Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2014)
October 15, 2014 ^Jortlanh (Observer Page Î Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. W? welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. We Countering the emphasis on militarization by G len G ersmehl President Obama's speech on dealing with ISIL - the violent Is lamic movement in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere - was front page news. Headlines quoted Obama’s asser tion that “we will degrade, and ulti mately destroy ISIL.” Now Con gress is backing him. The president’s military focus echoes our nation’s accustomed response in numerous situations deemed threatening: from the coups we engineered in Iran in 1953, Gua temala in 1954, the Vietnam War, to Nicaragua in the 80s, and war in Afghanistan and Iraq. That few experts consider any of these violent responses “success ful” should encourage skepticism regarding a new campaign that is almost entirely military focused. It’s time for fresh perspectives and alternatives. Here’s a start: A few weeks after 9-11, in a major foreign policy address at the Naval Academy, President George W. Bush asserted there are three pillars to US security: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development. Now imagine sitting on a three- legged stool with one leg roughly the size of a baseball bat - that’s defense - and each of the other two legs the size of a pencil! Yes, de fense receives 50 times as much funding as either diplomacy or de velopment. Sadly, this imbalance undermines how effectively we can respond to conflict. W e’ve spent $2 trillion on war in Afghanistan and Iraq, offering a small percent of that as building roads, schools, and hospitals - “Development” activities. What if from the beginning, we had worked with other countries to focus on underlying issues like poverty, ethnic conflicts, govern m ent c o rru p tio n ... w hile also strengthening underdeveloped in ternational institutions? There are also untapped insights from nonviolent movements that include and go beyond diplomatic and development strategies. Unfor tunately for many people, “nonvio lence” is caught in crippling stereo types - that it is weak, passive, and ineffective. The truth is nonviolent m ove ments have been more successful in more places than m ilitary force. T hey ’ve been effective against ruthless regim es like apartheid in South Africa, M arcos in the Phil ippines, the widespread Velvet Revolution in Eastern and Central Europe, the Nazis in Denmark and Norway, to name a few. Why has the most effective response to violent opponents been absent from public debate on ISIL? In fact, the tradition o f nonvio lence offers very useful insights to counter the tendency to em p h a size m ilita ry o p tio n s and downplay diplom atic and devel opm ent strategies. Nonviolence encourages us to seek to interrupt, not feed the cycle o f violence. Recognize that m ili tary responses more often than not backfire, often provoking a c o u n te rp ro d u c tiv e v io len t re sponse. Nonviolent m ovem ents in contrast are grounded in re spect for the opponent while or ganizing large num bers o f people to withdraw support for and resist violent behavior. Nonviolence encourages us to limit the ability of terrorists or dicta tors to obtain arms, recruit adher ents, or rally citizens whose real interest is throwing off their shack les, not defending their oppressors. And nonviolence m eans we must understand that political lead ers derive their power from the people and there are more ways for nonviolent movements to with draw that pow er than for leaders to com m and it. There is also significant overlap between developm ent strategies and what nonviolent movements emphasize to achieve what military action cannot seek broad interna tional support and strengthen inter national institutions to work for large-scale, sustainable, enduring change that prevents violence by addressing root causes. Such insights have undergirded effective movements around the globe and throughout history. They embody the practical as well as ethi cal superiority of diplomacy, devel opment, and nonviolence. Americans are ready for change. Campaign Nonviolence groups in more than 200communities in every state have stepped up with activi ties bringing together and address ing climate change, violent conflict, and poverty! The discussion regarding ISIL urgently needs to be broadened to include diplomatic, development and nonviolence alternatives. We owe it to the people of the Middle East, and any soldiers we put into harm ’s way, to work with other na tions to plan and implement such alternatives. Glen Gersmehl serves as national coordinator o f Lutheran Peace Fellowship. unni..... High Moral and Economic Cost of Child Poverty Destroying dreams, hopes and opportunities by M arian W right E delman Just released U.S. Census Bureau data reveal 45.3 million people were poor in America in 2013. One in three of those who are poor is a child. Children remain our poorest age group and children of color and those under five are the poorest. M ore than one in five infants, ------’ toddlers, and preschoolers were poor during