St Valentine image from Wikimedia Commons

Robert Randall, a long time war tax resister (WTR) was remembered on Valentine’s Day by some of the communities that he was instrumental in being a part of in recent decades. The memorial was organized by members of the King’s Bay Plowshares action that took place near Robert’s home in Brunswick, Georgia. Robert rose to the occasion of supporting the nuclear disarmament action at the King’s Bay Naval Base near St. Marys, Georgia. For years, Robert had been a part of a community resisting the nuclear Trident submarines that were docked there.  

Anne Barron and Robert Randall November 2019 in Oregon. Photo by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

Ruth Benn shared from her reflection for NWTRCC,  Robert Randall Presente/ Always Present, in which she spoke of how Robert identified as a “war tax converter” in his words; how he was a Conscientious Objector at age 18, “thinking that at that age one should be thinking about going to war and also paying for war.” Ruth highlighted what many of us in the NWTRCC network experienced, Robert’s warm welcome to newcomers and old friends alike and awareness of what was happening locally; contagious energy to get involved. Ruth states “More than anything Robert knew that the primary reason people come together is to share stories and fears and ideas to sustain our resistance and survive the economic challenges.”

The memorial was on Valentine’s Day because it was Robert’s favorite holiday. (You can watch the memorial here.) While Robert must have enjoyed celebrating love on this day, I can’t believe that his devotion to this day was removed from the history of St. Valentine, being a Conscientious Objector to war as well. In an Empire far, far away, traditinoally St. Valentine resisted conscription to the Roman army by marrying men of military age. Robert was clear in his prinicples of not killing and not having others kill in his name. 

Golden Rule from Peace and Planet News

On Valentine’s Day, the Golden Rule was docked near Kings Bay during Robert’s memorial. In 1958, the Golden Rule attempted to sail to the Marshall Islands to interrupt the atomic testing on the Marshall Islands. Four Quakers were arrested for their attempts. Veteran for Peace has restored the boat as well as the mission for nuclear disarmament. In recent years the Golden Rule has been traveling throughout the U.S. spreading the message of nuclear disarmament as well as the history of those in the U.S. who have been resisting nuclear weapons since the dawn of the atomic era. Find out when the Golden Rule is coming to your community and check out the schedule of events and past stories here as well as a tribute to Robert’s commitment to nuclear disarmament with the Kings Bay Plowshares and the Golden Rule.

There was recent news about another pivotal actor in nuclear deescalation and antiwar activism. Daniel Ellsberg wrote a letter to friends and colleagues about his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In an eloquently written letter he states:

As I look back on the last sixty years of my life, I think there is no greater cause to which I could have dedicated my efforts. For the last forty years we have known that nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would mean nuclear winter: more than a hundred million tons of smoke and soot from firestorms in cities set ablaze by either side, striking either first or second, would be lofted into the stratosphere where it would not rain out and would envelope the globe within days. That pall would block up to 70% of sunlight for years, destroying all harvests worldwide and causing death by starvation for most of the humans and other vertebrates on earth.

So far as I can find out, this scientific near-consensus has had virtually no effect on the Pentagon’s nuclear war plans or U.S./NATO (or Russian) nuclear threats. (In a like case of disastrous willful denial by many officials, corporations and other Americans, scientists have known for over three decades that the catastrophic climate change now underway–mainly but not only from burning fossil fuels–is fully comparable to U.S.-Russian nuclear war as another existential risk.) I’m happy to know that millions of people–including all those friends and comrades to whom I address this message!–have the wisdom, the dedication and the moral courage to carry on with these causes, and to work unceasingly for the survival of our planet and its creatures.

I’m enormously grateful to have had the privilege of knowing and working with such people, past and present. That’s among the most treasured aspects of my very privileged and very lucky life. I want to thank you all for the love and support you have given me in so many ways. Your dedication, courage, and determination to act have inspired and sustained my own efforts. My wish for you is that at the end of your days you will feel as much joy and gratitude as I do now.

I encourage you to read the full letter here. 

Also of note is that WTR Randy Kehler influenced Daniel Ellsberg‘s role in releasing the Pentagon Papers.

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Yes Love, No War first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Yes Love, No War appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

While borders may give an impression of collective agreements, conflicts illuminate the deep fissures that exist when arbitrary lines in the sand are drawn and nationalists tensions are manipulated.  While one could easily spend their days reading the most recent headlines and following stings of articles on the internet to have a better grasp of what is occurring and the histories that have led us here, there often seems to be a sense of disconnect or what some have identified as psychic numbing.

Photo by Ed Hedemann, 2017.

For the past year there has been a dark cloud of potential nuclear war hanging over the conflict.  Now with Russia suspending the New START Treaty and threatening the possibility of resuming nuclear testing. While both the US and Russia have been withdrawing from nuclear arms control agreements, in January 2021 the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force making nuclear weapons illegal under international law.

