NATO Protest In Strasbourg (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Post by Aaron Cynic

After assuming command of NATO in 1950, then General Eisenhower said “If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project will have failed.” The Cold War is over. NATO has long outlived its original purpose.The old system of alliances does little to do to protect sovereign nations, and instead gives more ability to industrialized, wealthier nations to exploit weaker States. Even NATO actions that are done under the guise of “humanitarian intervention” often have catastrophic consequences for the local population. As so many of these interventions have included bombing campaigns, civilian casualties are high. Often, NATO forces have used weapons banned by the Geneva Conventions, including depleted uranium and cluster bombs. Both of these weapons have long lasting and disastrous consequences for a local civilian population long after combat ends and forces withdraw.

Cluster bombs are particularly dangerous long after conflicts end. The weapon explodes midair and scatters up to 200 bomblets over an area and remain unexploded until someone or something comes in contact with them. In 2001, the BBC reported cluster munitions United States forces used in areas in Afghanistan were similar in appearance to “emergency food parcels wrapped in yellow plastic” U.S. Planes had been dropping and villagers had difficulty distinguishing the two. NATO used cluster munitions in the conflict in Yugoslavia and reports have indicated their use in Libya as well. Evidence also suggests the use of depleted uranium by NATO forces in both these conflicts.

In general, airstrikes of any kind cause scores of civilian casualties. An Amnesty International report found in at least 5 separate airstrikes, dozens of civilians – many of which were children – were killed and many more injured. Ali Ali Hamed Gafez, lost his daughter, niece, her three children, and several other relatives, in an airstrike which struck his home in Majer in August of 2011. His wife managed to survive, though had to have her leg amputated. Gafez told Amnesty “My home became a graveyard for my family and until today neither NATO nor the NTC have even contacted us, not even to say sorry or to ask about the victims. We have been forgotten.” As of March 2012, NATO has yet to contact any of the survivors of the strikes in Libya.

One of the larger conundrums of an organization like NATO lies in the intended purpose of “mutual defense.” The idea that in the modern age, we still need a system of allies in order to protect smaller or weaker states from aggressors. Unfortunately, that sentiment engenders not only a sense of solidarity between nation states, but just as much, a sense of conflict. It makes warfare between states seem completely inevitable, that conflict between the powerful and powerless is an eventuality or constant. It props up and justifies a global war machine, and justifies the creation and use of new and powerful weapons where often, civilian populations pay the ultimate price.

If we are to truly build a better future for the world, we need to let go of the idea of mutual defense, and instead embrace the idea of mutual cooperation. NATO runs an annual budget of nearly $2 billion Euros. Member nations pay into a pool based on their GDP. While this is small in comparison to the amount of money a country like the United States spends on defense (nearly $1 trillion), such funds would be better spent building bridges between nations, rather than bombs to drop on them. Mutually Assured Defense is the same Cold War mentality that bred the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction, which created the massive nuclear arms race between nations that still affects the world today.

Oppressed people in any nation state deserve to be defended and liberated, if necessary. Actions like indiscriminately carpet bombing a region, or occupying an area with armed troops ready to fire on anyone who oppose them however, help to continue the cycle of violence and prop up an ever growing and always hungry war machine. Rather than worry about defending only those who sign a particular treaty or pledge money to defend member nations, humanity should start to instead think about the world as a whole. In a world whose resources continue to shrink, dedicating them to building means of defense only assures that they will be used for destruction.

In the 1960′s, only a few short years after NATO’s continued existence would have been considered a “failure” by Eisenhower, philosopher and futurist R. Buckminster Fuller suggested that humanity already possessed the resources, technology and knowhow to make the world a 100% physical success. Decades later, that idea is a reality. The more energy and resources we spend on the idea of mutually assured defense through mutually assured destruction, the less energy and resources we have to spend on breaking out of an old mentality that perpetuates the cycle of violence and build a cycle of prosperity for all people.

                          

In perusing the online papers, the concern about the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21 is palpable in every word. It sticks to the sweaty skin like newspaper ink. The anxiety and fear is obvious across all strata of society. Chicago police are already threatening violence against Occupy protesters, as documented in this audio footage of a traffic stop. Anti-protester fear mongering rhetoric abounds in the media. A Crain’s Chicago Business article reported that downtown workers have been recommended to doff their suits and ties in order to avoid becoming targets of protester violence. The same article reported that several downtown banks will shut down leading up to and during the NATO summit. ABC reports that downtown windows are being covered with shatterproof film, high-rise balconies will be closed, entrances locked, and tenants warned to utilize constant vigilance when living their lives during May 20-21. And all the way in Indiana, my daughter’s grandmother abruptly stopped our light-hearted conversation to gravely remind me that with NATO almost here, I am to be so careful with my body and brain, ie: not in the streets. It’s not that she’s afraid of NATO or the cops, but those other people.

