by Mary Loehr
Outgoing NWTRCC Coordinator
Beloved war tax resisters,
I am leaving the job as NWTRCC Coordinator in a few days.
It has been very good four years. I thank you for the trust
you all placed in me. I've enjoyed the variety of tasks; setting
my own daily priorities and schedule; talking to people on the
phone.
Most of all, I enjoyed getting to know all of you! A friend
of mine, who is not war tax resister, commented once that the
decision to become a WTR is a deep spiritual and moral one,
requiring a lot of soul searching and self understanding. I
have found this to be true. Most WTRs have a good sense of humor,
integrity, groundedness -and other qualities which I find hard
to put into words, but which I respect and enjoy being around.
The past six months have been, for all of us and here at the
office, particularly intense. My partner Pete and I have had
long discussions about how to build a movement in these times.
I'm still not sure that I know the answer. Why is it that some
people become WTRs and others do not? I believe part of it must
come from the support a person feels in his/her decisions. It
is a rare person who undertakes the path of WTR alone. We need
one another on this journey. That is a key concept in organizing:
building relationships.
We're in an interesting time politically. These past few months
have seen a dramatic rise in interest in WTR. Will all those
people who asked for information "stick?" Will WTR become bigger
movement as the obvious becomes clearer: money spent on wars
is being taken out of urgent domestic needs? I know that these
are long term questions.
This past month has been, for me, particularly intense. I've
been interviewed by many journalists and received 150 emails,
most of them angry, in response to an article about war tax
resistance on the Yahoo website. It has left me feeling a little
bit raw, but also wanting to hone my arguments even more. I
want to systematically study nonviolence: King, Gandhi, and
others, so that I can speak more articulately about what I believe
and what the solutions may be.
I got help in answering many of those emails, and we're finding
that with some of them a dialogue is springing up. A WTR answers;
the "angry writer" replies; the WTR replies back. Again, building
relationships.
While I have enjoyed this job, my heart and body are much
happier being outside. I will be growing organic vegetables
and selling them at Farmer's Market, with a friend, part-time,
this season, and doing odd jobs on the side (landscaping, substitute
teaching), as I did before I began with NWTRCC. That suits my
personality better. I sincerely hope not to lose touch with
many of you. Please call if you're ever in Ithaca, and I hope
to see you all, somewhere, maybe at NWTRCC meetings...?
The NWTRCC office wall is covered with quotes and poems that
sustain me. Here is one; "Wage Peace" by Judyth Hill:
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble, breathe out whole buildings and
flocks of red wing blackbirds
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children and
freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothespins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries.
Imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don't wait another minute.
[Return to List of Headlines]
by Ruth Benn
Given the world that we are facing these days, I'm concluding
that it is a great time to become the NWTRCC coordinator. I'm
not thinking this just because it is bound to be an interesting
time for war tax resistance, but mostly because of the personal
comfort of being able to talk regularly with people who are
actively trying to decrease the militarism of the U.S. government.
I hope that we will see many people join our numbers in the
coming months as the repercussions (economic, international,
and what else?) of this administration's aggressive war policy
become clearer and clearer.
During the last year I have been organizing more actively
around war tax resistance than in recent years (coincidental
to applying for this job). While I have been a war tax resister
(telephone tax; income tax file/don't pay) for more than 20
years now, I have not consistently participated in or led community
workshops. The ones that we organized in the past months, although
not exactly drawing crowds, each offered insights into the motivations
to resist, the problems people have as war tax resisters, and
the various reasons for resistance to resisting. I expect that
sort of experience to serve me well in this new position.
As many readers know, I worked on the national staff of the
War Resisters League for many years (1987-2000 with a year off
in the middle when I worked for a knitting magazine). I spent
six years as editor of The Nonviolent Activist and six as Director
of the National Office. Even with those job titles, war tax
resistance was either in my purview or in my heart to keep visible
within the WRL. I have researched and written the annual tax
pie chart since 1988. In the early 1990s the war tax resistance
and disarmament task forces of WRL created the Alternative Revenue
Service and the "EZ Peace Form." We kept that campaign going
for three years, and this year I found myself thinking that
the "EZ Peace Form" or something like it might be a good tool
these days. Recently I learned that Conscience: the Peace Tax
Campaign in England created a form this year based on the EZ
Peace Form. As an organizer I've always found that when you
plant seeds you never know where they will grow, and this recognition
has helped to sustain me over the years.
