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

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Last week NWTRCC hosted a War Tax Resistance/Refusal/Redirection (WTR) 101 online. It was an interactive, engaging conversation. We have been hearing from practitioners of WTR who have been living under the taxable income who anticipate that changing or do not see that path as sustainable. It is encouraging to be engaged with people who are making intentional decisions about how our collective resources are being used. 

NWTRCC  will be hosting a WTR 101 on Facebook Live this coming Thurday Feburary 2 (2pm eastern/ 1pm central/ 11am pacific). Coordinator Lincoln Rice will be sharing an overview of WTR including history, motivations, practical concerns such as to file or not to file, W-4 forms, self employment and so much more. Join us and share with your networks, those who may be interested. You can also find a  recording of the WTR 101 later on our YouTube Channel.

Also there will be a  Counselor’s Training this coming Saturday Feburary 4 that you can register for here as well as  information about our upcoming NWTRCC National gathering in May in North Manchester, Indiana May 5-7. 

Motivations of WTR in the Modern Era M.E./ Atomic Age

Image of Wei Wei exhibit featuring bombs “Little Boy,” “Fat Man” and B83 the largest nuclear bomb in the US arsenal. Photo by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

At the start of each year, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists issues their assessment about the risks to life on Earth through human actions and inactions. After the nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagaski, the international group was formed and began issuing it’s annual state of the world in the form of the Doomsday Clock. The extinction of humanity is represented as midnight on the clock and how close we are to that has been measured by minutes to midnight. The clock was first set at 7 minutes to midnight in 1947; has moved backwards 8 times and forward 17 times. 

In 2020 the clock moved to a mere 100 seconds to midnight with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists citing the threats of nuclear war and climate chaos had a multipying effect when incorporating cyber enabled info warfare. After 3 years at a standstill, the Doomsday Clock was moved forward last week by the Bullitin of Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board to a mere 90 seconds till midnight, closer to anytime during the Cold War when a nuclear winter loomed on the horizon. 

During the reveal of the Doomsday Clock status last week there were many international voices and members of the Elders Council who were encouraging world-wide action to prevent a collective human annilihation which can be accessed here.The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (I-CAN)  issued a statement in response to the Doomsday Clock stating “So this year’s Clock announcement must not be followed by the usual hand wringing, resignation and excuses, but urgent action to avoid nuclear war.”  I-CAN lays out some plans to follow up on the Doomsday Clock dislosure just 2 years and 2 days after the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into legal force. 

At the online WTR 101 session, it was framed that the  most recent era of WTR reached back to the resisters of WWII who emerged from that war deeply opposed to nuclear weapons. It seems like such an obvious lineage but one would hope as I am certain that they must have imagined that we would not still be engaged in a game of roulette with all of humanity all these years later. Upon reflecting upon Nuclear Winter, all those who have been resisting it and thinking about the Doomsday Clock moving up 10 seconds closer, the words of Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day came to mind:

“Tell me what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Post by Chrissy Kirchhofer

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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

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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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Participants:  Switzerland, UK,  Germany, Italy, Colombia, Belgium, USA,  attendance both in person and online. NWTRCC participants Ruth Benn, Cathy Deppe, Eleanor Forman, William Ruhaak.

Cathy Deppe (lower left) speaking virtually at the CPTI conference. All photos courtesy of CPTI.

Major Organizing for Conference:  CPTI–Conscience and Peace Tax International Board of Directors, with current leadership from Conscience UK Robin Brookes. CPTI has NGO standing at the United Nations regarding Human Rights Council membership.

Conference focus was on two campaigns: (1) the U.N. Human Rights Council now taking up the Conscientious Objection to Military Service quadrennial resolution submitted by CPTI and to be voted on by early October, and (2) war tax resistance.

I tuned in for the first session at midnight to hear from Dr. Michael Wiener of the OHCHR (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights). I did miss hearing the introductory remarks by Robin Brooks, CPTI Chair, since the microphone was not turned on. I couldn’t always tell who was speaking because I only saw some of the participants on my screen, and never the main speaker.

