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THE PEOPLE’S NONVIOLENT PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE We believe that as people living in the United States it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government in our names. By signing this declaration, we pledge to resist a second Bush presidency and all that it entails for our nation and our world. Many have worked in vain within the established institutions for social change to resist the policies of the current Bush Administration. Recognizing the destruction the Bush Presidency has visited upon our nation and the world community, we commit to a more direct form of resistance to the continuation of this regime. Thus, while we work with all our energy for the election of his opponent, we must organize a broad-based movement because we cannot allow the Bush Administration to continue policies that have taken our nation from its people. For Mr. Bush has lied to us about weapons of mass destruction, about terrorism, about the military budget, and about the cost of his health care proposal. For he has presided over an attack on the basic principals of our Bill of Rights asserting that this will make us safe, and denying the right of dissent to those who disagree with his policies. For he has driven our economy from a position of substantial surplus to an incredible national debt which has begun bankrupting state and local economies, and jeopardizing the future of the next generations. For he has contributed to the driving down of wages, the destruction of existing labor laws, veterans’ benefits and the end of social services. For he has pursued an agenda which eliminates reproductive choice, immigrant rights and bans on assault weapons on our streets. For he has filled his Administration with corporate executives running the departments which oversee their business. For he has taken privatization to the ultimate, pursuing policies which will privatize health care, medication, the postal service, education and our natural resources including water. For he has made a mockery of science and scientists claiming scientific validity for propositions antithetical to the research findings of real science. For he has created an agricultural policy which pushes agri-businesses’ interests to the limit while impoverishing and destroying farmers all over the world and industries of nations of the global south. For he given free reign to industry to blow up mountains, destroy natural habitats, poison our rivers, streams, oceans and atmosphere in the pursuit of profit while refusing to support the creation of alternatives to fossil fuels. For he has put our constitution and our human rights in jeopardy by his response to the attack of 9/11. For he has acted with reckless disregard for the lives of America’s young people and Iraqi civilians by engaging in a preemptive war presumably to stop the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, while his Administration abandoned the potential for a real international movement to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons. For he has created a new meaning of American arrogance by ignoring the countries of the world, refusing to sign international treaties or to be part of international initiatives that do not rest control in the hands of the US. Therefore, we cannot support this presidency regardless of how it is achieved. We ask those who like ourselves have worked to rid our country of this President, to join us. We are determined to take our nation back by peaceful, nonviolent and honorable means. I am/we are in solidarity with the People’s Pledge
and commit to nonviolent civil resistance of a second Bush presidency. Name: Address: ___________________________________ City/State/Zip: Phone: ______________________________________ Email: Will you help organize a Nov 3 protest regardless of the outcome of the election? Organizational endorsement: ____________________ Please clip and mail to:
10 Jewett Lane, South Hadley, MA 01075 THE PEOPLE’S NONVIOLENT PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE
-- Actions --
To begin, we ask you to organize local protests for November 3, 2004, in the event of a Bush victory, real or in question, and to join with communities across our nation in continuous resistance. As an individual, or as part of a national effort, resistance could include, but not be limited to: Public refusal to recognize George W. Bush as President of the United States and the public denouncement of his actions. For example, we will wear armbands in our workplaces; write letters to the editor; begin constant vigiling in town squares; help organize walkouts on high school, college and university campuses nationwide and join continuous protest in Washington, D.C. Public refusal to obey his Administration’s rules and policies. For example, we will engage in community education; openly break unjust laws; engage in non-violent direct action; demand Congressional sanctions against policies that destroy our environment, healthcare, education and social services; begin public work slowdowns, stoppages and general strikes. Public federal tax refusal or other economically-based actions. For example, we will refuse to pay phone tax and engage in consumer boycotts. Complete rejection of corporate media with support for non commercial independent and public community media sources. We invite you to rebellion as this is the only way to save our nation and our world. We invite you to imagine a just, peaceful and equality-driven world and to help bring it into being.
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