In The Madness of Nuclear Warfare is Alive and Well in America, the author quotes Dorothy Day “Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.” as a testimony of the power that we have as citizens that led Dorothy and many others to war tax refusal and other tactics that promote life and strive for peace and justice. 

London 2/15/03 photo by Paul Mattsson

Recently there were remembrances of the largest global anti-war day of protest to prevent the escalation of war in Iraq 20 years ago. It seems essential to take pause and mourn what was lost in not pursuing that path towards peace including 1.5 million lives lost and $21 trillion of taxpayer dollars stolen in the war on Terror according to CODEPINK and you can also read a blog post by Sam about the Iraq War Tribunal. It also seems vital to celebrate the communities that were created in coming together to dream another world into being and to broadcast those seeds throughout the lands. 

Dorothy Day also wrote about the need to take a break from the daily news and suggested immersing oneself in the arts. It seemed particularly important to see the issues of our day in a wider context and the universal themes of the human experience. She was particularly fond of Russian authors on war and peace. Any suggestions of favorites would be welcomed.  Poetry seems to be a great way to chase the headlines away.

From The Dragon Who Never Sleeps  By Robert Aitken

When nations take their revenge

I vow with all beings 

to suggest that revenge springs from anguish-

perhaps we created the pain.

Then the army holds a parade

I vow with all beings 

to sing pacifist songs with the children 

of Minsk, Tel Aviv, and Fort Bragg.

When federal taxes are due

I vow with all beings 

to refuse any role in the killing 

of Sesshu, Dostoevsky and Bach. 

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Beauty Will Save The World first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Beauty Will Save The World appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Photo by Ed Hedemann, DC 2005.

Reading my way through the New York Times one morning in May 2020, a photo caught my eye. It was a shot of a crowd from behind, but the one visible sign read “It Is NOT ok to Kill People.” The accompanying article was about the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, and it immediately came to mind: who else would be holding that sign but Robert Randall? (He  chastised me in an email with, “I hope there are lots of people who would carry that sign!”)

Robert died on December 15, 2022, from pancreatic cancer, and his loss is a huge one for the war tax resistance network and for the ongoing struggle for peace and justice everywhere. Arbery was killed not far from Robert’s home, which brought that case of gun violence and racism right to his doorstep, but he was already active on many issues locally. As a friend Sandra Vaughn said in an online comment, “If he saw an injustice he fought with all he had to make it right.”

Robert was special to NWTRCC, and we hold him close to our hearts and send our love and thoughts to his wife of 46 years Linda Randall, who stood with him — at that Arbery protest, when their house was seized for nonpayment of taxes in 1984, through times when he lost jobs because of his resistance — through decades of life’s ups and downs.

Robert may have recruited the most WTRs with his annual tabling at School of the Americas protests, Ft. Benning, Georgia. Peg Morton from Eugene, OR, joined him in 2004.

Robert became a Christian pacifist in the late 1960s while still in high school and in the face of the Vietnam War. “In those days a young person approaching the age of 18 simply had to think about whether or not to kill,” he said. It seems there was no question in his mind that paying for war was as impossible for him as being a soldier. He was a “war tax converter” all his adult life and got active with the Atlanta Tax Conversion Fund for Peace and Human Needs. They hosted a NWTRCC meeting in December 1983 that began his long association with the organization.

The December 10, 1984, Network News reported: “The IRS auctioned the house of Robert and Linda Randall on November 16 to recover Robert’s unpaid war taxes. The event received extensive and sympathetic newspaper and TV coverage in the Atlanta area. 20-25 supporters submitted protest bids and attended the sealed bid auction. …Robert felt very enthusiastic about the support he received throughout the experience.”

Being supported and being supportive was what drew Robert to NWTRCC, which is why we honored him at that 30^th anniversary conference in 2013. Robert held the record for attendance at the network’s meetings and gatherings around the country. Sometimes he was on a committee and had his travel paid, but mostly he used his own resources because he appreciated being in a group where “everyone has shown what it means to live according to your conscience,” as he said in response to the award. Robert came to see friends, but was also the one most welcoming to all newcomers, as evidenced by comments on the war tax resistance listserve at news of his death. (As a matter of fact, one of Robert’s key contributions was starting and hosting that listserve, which has been valuable for conversation and support among resisters, refusers and converters since 1999.)

NWTRCC group outside Kings Bay naval base. (l to r) Ruth Benn, PA Trisha, Carolyn Stevens, Nichoe Lichen, Vicki Metcalf, Robert Randall, Ken Miller, Joel Taunton. Photo by Ed Hedemann, 1988.

Most recently many peace activists met Robert through support for the Kings Bay Plowshares, who entered the Georgia naval base on April 4, 2018, and “beat swords into plowshares” at the Trident submarine base until arrested. Their trials, sentencing dates, and incarcerations in Robert’s hometown, Brunswick, involved more than four years of support actions and events with which Robert was fully engaged. But he had long been active around the Kings Bay naval base. In 1988 he helped host a NWTRCC meeting with John X and Martina Linnehan at their Metanoia House in St. Mary’s, Georgia, and took us to the gates of King’s Bay, a focus of their antinuclear protests. (He was so pleased to see John and Martina again in 2016 when they were living on land at the Sustainable Living Center of North Florida, which hosted a NWTRCC gathering.)