Dr. Michael Wiener (left) from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Dr. Weiner gave a historical overview of the last 30 years in regard to “Freedom of Religion or Belief.” He explained that it is common practice to accept a resolution without a vote if no party objects. Also, there are no enforcement mechanisms for resolutions, while treaties carry legal obligations. The first resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on “Conscientious Objection to Military Service” (COMS) was adopted in 2013, the second in 2017, and now awaits adoption in 2022. At General Assembly, 90% of the countries have accepted it, except for Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Cuba!

Positive results triggered by these resolutions include a change in the Republic of (South) Korea, where 18,000 had been jailed for refusing to serve in the military. The country now provides alternatives to military service. Armenia also made a similar U-turn. But many countries still do not recognize COMS either by law or practice.

To strengthen the rights of CO’s, we need to consider those in territories like northern Cypress and a region of Moldavia, where there may be objectors who are not protected because they do not belong to a recognized “state,” yet may be forced to fight. In Ukraine, men 18-60 years old cannot leave the country or their residence, and the CO provision that previously existed for alternative service is no longer available.

After the conference on WORLD PEACE DAY (21 September 2022), CPTI was to be part of an international protest in favor of CO’s involved on all sides of military conflicts. There are implications here for LGBTQI folks.

Colombia now recognizes some CO’s, reported the CPTI representative for Colombia.

War Tax Resistance

Cristophe Barbey speaks to the military tax situation in Switzerland.

Cris Barbey, the CPTI rep from Switzerland, who also represents CPTI at the UN, spoke about the three strategies for war tax resistance: (1) withhold and redirect, (2) go to court and then appeal using local and international law, and (3) pass legislation (e.g., peace tax fund legislation).

The Italian delegate said Italy has a mechanism to allow some taxpayers to direct some taxes away from or toward things.

The German delegate said Germany is experiencing a dramatic increase in military taxation. It is now 2% of GNP.

SESSION TWO

This began at 5:30 AM Pacific Time. First, there was a review of the U.N. structure, which I found very informative, if a bit tedious.

• Universal Periodic Reviews: These reviews must be submitted 3-4 times a year by two different bodies. CPTI has NGO status and needs to submit its report to get it into the Periodic Review.
• Special Procedures: This is the process that uses Special Rapporteurs, experts in their fields who are appointed to work on country mandates. (Not sure, but think “mandates” refer to the numbered Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Number 18 – Freedom of Religion or Belief  informs our CPTI resolutions.) We work with a Special Rapporteur who is a Professor at Oxford who handles Religious Freedom and thus handles CO’s.

CPTI’s NGO status allows it to submit allegations to the Special Rapporteur, who has 60 days to write a letter and who can call a press conference!

When a country has a human rights crisis situation, the U.N. calls for investigation by a Special Rapporteur (SR) expert in the particular human rights issue. The SR follows a process:

• Write the government either an “Allegation Letter” usually when there is a pattern, or an “urgent” letter often about an individual transgression (like a kidnapping), or “Other.” Experts base their analysis on human rights international law.
• Make a country visit and prepare a thematic report.

Derek Brett, also a CPTI rep at U.N. from Switzerland, explained that the U.N. website lists all these reports. He described the ten types of Human Right treaties and said it can take years to get a treaty ratified.

Country Reports

Milena Romero speaks of the military tax situation in Colombia.

Colombia: The goal is to publicize and recognize coups in Colombia. We came to Geneva to speak to the Special Rapporteur about freedom and conscience in Colombia, but our country itself is not open to including CO protections in military law. Military police still stop people in the streets and demand to see the “certification” they need to carry to show they have registered as available for military service.

Canada: Closing its peace tax fund but using a peace tax form letter people can send in.

United Kingdom: Conscience UK goal is to be more visible and to pass the Peace Tax Bill, with a 3-stage plan of

1. lobbying/surveying members of parliament about nuclear weapons and the legal right to claim CO status for the payment of war taxes
2. get members of parliament to sponsor bill(s), that even if the bill fails it can prepare the way for the next attempt
3. get in the news (They are offering webinars on how to protect the rights of CO’s, educational activities, and improvement of communications.)

400 people have signed up to write letters to members of parliament.

Germany: Pass the Peace Tax Bill. Reaching out to work in coalition with groups like “Rethinking Security” and “Fridays for Future” and “Green Party.”

The group is shrinking, while military spending up to 2% now, not including a new 100 billion euros only for military materials.