I hope that many of you have seen the new edition of War
Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the
Military. Ed Hedemann and I spent most of the winter researching
and editing the book in a desperate effort to get it out before
tax day, and Rick Bickhart did a terrific job on the design,
including the cover. I understand from the WRL office that the
book is selling well. While many anti-war activists may have
gotten discouraged that we didn't stop the war, others are definitely
looking to strengthen their resistance. In my many years in
the peace movement I don't think I've seen a time when so many
people have made the connection to their tax dollars and war,
so this should be an area we can build on. As the state and
local service cuts hit people around the country in the coming
year, more and more people will ask, "Why is there always money
for war?"
My introduction to war tax resistance came in the late 1970s
when I was living in Western Massachusetts and worked with the
Northampton office of the American Friends Service Committee.
Between the Quakers and the Pioneer Valley War Tax Resistance
folks just up the road, I think I got a fairly quick immersion
into why this form of resistance made sense. I moved to New
York City in 1985 to work for Middle East Research and Information
Project. I was only going to live in this big, crazy, wonderful
city a couple years, "just to get out of a rut," but then I
found my way to the WRL staff, and then I met Ed Hedemann, and
we have managed to make quite a comfortable life together in
Brooklyn, new home to NWTRCC.
I've cleared a little space for a NWTRCC office in a small
room of our apartment (I think it's rather nice, but a young
person who was just visiting referred to it as a closet!) and
look forward to working at home more and being in contact with
many of you. I'll also continue to do some other freelance work,
including producing outreach and marketing materials for a geriatric
day center and bookkeeping for a progressive organization that
analyzes the city budget.
It does seem ironic to find myself becoming coordinator of
this organization that Ed helped to found 20 years ago, and
I hope I can do as good a job as the coordinators who have proceeded
me: Kathy, Larry, Carolyn, Karen and Mary. Finally, if you find
yourself headed to or through New York City and want to check
out NWTRCC's "closet," please do give a call. I look forward
to working with old friends and meeting many new ones.
[Return to List of Headlines]
Counseling Notes:
IRS Going After the Poor
While the IRS spends less time trying to root out fraud and recover
the estimated $70 billion for offshore accounts and $46 billion
for corporations lost to the Treasury, they are tightening regulations
for those who apply for the earned-income tax credit. Claiming
$10 billion in fraud from persons applying for this credit, the
19 million low income recipients who benefit from it will find
it harder to apply. Marriage certificates and other more elaborate
records will be required as proof and may lead many applicants
to forgo the credit or be forced to pay tax advisors to help with
the application. Readers who have used this credit may want to
prepare in advance for the next year's filing. Please let NWTRCC
know of any repercussions.
-From a report in New York Times, 4/27/03
Stopping Pension Plan Withholding
We seem to be running into a lot of war tax resisting pensioners
who need answers about their various plans and pensions. At a
recent meeting someone was asking about stopping federal income
tax withholding from pension payments. It can be done using Form
W-4P, available as a download from the IRS website.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-fill/fw4p_03.pdf.
-From DC WTR's
[Return to List of Headlines]
MANY THANKS
Thank you to all the groups who have given since our last issue.
Your support helps keep us going!
War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund/FOR (Indiana)
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Working Group on Conscience,
War Tax Concerns & Militarism
Philadelphia War Tax Resister/WRL
Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters (Massachusetts)
Military Tax Resistance of Lane County (Oregon)
[Return to List of Headlines]
Tax Day Actions Around the Country
In a year with an obvious military buildup and invasion preceding
Tax Day, over 50 NWTRCC affiliates around the country were out
on April 15 to make their voices heard. Many other groups held
tax day events this year, and Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom and the Iraq Pledge of Resistance both encouraged
people to speak out against the amount of money spent on killing
and not on urgent domestic needs.
Here's a snapshot of some of the many creative NWTRCC actions
that took place around the country.
New York City
The Brooklyn-Manhattan War Resisters League and the NYC War Tax
Resistance sponsored a noon-time demonstration in front of the
midtown Manhattan IRS office that included a penny poll and holding
signs and banners. Though many of the business-suited midtown
office workers were not interested in the WTR message, last minute
filers as well as several news reporters (including an AP camera
crew) were.