In May 1989 Robert helped host again at the Marywood Conference Center outside of Jacksonville. That gathering lasted nearly a week and included WTR events in Jacksonville, St. Marys, and Brunswick. Chrissy’s blog post from 2019 is another tale of Robert’s hospitality, but most of us who have attended NWTRCC meetings probably think of him as something of a host for every meeting no matter where it was. He was always the best prepared for the business meeting, he carried decades of institutional memory, and was fun to be around. His enthusiasm for post meeting outings, protests, or local tours was contagious. More than anything Robert knew that the primary reason people come together is to share stories and fears and ideas to sustain our resistance and survive the economic challenges.

There is so much more to say about Robert, and this blog page allows readers to add their own stories and comments. But it would be unfair to conclude without emphasizing Robert’s deep religious faith, even though it was possible to spend a good deal of time with him and not realize how central it was to his life choices. This is exemplified in his 2006 tax day letter to the IRS:

School of the Americas protest, Ft. Benning, Georgia. For more photos, click here.

Once again this year I am unable to pay any federal income tax which you might deem “due” from me. As I have stated to you in years past, I am a Christian. …The Holy Spirit will not let me sin in this way. I am completely and utterly constrained by God from voluntarily paying for war. (Read the full letter.)

Robert was not a proselytizer. He was more concerned that we act on conscience than join a religion. He did, however, mean it when he wrote at the beginning of his “An Ethic for the 21st Century”:

Let us all agree on this one simple thing:
It is not OK to kill people.

— By Ruth Benn

P.S. We have so many photos of Robert at meetings, gatherings, serious vigils and serious fun from coast-to-coast and with many of you. If you want to see more, click here!

The post Robert Randall: Presente / Always Present first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Robert Randall: Presente / Always Present appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

During NWTRCC’s 40th anniversary conference celebration in November, we had a session dedicated to team trivia using Zoom breakout rooms. If you were not able to join us, you can still test your NWTRCC knowledge. Here is the quiz that we offered. If you can answer 12 out of the 17 questions correctly, you are a NWTRCC expert!  (Answers to the quiz can be found below.)

1) What was the registration cost for attending the May 1985 NWTRCC meeting in Denver?

a. Free b. $10 c. $25   d. $50

2) NWTRCC’s newsletter is currently called “More Than a Paycheck.” What was its original title?

a. More Than a Paycheck b. Network News c. War Tax Resistance News.  d. Tax Rants

3) The Tax Day 1985 Press Release included how many Tax Day actions?

a. 25 b. 35 c. 75   d. 150

4) The September 1985 NWTRCC business meeting approved NWTRCC’s budget for 1986. How large was the budget?

a. $15,000 b. $26,000 c. $43,000   d. $99,000

5) How many local and national affiliates did NWTRCC have in November 1985?

a. 12   b. 25   c. 56   d. 80

6) Which of the following individuals did not represent NWTRCC in September 1986 
at the first international WTR conference in Tubingen, West Germany?

a. Vicki Metcalf   b. Joel Taunton   c. Hanno Klassen   d. Erica Leigh

7) The Peace Tax Fund bill was first introduced in 1972, what year did the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures hold its first ever hearing on the bill?

a. 1982   b. 1992   c. 2003   d. It’s never held a hearing on the bill.

8) When did Lakeside Press (owned by longtime WTR Jerry Chernow in Madison) begin printing NWTRCC’s newsletter?

a. 1982   b. 1984   c. 1993   d. 2003

9) When did NWTRCC get an 800 number?

a. 1983   b. 1993   c. 2010   d. It’s never had an 800 number.

10) December 1995 saw the NWTRCC newsletter take on the name “More than a Paycheck.” Other names were suggested and rejected. Which of the following was not rejected?

a. NWTRCC News   b. A Pax on Your Tax   c. New Trek: The Next Generation

11) NWTRCC entered the future by obtaining a website in 1996. What was NWTRCC’s original web address?

a. www.nwtrcc.org   b. www.wartaxresistance.org.   c. www.nwtrcc.com   d. www.nonviolence.org/~nvweb/wtr

12) When did the NWTRCC office get its first answering machine?

a. September 1982   b. April 1985   c. January 1989   d. May 2003

13) NWTRCC’s Administrative Committee is responsible for overseeing the functioning of NWTRCC in between Coordinating Committee (CC) meetings. When was the AdComm first established?

a. September 1982   b. December 1982   c. May 1986   d. May 2003

14) In April 2005, the NWTRCC newsletter provided a list of alternative funds. How many funds were on that list?

a. 2   b. 10   c. 21   d. 55

15) Which person on this list did not have an interview on the topic of war tax resistance in the NWTRCC newsletter in 2006?

a. Julia butterfly Hill   b. Jane Fonda   c. Howard Zinn

16) What year did NWTRCC join Facebook?

a. 1982   b. 2003   c. 2009   d. Facebook is evil. NWTRCC never goes on Facebook.