Sent letters to all Protestant churches about Peace Tax Bill – poor response, objections being that taxes are an “individual matter” that the church can’t direct.

Favorite moment for me… Germany post office allows you to submit a requested stamp, they print it and sell it back at more than the stamp itself costs, and you use  it on all your outgoing mail, sell to your members to raise money, get your message out, etc. (My favorite stamp here would say, “Fire the Postmaster General.”)

Switzerland & Italy: Do not have organized groups, yet.

Last Thought: There is a petition we could download and circulate that supports Russian and Ukrainians soldiers’ right not to fight. I asked for it to be sent out to us.

— Post by Cathy Deppe

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More recently he’s worked with a friend’s archeology company on some digs in the east, and in June he joined a survey in New Hampshire. Arriving at the site, he was surprised to discover that it was on a US Space Force base near Manchester. I, for one, had put that previous president’s space force out of my mind, so I was amazed to hear it is alive and well (I fear) in New Hampshire. Every day when the dig team got to the gates they were screened by fully armed, ready-for-combat guards who deployed bomb detectors to scan the underside of their cars, raising the question “what the heck is going on here?”

That base is called the New Boston Space Force Station, which took over an air force base in the summer of 2020. It is one of about 14 space force bases or stations around the country — plus one in Greenland. Presumably the funding for this archeology survey came right from the space force budget. We could hope the dig turned up something to stop the station’s development.

Photo: Global Network website. Watch the website for October’s “Keep Space for Peace Week” of actions. http://space4peace.org/

Feeling bad about having put the space force out of my mind, it reminded me to check out the website for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, that excellent organization coordinated by Bruce Gagnon. The Global Network’s website is packed with important (and frightening) articles and information about the militarization and exploitation of space. I also happened on an August blog celebrating their 30^th anniversary, so here’s a big shout out of congratulations to Bruce and everyone who has been part of their work over the years.

Photo by Ed Hedemann, Aug. 2, 2022.

Recently I participated in a few demonstrations calling for nuclear abolition — weapons and power. On August 2, we were at the UN, which is hosting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and took our demands to “stop talking and start disarming!” to the US Mission. On the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki there were more vigils and press conferences. The Japanese and alternative press attended; the US mainstream media was nowhere to be seen.

Our anti-nuclear actions were grounded on saving life on earth, but between my brother’s story and the Global Network’s website I was given a wake-up call to what is happening in space. Karl Grossman’s article, “The Space Race is Going Nuclear” was especially enlightening, and he has also written a book on the topic. In addition, he is the author of a Beyond Nuclear handbook, The U.S. Space Force and the dangers of nuclear power and nuclear war in space (PDF). I appreciated the section headed “Why do we need a Space Force?” with the answer: “We don’t.”

My war tax resistance was inspired by hearing Dr. Helen Caldicott speak about the dangers of nuclear weapons. More than 40 years later the dangers are greater and the powers that be are constantly scheming and scanning for their next frontier to fight over. In this case, if they have their way, it really could be the “final frontier.” We have no choice but to keep up our resistance to militarism in all its forms and from the depths of the ocean to the moon and beyond.

— Post by Ruth Benn

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Below is the statement from the group in Russia. The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement’s statement is here, which is followed by an interesting interview  with Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement.

Get Out! campaign logo

WRI also shared links to a new campaign, Get Out!, launched by a coalition of groups and organizations internationally to support those in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who oppose, desert or refuse to go to war. At a time when it’s hard for nonviolent activists to know what to do in response to Russia’s war, it’s great to hear about a campaign we can support.

Lest I not mention taxes, the NY Times had an article about Russian rappers who left their home country and are speaking out against the war.  On Instagram the rapper Face posted, “I don’t plan to return to Russia, to pay taxes there.”

Statement of the Movement of Conscientious Objectors (Russia) for the International Conscientious Objection Day

Dear conscientious objectors to military service, today we mark our CO day while war is being waged.

https://wri-irg.org/en

As the war with Ukraine began, the notion of refusing military service in Russia has become especially topical. Before the war, most conscripts and their relatives did not associate military service as conscripts with actual warfare. Conscription appeared to be something akin to a sports camp with elements of military training.

Regardless of their political views, the healthy feeling of fear of participating in warfare in the territory of a foreign country forces people to file appeals for alternative civilian service and to protect their right not to serve in the army by other means.

