Future Hope column, August 26, 2007

Thoughts on Fasting, 2007

By Ted Glick

As I prepare myself mentally and spiritually for the long fast I will be undertaking on September 4^th as part of the Climate Emergency Fast (http://www.climateemergency.org), I find myself thinking back to the first time I consciously and deliberately went without food because of an issue I felt strongly about.

It was in the summer of 1971. I was being held at Danbury federal prison, serving what turned out to be 11 months behind bars for my anti-Vietnam war, draft resistance activism as a member of the “Catholic Left,” or what J. Edgar Hoover called, in the words of Time magazine, a "terrorist 'conspiracy' involving radical Catholic priests and nuns."

Two of the leaders of that “terrorist conspiracy,” Frs. Philip and Daniel Berrigan, were in prison with me, and they had just heard from the Federal Bureau of Prisons parole board that they had been denied parole and likely would have to serve out their entire six year sentence. They had received this sentence after burning pieces of paper, Selective Service draft files taken from a Catonsville, Md. draft board, with home made napalm just outside that draft board in the spring of 1968. They waited for the police to arrive, were arrested, tried and sentenced.

Phil was concerned about whether his brother would survive 3 ½ more years in prison. He also clearly saw the potential for a hunger strike, a fast, to contribute to the anti-war cause. And so, under his leadership, a group of eleven of us stopped eating on August 6^th, the 26^th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. There were three basic demands: a fair and reasonable review of the Berrigans’ parole turndown; various reforms in the way the parole board dealt with all prisoners; and a shutting down of the “tiger cage” prison on Con Son Island in what was then South Vietnam. Con Son Island prison was to Vietnam what Abu Ghraib prison is to Iraq.

Five of the 11 of us began the Danbury hunger strike by passing out leaflets on the 6^th announcing it, and calling for other prisoners to engage in a work stoppage and hunger strike starting on August 9. We had surreptitiously printed up the leaflets on a mimeograph machine in the prison library. Within minutes we were arrested by the prison guards and put into solitary confinement, “the hole.”

When the remaining six of us passed out leaflets the morning of the 9^th, almost the entire prisoner population stayed away from work for about a half an hour. Only 100 out of 800 prisoners ate lunch, and 40 were taken to the hole for refusing to go to work when the prison administration mobilized and threatened serious punishment for any who didn’t do so.

Two days later the 11 of us were whisked away from Danbury out to the federal prison in Springfield, Mo., one of the institutions where they send trouble makers. For 34 days, confined together apart from the other prisoners in one wing of the prison, we drank only water, juice and, mistakenly, milk before finally ending this fast. And it had results. There were, for a time, some changes in the way the parole board functioned, and Phil and Dan were released from prison about 16 months after our hunger strike ended.

I’ve fasted many times since. There have been two major ones. In the year following the Danbury action I was part of a 40-day, water-only fast calling for an end to the Vietnam War. And 15 years ago, at the age of 42, I participated in a 42-day, water-only fast organized by Brian Willson, Karen Fogliatti and Scott Rutherford at the time of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas. The purpose of that fast was to oppose the planned, official government celebrations of Columbus, to make a statement about the depth of the changes needed in this country and world to turn away from the many negative things that Columbus represented which were, and are, still very much at work.

Humankind’s relationship to our Mother Earth, the environment, is high up on the list of those negative things. And time is running out, without a doubt. The model of economic development built upon, dependent upon, coal, oil and natural gas, the carbon-emitting, greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat, is a model of economic development that is literally destroying our ecosystem. I am convinced based on study, observation and the opinions of independent scientists who know much more than I do, that the changes in our climate we are seeing all over the world are not temporary and will only get worse, potentially catastrophically worse, unless and until we take dramatic steps to enact a deep and wide, justice-based, clean energy revolution.

And I don’t think we can wait for our federal government to pass strong legislation toward this end until 2009.

Given the reality of who’s in the White House, it may be that we can’t get much of what is needed before then, but those of us who appreciate the urgency of the climate crisis cannot accept that.