their years o f great- est brain developm ent and vul- nerability. Black children saw no d™ and continue to have the highest child poverty rates in the nation. In 20 states m ore than 40 percent of black children were poor and nearly one in five black children were living in extrem e poverty with an annual incom e of less than half of the poverty level or $33 a day for a fam ily of four, A lthough the percentage o f poor children dropped in 2013 for t e first time since 2000, from 21.8 percent (16.1 m illion) in 2012 to 1 9 .9 percent (14.7 m illion), there StlllL1 3 m illlon m ore P °or children than in 2007 before the recession began. It is a m oral disgrace that child poverty in the U.S. is higher than children for life. and increase productivity. Child Poverty has huge eco For exam ple, elim inating child adult poverty, higher vere health problem s, and fare nom ic costs for the nation. Year p o v erty betw een the p ren atal than for children in worse than higher incom e chil- after year the lost productivity years and age 5 would increase almost all other com- dren with the same problem s. A and extra health and crim inal ju s lifetime earnings between $53,000 petitor nations, and poor child with asthm a is more tice costs associated with it add and $ 100,000 per child, for a total higher than our coun- likely to be reported in poor health, up to roughly half a trillion dol lifetim e benefit o f $20 to $36 bil try with the w orld’s spend more days in bed, and have lars, or 3.8 percent o f our nation’s lion for children born in a given la r g e s t e c o n o m y m ore hospital episodes than a gross dom estic product. W hat we year. W hen are we going to gain should ever allow. high-incom e child with asthma. can never m easure though are the enough m oral, com m on and eco W ealth and incom e inequality Poor children suffer a 30 million countless innovations and d is nom ic sense to treat our children are stiU at record high levels and word interaction gap by age 3 and coveries and contributions that ju stly and give all o f them a level opportunity gaps are widening, are less likely to enter school ready did not occur for our nation be playing field upon which to grow? W hat values and priorities do to learn and to graduate from high cause children’s potentials were Children have only one child these unjust realities reflect? Isn ’t school. One study found children stunted by poverty. hood and it is today. Chilean Nobel it tim e to reset our moral and eco- who were poor for half o f their It does not have to be this way. laureate Gabriela Mistral said, “We nom ic com pass? If we tvant to childhood were nearly 90 percent Child poverty is not an act o f God. are guilty o f many errors and many build a strong workforce, military, more likely to enter their 20s with- It is the choices o f men and women faults, but our worst crime is aban and econom y and ensure the m ost out com pleting high school than and we can change it. Child pov doning the children, neglecting the basic tenets of opportunity for never poor children, erty can be ended and prevented fountain of life. Many of the things the m ost vulnerable, we must and Child poverty increases the risk if we want to. we need can wait. The child cannot. can end child poverty now. o f unem ploym ent and econom ic Poverty rates change over time Right now is the time his bones are Poverty hurts children and de- hardship in adulthood. Those who w ith th e e c o n o m y and w ith being formed, his blood is being stroys their dream s, hopes, and experienced poverty at any point changes in governm ent policies. made, and his senses are being de opportunities. Poor children are during their childhood were more The U.S. has made substantial veloped. To him we cannot answer m orelikely to go hungry, which is than three tim es as likely to be progress in reducing poverty over ‘Tomorrow.’ His name is today.” associated with lower reading and poor at age 30 as those who were the past 50 years despite worsen Given that the U.S. has been math scores, greater physical and neverpo o ras children. The longer ing inequality and increased un blessed with great wealth and high m ental health problem s, higher a child is poor, the greater the risk e m p lo y m e n t. C h ild p o v e rty ideals which we need to live up to incidence o f em otional and be- o f poverty in adulthood and expe- dropped 36 percent between 1967 and given the high costs we incur havioral problem s, and a greater riencing poverty as a child also and 2012 when income from tax from child poverty every year, how chance of obesity. increases the likelihood o f life- credits and in-kind benefits like can our country not act to end pOOr children are less likely to long health problems and involve- nutrition and housing assistance child poverty now? have access to affordable quality ment in the crim inal justice sys- are counted. Ending child pov Marian Wright Edelman is Presi health coverage, have m ore se- tern. Child poverty scars some erty would save lives and money dent o f the Children 's Defense Fund. Advertise with diversity i/r rhe Portland Observer Cali 503-288-0033 ads@por|landobserveir.com