That evening war tax resisters set up three literature and
counseling tables at Reverend Billy's "Peace Revival and Tax
Revolt" at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery. Performance artist
Bill Talen ("Rev. Billy") along with his gospel choir and several
speakers pushed the idea of rerouting taxes away from the war
and IRS to community groups. Lots of pie charts and other literature
were given out to the 250 people in attendance.
Portland, Oregon
Oregon Community for WTR (OCWTR) and its supporters gathered in
downtown Portland, with ten shopping carts full of groceries for
a soup kitchen about 15 blocks away. NWTRCC member Bruce Huntwork
read the letter he and his wife Ann were sending to the IRS this
year, explaining why they are withholding 100% this year, instead
of the military percentage, as they've done for the last 20 plus
years. (Ann is serving a six month sentence for crossing the line
at the School of the Americas in Georgia.) OCWTR then gave away
over $5,000 to six groups: victims of war (Voices in the Wilderness,
Mennonite Central Committee MidEast Branch); two local homeless
groups (St. Francis Dining Hall, Crossroads); the local anti-war
organizing coalition, and the local Indymedia. They reported that
over $12,000 from local individuals and the group was withheld
from the military and redirected to life affirming work this tax
season! This included one man who gave out $550 in $10 increments
to passers-by in the public square with a letter explaining about
his objection to war. At the end of the rally they paraded their
carts to another soup kitchen calling out chants like "feed the
poor, not the war," and donated $400 in groceries to them.
Saco, Maine
Twenty activists locked together by metal pipes and barrels brightly
painted to resemble crayons and other schools supplies blocked
the entrance to the General Dynamics Munitions Plant in Saco,
Maine. The protest called attention to massive increases in military
spending at a time when local towns and cities are considering
raising taxes or cutting educational and social services.
"We're here to remind people that 47 cents of every dollar
in taxes they pay goes to pay for past and current military
expenditures, while only three cents goes to education. For
the cost of producing a single stealth bomber, we could hire
38,000 elementary school teachers," explained Emily Posner.
"Where would you rather your money be spent, MK19 grenade launchers
or schools?"
Austin, Texas
Holding a series of "Burma-Shave" style signs for motorists who
queued up to the mail slot, about a dozen activists organized
by Austin Conscientious Objectors to Military Taxation protested
military spending at the Central Post Office in Austin, Texas
on Tax Day evening, 2003. The group had composed slogans with
rhymes, such as: "Instead of Bombs, Let's use the tax, To feed
more kids, Ours AND Iraq's." The messages were spread out over
several posters held in series. They also distributed some 750
WRL pie chart fliers to motorists as they passed our display.
One driver who refused to take a flier later parked and walked
back to us, saying, "I see that you really are about peace, and
I apologize for being rude."
One local TV station filmed the protest and included the story
in their evening broadcast.
War Resisters League National
WRL printed 110,000 of their annual pie chart-a record. This does
not include the many downloads of the flyer from the WRL website
(for the first time including a Spanish version). On April 15th
the WRL web site got 40,000 hits- second only to the record 43,000
hits that occurred on March 20 (the day after the U.S. invaded
Iraq). After the homepage, the most frequently visited pages were
the pie chart and the two main WTR pages. The 5th edition of "War
Tax Resistance" has been a very hot seller.
Chicago, Illinois
Voices In the Wilderness, a group that focused on ending the sanctions
in Iraq, and which sponsored people who stayed in Baghdad throughout
the recent bombing, urged its members to consider war tax resistance
this year. Many of its staff are already war tax resisters. They
featured war tax resistance on their homepage (www.vitw.org) with
links to the NWTRCC homepage and the WRL war tax resistance pages.
New London, Connecticut
A War Machine puppet was busy eating tax dollars while people
were leafleting in front of the Post Office in New London.
Hartford, Connecticut
War tax resisters dressed as bakers handed out pieces of pie and
the WRL "pie chart" in front of the main post office.
Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
FOR issued a press release on Tax Day, excerpted here:
"...Instead of a day that marks the fulfillment of an important
civic duty, this year Tax Day marks the shameful and unconscionable
feeding of a seemingly unstoppable war machine, which is more
aggressive and a danger to true global security and economic
justice than ever.
"...We object that less than 1% of our tax dollars are spent
on diplomacy or peaceful alternatives to conflict, while more
than 50% of our discretionary federal tax dollars pay for war
or expenditures related to the war system.