The media has succeeded in painting protesters as terrorists, and neatly avoided the actual focus of our rage: NATO. NATO is our reason to fight.

But why? Why all of the NATO-hate? What is it about NATO that draws protesters in from across the world to stand in the streets and voice their dissent about this coalition?

• NATO functions as a military wing for most of the governments of the G8 — the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada. G8 member Russia — not so much. NATO actions in Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan, in particular, parallel the historic economic and imperial interests of the Western elites who run NATO governments.
• NATO is not a defensive group. It is a global intervention power – and its intervention is selective. NATO ‘intervened’ in Libya, where multinational oil companies are now hustling to take over Libya’s vast oil resources and the ‘rebels’ we backed are gutting human rights, including womens’ rights.
• Unelected representatives from 28 countries decide where to focus the might of the NATO military machine. NATO claims to operate through consensus, but the people of the countries that make up NATO have no say in the decision making process.
• NATO only represents 28 countries in third world, yet makes military plans that effect the entire world, without giving the remaining 168 countries any say.
• NATO is fine with US drone attacks in Yemen, which support one of the region’s most ruthless dictatorships, and the U.S. and NATO turn a blind eye to the brutality of the Bahraini dictatorship, essentially aiding and abetting these governments’ suppression of protest movements against corruption and dictatorship.
• Peace cannot be brought through the barrel of a gun or the explosion of bombs. NATO responds to threats and uprisings by bringing more violence and unstable regime changes to global conflicts.
• The NATO treaty says an attack on one member country will be responded to by all countries who have signed the treaty, up to and including military force, giving NATO the role of policing the world.
• Currently, Turkey may call for NATO action over conflicts at its border with Syria. Under NATO rules, the US may be obligated to respond with military intervention.
• NATO is the embodiment of death and chaos, trying to create harmony through destruction. Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.

(Credit to NATO: Just why are people protesting? A resource for civilian journalists, streamers and activists by Chris Geovanis and Rachael Perrotta.)

In order to peacefully and educationally combat the complicated reasons of understanding who NATO is and what it does, blogger Joe Scarry created the Twitter trend #NATOin5, where the complex reasons for opposing NATO are distilled to a few words.

@d_r_ford: bombing away all independent states

@d_r_ford: hegemony in the Middle East

@RKNJL: Bombing for your freedom… Freedom?

@Protestation: destruction torture slaughter extermination genocide

@panaceamedia: 1) War Machine disguised as Goodwill 2) Reverse Robinhood of the World 3) Stealing resources while offering condolences
@opticaldensity: neoliberal Nuclear Armed Terrorist Organization

@Mikenreich: They Kill People For Profit

Aside from wreaking havoc worldwide, they disrupt and ruin US lives as well. Locally, the Chicago NATO summit has an estimated cost of $65 million. While Mayor 1% Emanuel is trying to cover the costs with private donations, the taxpayer may be stuck footing the bill. This money should be used to fund Chicago services, including schools and clinics. Rahm has shuttered six out of 12 mental health clinics, which is currently a rallying cry against austerity formed by STOP Chicago’s Mental Health Movement. The Mental Health Movement, supported by Occupy Chicago, and anti-NATO protesters is currently holding 24-hour encampments at both Woodlawn Clinic, 6337 S Woodlawn and Northwest Mental Health Clinic at 2354 N Milwaukee in protest. In addition to slashing the veins of mental health patients, the head of CPS Board, CEO Jean-Claude Brizard, and education executioner for Rahm, has scheduled seven schools to be closed, and 10 schools to be “turned around.” Turned around is a euphemism for firing all staff at a failing school. Schools to be closed include Guggenheim, Price, Lathrop and Reed elementary schools, plus Best Practice, Dyette and Crane Tech high schools.  Schools rubber-stamped for turnaround include Casals, Fuller, Herzl, Marquette, Piccolo, Stagg, Wendell Smith and Woodson South elementary schools, plus Chicago Vocational and Tilden high schools.

Mayor 1% is ignoring his Chicago constituents who entrusted him with the position of protecting their best interests. No citizen wants the millions of taxpayer dollars misspent militarizing with chemical weapons, armor, and bludgeoning tools to be used smashing the bodies of peaceful protesters speaking out against NATO, one of the greatest mechanisms for wreaking death and war in countries too powerless to stop them.