17) Which war tax resister was issued an apology from the IRS in 2011 for being threatened with a $5,000 frivolous fine in error?

a. Steve Leeds   b. Ruth Benn   c. Joffre Stewart   d. Jane Fonda

— Post by Lincoln Rice

Answers: 1-C; 2-B; 3-D; 4-C; 5-D; 6-D; 7-B; 8-C; 9-B; 10-A; 11-D; 12-B; 13-C; 14-C; 15-B; 16-C; 17-A

The post NWTRCC 40th Anniversary Quiz first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post NWTRCC 40th Anniversary Quiz appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

There is an immediacy this year to call for cessation of the war ravaging Ukraine and Russia for the past 11 months. It draws the attention of those seeking light in these dark days for those of us advocating for peace. Advocacy for peace is not limited to religious preference. NWTRCC encourages atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews (believers and non-believers) to consider backing this effort.

Image from 1914 Christmas Truce from Wikimedia Commons

At NWTRCC’s conference at the beginning of November, a group war tax resisters attending that conference decided to start meeting to discuss how we could address the war in Ukraine. This blog post is one way our group plans to address that war. Acknowledging that there is no good war, and no possibility of a lasting military solution in Ukraine, we urge everyone to press for an immediate truce—a ceasefire that is a precondition for peace talks to begin.

We support a proposed Christmas Truce based on the model of the Christmas truce held in the Belgian trenches of the German and Allied armies more than 100 years ago. Some 100,000 soldiers on both sides of that conflict laid down their arms and spontaneously suspended their warmaking.

Christmas Truce Statue from Wikimedia Common

They moved toward one another into the “no-mans-land” between them, and sang  “Silent Night” and other hymns together.  They shared food and they prayed.  They even shared a game of football (soccer) as well as drinks.  They engaged with each other as fellow humans with families and dreams of the future.

Today, the U.S. peace movement is responding to this call for a Christmas Truce, as spear-headed by Massachusetts Peace Action as part of large peace coalition at www.peaceinukraine.org. The call is also supported internationally by International Peace Bureau in Berlin (IPB).

Please contact one or both of these organizations to sign on to this action for peace. Or write your own legislators to call for a ceasefire from December 25th through January 7th. This is the first and vital step toward opening the way to negotiations and ending the carnage.

~Post by Cathy Deppe

The post Christmas Truce Redux first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Christmas Truce Redux appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

As Global Network members of an international delegation to the Russian Federation in May 2019, Alex Walker and I visited Moscow, St. Petersburg, and three cities in Crimea. We came to learn, to listen, and to build a bridge of friendship through citizen diplomacy. We had daily meetings with Russian journalists, activists, academics, and ordinary citizens. We gained first-hand information and historical perspective. The Russian people met us with warmth, openness, and generosity.

We came because we are alarmed by the U.S. demonization of Russia and by the NATO provocations which have created a world of increasing military confrontation, with the U.S. even threatening the first-use of nuclear weapons. Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, U.S./NATO has encircled Russia with bases, so-called “missile defense” systems, and escalated “war games” right on its borders.

Russia is a country of just 144 million people, with an average income of $400 a month, or $13 a day. Their annual military budget is $60 billion and decreasing. The U.S. military budget is $800 billion and increasing. The U.S. has more than 800 bases encircling the world.

Our message is a call to end the demonization of Russia, remove U.S./NATO warships from the Black Sea, end the escalating war maneuvers on Russia’s borders, and build bridges of diplomacy and friendship.

One highlight of the trip was to hear from Alexander Pasechnik, the Chair of Russia Veterans for Peace in Komi, Russia. Afterward, we witnessed the signing of a Statement of Solidarity between the Maine, USA VFP Chapter and the Komi, Russia VFP Chapter. Our “citizen diplomacy” efforts at peace building had begun. In his presentation, Pasechnik focused on the “No First Strike” policy as rejected by U.S. Congress but implemented by Russia, and agreed on between Russia and China for years. Russia requires three persons to agree to push the nuclear button, but only one person, the U.S. President, is needed in the USA.

He said the U.S. President just signed a U.S. military budget approaching one trillion dollars, while the Russian military budget is only 47 billion, and that Russia’s percent of the total global GNP is only 2%, with an economy still suffering from past wars, with pensions and wages very low. For example, a Russian doctor earns only between $574 and $771 per month. Given their history and the current provocations of NATO on their borders, it seems clear that Russia will not hesitate to respond with the nuclear option in defense of the Motherland. I now realize how, given its long traumatic history of suffering wars, invasions, and occupations, the Russian people have an unbroken fierce determination to defend their homeland to the last breath.

