Å t .t , dinner. It can't really be done, but we have no choice in the preseut emergency exceot to dci it. So^, while,we are in this time of waiting for the hour when we can again take on LtrTTtr,RS took-to jL:l:.t:nt"n'ber their class'strugÊle ac- calls openly for state censorship and årt i¡d roose with freedom of jiy:rl::ärlï;!iii','i.üit pi.r".îlåiäã.- piuv. the Barnwe, de'ronstration, to beautify ì .,,,i"in."ì"ã to use on the ir3îilJ,"* iilå iilä[',füi5Ë'liiiî.",'..r:H; iqitriü+'i''"il,'itql-:qË,[,îfi; occasions' I doubt that I'l I.'r serrding vou a batik banner I ffit**E**i11¡;19ü',; i:r,iî:t":î,.:åin:iå:ii,îiiijiln,,n" ::'tr"$jili'åiîi'fåi,jËLËkil n'ingrã.o'.ptexitv ãnd passion' She Ll::."-T \,i;ìÑi.;;;"r;;uãiineitt"t".t seablook ói'siàri"ir;ï;i' *ov ri'hile not grinding *"r" *irr"1r.èv occr¡oation to Barnwer. "rìJ"ît'r,åîîi,irËi it r"t91rv ,o:itËrtå- "'å-ur-¿ ip"ut *ith force c"*r.r,t'rjïipîiä welr àppreciat"¿ tv p"opiå.Tãiá'õí"' rirst disobèôience at Barnwe' ror the ï::T,::i{,J.Jå"1,{'fii.ðå',T:i.fåii "f ili*i**n'il:idiîi:"Jtîl''å" the "establishment"-the paper tiger powers out there-we can be strengthèning our resolve, refining our politicetljic, keeping up our spirits, fulfilling ouiselves as individuals, and.creating models ofhiÈher consciousness and behayior at othër levels, Small búsinesses which serve useful social functions áre an excellentway to do this. The quesfion of the ethical-political validity of the signifi' social Durpose being served is I cant. Ih other words-, the contradictions I of olavins out a process well on behalf of l u'lbuä"ör queitionable social aim,-or--' olavinsout a process "evilly" on behalf ðtan eÏtricatty valid aim must alwaysbe honestly faced and carefully.weighed.. I beliêve that Marty and his comrades 'are likelv contnibutinÊ to social change' The full iignificance õf their contribution remains tõbe seen. I hqpe that next time May 25, 1978/Yol. XlV, No. 19 I comeeast I will have tlie opportunity to feed at Common Ground in Brattleboro' 4. Disarmament: The Politics of a place I þave good memories of . I I r,I;rtf2 i' i. ffi;i rèsources-e.g. the i:'ï:i:;år""%ffËü;;;uö" atranta, It is hard to understand why radicars in rsza fin¿ rhJiï;ffi;ïr Àrneric¡ncom-o,,¡,-'uiiîîiäic*å,book" as *ìong the new :;yl,iirË;';h""iäì.iär g"n"ä-ti*'ãi" .î¡"tv ir"ñ".th 3"t*ilt"+*iålå".'3::îtåi4'"1!it$ Booming Yearforthe '14, APentagon's Top Fen/Cordon Adams , füåíäïr.ä Martv Jezer puts it in tñä He is'ioined 6v nnn voriir.ã|t'riãui¿on ããié on the.t"rt over the contested óf ñazis to-hold street demonstrations' 16. Changes s."Xrä*1X,":ält#jiÏlÏg#L;; i.åd'""¿#l"t;*J,*',lË!üf*ff y^t-'Él:ii'åi:;;:ä'"i;;'J;;ìì';rä influente. rhe Nazis are notonlv ñäzi influen *ot irtü"g ðì'ting' There are èven those Nazi -;;;åï;iltËl;*rvi"-;";;gfiI#,. "Ui[ítÈ!i:l#"ll'"*;;; ,î'È;;ã *L"¿"rful, esseniial *r'" iäljiìt"it;ii;: wh;ì;i;i""tî'å'i"l- 19. Reviews /Steven LYdenberg and David McReynolds i'ut-'ntiit t"n"tics' but the potential ä.¡il"i;"'f:'"J,:#ïii:'?åil]åiHË:' ä. oåiËïü ".