We the people of Chicago are joining forces with our brothers and sisters from across the world to stand against NATO. We recognize that due to the sensitive nature of the protest, the fear-mongering and anti-activist rhetoric, plus the increase in police intimidation, violence, and militarization, arrests are a distinct possibility. Therefore, Occupy Chicago has coordinated a preemptive bail fund for those who are arrested protesting the NATO war machine. While Occupy Chicago embraces nonviolence, it is a tangible concern that some demonstrators will be detained. Everyone can help the anti-NATO actions by supporting the Chicago Bail Fund by donating at https://www.wepay.com/donations/143498

In keeping with Occupy Chicago’s dedication to nonviolence, it has orchestrated The People’s Summit, demonstrating to the public what a summit should be: an inclusive, free, public, educational workshops whose goals are to enlighten, enrich, and empower. The People’s Summit will be held at 500 W Cermak, starting at 10 am Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13. Workshops, lectures, panel discussions, questions and answer sessions, and tabling center on war, austerity, global capitalism, and corporatization in the 21st century, and what it means for the ways we live in this world. Topics can range from the increasing cost of a loaf of bread in Chicago to the 1.4 billion people worldwide living in immiseration; from the ‘war on terror’ and global homeland security industries to increased militarization of domestic policing; from global wage depression and the creation of disposable labor reserves to devastating climate change, destruction of environments, and the privatization of common resources. The People’s Summit seeks to highlight interconnections within struggles and movement, to radicalize and conjoin groups laboring for a better world.

Together, the people are unstoppable. Join the fight for restructuring society into one that ends war, austerity, hypercapitalism and corporate hegemony while supporting education, empowerment, human services, environment, immigration rights, and community.

For more information, including actions leading up to and during the NATO summit, see OccupyChi.org, ChicagoSpring.org, CANG8.org and NATOprotest.org.

                          

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony are credited with starting the women’s movement which eventually won women the right to cast their votes in elections, but their aspirations of equality have yet to be realized. Women have been deemed influential, but in terms of capital, women are not rewarded accordingly for their obvious valuable contributions. According to the Women’s Law Center, women face unequal pay for equal work, earning on average only 77¢ for every dollar earned by men, with African American and Latina women faring even worse. Legislative bills to strengthen the laws against discrimination are still in urgent need. Furthermore, depending on industry, women earn significantly less than the 77/100 that their male counterparts for working the same jobs.

US Gender Pay gap, by industry, 2009 Women's median usual weekly earnings as percentage of men's, for full-time workers, by industry, 2009

Inequality is not a new trend. A comprehensive study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the gender wage gap can only be partially explained by human capital factors and so-called “work patterns.” The GAO study, released in 2003, was based on data from 1983 through 2000 from a representative sample of Americans between the ages of 25 and 65. The researchers controlled for work patterns, which include years of work experience, education, and hours of work per year, as well as differences in industry, occupation, race, marital status, and job tenure. With controls for these variables in place, the data showed that women earned, on average, 20% less than men during the entire period 1983 to 2000.

Even though the wage gap is explained away, let’s examine the factors in determining work patterns from a critical perspective. What does marital status have to do with how well one performs at her job? How does race determine value? There are a miniscule number of jobs solely based on possession of particular genitalia. The remainder should receive equal pay across gender lines, as we’re all humans with brains operating to complete functions of a specific goal. Furthermore, one can even inspect the structures which factor the explanations of disparity. In a subsequent GAO study in 2008, cleverly titled Women’s Earnings: Federal Agencies Should Better Monitor Their Performance in Enforcing Anti-Discrimination Laws, it was found that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor “should better monitor their performance in enforcing anti-discrimination laws.” When we explore this critically, we should remember how many women represent the population in governing structures. Women hold a mere 16 percent of seats in Congress currently. The U.S. Ranks 69^th globally in respect to the percentage of women in government. Countries that have a higher percentage of women include Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uganda.

As women of influence and their supporters, what can we do? The answer is simpler than we imagine: keep reading, keep teaching, keep supporting, and keep fighting. Feminism and empowerment are for everyone. The best tools against the hydra of wage discrimination, sexism, misogyny, and even racism and classism are education and imparting information. For example, research what the average salary for a particular position is, demand that salary accordingly, and share that information with colleagues. Turn fellow office-mates into comrades by imparting experience and knowledge, planning events together, and fostering connectivity and empowerment. Empowerment looks like caring for people who need us, through opportunities of volunteering and mentoring, standing up for those who have no voice or whose voices are not as valued monetarily as others.