"...Therefore, we call upon all citizens and taxpayers to
fully consider the prophetic words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. and to work in the spirit of nonviolent discourse
and direct action to demilitarize our national budget priorities
and redirect our resources to the building of human community
and the enhancement of life in this nation and throughout the
world.
"...Only when our 'war taxes' are used to fight homelessness,
hunger, and human suffering will April 15th become a day of
moral significance, not one that marks the feeding of the machinery
of militarism and war."
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Three anti-war activists were arrested in celebration of War Tax
Resistance Day at Milwaukee's Federal Plaza. The three activists
dressed as a victim of war, a boy scout, and a student to represent
different groups that are affected by the war and war spending.
The Milwaukee Three picketed with supporters for 30 minutes then
proceeded inside the Federal Building. Once inside they commenced
a skit with statistics about military spending and spoke of war
tax resistance. Immediately after they went inside, police and
security officers closed the federal building (even to employees
wanting to return to work) for the next hour until picketers outside
who were in support of those getting arrested left. Later that
night picketers lined both sides of the street at the main post
office downtown to educate last minute tax filers.
Athens, Ohio
Activists in Athens held a rally at the Department of Job and
Family Services. About 60 people attended, and seven excellent
speakers made connections between the cost of the war and cuts
in human services in this area. About 35 people then marched to
the military recruiters' offices and delivered more speeches about
tax resistance and civil disobedience. Three people then "died"
in front of the doors to the Army, Air Force, and Navy offices
after making a statement. They were arrested for trespassing.
The story made the evening TV news, the radio, and the three local
papers.
San Francisco, California
A war tax resister held an impromptu WTR teach-in at 7 pm in front
of the San Francisco Federal Building on tax day. About ten people
were already there for a separate vigil, about eight showed up
for the teach in, and two passers-by stayed to listen.
An earlier WTR workshop, also held in San Francisco, was attended
by a phone company employee who said "I've read so many customers'
statements about refusing the federal tax on the phone bill
that I decided to come find out more about it."
York, Pennsylvania
A small group of activists gathered on the steps of the main post
office in York. They had the usual posters and flyers from the
War Resisters League, but with a little twist. The military was
also there, recruiting away, with a jeep that kids could climb
on. The activists had made up some fact sheets that debunked the
GI scholarship by showing who actually benefits from the scholarship
(virtually nobody). Some activists joined conversations between
the soldiers, who were dressed to kill, and their gullible victims
and got their information out, while the others focused more on
the tax information.
Boston, Mass
New England War Tax Resisters held an Introduction to War Tax
Resistance workshop on April 8 that 23 people came to (a record,
at least for the past ten years). They used the old "More Than
a Paycheck" slideshow to start it off, which despite being 15
or 20 years old, is still very effective and was well received.
Eugene, Oregon
Military Tax Resistance (MTR) of Lane County and Eugene PeaceWorks
spent a rainy day at the post office with a penny poll, leafleting,
guerrilla theatre, and a presentation of tax dollar redirection.
Some of the groups benefiting from more than $1,500 in redirected
taxes and support donations included Axis for Peace Campaign,
Food for Lane County, Voices in the Wilderness, and the White
Bird Clinic. This year the Postmaster appeared when the "Billionaires
for Bush" began their presentation citing chapter and verse as
to why they couldn't be on post office property. The group pointed
out that no traffic was being blocked, and eventually a compromise
was reached allowing part of the group on the steps, part on a
patio, and the rest on the sidewalk. MTR also ran a successful
workshop at a Peace Festival on the University of Oregon campus
and has experienced a big increase in interest over the last few
months.
St. Louis, Missouri
War tax resisters in St. Louis produced what they are calling
a "Truthful 1040." They gathered over 7,000 1040 forms from libraries
and post offices, and printed on the face of them the screened
images of a 13 year old killed in Baghdad last week and the scene
of the coffin of a U.S. soldier at a grave site. They then replaced
the forms in the 1040 slots at the libraries.
Hopefully these forms, if used, will not garner frivolous filing
fines.