I remember a discussion we had during the 40-day fast against the Vietnam War in 1972 about the Presidential elections. At the time Richard Nixon and George McGovern were campaigning for the Presidency. Dave Dellinger, one of the fasters, said that he wasn't going to get involved with supporting McGovern, the peace candidate. Explaining himself further, he said that he had learned that whether a Democrat or a Republican is elected, what is most important is what happens independent of the government and the two dominant parties, the strength of movements for justice or people's rights. And half a year later, surprisingly, following Nixon's re-election and the shooting down of many planes by the Vietnamese during a Christmas U.S. bombing campaign, the Nixon administration said "uncle" and negotiated a withdrawal agreement.

Does this mean that it doesn’t make any difference who is in the White House come Jan. 20, 2009? No, I don’t believe that. There are differences between the two major parties, and among the candidates for President in each party, and certainly with the Green Party and other “minor” parties. But I’ve come to appreciate what I think Dave was getting at. I think what he meant was that if the bulk of the movement for peace and justice, for a clean energy revolution, gets caught up primarily in direct work supporting Democrats (or Republicans) and we don’t keep organizing independent of and outside of that corrupted political system, we will be weakened. Our movements will be less vital, less out there focusing on the issues, less about movement building, less about forcing candidates and elected officials to respond to and be accountable to us.

I don’t feel weak as I think about going for weeks without food again, although I know I’ll be physically weaker as it goes on. I’m feeling very strong, very gratified by the response to the call for this Climate Emergency Fast. It looks like there will be close to 1,000 people fasting for at least one day, possibly more, and close to 100 fasting for more than one day. As of today there are 45 states and eight countries where people will be taking part in this action, and those numbers will grow in the nine days left before September 4th. Even before it has begun, there is interest from several non-movement press outlets, a hopeful sign.

I think of the words of an Ojibway prayer I carry around in my wallet,

“Grandfather, look at our brokenness. We know that in all creation only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way. We know that we are the ones who are divided, and we are the ones who must come back together to walk the Sacred Way. Grandfather, Sacred One, teach us love, compassion and honor, that we may heal the earth and heal each other.” Amen.

Future Hope column, September 1, 2007

A Decisive Fall Season

By Ted Glick

“I am firmly convinced that the passionate will for justice and truth has done more to improve (the human condition) than calculating political shrewdness which in the long run only breeds general mistrust.”

--Albert Einstein, “Moral Decay,” 1937

I’ve always liked this quote of Einstein’s. It’s extremely relevant to our situation today. And by today I really mean today, this week, this month, right now.

It’s relevant for those “calculating” Democrats who have been afraid to call for or to vote to cut off the funding that finances the Iraq war. The only money that should be voted is to finance the withdrawal of troops, equipment and private contractors, the shutting down of military bases, and for reconstruction and reparations.

The use of funds for those purposes would not just undercut Al Qaeda’s appeal to those in the Arab world furious at Bush/Cheney’s brutal war and occupation. Such a change in policy would signify some real hope that the U.S. government is getting it when it comes to respect for national sovereignty and a turn away from oil imperialism. It’d be a good first step in the direction of what we desperately need—not Democratic Party “imperialism light” but a foreign policy truly based upon social and economic justice, peaceful resolution of conflicts as much as possible, and dramatic support for the spread of solar power and wind energy technology to the Global South.

The Einstein quote is also relevant for those “calculating” Democratic Presidential candidates who have kept their mouths shut while George Bush makes it clear by his recent rhetoric that the “bomb Iran” option is very much in play. You can’t be a candidate committed to peace and justice and keep quiet on this fundamental issue.

It may be that Bush is ratcheting up the rhetoric because he knows from experience that this works with chicken-hearted Democrats who are afraid of looking like they are “soft on terrorism.” It is likely that this is part of his criminal gang’s strategy for getting their $460 billion dollars for the Pentagon, their $147 in “supplemental” funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and, now we learn, an additional $50 billion more for the Iraq war on top of all of that.

It may also be that Bush and Cheney have decided to ratchet up their escalating pressure on Iran to provoke the Iranian government into an action that they can use as their Gulf of Tonkin, their Niger yellow cake incident. Then they can unleash bombing by U.S. planes ringing Iran at military bases and on aircraft carriers. It makes absolute sense that these power hungry, mad men would do something like this as a desperate “hail Mary” action that they hope will scramble the U.S. political scene to their benefit.