We have the opportunity, as women of influence and fellow progressives, to critically intervene in ways that challenge and change, as Bell Hooks said. When faced with seemingly stoppable barricades, we can employ the community created among cubicles to foster positive communication and problem-solving. There are avenues around obstacles and we can navigate them by utilizing cooperative action through conversation, research, and a supportive communication climate. Camaraderie is indeed powerful and the more we unify, the stronger we become both as individuals and as a collective.

Bridging the wage gap and therefore creating social change is a long, hard road, one that we must walk together. If capitalism is the preferred economic structure, at the very least, we should all struggle for equality, since we donate the same biological make-up of sweat, blood, thoughts, energy, and stress for our participation. Hillary Clinton said “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it has about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before.” Her words acknowledge the barriers that hold women down and remind us – men and women alike – to keep trying, keep soaring, as high as possible, in order to smash through it to a shiny new world where we’re all realized as equals. The world needs constructive change and as a community of people dedicated to influential success, we all can overcome any disparity, beginning with the monetary one.

                          

Photo by Aaron Cynic

Post by Natalie Solidarity. and Aaron Cynic

For more than a week, a coalition of Chicago activists including patients and staff from the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic, representatives from the Mental Health Movement, STOP Chicago, and Occupy Chicago have been protesting the closure of six mental health care facilities as part of austere city budget cuts. In order to save a reported $2.3 million, the city has already closed two neighborhood clinics, and plans to shut down an additional four. Officials argue that by shutting down these facilities, they will be able to restructure and provide more options for consumers and say they’ve invested $500,000 already in expanding services for psychiatric care and plan to increase access to services. Such measures are a kick to the guts of the people most in urgent need of mental health care. Those most wholly affected by this are poor, held hostage by not only their health needs but limited access to funding for care. Two patients from one of the closed clinics are currently in psychiatric hospitalization because they entered crisis after its closure, according to N’Dana Carter, an activist with Mental Health Movement.

Caregivers, patients and activists know that shutting down public neighborhood clinics will have disastrous effects on people receiving services. Mental well-being is essential to human health. Not one person in Chicago remains unaffected by mental health issues: depression, bipolar disorder, panic attacksm anxiety disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, insomnia or hypersomnia, and anhedonia, among many others affect a huge portion of the population. Everyone has been heartbroken by the behavior of someone who needs mental health services. The availability of mental health care is an issue that crosses all class and race lines. It is a crucial human service. Mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to be determined, with little research or apparent forethought, to value NATO security funding, flowers in parks, and the 1% Lakefront Trail to Nowhere more than the well being of the very citizens who elected him to office.

Photo by Marcus Demery (via Flickr)

Though the Mental Health Movement and their allies made hundreds of phone calls, delivered petitions signed with thousands of names and staged a sit-in at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office at City Hall until being removed, their words fell on deaf ears. With most other options exhausted, 23 doctors, nurses, mental health patients, medics, and Occupy Chicago members decided to barricade themselves inside one of the clinics slated for closure last week to force the city to listen to their demands. Hundreds gathered outside in solidarity to support them. Soon after Chicago Police arrested those inside, protesters set up an encampment outdoors across the street from the clinic in order to continue their fight. From Saturday, April 14 until the wee hours of Tuesday, April 17, the vacant lot was alive with music, dancing, children’s laughter, sidewalk murals, and educational sharing that created a greater sense of understanding, sharing, and community building in the long shadow of austerity. In the rain and high winds, campers remained in spirited involvement, dedicated to their cause.

In establishing a camp, there are always a million details to handle. Fortunately, the nature of the conflict binds people together for the greater good and cause. The sense of community and family was as real as the droplets of rain running down ponchos, the heat from the bonfire, and as real as the arms of activists wrapped around each other in joy. An amazing moment of realization comes when a tent goes up, when a stake is pounded into the fat black heart of a cold city run by a man who doesn’t care about his constituents, that there’s a better world. We can establish a parallel society where we take care of one another and people are valued more than securing a hegemonic guard dog system or tulips.

That feeling lasted at least, until 2:00 am on Tuesday morning, when Chicago police cleared the encampment and confiscated the tents belonging to demonstrators, threatening more arrests. Police presented a complaint from the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, who claimed they owned the vacant lot the encampment was built on. After a search at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds Office, it was discovered that the WCDC does not in fact, own the land and the eviction was in fact, illegal. This did not stop police from clearing the camp however. Undeterred, protesters continued their demonstration on the sidewalk and slept in or on top of cars draped in their banners and signs. They say their fight will continue until their voices are heard and demands met. In a press release, Linda Hatcher, a patient of the clinic and one of the 23 arrested at the first action, said “We are not going to be turned around. This is a question of life and death for us and we will not give up the fight.”