For some of the objectors to military service, the chance to specify in their application that they object to Russia’s war in Ukraine is important. This is a legal form of expressing one’s disagreement directly to the representatives of state authorities—a matter of moral significance.

In the course of the months of warfare, we have witnessed a totally new phenomenon: cases in which professional soldiers refuse to participate in the special operation[*] and demand to terminate their contracts. We wish to express our special gratitude to those soldiers and police officers who had the courage to refuse to kill and die in a foreign land, who refused to participate in the special operation.

Today, when many people apprehend the introduction of partial of full [military] mobilisation in Russia, it is precisely the right to conscientious objection to military service that offers them support.

The Movement of Conscientious Objectors in Russia expresses its solidarity with all those who oppose war, with everyone who stands against the act of aggression. We wish and pray, with all our might, for Ukraine to survive the assault and retain its independence.

[* WRI note: “The special operation” is Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine; formally, it is not a war, but a “special operation”, and is being referred to as such in official contexts in Russia]

— Posted by Ruth Benn, who could not seem to get her monthly blog written
last week but eventually realized the statement above might be more worthy.

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Image of NATO protest in Chicago from Steve Rhodes on Flickr.

The revolving doors of the Pentagon opened up this week to the 8 largest U.S. weapons manufacturers and the war strategists to come to the table. They were making plans  for a war in Ukraine that may continue for years. It was as if a dream that had been brewing for years appeared to be coming true. The obscenity of military spending in the U.S., feverishly gobbling up over half of federal income taxes for decades has become even more perverse in the last few years as the pandemic has magnified the denial of the resources for people’s needs and our home in which we depend.

In February 2020, the U.S. Army published an article Interoperability: Embrace it or Fail! that was cowritten by leaders in Australian, French, British and U.S. militaries. The paper argues for the need to have weapon systems that would be standardized amongst allied nations and ends with a future scenario. “It is now 2035 and you find yourself deployed to a theater within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command general area of operations where tensions are high. Your previous experience in Europe highlighted a disjointed approach towards sustainment and logistics yielding sub-optimal solutions. You remain hopeful that NATO and ABCANZ (America, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) nations have learned from previous challenges and are better prepared for LSCO (Large Scale Combat Operations) in your new theater.”

Long time war tax resister Don Timmerman at NATO protest.

In another part of the document it speaks of gauging levels of ambition: “Interoperability requires nations to spend money, take risk and cede sovereignty in order to increase legitimacy, cohesion, mass and agility.” That seemed to have been the previous U.S. presidential administrations continued refrain to NATO members that they needed to pay more of their GDP towards defense spending.

Following World War II, many western European countries’ military budgets invested more of their taxes or collective resources towards the needs of their populations and less on military spending. Quite dramatically the world has witnessed a reversal of that trend with Germany making a dramatic jump from #7 in military spending to #3 and reversing its ban on exporting weapons. In the article “Waltzing to Armageddon,” Chris Hedges points out how U.S. military spending will help recruit Eastern European nations to join NATO and will fast track conversion to NATO weapons and technology. Long standing neutral nations of Sweden and Finland are considering joining NATO–adding additional impetus for a global war.

Image from Catholic Worker protest of NATO in Chicago.

While some may have notions of U.S. exports being McDonalds and Levis, the number 1 export of the U.S. has long been weapons. Now it appears as if we are attempting to convince our allies to adopt the McDonaldization of our militaries and create standard systems, munitions, and fuels. The only country to use nuclear weapons is calling for new standardization and efficiencies of delivering death.

It was disheartening to begin the week with news that the U.S. was going to vastly expand the types of weapons it was sending to Ukraine. It seems like the response to death and destruction is to send more weapons and money even after the Biden administration has already spent $2.4 billion on Ukraine since taking office. The alarm bells go off when Defense News reports that U.S. lawmakers proposal of $13.6 billion for weapons and training “was like putting Biden’s proposal on steroids.” 

Chrissy Kirchhoefer inside Obama Headquarters in Chicago as part of NATO protests

The wicked irony of escalating a war when many are celebrating Passover, Ramadan, and Holy Week. All the rituals are marked by personal reflection and communal coming together to share nourishment. The rituals of war tax resisters coming together for Tax Day with War Resister’s League pie charts to educate about U.S. military spending have been scaled back during the pandemic. The last “regular” Tax Day in 2019 coincided with holy week yet the events of the world have changed us all. What has not changed in these 2 years and has only increased is the amount of U.S. taxpayer money going towards military spending.

