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New Yorkers Find Their Voice
Remarks at Times Square Rally, October 7, 2001
Protesting the Tenth Anniversary of the Afghanistan War
This is the week New Yorkers began to hope again. If you were down in Foley Square on Wednesday, the infectious spirit of the crowd, the amazing diversity of the marchers, the energy and feeling of unity --were a reminder that social justice and peace are living aspirations for most people. And they come to life when we act together.
Oct 08, 2011
Remarks at Times Square Rally, October 7, 2001
Protesting the Tenth Anniversary of the Afghanistan War
This is the week New Yorkers began to hope again. If you were down in Foley Square on Wednesday, the infectious spirit of the crowd, the amazing diversity of the marchers, the energy and feeling of unity --were a reminder that social justice and peace are living aspirations for most people. And they come to life when we act together.
Ten years ago our city was hijacked. But the perpetrators were not foreign "terrorists"; they were homegrown politicians and business leaders, who transformed our tragedy ---- the horrifying attack on the World Trade Center into a call for endless wars. On September 12, 2001 we were a city of grieving people, who were seeking ways to help each other. We understood with startling clarity that every life is precious -no matter what the person's race or religion or income. And we watched the rescue workers down at "ground zero" risk their own lives, out of love and diminishing hope that by their effort they could save even one person.
But then President Bush arrived at Ground Zero with his bullhorn. And the elite of this country, supported by the mass media, decided that war was the antidote for our loss. And not just one war, but many wars! For the past ten years, we have seen these leaders multiply the 3000 deaths in New York City into hundreds of thousands of deaths abroad. We have watched the death toll for own soldiers match and then exceed the death toll on 9-11.
For the past ten years, we have seen the military send and re-send the same troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan--and to have so many of them return with broken bodies and broken spirits. And what has been the point of sending the same people back on repeated tours of duty? It was the perverse lesson learned from the Vietnam War. End the draft, make a smaller number of people responsible for all of the fighting and the war won't come home.
But these wars have come home. While 1% of people have profited immensely from an inflated military budget, the other 99% have paid the price. You can't spend $1.3 trillion on foreign wars, lower the taxes of the rich and expect that the rest of society will be immune. And every day now, we see the cost of militarism and greed. All the things 99% of us need and value: schools, hospitals, libraries, senior citizens and child care centers, public transportation, safe bridges, tunnels and roads -undergoing the budget axe. And all of these cutbacks have resulted in lay-offs, higher unemployment and greater poverty here in New York.
This is not the first week that the hope for peace and social justice has rippled through our city. In 2008, many of us stood on long lines to cast a vote for a new President, whom we hoped would reverse disastrous policies, which were harming people here and abroad. The new President was elected but the policies haven't changed. We have a choice. We can complain about this or we can learn. And "Occupy Wall Street" has shown that New Yorkers are learning.
No politician is going to stand up to the corporate elite or the military and turn this country around unless the 99% of Americans who are hurt by their actions organize, mobilize, get into the streets and demand an end to the wars, an end to the corporate rip-ups, an end to slashed services. The energy and effort must come from us. And that's what have we have seen and heard in Lower Manhattan this week--the sound of ordinary people raising their voices and acting together. That's change we can believe in.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Carolyn Eisenberg
Carolyn Eisenberg is a professor of U.S. history and american foreign policy at Hofstra University. She is the author of the recently published Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia.(Oxford University Press). She is a Co-Founder of Brooklyn for Peace.
Remarks at Times Square Rally, October 7, 2001
Protesting the Tenth Anniversary of the Afghanistan War
This is the week New Yorkers began to hope again. If you were down in Foley Square on Wednesday, the infectious spirit of the crowd, the amazing diversity of the marchers, the energy and feeling of unity --were a reminder that social justice and peace are living aspirations for most people. And they come to life when we act together.
Ten years ago our city was hijacked. But the perpetrators were not foreign "terrorists"; they were homegrown politicians and business leaders, who transformed our tragedy ---- the horrifying attack on the World Trade Center into a call for endless wars. On September 12, 2001 we were a city of grieving people, who were seeking ways to help each other. We understood with startling clarity that every life is precious -no matter what the person's race or religion or income. And we watched the rescue workers down at "ground zero" risk their own lives, out of love and diminishing hope that by their effort they could save even one person.
But then President Bush arrived at Ground Zero with his bullhorn. And the elite of this country, supported by the mass media, decided that war was the antidote for our loss. And not just one war, but many wars! For the past ten years, we have seen these leaders multiply the 3000 deaths in New York City into hundreds of thousands of deaths abroad. We have watched the death toll for own soldiers match and then exceed the death toll on 9-11.