The preceding is an excerpt from my personal report. It is quite long for this newsletter; therefore please follow this link to see my full report (nwtrcc.org/PDFs/Russian_Study_Tour.pdf). Thank you!

Cathy Deppe is a member of the Southern California War Tax Resistance Alternative Fund & has served on NWTRCC’s Administrative Committee. She lives in Los Angeles.

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The post 2019 Russian Study Tour with Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Arms in Space appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

NWTRCC held its fortieth anniversary conference on Zoom the weekend of 4 – 6 November 2022. About 50 people attended some portion of the conference, which began the evening of Friday November 4 with a short concert with folk singer and political satirist Charlie King. He sang “More than Enough” by Robb Johnson, “Universal Soldier” by Buffy Saint Marie, and closed with a composition of his own, “Spoon of Sand.”

Evening with Previous Coordinators

Following the concert, NWTRCC’s previous coordinators shared some anecdotes from their time with NWTRCC. Kathy Vass, who was the coordinator from 1982 to 1987 shared about the beginnings of NWTRCC and the arduous task of spearheading the composition of a war tax resistance manual. Larry Bassett, who co-coordinated with Kathy from 1984 to 1986, spoke of the daily grind during this time and shared about the significant amount of time that he stood next to a printer making copies of the WTR manual.

Carolyn Stevens, coordinator from 1987 to 1991, spoke about creating and updating WTR literature as well  as the importance of fundraising. Unfortunately, Karen Marysdaughter, coordinator from 1991 to 1999, was not able to join us.

Mary Loehr, coordinator from 1999 to 2003, shared stories from NWTRCC gatherings and the fun that happened at those meetings. She also related that at an international meeting in Washington, DC, David Zarembka shared, “I have lost a house… to divorce.” Mary believed he shared this to indicate how precarious life is.

Lastly, Ruth Benn spoke, who was coordinator from 2003 to 2018. Ruth discussed the time she was asked to visit the IRS department that investigated tax protestor organizations. Right before Ruth was called in, the IRS had shut down one of the tax protestor websites. Thankfully, the IRS decided not to take any action against NWTRCC.

Panel on the Living History of NWTRCC

On Saturday morning, four panelists each provided a concise summary of one NWTRCC decade. Ed Hedemann, who was at the first NWTRCC meeting, presented on the 1980s. Robert Randall, whose local group sent a representative to the first meeting, presented on the 1990s. Sue Barnhart, who attended her first meeting in Portland, Oregon in 1993, presented on the 2000s. And Erica Leigh, who served for several years as NWTRCC’s social media consultant, presented on the 2010s.

Memorial Session

For our second Saturday session, we viewed a slide show to the music of Charlie King, in which fifty individuals who have passed away during the last forty years were remembered. After the eight-minute slide show, people shared stories about those in the slide show whom they knew and called forth of the names of those who were inadvertently left out of the slide show. After the additional names with photos are integrated into the slide show, it will be posted to NWTRCC’s YouTube channel.

NWTRCC Trivia

To allow for some fun small-group interaction, we dedicated an hour-long session for trivia. Attendees were placed in groups of five, given some time to chat and catch-up, and then fifteen minutes to work together on a quiz. Lastly, everyone was then brought back to the larger group to find out the correct answers. If you were not able to participate in that session, the multiple-choice quiz from the session can be found beginning on the back page of this periodical. (During the celebration of our 40th year, one of our blog posts will be this quiz.)

The Next 40 Years

Our marathon celebration concluded with breakout sessions in which small groups discussed possible directions for NWTRCC during the next one, five, or forty years. There were numerous calls for an official statement on the war in Ukraine, which came up again at the Sunday business meeting. (See the “NWTRCC News” section for more.) Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa shared the success they have had with placing QR codes on protest signs on college campuses. NWTRCC will provide a way for Tax Day 2023 demonstrations to do this if they wish.

Nuclear Resister protest with the use of a QR code. Photo courtesy of the Nuclear Resister.

Recognizing the how white our group is, there were calls to continue connecting WTR with racism and earth work. Joshua shared his belief that there would be interest for war tax resistance among several independent media outlets. The NWTRCC office will look into this more during tax season. Other ideas were also offered, which will be brought to NWTRCC’s Outreach Committee for discussion.

Overall, it was a wonderful conference and we were very pleased to see so many people who played a role in NWTRCC’s history. It would be better meeting in person, but I am glad we were able to make the best of what technology has to offer.

Post by Lincoln Rice

The post NWTRCC’s 40th Anniversary Conference: A Joyous Celebration of Resistance first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post NWTRCC’s 40th Anniversary Conference: A Joyous Celebration of Resistance appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Federal Budget graph painted on a street in Eugene, OR, 1984, with local activist Leslie Brockelbank. Photo by Ed Hedemann, WRL files

These days when I feel that we must be in the worst of times, items in the collections are reminding me that there were other dark times for peace activists. The 1930s had some heady years of pacifist sentiment but, as Hitler’s power grew, the pacifist position was marginalized and mocked. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced new horrors. The 1950s with anti-Communist fever and McCarthyism made it hard for organizations like WRL to grow their ranks. There’s a packed folder of political cartoons during the Reagan era that demonstrates the widespread anger at his administration’s “guns over butter” policies and the fears of a nuclear WWIII.