While some have questioned the increasing amounts of our collective resources going towards the Pentagon especially with the removal of troops in Afghanistan after 20 years and the lack of resources during the pandemic, war fever has been catching and spreading the world over, trying to rob us of our money, “others” lives and our collective imaginations. 

Catholic Worker preform works of mercy as part of NATO and works of war protest.

Many will continue to be out in coming days to reclaim our imaginings for another world that does not promote or fund the slaughter of innocents. Go public in your opposition of paying for war by signing NWTRCC’s sign on statement, find inspiration from others taking action with the newly formed War Industry Resisters Network that are encouraging actions at places that profit from war around Tax Day to Earth Day and let us know of actions that you take so we can share them with NWTRCC and the annual Tax Day Report. Know that everyday is a great day to speak out about military spending and that there is a vast worldwide network of others who share your concerns!

Chrissy Kirchhoefer

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Image from Kings Bay Plowshares nuclear disarmament action

Some who have taken that threat seriously in the U.S. include members of the Plowshares movement. One of the participants, Dan Berrigan explained that we do not have peace because we do not have people who are willing to take similar risks as those who take up arms and kill. Dan’s words at the trial of the nuclear disarmament action still resonate: “The only message I have to the world is: We are not allowed to kill innocent people. We are not allowed to be complicit in murder. We are not allowed to be silent while preparations for mass murder proceed in our name, with our money, secretly, It’s terrible for me to live in a time where I have nothing to say to human beings except ‘Stop Killing.’ There are other beautiful things that I would love to be saying to people.” 

Image from flickr of the seventh seal

War devalues all life. It attempts to make some lives seem dispensable and others elevated. It has been challenging to witness images coming out of Ukraine and Russia and not feel one’s own life cheapened. Or to wonder about bombings elsewhere in the world that are not given attention. While it has long been said that truth is the first casualty in war, it is difficult to get reliable information especially with social media and the possibility of misinformation.  

In recent years and with the rise of social media there has emerged the notion of the attention economy. It looks at what we can perceive and what actions we can take; sometimes “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” The stories that we tell have great power and those in positions of power know that. The big lie that underlies war is the myth of scarcity; that people must compete. 

One of the images that stood out over the past week were of Ukrainian men who were at a train station. The men were prevented from leaving, only women and children were allowed on the train. There was so much desperation and weariness expressed in the faces. They were informed they must remain and take up arms that were largely provided by U.S. taxpayer money.  

Sometimes it is necessary to simplify the message in order to take action. The definition of economy simply means care of our home. It is about being responsible with the resources in our care. Some call into question the right of nuclear weapons to exist let alone to build a newer generation of more usable nuclear weapons. We have not even figured out how to clean up the first of the nuclear weapons waste that lies in landfill that is on fire near the confluence of the largest rivers in the U.S. Now there is news of a fire at the largest nuclear facility in Europe and sending the world economy into a more volatile position.

I was thinking about war tax resisters who attempt to live in a world of their deepest imaginings. Those who realize that insatiable is not sustainable an who state that war is a racquet and nuclear weapons are insane. Who try to create the world in which we want to live and not allow the devaluing of life. Who realize as was expressed in the last line in the movie Don’t Look Up: “We really had everything, didn’t we?”

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Keep it Simple – Stop Killing first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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Back in 1988, just before the sudden breakup of the Soviet Union, I was fortunate to be part of the American delegation to a peace conference that spent the first week in Moscow. We then took a train to Kyiv and spent two weeks in Ukraine — a few days in Kyiv (which is beautiful – I toured a 1000-year-old Eastern Orthodox cathedral there) and then a cruise down the Dnieper River that divides Ukraine, to the Black Sea and on to Odessa, which is also beautiful. I remember slipping away and saw the barren shelves of an Odessa supermarket, which told the story of the USSR’s tenuous economy that our hosts weren’t telling us as they plied us with vodka…

Change was in the air. Where possible, in Moscow, Kiev, Zaporizhye and Odessa, I slipped off and met with underground draft resisters. They were uniformly hopeful for the future. A man I met in Zaporizhye took me to his home, in the 10th floor of a butt-ugly, Soviet-built concrete apartment tower. After the trip, I was penpals with him for a while, as well as with a group of conference attendees from all sorts of countries who were fellow music aficionados. We bonded at 4 AM one night, slipping past Moscow hotel security guards with pillows to head to a nearly birch forest in the dim, summer solstice light to share songs.