All of this will only happen if the Democratic Party and the leading Democratic Presidential candidates pull their punches, act in their usual “shrewd” way, refuse to seriously mix it up with a President and Vice-President whose Nixon-like polling numbers should actually be emboldening them.

And, of course, this is where the anti-war and progressive movement come in.

September is going to be a big month. The national anti-war actions in Washington, D.C. on September 15^th and September 29^th are both important, as are the local actions planned during Declaration of Peace week the 14^th-21st, both the traditional legal actions and the up-the-ante nonviolent civil disobedience. The September 6^th call-in to Congress is also important.

It seems to me that all of us within driving range of D.C., including UFPJ members, should make every effort to turn out for one or the other of the September actions. I understand why UFPJ made a decision two years ago that they weren’t going to work with ANSWER (which at that point had not split in two) anymore. But politics and history move on, and given the urgency of now, today, this month, when it comes to the war in Iraq and a possible war in Iran, our “passionate will for justice” should lead us to appreciate that there are good reasons to support and participate in major demonstrations in D.C. right now.

Those who are active or passive supporters of one of the Democratic Party Presidential candidates have an obligation to communicate in no uncertain terms that any continuing support is contingent upon whether they speak up loudly and strongly against military action in Iran and against funding of the Bush/Cheney imperialist war of occupation for oil.

Which leads to the October 22^nd No War, No Warming mass nonviolent direct action being planned for Capitol Hill, with local actions around the country (http://www.nowarnowarming.org). We should all be very vocal about our intention to be part of and to organize for the Capitol Hill intervention on the morning of Monday the 22^nd. Democrats in particular should know that we’ve had it with the fumbling of their mandate from last fall’s elections. If they roll over again and let Bush get what he wants, they should be prepared for thousands of angry, determined activists descending on their work space.

This is a decisive fall season. We need to meditate on that. The Bush/Cheney gang are politically wounded but they continue to have their hands on the levers of power. Absent a much stronger impeachment movement that could put them on the defensive—as the impeach Nixon movement did in 1973-74, insuring that the U.S. government completed its withdrawal from South Vietnam--we cannot underestimate the dangers we face.

I’ll be fasting this September and possibly into October as part of the Climate Emergency Fast (http://www.climateemergency.org), but that won’t stop me from participating to the best of my physical and other abilities in the rest of this fall’s essential peace, justice and climate actions.

Future Hope column, Nov. 7, 2007

“We Want More”

By Ted Glick

Words fail me as I try to figure out how to capture in words the profound significance of the student-based Power Shift conference which took place November 2-5 at the University of Maryland and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Historic—Powerful—Deep—Amazing—Awesome—Astounding—Incredible—Hope at the Highest Level: these are the adjectives and phrases that come to mind.

So what happened?

From November 2nd to the 4th upwards of 6,000 people, overwhelmingly young people, multi-racial but predominantly white, from all over the country and with some international representation, met on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park at the “first-ever national youth climate summit.” Over the course of two and a half days they heard lots of speakers and music at plenary sessions and panels and took part in close to 300 different workshops, on a range of topics.

Some of the topics covered in the workshops and panels included:

-anti-racism and anti-oppression, a central priority for this burgeoning movement of hope for the world

-organizing strategies and tactics on the climate issue on college campuses

-community-based, statewide and national organizing and legislative approaches on the climate issue

-ending the U.S. addiction to coal and oil

-media and messaging

-skills trainings

-spirituality and faith and environmental sustainability

-civil disobedience and direct action in the climate movement

-corporate campaigning

This was a conference of thousands of SERIOUS young people. They were not there just to enjoy one another’s company, although that was definitely going on. They were there primarily to learn, to contribute, to strategize, to return home as smarter and more effective activists for a justice-based, peace-encouraging, world-changing clean energy revolution.

And more.

One of the political high points for me was when, during a major plenary session Saturday night, a “we want more” chant went up from some of those in the crowd of thousands during the speeches of Congresspersons Ed Markey and, following him, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Markey is the chair of a special House committee on global warming set up by Pelosi earlier this year.

Markey and Pelosi were the two prominent national politicians who spoke at Power Shift. I was told that all of the Presidential candidates were invited and, tellingly, none came.