For the past ten years, we have seen the military send and re-send the same troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan--and to have so many of them return with broken bodies and broken spirits. And what has been the point of sending the same people back on repeated tours of duty? It was the perverse lesson learned from the Vietnam War. End the draft, make a smaller number of people responsible for all of the fighting and the war won't come home.
But these wars have come home. While 1% of people have profited immensely from an inflated military budget, the other 99% have paid the price. You can't spend $1.3 trillion on foreign wars, lower the taxes of the rich and expect that the rest of society will be immune. And every day now, we see the cost of militarism and greed. All the things 99% of us need and value: schools, hospitals, libraries, senior citizens and child care centers, public transportation, safe bridges, tunnels and roads -undergoing the budget axe. And all of these cutbacks have resulted in lay-offs, higher unemployment and greater poverty here in New York.
This is not the first week that the hope for peace and social justice has rippled through our city. In 2008, many of us stood on long lines to cast a vote for a new President, whom we hoped would reverse disastrous policies, which were harming people here and abroad. The new President was elected but the policies haven't changed. We have a choice. We can complain about this or we can learn. And "Occupy Wall Street" has shown that New Yorkers are learning.
No politician is going to stand up to the corporate elite or the military and turn this country around unless the 99% of Americans who are hurt by their actions organize, mobilize, get into the streets and demand an end to the wars, an end to the corporate rip-ups, an end to slashed services. The energy and effort must come from us. And that's what have we have seen and heard in Lower Manhattan this week--the sound of ordinary people raising their voices and acting together. That's change we can believe in.
Carolyn Eisenberg
Carolyn Eisenberg is a professor of U.S. history and american foreign policy at Hofstra University. She is the author of the recently published Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia.(Oxford University Press). She is a Co-Founder of Brooklyn for Peace.
Remarks at Times Square Rally, October 7, 2001
Protesting the Tenth Anniversary of the Afghanistan War
This is the week New Yorkers began to hope again. If you were down in Foley Square on Wednesday, the infectious spirit of the crowd, the amazing diversity of the marchers, the energy and feeling of unity --were a reminder that social justice and peace are living aspirations for most people. And they come to life when we act together.
Ten years ago our city was hijacked. But the perpetrators were not foreign "terrorists"; they were homegrown politicians and business leaders, who transformed our tragedy ---- the horrifying attack on the World Trade Center into a call for endless wars. On September 12, 2001 we were a city of grieving people, who were seeking ways to help each other. We understood with startling clarity that every life is precious -no matter what the person's race or religion or income. And we watched the rescue workers down at "ground zero" risk their own lives, out of love and diminishing hope that by their effort they could save even one person.
But then President Bush arrived at Ground Zero with his bullhorn. And the elite of this country, supported by the mass media, decided that war was the antidote for our loss. And not just one war, but many wars! For the past ten years, we have seen these leaders multiply the 3000 deaths in New York City into hundreds of thousands of deaths abroad. We have watched the death toll for own soldiers match and then exceed the death toll on 9-11.
For the past ten years, we have seen the military send and re-send the same troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan--and to have so many of them return with broken bodies and broken spirits. And what has been the point of sending the same people back on repeated tours of duty? It was the perverse lesson learned from the Vietnam War. End the draft, make a smaller number of people responsible for all of the fighting and the war won't come home.
But these wars have come home. While 1% of people have profited immensely from an inflated military budget, the other 99% have paid the price. You can't spend $1.3 trillion on foreign wars, lower the taxes of the rich and expect that the rest of society will be immune. And every day now, we see the cost of militarism and greed. All the things 99% of us need and value: schools, hospitals, libraries, senior citizens and child care centers, public transportation, safe bridges, tunnels and roads -undergoing the budget axe. And all of these cutbacks have resulted in lay-offs, higher unemployment and greater poverty here in New York.
This is not the first week that the hope for peace and social justice has rippled through our city. In 2008, many of us stood on long lines to cast a vote for a new President, whom we hoped would reverse disastrous policies, which were harming people here and abroad. The new President was elected but the policies haven't changed. We have a choice. We can complain about this or we can learn. And "Occupy Wall Street" has shown that New Yorkers are learning.
No politician is going to stand up to the corporate elite or the military and turn this country around unless the 99% of Americans who are hurt by their actions organize, mobilize, get into the streets and demand an end to the wars, an end to the corporate rip-ups, an end to slashed services. The energy and effort must come from us. And that's what have we have seen and heard in Lower Manhattan this week--the sound of ordinary people raising their voices and acting together. That's change we can believe in.
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