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EDITORIAL The gaping hole where New York’s World Trade Center once stood continues to speak silently of that dreadful day last September when so many died. The year since then has seen a war that never achieved its stated goal but did kill thousands of civilians and continues to do so. It has seen plans for an unending “war against terrorism” justified by cynical exploitation of the Sept. 11 disasters, along with daily threats to launch an all-out war on Iraq. It has seen a war at home accompanied by chilling violations of civil liberties and Constitutional rights, attacks on immigrants and a newly raging racism.
The year has also seen economic shock and moral crisis. The exposure of corporate rip-offs totaling billions of dollars brings rare glimpses of white-collar executives being handcuffed. Millions of Americans are furious about losing college and retirement funds. Exposure of widespread, unchecked sexual abuse in the Catholic priesthood has shaken an institution claiming vast moral authority. The list goes on and on, adding to the public sense of something rotten in the halls of power. As a result, opinion surveys are revealing major changes. According to National Public Radio polls, as described in The New York Times on Aug. 5, whereas 60 percent of voters thought the country was headed in the right direction last March and only 28 percent thought it was off track, now just 36 percent believe things are going well and 56 percent say things are headed in the wrong direction. We can expect upcoming congressional elections to reflect this declining public confidence. Whereas 52 percent of voters surveyed last April said they wanted to re-elect their current members of Congress, in July only 41 percent said they would probably vote for incumbents. The times they are changing, then, from that earlier “national unity” around administration policies that even some families of Sept. 11 victims deplored. Opposition to a war on Iraq grows daily and new doubts have surfaced that “Might Makes Right.” There is even a new awareness that the United States does not stand alone on the planet, that peace and security at home are linked to peace and security abroad. In its first issue last February, War Times said we were living in a time of fear but also hope. We, the people, had the chance to reject militarism and domination over others as this country’s self-defining philosophy. We could build a new unity here, and come together with others around the world, to affirm our common humanity. That has yet to happen, but a beginning can be seen. Listen to the cries of “Shame!” aimed at arrogant elites. Listen especially to the youth, whose culture speaks to the spiritual starvation they perceive and a passionate desire for profound change. Let today’s climate of shock and dismay bring people together in demanding not some return to the status quo but a transformation of this society that puts love of justice and peace in command. Such a transformation requires creating a unity as yet unseen. We face age-old divisions resting on class, race, gender, sexuality and other relations of inequality. Too often in our movements against unjust war, those most affected—poor people of color—are not included. Too often the voices of working-class white people are drowned out by those with privilege. Too often capitalist values of egotism and individualism prevail even among victims of the system. War Times stands committed to help overcome the obstacles and build unity. With thousands of people now reading and distributing War Times, and tens of thousands more now active in anti-war activities, we can see that the seeds of unity do exist. Let us all join on this anniversary, and the days to come, in making those seeds multiply by the millions. From them could grow flowers that might transform the rubble of the Twin Towers into gardens for all people, all life on the planet. Indeed, they might also transform the rubble of Kabul and so many other scenes of recent devastation. With vision and commitment, we can make new life come into bloom. |
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