I was especially pleased by this interruption of Markey’s and then Pelosi’s speeches because I was disappointed by the initially loud and strong welcoming of Pelosi when she was introduced to the crowd. Other speakers Friday night and earlier Saturday night had received a warm response when they spoke against the war in Iraq during their time on the stage. So for Pelosi to be received so positively given her misleadership in Congress on that issue was not what I had thought would happen. I was hoping that the response would be more mixed.

But then the “we want more” chant rose up out of the crowd. Here’s how it was described on the Power Shift website blog by one of those who led it, Juliana Williams:

“Tonight at Power Shift, as Congressman Ed Markey stood before us inciting us to support the proposed Energy Bill, a few of us began chanting ‘We want more, we want more.’ Congressman Markey stopped short to listen. We chanted for a full minute with a fervor, intensity and volume that left me light-headed, hoarse and thoroughly invigorated. As we chanted, for the first time, I felt an almost painful desire for the future we want to see. . .

“We don’t just want policy fixes, or simply a change in leadership in the White House, higher fuel economy standards, or 80% emissions reduction by the year 2050. This movement is about more than just politics. This movement is about more than just supporting clean energy sources. This movement is about recognizing the patterns of consumption, patterns of thought, patterns of behavior that have led to the social ills we see today. It’s about rediscovering the value of our resources, the value of our neighbors, the value of life on this planet.”

“We want more” came forward as a chant another time that I heard over the course of the weekend. It was on Monday the 5th on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol during a rally of close to 2,000 young people in mid-day in between morning and afternoon mass lobbying by the students in support of the strong legislative demands of the 1 Sky campaign (www.1skycampaign.org).

The best lobby day story I heard about was what happened in the Hart Senate Office Building that morning. Spontaneously, hundreds of students started chanting “80 by 50” (80% reductions in carbon emissions by 2050) across an atrium in the center of that building around which Senate offices are lined up. I was with a group of about 25 that chanted anti-war slogans into that atrium space during the first week of the Iraq war in March of 2003, and we were loud, so I’m sure hundreds of students chanting on Monday were heard by everyone in the building.

The best visual of the weekend for me was at the end of the Monday rally. Dozens of young people were up on the stage, singing and dancing along with music coming out of the loudspeakers. Hundreds of others were doing the same on the ground as cameras clicked and rolled. I was moved as I watched the joyful energy and read the signs people were holding: Green Jobs—No Coal—1 Sky—30 by 2020—Power Shift—Danger: End of World Ahead—Congress Listen: Act Now—Youth Want Green Energy—God’s Creation, Our Home—Hope Is Green.

Our hope for the future absolutely is green: a connection to the green, life-giving force of our Mother Earth. A green, clean energy economy that gets us off the dirty fossil fuels which are destroying the ecosystem and are the reason for the U.S.’s wars of occupation in the Middle East and elsewhere trying to control oil and natural gas. A green, clean energy revolution that creates millions of jobs, lifts people out of poverty, strengthens communities and reduces the power of destructive corporations.

And there is movement in Congress toward this future. It is possible that a piece of global warming legislation could come onto the U.S. Senate floor for a debate and vote early next year, although it will not be strong enough and will likely provide even more subsidies for coal, auto and oil companies. There will be a need for significant grassroots mobilization to demand that it either be strengthened and changed or defeated.

Most immediately, there’s an energy bill that could be passed by Congress in early December that could—repeat, could—be the beginnings of a turn by the federal government in the right direction on the energy issue. If that’s to happen the climate movement needs to work very hard between now and then to pressure legislators for a good bill. A good bill will include an increased fuel efficiency standard for cars to at least 35 mpg by 2020, a renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to get at least 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, a strong green jobs program and absolutely no subsidies for liquid coal, nuclear energy, coal or oil.

As we work to get this kind of energy bill passed we should be building toward actions all over the country on December 8^th, the third International Day of Climate Action. This is taking place during the time of the Dec. 3-14 United Nations Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia. There will be actions on the 8^th in more than 50 countries.

Power Shift. As was talked about this past weekend, a phrase with a double meaning. A shift from carbon to clean energy, and a shift from old, corporate-dominated politics as usual to the new, democratic (small “d”), participatory politics experienced by thousands at the University of Maryland. We are on the way, we are moving, we have hope, we can see the future, and we are determined to do what needs to be done to get there. Young people are rising up and giving leadership and all of us of whatever age need to follow and work with them. Si, se puede! Si, se puede!