Reviewing all this history can enhance one’s feelings of failure to reach the kind of society and world we want, but the photos of antiwar actions and protests against injustices are also a testimony to carrying on against the odds. War tax resistance actions are scattered through the WRL files, so I pulled out a random few that can also give us ideas for things to do during the upcoming tax season — carrying on Chrissy’s theme from an earlier blog, “Making War Tax Resistance Visible and Accessible.”

— Post by Ruth Benn

Books purchased with tax resisted dollars and donated to the local library, Brunswick, GA, 1991. Photo by Ruth Benn, WRL files	Activists change the message on a billboard in Alaska, 1990. Photo by Karen Beetle, WRL files
Missiles or Human Needs? Tax day vigil, Long Island, NY, 1989. WRL files	Charlie King performs on a stage-topped van, tax day 1975, NYC. Photo by Karl Bissinger, WRL files. Charlie will open NWTRCC’s virtual gathering on November 4.

The post Inspiration from the Past for the Present first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Inspiration from the Past for the Present appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

We would love for you to share the event with your networks, especially those you have made aware of your war tax resistance and who have expressed interest in learning more. The details and registration for the event can be found here. We are grateful for the opportunity to make WTR more accessible to a wider audience via Zoom. This allows us to be a part of a wide network to engage in peace daily. We in the U.S. have a unique opportunity to resist paying for the carnage of war. Throughout most of the world, many people do not have the opportunity to withhold some of their earnings from the supports of Empire. 

Like with all WTR 101 sessions, we will be talking about motivations, life circumstances, and provide information to all of the questions that go into resisting paying for war. It is always an opportunity to look at WTR from a fresh perspective. I often think of one of the best learnings from a 101 session: that we can continually reassess our relationship to WTR. It is also refreshing to direct others to the many resources in the NWTRCC network in terms of written materials and people available to share their experiences. 

This past weekend, NWTRCC Coordinator Lincoln Rice and I were able to have an in person WTR 101 session at the Midwest Catholic Worker gathering. Eleven people attended the session which was the same size crowd the previous year when Lincoln presented the WTR 101. There has been a 101 session every year for the past 4 Catholic Worker gatherings held amongst the cornfields of Iowa.

It was a great homecoming to be with people in a circle discussing war tax refusal! Collectively we had well over 100 years of experience with WTR amongst us and if we included the people who came later in the session it surpassed 150 years of standing against the IRS and war machine.

Charles Carney and Karl Meyer were present at the discussion and had a lot to add about their journey towards WTR, what sustained them, and different tactics that they have employed over the years. As always, it was refreshing to hear of people’s motivations, life circumstances, and questions about WTR. It was interesting to think about consequences for WTR on business owners and how it may not be advantageous to file separately for certain married couples.

Karl Meyer and Peace House 2.0

Every WTR 101 session allows for those who attend to advocate and spread the word of WTR. Throughout the weekend, we distributed the War Resister’s League Pie Chart, the NWTRCC newsletter, fliers on W-4 resistance, and had many conversations on WTR with those who are resisting or considering it

It helped that Karl Meyer had come in his bright blue Peace House that was present and hard not to notice with the messages on U.S. military spending, foreign policy, and plenty of War Resisters League Pie Charts for distribution.  Karl was eager to give tours of the van explaining how it was outfitted to support his carpentry work that has allowed for his WTR for all these decades. Karl’s creative ways of messaging WTR to the masses continued and was preformed in song at the skit night on Saturday (the song is included at the end.)

It is refreshing after surviving the pandemic and social isolation to be able to once again support one another. Whether in person, telephone, Zoom, or social media, it is good to be reminded of our role in mutual support and to be reminded that we are not alone. The strength of the NWTRCC network continues to grow and there is great cause for celebration in our 40 years and the intent to support each other in our war tax resistance!

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer 

Compliments of Karl Meyer:

(On October 31, 1969, Halloween Day, Agent Roy Suzuki of the Internal Revenue Service phoned me at my place of employment and graciously demanded payment of taxes, penalties, and interest for the year 1965, part of a much larger tax bill that IRS had been unsuccessfully trying to collect for a number of years. After I said I would not pay, he came over promptly and served my employer with a levy against wages due me at that time, which they honored by deducting $46.60 from my pay. This event inspired composition of the following duet, to the tune of a well-known song from the post-World War II musical South Pacific.  I have sung the lead role at many gatherings, but cannot remember, in order to  credit, the many eminent tax-refusing women who have sung opposite, in the role of Suzuki’s boss.)

SOME ENCHANTED TAXMEN

Some enchanted evening, you may meet a stranger.

You may see him come to you across a crowded room, then pull out his badge, and ask for your wage. If you don’t go along, he will not argue long.

