17 Mar 2006 @ 08:51, by Raymond Powers
Ronnie Cummins: Gaia Not Guns, A Declaration of Peace & Inter-Dependence
GAIA NOT GUNS: A DECLARATION OF PEACE & INTER-DEPENDENCE
Posted 3/13/06
By Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association
Gaia: Named after an ancient Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia is the belief
and scientific hypothesis that our entire planet is a living organism with
Humankind as an integral part.
Farmers and consumers, both U.S. and worldwide, share the unique privilege
and daunting responsibility of making sure that everyone is fed, and that
the land, water, and climate are nurtured and protected so that we can feed
and nourish the future generations.
War and the enormous waste of resources spent in waging war and maintaining
a huge military industrial complex, threaten our well-being and the literal
survival of our children and the future generations. U.S. taxpayers, for
example, are currently supporting a military budget of over $578 billion a
year, ($463 billion for ³normal² military spending and $115 billion for the
Iraq & Afghan wars)--enough to pay for the cost of eliminating global hunger
and stabilizing the global climate. The annual costs of waging the war in
Iraq and maintaining military bases in the Middle East alone are sufficient
to launch a crash program to reduce greenhouse gases by 75%, feed the
world¹s hungry, and convert the U.S. economy to renewable energy and organic
and sustainable agricultural practices.
As the world¹s climate scientists and energy analysts warn us, unless we
rapidly transfer billions of dollars from the military budget and other
corporate welfare programs, and implement a far-reaching global program to
eliminate poverty, reduce greenhouse gases, and convert the U.S. and global
economy to renewable energy and sustainable production, civilization, as we
know it today, may not survive more than a few more decades.
As organic and socially responsible consumers, we come together to oppose
the war in Iraq and to challenge the dangerous and unsustainable cycle of
war and militarism that threatens our world. The solution we propose is a
negotiated peace, nuclear disarmament, energy independence (for all
nations), and a concerted global campaign to reduce and eliminate global
poverty, especially rural poverty, through the conversion of agriculture and
global commerce to sustainable and organic production.
We come from different political, religious, and social backgrounds, but
share a common concern that the living Earth or Creation, must be protected,
that the upcoming generations have an inalienable right to a stable climate
and that the United States, founded by small farmers and craftsmen/women,
must return to the spirit and ideals upon which our Republic was founded.
We strive for a world that reduces the risk of war by eliminating its
causes--poverty, control of government and mass media by powerful special
interests (the fossil fuel lobby and the military industrial complex),
environmental degradation, injustice, and religious intolerance. We call
for all countries to stop misappropriating their resources on war and to
focus instead on fighting hunger, promoting public health, stabilizing the
climate, and protecting our common environment and farmlands.
Organic and Socially Responsible Consumers Say No to War and Climate Chaos
Help us build up a national and international network of organic and
socially responsible consumers who wish to protect Gaia/Mother Earth, put an
end to war and military madness, and green and re-localize the global
ecology.
Our group plans to become part of United for Peace and Justice, a coalition
of 1300 local and national anti-war groups in the U.S.
(www.unitedforpeace.org ). Please join us
in building up a powerful coalition that brings about cooperation and
synergy between the anti-war movement, the climate crisis movement, and the
organic community.
Thanks to the Farms Not Arms coalition and peaceroots.org for much of the
wording and inspiration for this document.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks.
ISAIAH 2:4
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