Greenfield, Mass
Pioneer Valley War Tax Resistance (PVWTR) conducted a "Starve
the Pentagon, Feed the People" campaign calling for redirection
of federal tax dollars and leading up to presentations of these
funds to human needs groups on tax day. Dr. Sarah Kemble, a founder
of the Community Health Center, spoke at the tax day event at
the Greenfield post office as she accepted the donation. "It is
an honor to receive these contributions freely from the labor
of our friends and neighbors…. Never before has a government engaged
in aggressive, preemptive war costing billions of dollars while
proposing a $1.6 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthy." PVTWTR
organized war tax resistance clinics up to and following tax day,
with press releases to the area community inviting wide participation
for discussion whether or not people expected to become war tax
resisters.
[Return to List of Headlines]
May NWTRCC Meeting a Success
"Rekindling Connection, Realizing Strength During the Reign
of W" was the theme of the war tax resistance conference and NWTRCC
meetings May 16-18. The weekend was hosted by Sonoma County Taxpayers
for Peace in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, California, just north
of San Francisco. More than 70 conference participants agreed
that weekend presentations, workshops, and informal discussions
accomplished the goals of making us feel more connected and strong
in our resistance.
Special presentations included Legal Aid attorney Steven Bingham
speaking on the Patriot Act and Sebastopol politician and activist
Larry Robinson speaking on the view of war tax resistance in
the wider peace movement. Robinson emphasized that the question
of some war tax resisters feeling marginalized in the movement
is a non-issue for him; each section of the movement adds a
piece to the ongoing effort for social change. Bingham is new
to war tax resistance, but discussed the growing power of the
justice department through the Patriot Act and Patriot Act II,
if it passes. The ramifications are most obvious on immigrants,
but he gave a stern warning to be aware of how these bills are
broadening search powers, including anything on the internet,
and targeting political groups for special attention.
There was a session to talk about tax day actions and other
local organizing that gave us all a chance to hear new ideas
and share experiences, such as with local post offices and their
varying rules for demonstrations on federal property. Eugene
(OR) was especially annoyed-and amused-by a compromise that
allowed die-in participants to lie on the post office steps,
speakers on a patio, while those carrying signs and leafleting
had to be further away on the sidewalk. A math teacher talked
about how he uses budget priority problems as lessons in his
class.
Sonoma county hosts for the weekend are spearheading the One
Million Taxpayers for Peace campaign and are especially interested
in seeing a united, national campaign grow. Other national efforts
were offered, among them, Iraq Pledge of Resistance and War
Resisters League are building a new "Hang Up on War" phone tax
campaign, and the Appeal to Conscience petition will continue
to be circulated. Symbolic levels of resistance were endorsed
by many as a way to broaden our outreach, and interest in some
national campaign is high.
The NWTRCC Coordinating Committee met on Sunday morning to
discuss a fairly light decision-making agenda. The transition
of the office from Mary Loehr in Ithaca, NY, to Ruth Benn in
Brooklyn was described, and questions were raised about reviving
committees on literature, fundraising, and outreach in particular.
Chicago was chosen as the meeting site for November 7-9, if
enough organizing support is in place, and new members of the
Administrative Committee were agreed upon. The Committee members
are Paula Rogge (Austin), Jessica Stewart (Ithaca), Peter Smith
(South Bend), and Rick Bickhart (Colorado Springs), and alternates
are Lincoln Rice (Milwaukee) and Sasha Vodnik (Richmond).
Finally, a concert Saturday night featuring local Raging Grannies,
85-yearold folksinger Faith Petric, and comic/singer Dave Lippman
was a weekend highlight. Special thanks to the Sonoma County
folks for their excellent organizing. We hope that many readers
will join us at the November conference.
[Return to List of Headlines]
History of Jailings and Seizures
Since the modern war tax resistance movement began over 60 years
ago, some 30 people have been convicted (a couple dozen of whom
were jailed) for issues related to war tax resistance, mostly
for contempt of court, aside from a bunch in the early 1970s who
were charged with falsifying W-4 forms. The most comprehensive
list available about this history can be found at www.warresisters.org/convicted_wtr.htm.
If you have corrections or additional information for this list
(or need a copy mailed to you), please contact NWTRCC.
Also, that web site has a list of cars and houses of war tax
resisters seized in the last 20 or so years. Please send corrections
and additions to that list as well.
Finally, we need corrections and additions to a third list:
war tax resisters who have gotten an "order to show cause."
Email, mail, or call NWTRCC if you have anything to add to these
lists.
The Lockheed Martin Tax
Each American household pays a "Lockheed Martin Tax" of $202.66.