He will be a taxman; he will be insistent;

he will bring a levy to place against your wage;

and when he is done, he’ll go back to his boss,

and give a report like this:

Suzuki:

Who would believe it? Who would say it’s so?

I found him at Follett’s. I collected dough.

His Boss:

Oh, Suzuki, how did you know?

Now that you’ve found him, never let him go.

Suzuki:

Forty-six dollars, all for the war;

I’ll go back again soon; I will grab some more.

Boss:

Oh, Suzuki, try going slow;

don’t scare him off too fast; don’t let him go.

Suzuki:

I have worked so patiently; I have tried so long;

My but that man’s conscience is strong.

Boss:

Don’t get sentimental; remember he’s your foe;

Now that you’ve found him, never let him go.

Suzuki:

I’ll go back tomorrow, shortly after dawn;

I’ll levy on his wage again, but he will be gone.

Boss:

Buck up, Suzuki, don’t let it get you down;

We have lots of agents snooping round the town.

Suzuki:

They will never nail him; they’ll never collect;

Why should we waste our time, breaking our necks?

Boss:

The war must go on, you know, and we must be paid;

the arms race must be financed, and profits be made.

Suzuki:

We will never make it with guys like that Meyer.

Why not quit and go to work; our proceeds would be higher?

Boss:

Roy, that’s not the spirit of IRS, you know.

Both together:

Once you have found one, never let him go!!!

The post Making War Tax Resistance Visible and Accessible 101 first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Making War Tax Resistance Visible and Accessible 101 appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Kathy Boyland and Chrissy Kirchhoefer at SOA protest Nov 2019

I met Utah Phillips at the School of the Americas (SOA) protests at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was there that I was also first introduced to war tax resistance (WTR). For many of us, the actions at SOA were our introductions to the global reach of what Eisenhower warned about the “military industrial complex.” The SOA trains soldiers from Latin America in using terror tactics against the struggle of ordinary people resisting oppression. At the time, I was awestruck by these members of Veterans for Peace, Raging Grannies, and others. We shared our stories, our literature, and inspiration for future actions. 

It’s interesting to think of what seeds were planted from our sharing. It was after my first gathering at the SOA that I learned about the NWTRCC network and the power of nonviolent civil disobedience. We come at this work from different places, but sharing and learning from one another is what our movement is all about. It can revitalize, rejuvenate, inspire, and conspire us towards a new paradigm.

War tax resisters at No to NATO march. Chicago, May 2012. Photo by Ruth Benn

At the heart of this work has always been relationships with each other and ourselves, as we relate to and create the world in which we want to live.  It has been in knowing others’ stories and where they draw their passion that builds common ground and relationships.

In meeting Utah Phillips I had a chance to embarrass myself by gushing at him. He said, “Don’t do that to yourself.” It reminds me of a part of a poem that says, “Putting people on pedestals is a way of keeping them at a distance.” We are lucky to be among ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Recognizing each of us has talents, skills, and blessings to bring to our collective table.

In anticipation of celebrating NWTRCC’s 40th anniversary at our November conference, we are gathering stories from those in the network! There are prompting questions, but feel free to share your stories as you feel moved—WE WANT TO GATHER YOUR STORIES. One of the prompts asks you to share a memory from previous conferences. (You can find a list of meeting locations at the back of our handbook). We will share the stories that we collect in a special 40th anniversary edition of the October newsletter.

I am really excited about the November NWTRCC gathering and the program that has come into place with the help of the Ad Hoc 40th planning committee. You can check out the full schedule of events here. Singer/songwriter Charlie King will kick off our conference Friday evening! A request has been submitted for him to play this song—dedicated to you!

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post People Like You first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post People Like You appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Photos by Sue Barnhart

We drove our Prius from Eugene, Oregon to these outstanding national treasures. We passed through some unbelievably scenic countryside and I often thought about how many more of the wonders of our country could be protected and restored if we weren’t supporting wars.

As most of you know, our country spends more on war than any other country in the world. In fact, our military budget is larger than the combination of the next seven largest military budgets! I began resisting paying taxes back in the 70’s when I learned it was possible to do, because I was against killing people. I’m still resisting for that reason, and also because I want my tax dollars to go to life affirming projects, not to war.

Climate and the U.S. Military

Everyday we hiked lovely trails, and often saw wildlife and plants that are threatened with extinction. In fact, we are all threatened with extinction and the U.S. military is the biggest carbon emitter in the world. So in my mind, they one of the biggest contributors to our extinction in two ways: (1) by always being involved in wars which threaten our extinction by nuclear bombs and (2) being the biggest contributor to the climate catastrophe.

Lowering the U.S. military budget would go a long way in lowering carbon emissions from our country. Giving more money to our national parks, reserves, and monuments and less to the military could be used to protect more trees and plants. And that in turn would help to lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and slow the effects of global warming.