My heart is breaking for all the Ukrainians I met from that trip, and the historic, densely populated cities of Ukraine. I hope they’re safe.

NYC, January 21, 2022. Photo by Ellen Davidson.

There is so much beauty and wonder in the world, and we see all around us that humans are so much smarter than this.

There are experts to listen to and read for perspectives on this war. Follow Democracy Now!’s coverage. As I write, Amy Goodman just read a tweet about antiwar protests in Russia. Arrests were immediate but all honor and kudos to those activists. Once again the fact that the world has not abolished nuclear weapons brings added danger. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has a statement on their website (a topic that reminds me of a Nobel Peace Prize winning president’s empty words — but a chance to reinvigorate work on the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons).

War Resisters’ International has a statement on their website and keeps contact with peace groups in the region, including the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement. I hope they post a link to an online forum they held recently on the current crisis (mentioned in this post).

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

With its arms sales to and military bases in countries bordering Russia, the U.S. government is not an innocent party in this conflict. I think back to our NWTRCC meeting in Chicago in May 2012 when we joined thousands for a “No to NATO” march and rally. We were right then. We’re right now. Stop funding war. Stop the arms trade. Disband all military networks, especially NATO. Use our resources to confront the real issues we face: hunger, poverty, climate change, jobs, health care.

It’s hard to know what we can do to stop Putin and this invasion, but the least we can do is demand the United States immediately stop the saber-rattling, which only exacerbates the conflict. Which makes today an excellent day to add your name to NWTRCC’s Refuse to Pay for War public sign on statement.

— Post by Ruth Benn

* Geov is based in Seattle and posts interesting stuff on Facebook along with being an active writer and a radio host with Eat the Airwaves on KODX in Seattle.

The post WAR, ENDLESS WAR first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post WAR, ENDLESS WAR appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Image from Free SVG

In recent decades, the focus on nuclear weapons has largely been on the countries attempting to acquire nuclear weapons and the sanctions imposed upon those countries by the countries that possess nuclear weapons. Now it appears that the oldest and potentially most devastating war in this country’s history, the Cold War, is heating up and bringing the issue of nuclear weapons to the front burner.  The likelihood of nuclear war happening from an accident, misunderstanding or posturing appears to be increasing to a level not seen before; military strategists are questioning if a non-nuclear war is even possible. 

There were two articles side by side last week that attempted to make the case for nuclear war. In one article Jeffery Edmonds, former National Security Council director, states referring to Russia “For them, nuclear weapons are not above this weird glass ceiling the way they are in the United States.”  Underneath was an article titled Years Ago, Kyiv Gave Up A Huge Nuclear Arsenal. Today, There is Regret. The article looks at Ukraine’s inheritance of over 5,000 nuclear warheads with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 that were decommissioned. 

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany suggested that Ukraine might look at  rearming with nuclear weapons, questioning if Ukraine could not join NATO asking “How else can we guarantee our defense?”  The article goes on elevate the opinions of those crafting this brinkmanship “More widely, experts fear that the current crisis could turn Ukraine from an example of arms-control benefits to one of atomic-disarmament risks, and drive the Irans and Saudi Arabias of the world to pursue their own nuclear arms programs.”

Image from Mass Peace Action

The only citizens who have experienced the horrors of nuclear bombing are the Hibakusha, the survivors of the nuclear bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who are becoming fewer in number. Many survivors have lived their lives never sharing the trauma that they encountered in witnessing the pain of the worst weaponry unleashed upon humanity. As many Hibakusha are entering the final years of their lives, an increasing number have been sharing in detail to younger Japanese students the horrors they witnessed of people wailing out and jumping to their deaths for first time. They shared their stories secret because of the stigma that they faced in employment, marriage and misinformation about radioactive poisoning and the myth of contagion associated with it.