The average individual taxpayer pays a "Lockheed Martin Tax" of
$94.15.
Background to reach these figures:
- 105 million households in U.S., according to 2002 census.
- 226 million individual taxpayers, according to IRS.
- Lockheed Martin reported $26.6 billion in sales in 2002,
and boasted that "nearly 80%" of their business is with the
U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. federal government
agencies. 80% is $21.28 billion.
Compiled by Frida Berrigan, World Policy Institute.
Top Excuses Why Peace Movement People Aren't Tax Resisters
Despite the obvious connection between taxes and war, many peace
movement people do not become war tax resisters. In an attempt
to correct this problem, war tax resister Ed Hedemann is hoping
to develop a brochure addressing these concerns. It would list
the excuses and give short responses. The first step is to find
a list of reasons why people are so reluctant. What follows are
some possibilities. Which of these are the most important? Anything
missing from this list? Feel free to respond to Ed via the NWTRCC
office, or to email him at: hedemann@compuserve.com.
- I'll go to jail.
- Can't afford it because they'll collect with interest and
penalties.
- I might lose my job.
- The IRS might take my house or car.
- It would create interpersonal problems with my spouse/parents.
- It's wrong to break the law/tax laws.
- Taxes are good; we shouldn't refuse to pay them.
- It'll hurt my credit rating.
- I never owe anything; the IRS always sends me money.
- War tax resistance is too complicated.
- It'll call attention to me, and the IRS may invalidate
my [questionable] deductions.
- I would have to change my lifestyle.
- It might jeopardize the position of a relative.
- It might look bad to my employer or cause them trouble.
- It might affect my ability to get student financial aid
or loans.
- I need my 401 K/pension/IRA/Social Security to live on
when I am older.
[Return to List of Headlines]
Living Simply to Boycott the War Machine
By Don Schrader
No job, no salary, no relationship, no degree, no house, no
car, no art, no furniture, no trip, no gadgets, are worth paying
federal income tax to rob, terrorize, blind, cripple, paralyze,
make homeless and murder our sisters and brothers worldwide.
The main purpose of the U.S. war machine is to make sure that
most Americans, especially the greediest, keep on stealing and
hogging the wealth of the world.
The best way to boycott the U.S. war machine, with no fines
and no threats from the IRS, is to live simply-under the taxable
level.
The taxable level this year for a single, sighted, under 65-year-old
person is $7,800. I lived well last year on $3,760.
I have owned no car since I returned to Albuquerque in 1988.
The last time I rode in any car was April 7, 2001. I hate cars
because I hate wars for oil, poisoned air, the horrors of global
warming, highways smothering fertile soil... I love to WALK!
I would not trade my 12' x 14' apartment home for the most
luxurious mansion in the world.
I am glad I have no refrigerator, no TV, no VCR, no gun, no
computer, no credit cards, no business suit, no jet travel,
no phone, no microwave, no air conditioner... I wash my clothes
by hand at home.
I am glad I consume no booze, no cigarettes, no restaurant
meals, no junk food, no meat, no dairy, no cooked food, no illegal
drugs, no prescription drugs. I am glad I have no doctor, no
dentist, no medical insurance. I am an all-raw foods vegetarian
devoted to natural health.
I yearn for passionate lifelong romance with a man, but I
will not surrender or compromise my war tax refusal and my living
simply for any man on earth!
If a father gives his son a switchblade, how can the father
be shocked if his son eventually stabs someone? Many U.S. peace
activists for decades have paid thousands of dollars to the
U.S. war machine. So how can they be shocked when the U.S. empire
uses the weapons purchased by the peace activists to mass murder
worldwide? We get what we pay for.
Many U.S. actors, entertainers and other obscenely rich Americans
say "Not in my name" against the U.S. war on Iraq, but they
pay far more for war than many minimum wage workers who proudly
send their soldier sons and daughters to battle. How much good
is it to proclaim "Not in my name" unless that means "Not with
my money?"
I refused to be a soldier in 1969 during the Vietnam War.
For me as a conscientious objector, to pay federal income tax
to train other Americans, largely the poor and people of color,
to become professional hired killers to murder on command with
no conscience, would be more evil than being a soldier myself.
My life is an all-out public boycott of the U.S. Empire everyday
as long as I live.
Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world…
My life is my message."
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