Fasting and Victories

By Ted Glick

As I was picking up my mail at the local post office yesterday morning I saw two friends of mine talking with one another. They looked at me like they were seeing a ghost and asked how I was doing. I knew they meant more than the usual “how ya’ doing,” and I said something like, I’m fine, doing OK, I’m getting nourishment from the liquids I’m taking, thanks much. They looked skeptical. I know they and other family and friends are worried about me as I continue my climate emergency fast, now on the 73^nd day without solid foods.

I am getting nourishment. For the first 25 days of water-only I didn’t, but since then I’ve been consuming fruit and vegetable juices and miso broth. Over the past week I’ve added liquid vegetable soups. I also take vitamins and protein powder. And as of the beginning of November, my weight has stabilized at 40 pounds below what it was when I started, down to a little less than what I weighed in college 40 years ago.

I know there’s a risk of long-term damage to my health, but I don’t think it’s a big one, and more importantly, I think it’s worth it. I really do. I am completely certain that we don’t have any time to waste when it comes to the climate crisis, and all of us need to step up what we’re doing on this issue.

Developments in Congress over the last week have strengthened my resolve to continue this fast for, most likely, a few more weeks. There is a possibility that we can actually get an important victory before this Congress adjourns sometime in December. But it will only happen if there’s a flood of calls, faxes, letters and emails to Congress RIGHT NOW demanding that they pass a strong energy bill.

There is every indication that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, undoubtedly inspired and pushed by the thousands of young people who manifested their political power at the Power Shift conference a little over a week ago, are working to get an energy bill passed before Congress adjourns for the year. Two different versions were passed this summer by the House and Senate, and there’s a decided pick-up in momentum toward a vote within days or weeks on a piece of legislation which, hopefully, merges the best of both bills. If it does that, it will be an important first step, a beginning, along the path toward a through-going, clean energy revolution.

A new Zogby International poll, commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association and released just two days ago, indicates the political breadth of support behind this issue. The poll of potential 2008 voters found that 77% of Republicans, 86% of Southerners, 83% of those in military families, 77% of self-identified conservatives, 81% of rural voters, 85% of independent voters and 92% of Democrats agreed that the Federal government should follow the lead of a number of states that now require at least some of their electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Despite this, it is possible that important potential provisions of the energy bill may be left out, provisions that mandate a renewable electricity standard for utilities of at least 15% by 2020 and that provide tax credits for the production of renewable energy.

Climate and environmental groups are bringing pressure to demand that these provisions are included. It’s important that the broader progressive movement do the same. Saving our climate is a survival issue!

We need to contact Senators, not just Democrats but Republicans, as well as members of the House to demand that this legislation support renewable energy. It also needs to increase miles-per-gallon requirements for Detroit cars and light trucks to at least 35 mpg no later than 2020, deny subsidies or loan guarantees for coal, coal-to-liquids, oil or nuclear, and establish a strong green jobs program.

Will Bush sign such a bill? The odds aren’t good, but the Zogby poll that shows broad Republican voter support for renewable energy may motivate Republican politicians to put pressure on the White House. If he does veto, pressure can be continued on those in Congress who voted the wrong way and another vote can be taken next year, as is being done with votes on war funding.

Given the mushrooming political support on this issue as the crisis of global warming and energy takes hold, and as serious drought affects 1/3 or more of the country and the price of gas moves toward a possible $4.00/gallon by the spring, it is not out of the question that political dynamics in the 2008 Presidential election year will make a grudging Bush signing of this bill next spring, or a Congressional override of a second Bush veto, a very distinct possibility.

The first step, though, is getting this Congress, in the next few weeks, to pass a genuinely good energy bill.

It would be sweet, very, very sweet, to break my fast up on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of such a development. Much more importantly, such a victory would help to expand and accelerate serious action by the USA and the nations of the world on this huge international issue.

Let’s win a victory for the world!

Ted Glick is the coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council (http://www.climateemergency.org), where more information can be found on the energy bill. He is also working to build actions in the USA on December 8^th, the 3^rd International Day of Climate Action (http://www.climatecrisiscoalition.org).