                          

On Saturday, April 7th, Occupy Chicago hit the streets in full force with a series of actions, marches, teach-ins, workshops and a “freedom feast,” fully kicking off what promises to be a spring filled with activism in Chicago. The mood was celebratory and jubilant, and between actions in 13 different neighborhoods in the morning, an afternoon of workshops in Grant Park in Chicago and the evening feast, there was something for everyone. The main march drew well more than 1,000 demonstrators, and hundreds stuck around to learn,  teach, converse and celebrate the Chicago Spring with each other.

IMG_0738 IMG_0733 IMG_0730 IMG_0715 IMG_0709 IMG_0705 IMG_0691 IMG_0681 IMG_0676 IMG_0675 IMG_0670 IMG_0662 IMG_0657 IMG_0627 IMG_0626 IMG_0617 IMG_0612 IMG_0602 IMG_0600 IMG_0597 IMG_0586 IMG_0571

                          

Open University of the Left is a cooperative educational project organizing forums, speakers, classes, film screenings and author talks on topics of interest to the Chicago left. Founded in 1987, OUL is Chicago’s oldest continuous independent leftist public forum. OUL takes a non-exclusionary, non-partisan approach, welcoming a wide range of perspectives — socialist, anarchist, communist, green, feminist, radical democrat and progressive.

                          

Image via Twitter user @OccupiersFilm

Dear Mayor Slay and Chief Isom,

My name is Natalie and I’m a member of Occupy Chicago. Please know that I only speak for myself and am not claiming to represent the opinions of Occupy Chicago or any other Occupations. I am, however, a sister in the global revolution of citizens united to restore power to the people and remove corporate influence over the state, among other initiatives.

On Thursday, March 15, 2012, I watched a livestream feed of Occupy the Midwest and saw my Occupy family smashed with cold police batons as they attempted to comply with illogical regulations regarding public land, space specifically bought and maintained with taxpayer dollars. Simply, I watched footage of senseless violence wrought against activists as they crossed the street, attempting to obey police orders to disperse from Compton Hill Reservoir Park. I watched my Occupy family brutalized, lead away in handcuffs with blood oozing down their faces.

According to an article by Brandie Piper of KDTV, “Police said the protesters yelled and cursed at police as officers asked them to leave. The protesters walked into the intersection, which police said blocked traffic on Grand.”

By the logic of your actions that night, free speech became a rationalization for pummeling fellow human beings. The actions of your riotous police squad have revealed your fear. If 120 dedicated students, workers, parents, brothers, and sisters are such a threat to your grasp of power, your grip must be sliding out of your hands quicker than we Occupiers realized. It is easy to react in violence and only demonstrates your lack of control and unwillingness to cooperate with us to broker a peace where we can achieve our goals.

When you dress in your suit or uniform, maybe you think those clothes create an insulation between yourself and common decency. When you deny us our rights to freely assemble and then crush our bones, you are unwittingly chipping away at your own power structure. By making and treating us as your enemy, you only ensure that our struggle is righteous and just. You only prove that this world needs Occupy to improve it so conversation can freely occur, so transgressions like this never happen again.

We will continue to fight you, and anyone like you, with the idea of creating a world where state sanctioned violence is impossible.

We will continue to fight you in the streets. We will continue to analyze your supporting actions toward Monsanto, a company which causes global poverty and discord. We will continue to oppose your complacency towards the face of capitalist monstrosity Bank of America, which helped create a false housing bubble and then evicted your constituents and the citizens you swore to serve and protect from their homes.

We will fight you in the courts, because your actions of assault and violence are criminal, and any attempts to silence our voices are unconstitutional.

We will fight you until we win.

The choice is up to you. You can choose to work with us and allow for compromise on all sides. You can accept the compromises when created, as we did when we chose to peacefully leave Compton Hill Reservoir Park and crossed the street.

Or you can continue to attack us.

The decision is yours. Either way, we will continue to fight.

With all the dedicated peace and nonviolence that is the backbone of my family,

Natalie Solidarity

                          

Download This Is The End 2

                          

In Chicago, more than 100 demonstrators gathered to stand in solidarity with Occupy movements nationwide. They marched through the loop, and attempted to take the streets at a few points. While a few minor scuffles and heated words with police were exchanged, there were no arrests. Meanwhile, through their travels, Occupy Chicago demonstrators were able to move their message through Chicago’s busiest area during rush hour.

IMG_0504 sugar3 IMG_0559 IMG_0507 IMG_0547 IMG_0543 IMG_0536 IMG_0535 IMG_0534 IMG_0532 IMG_0525 IMG_0520 IMG_0512 IMG_0510 IMG_0557 IMG_0563