Japan, the only country to be bombed by another nation, now lies under the ‘nuclear umbrella’ by the very country that unleashed nuclear bombs upon it. Originally the notion of MAD-Mutually Assured Destruction was at the heart of the nuclear armed nations to keep the actual use of the weapons at bay.  The ‘duck and cover’ drills of the past have faded as has much of the horrors of nuclear weapons from public consciousness. 

Image from Flickr from National Cold War Museum in Cosford, England

Sometimes it feels as if our role as war tax resisters is that of counselors,  conspiring with like minds who are willing to see beyond the insanity that a way to ‘resolve conflicts’ is to bomb the earth into oblivion.  Together we hold onto our core beliefs and breath new life into a world coming into existence. Our role as counselor allows us to be with others who are willing to break through fear and center hope of the possibility of the world with less destruction. 

Consider joining us for our counselor’s training on Saturday February 19th 8am-1:45pm Pacific (for more info) to learn new skills to assist others to stop paying into this insanity. 

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Can We Turn Back the Doomsday Clock? first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Can We Turn Back the Doomsday Clock? appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Misapplying payments is against IRS regulations, and I wrote a letter to the IRS right after receiving the notices asking that my estimated payment be returned to my 2020 Social Security payments. There has been no response to my August 25, 2021, letter, which is no surprise if you’ve seen the recent announcements from the IRS about their ongoing staffing shortages and “paperwork backlogs.” My letter is in some big pile with millions of other letters, returns, and amended returns that have not been processed. “Paper is the IRS’ Kryptonite, and the agency is still buried in it,” says the National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins in her annual report to Congress (see David Gross’s summary here).

Recently seven IRS collections letters arrived in one day’s mail delivery, which reminded me of this hanging issue. The letters were for 2012 through 2018, so I realized they had dropped 2011 and never adjusted that estimated payment. I’ve thought of checking that online account the IRS has set up for each of us, and I know some of you look at yours, but somehow I can never get past filling out the personal info to see what they’ve got for me.

Today, just for the heck of it, I tried calling the IRS. I was not hopeful of getting through, and if I were to reach someone, I was not hopeful that they would be helpful. After going through a few rounds of “press this number” now “press this number” I was told my hold would be 30-60 minutes. I decided to hang up and try pressing a different option. Same result. I stuck with the hold for a while. “Calls are answered in the order received. Don’t hang up.” Then after about 10 minutes, “Consider hanging up and check your account online.” After 14 minutes I took the advice about hanging up.

Restored Israel of Yahweh had three members imprisoned for refusing war taxes in 2005 in one of the more rare 21st century cases for war tax resisters. Photo by Ed Hedemann.

It’s at this point when you have to keep reminding yourself why you got into this form of resistance. Since I couldn’t be a draft resister, I became a war tax resister to demonstrate my refusal to participate in war. I want to challenge militarism and military spending. I did expect the consequences to be worse than receiving piles of threatening letters, one summons to an IRS office in 2009, one bank account seizure, and spending 14 minutes on hold with the IRS.

There have been times when war tax resistance in the U.S. has gotten the attention of the powers that be and waves of resisters gained media attention as they fought property seizures or legal cases, some of which led to jail time. The Vietnam War era and the 1980s were particularly active. It seems we are too small a movement now to inspire a crackdown and thus more attention to the real issue. And the cuts to the IRS budget have over recent years have lowered the economic risks too.

I go from my IRS annoyance (and really, frustration that our resistance is largely ignored) to reading the stories from Myanmar of refusal to pay tax to the government-owned power company, among many other acts of economic resistance to the military rulers. The resistance has led to serious revenue shortfalls for the coup leaders, who have responded by sending soldiers into neighborhoods and homes demanding with guns pointed that people pay the tax. It’s quite an example of the power of tax refusal, though the consequences to the refuser may be dire.

Once again from the comfort of my home and well-fed life, I ask myself could I be like Dr. Wai Phyo Aung, 36, a Mandalay dentist quoted in the article, who has not paid his bill since the coup and says:

 “If they come to my house and cut the electricity, I don’t care. I will never pay the bill. I don’t care even if they kill me. I won’t let my money kill citizens and feed the war dogs.”

— Post by Ruth Benn

The post IRS Annoyances vs. Your Money or Your Life first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post IRS Annoyances vs. Your Money or Your Life appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.