labor available, and then move their factories to that area to exploit the cheap labor. Interestingly enough, while the WTO meets in México, many factories in México along the US/Mexican border are now closing down so the jobs can be moved to China. In a global economy, even the labor of low paid workers in México is considered “too expensive” by transnational corporations.

Labor is cheaper in less developed countries in large part because of the actions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank which operate hand-in-hand with the WTO. The IMF/WB keep developing countries in an endless cycle of debt — forcing them to export raw materials and agricultural products. These activities remove subsistence farmers from their land, creating a large pool of very cheap displaced labor.

The alleged goal of the globalization process is to foster development in the third world and economic growth in the developed nations. However, it is far from clear that either development or economic growth actually benefits the population of the world. Both are certainly essential to maintaining profits for transnational corporations.

Market-based capitalism requires that the economy grow every year. Any company that doesn’t grow is deserted by its stockholders (who seek short-term returns on their investments), bought up by its competitors, or forced out of business. Constant competition enforces the rule: grow or die. This process operates regardless of whether this growth benefits or hurts human beings or the environment. For example, in “developed” countries, the use of oil and cars expands every year — an indicator of economic growth. But does this make life better? More time spent in traffic, more noise, more pollution, more illness. More are people moving from place to place, to be sure, but does this help people live more fulfilling lives? All of this growth has terrible environmental costs which are totally disregarded by the free trade system, corporations and the WTO.

The WTO seeks to force a doomed economic system on everyone on earth. Economic globalization means a dramatic increase in economic inequality and environmental destruction, all to benefit a tiny group of corporations. People everywhere are increasingly resisting free trade and corporate globalization. In the name of freedom, self-determination and the Earth, it’s time to shut down the WTO in Cancún!

Get involved

As of this writing, concrete plans are at an early stage. Try getting on this email list: www.laneta.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/aCancún-l.

Or, try contacting some of the following: Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano
(Ceccam) Vito Alessio Robles No. 76 casa 7 Col. Florida. Mxico, D.F. 01030 tel: 525 6 61 19 25 and 525 6 61 53 98. Public Citizen 1600 20th St. NW Washington, DC. 20009 (202) 588-1000, www.citizen.org.

Slingshot is a quarterly, independent, radical, newspaper published in the East Bay since 1988.

OK, so war is on the horizon, or maybe even happening as you read this. This issue is being done before actual bombardment has commenced, and let’s hope that somehow we can keep the US war machine from steamrolling over Iraq and our liberties (not that having the state guarantee anything is worth the paper it is written on). But if not, let’s do our damnedest to stop life as usual from proceeding here in the belly of the beast. Since Slingshot publishes quarterly, some of what is in this issue may not be the most current, given that things are changing rapidly on the global scene. Bear with us.

This issue we celebrated Slingshot’s 15th birthday by having one of the easiest internal processes for putting the paper together ever. Shout outs to the outside authors who turned in good articles on time, as well as to Will who fixed all our technological issues that have been plaguing us for years.

We’re still looking to find someone born on March 9, 1988 (our birthday) who can act as our mascot. If you know anyone like that, please send us their picture and bio-information. Wait, that’s just creepy!

We are always on the lookout for writers, artists, editors, photographers, distributors and independent thinkers to help us put out this paper. If you have such skills and would like to contribute we’d greatly appreciate it. Photos of demos or of cool reworkings of the cultural landscape are especially welcome.

Editorial decisions about Slingshot are made by the collective, but not all articles reflect the opinions of all collective members. We welcome debate, constructive criticism and discussion.

Slingshot New Volunteer Meeting

Volunteers interested in getting involved with Slingshot can see what all the fuss is about on April 6th at 3p.m. at the Long Haul in Berkeley (see below).

Article deadline and Next Issue date

Submit your articles for issue 78 by May 9, 2003. We expect the issue out in mid May.

Volume 1, Number 77 Circulation 12,000

Printed February 13, 2003

Slingshot Newspaper

Sponsored by Long Haul

3124 Shattuck Ave Berkeley Ca 94705

Phone: (510) 540-0751

slingshot@tao.ca

By the way, we receive many questions as to why we are still only at volume 1, even after 15 years. Please note: We will change to volume 2 AFTER the revolution!

Circulation Information

Slingshot is free in the Bay Area and is available at Long Haul and Bound Together Books (SF), plus lots of other places. Contact us or come by if you want to distribute Slingshot for free in the Bay Area

Subscriptions to Slingshot are $1 (until the state is toppled) per issue (bulk mail pre-paid) or $2 for First Class Mail after the issue comes out. International is $2.50 per issue. Back issues are also available. Amazing national free distribution program: Outside of the Bay Area, we’ll mail a stack of free copies of Slingshot to distributors, infoshops, bookstores and random friendly individuals for FREE in the US if they give ‘em out for free.

If you purchased a 2003 Slingshot organizer via mail order, you’ve been sent this copy for free. Send us $1 for a one year subscription.

Cover and page 1 art by imprisoned artist Kevin (Rashid) Johnson #185492, Wallens Ridge State Prison, PO Box 759, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219.

We completely sold out of the 2003 Organizer in January, the earliest we’ve ever run out. We’ve had to send back orders for hundreds of copies, which is a big bummer. But, we’re already thinking about the 2004 edition, which should be out in September. If you have suggestions, historical dates, radical contacts, or art work, send it to us by the end of June.

One of the most rewarding parts of working on the Organizer is all the amazing letters we’ve received containing orders. People write us poems, send CDs of their favorite bands, include stickers, glitter, photographs of their dogs and roommates and other things too strange to discuss publicly. We got a banana flavored condom, and a glow in the dark one. (In case you can’t find it in the dark?) This year someone sent us what appeared to be homemade lollipops cast into the shape of skulls. We were too afraid it was poisoned to eat it; although the possibility that it contains some excellent hallucinogen we’ve never tried might overcome our fear, if we get bored some evening. People sent so many envelopes full of glitter this year that the area around our computer is impossible to clean. Thanks to all of you for your creativity and passion — it helps us to keep going.

Slingshot is looking for a Fall intern (or volunteers in general) to help us distribute the 2004 Slingshot Organizer. We’re looking for folks who will participate with us as full and equal member of our collective, sharing all decision making, etc. We figured that some people have to do an internship for school, etc., and might want to do their time with a radical project, instead of some liberal non-profit, etc. We are an all volunteer collective, so this is unpaid. We would like to find folks any time between September – December. If this sounds cool, contact us:

Slingshot Collective

3124 Shattuck Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94705

510 540-0751 x. 3

slingshot@tao.ca

Dear Slingshot,

I have managed to wade my way through another year of material existence. I was content with the mass insanity: sell my days away for money, so that I can spend it back for the necessities of life such as food and shelter. But I can no longer live out that lie.

I quit my job. I am shedding my material possessions. We are planning a communal greenhouse. I am transitioning to cheaper rent, hopefully to become rent-free. I have turned the one small clock in my home face-down.

On New Year’s Day, two friends and I were in Atlanta at the mercy of a consumerist family with which we traveled. As they spent money we turned a 20 foot section of broken sidewalk into a non-commissioned series of rock sculptures.

The voice of freedom whispers in our ears, occasionally licking the lobes seductively. Yet the sirens of oppression blare incessantly. I believe that the whispers will be heard.

Love,

Derek

Asheville, NC