The Army & Yellowstone

We learned while we were at Yellowstone that the park was established in 1872. In its early years the 2.2 million acres of park was managed by just a handful of people. The government allocated very little resources to protect the park and it was hard to stop the defacing of the geysers, the chopping down of trees, and the poaching of the animals. Many acres were destroyed by fires intentionally set by settlers annoyed that the park was established.

In 1886, the U.S. Army was tasked with managing Yellowstone National Park until 1916 when the National Park Service was established. The troops withdrew from the park by 1918. The military administration of Yellowstone was a model for the management of Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. If you look at  the park rangers uniforms today, they are similar to the uniforms the Army wore at that time.

Eventually hundreds of officers and enlisted men were stationed at Yellowstone. After a first winter in tents, the Army built some beautiful buildings still used today including a post office, a courthouse, some houses, barracks used for more housing, a museum, and administrative buildings. The Army Corps of Engineers built many of the roads and bridges that were still in use until they were flooded and destroyed a few weeks after we left the park.

We were able to drive on all those bridges and roads, enjoying the beautiful nature of the park, and they will take years to replace. The flooding was another example of our climate catastrophe–lots of snow extremely late in the season that melted during unusually high amounts of rain.

Photos by Sue Barnhart who stated “We saw many animals- baby bison and bears, coyote, wolf and fox cubs”

Let’s Preserve Life

If only the funds and personnel in the Defense Department could be transferred to preserving life instead of destroying life. Funds could be used to maintain trails and build more trails. Many of the trails we were on needed maintenance. Money could be put towards building an outhouse in front of each trailhead. It could be used to restore buildings that were built by people out of work during the Great Depression who found work in the Civil Conservation Corps. 

Money could also be used to hire more rangers and biologists to study climate change and the threatened extinction of so many animals and plants and to work toward preserving them. It could be used to purchase electric buses to transport tourists so that there would be less cars on the park road and less congestion. More informational displays could be built. More National Parks could be created. The National Parks budget gets cut every year, while the military’s budget  gets more funds than it asks for.

I’ll keep resisting taxes for war until none of our tax dollars go towards war. And I’ll keep dreaming of what those tax dollars could be going towards if they were not paying for war.

Post by Sue Barnhart

The post Let Us Imagine Investing in Preserving Our Natural Wonders first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Let Us Imagine Investing in Preserving Our Natural Wonders appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Many of the speakers  on the webinar reflected on the pressing issues of the day and the context in which the June 12, 1982 events occurred. The four main issues that galvanized people to attend were the elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, honoring Native American Treaties and full employment for all. You can watch one of the webinars, Defuse Nuclear War, commemorating the event here.  

The issues seem prescient and many were issues that were brought up later in the week at the Poor People’s Campaign on June 18th in Washington D.C. which you can watch here. The Campaign has centered what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the triplets of evil—racism, militarism, excessive consumerism—and then added the climate crisis that we find interwoven in all of these issues. Rev. Barber, one of the organizers, brought up one of the key components of the original Poor People’s Campaign, utilizing nonviolent direct action to put pressure on decision makers when he declared “If we need to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience—then we will engage!”

There was some mentions at the June 12 Legacy webinar of the mass civil disobedience campaign that was organized by War Resisters League among other organizations. The words toward the end of the webinar were quite striking, “If we don’t risk doing what seems impossible then we face an unthinkable future,” It was that spirit of risk taking that inspired over 3,500 people to  shut down the United Nations missions of the 7 major known nuclear armed countries on June 14. There were over 1,700 arrests with some folks having multiple arrests on that day.  

There will be a webinar Saying No to Nuclear War through Nonviolent Direct Action Wednesday June 22nd at 7pm Eastern (4p Pacific) to share about the Blockade the Bombmakers campaign of that day and discuss upcoming events around nuclear disarmament at the UN in August. You can find out more information and register here.

I look forward to joining the webinar to learn more about that time. The role of civil disobedience in pushing for “freezing” the use of nuclear weapons likely played a part in not having escalated wars to a nuclear confrontation. I am particularly curious to learn from those who embraced war tax resistance in their attempt to prevent nuclear war worldwide. One of the organizers of the upcoming webinar, Ruth Benn, wrote, “A Good Reason to Refuse to Pay War Taxes” about how the issue of nuclear weapons motivated her war tax resistance. 

While looking through NWTRCC’s archive on nuclear issues (that you can access here) I discovered the answer to a question of how long have war tax resisters been opposing nuclear weapons. Some months after the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima, Ammon Hennacy and other war tax resisters held public actions on Tax Day, March 15, 1946 and cited nuclear weapons as a good reason to refuse to pay war. I imagine their witness encouraged a new generation of war tax resisters. 

And for some  big news: NWTRCC is turning 40 this year! We will be celebrating this milestone with a weekend of events at our conference November 4-6, 2022.  Save the date and stay tuned for more details! We will be reaching out in months leading up to learn more of your journey with war tax resistance. 

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Reflecting on the Last 40 Years first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Reflecting on the Last 40 Years appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.