äåì."t rutu,, i:igl*"',xå'JnxlJ#å."' äîã* i;i" ì""r, iiTt ;í"r'. ,#i"'tl"lrË*, ",ii;¡:Tþi:i.i:1*:}Ë-r:iËonest :;:ïi1î1,îi,îüJ;:li3l"'ì,Í.1ïm; ão'',' tmustiesist awalkdownthe äii'äitì"tiì u5;vt'i"t' off"rs the ðon-, 11::lÎilÌ"il'¡'È",ji;;ä'äË;;;ttt" mvth that the cP played -- a- pro¡ änärv sian"v a Ammunition Trade/'NARMIC 11. The Deadly 6;tt"rice a' r:r:.dïTi?irîtî:"ïå,ïË[f*çl ur." n.,än-n ïî'ilt" (t " conrmunist party are humån beings, rolc iti f,åËiìtã; rÏtã' gi1t",*xr*,'llJ:ffiIfrirh""r:'e; is. rr roao"ron "3ttilt""frÎison neglects.the B'"å.Y'iiñ:i: iüt-if1ai ii.not what The Rom¡nce t'rrr ^- censorshlp ^^-ô^r -L:debate in wIN on íü""t. lt;ã ä¡"ut nort"ieiã. tet ànother The not been has snuffrìlms attempt to tran.rog.'i:f iñLtÞ]..r " i¡" n ffi..:ïåî:'J,îx:,'"trl';:¡å'r;.rå:"'"i *óuè- äù'iäi#î;ïüf ment. "''lfitether i'd; Cover: "And they shall beat their swords into ploughsharès... " Sculpture at UN Plaza. Photo by Patrick Lacef ield. ntuåî{lT,lr. troversial thesis that"ìiËiruer; ñi;;;i.ì or not its membef s ^¡ ot fe-ar-and STAFF ffiff:trî:îi';:î,"J,Ë:l'nit:l*r the depth of thetf app"1l:_ attend to sãrtur" p"tnini casts too màny t;;_"y abõut þ1rütr" ottriäiii"t"a õampaign to mock and vili' fV wãmen. In too riruc-h of the advertising [i[jìi]:î]"i"îiî,ll'11'""f;1'äå"" t:"lteínative businesses fos' ;Iigff",T['ili:lil$11""";ry1 il*Ëï:i'gtilgn':l ä-t"*ttéi-tt"t abouJåäiiiï' Stalin's nitpicking ':'Ari"#äilt Lauritson's the Moscow Trials and moving olauãed offeirsive' inurder of miltions?) is irrelevant' What altogether "î8#ä;;ìiñi"iç! a cogent and mauers is rh" n.tu." ultit ã'puitv or tñii'fi'ä"t. or îrîåïiur" l;iää;î;;;àìiüãi;irrt which they wer" nl"*îirî terrå"r'i'ii'ri"äi,rt starinism which destroyed the socialist Hi;äi.ii;¿ti;nbetween movement. not onty in ihe uS, but an -åääì;î;.,Ëii ".úi"rrr ãitãiõã."*. Susan Beadle o Patrick Lacefield' funda' n"lplåiå;, ;;;üì;;";.inito ttre wind. Things *0""1î$Ñån/¿s.scn'R u'"ong o' "'" in.1,"r1"ffi';ìnî#;iËi.^ïiïïË -inãiãlIrin., n.v. the preseni media' were Michael Lardner o Lauri Lowell Susan Pines. Murray Rosenblith UCIE/IR RflCE ter social chanse"' Through the April 13 issue conärãund' l oiece to whiìh he refers, so [aining ttre'isséd ñl i;;-t c''ã" in the middle of the diatogite, seéins ãs how it's one that's been overtheworldHJñäã;;îõ;;ithîtrêìncreasingcoJncgnforawhileanvwavanopro' while longer' women, a"Jir rigttito ñrise"s to-go on for a Far from being empathetic, Gornick's t",it¡jrîüîij:åi::il;:iåii ú;h ffi;; "g"i"st "iãr"îõ" po'nog'"pÀ'vä ' interviews u'" r'ór'o"1"Ñåîiä;"i;;;;r' ;Ë;IË;ü*"nt ;ñp'tJ*-;iìË-p"óiooñ¿Ëod¡al illness is a meta¡p'tttitic-ethic' we will find strate' ootitics' No reminders åätå trt"ne"t i" ã*una ilñ"' ;Ëit - gies appîonriate to each level to plav out' Þartv line to meet Russian requirements rihiôtr ttris violence reflects B"ïËï;î"ääÙlviãi'îi"iiilil;;täï the Popular Front onedav to. . ät*éiät' äiãlilevels-in our peìsonal -frõm "fascism is a matte' of taste" -ovèrnight iniiitutionalized propaganá;lfË;älives' our''ibusiness" (ceremonial) lives' iä;ì;;ö poriroglapq¡ (soirituar) rives' our outer po' with the signing of the Hitler'stalin-Pact' vertising and i*i.f:lr#JfrÏlítdoelittîr,å':','Ft Ëi;;¡ " ;"ong meas-ure o¡'åäiåi r"eiti' 2 WIN MaY 25, 1978 fearihe onlv serious consid fiå.#,jii;ililltrliiüniiå{':'--f 503Atlantic Ave.l Sth Floor Brooklyn, NY 11217 Telephone : (212)624.8117, 624'8595 dra Adickes o peg Averi I l, . J an Barry . LAnce Belville r Maris Cakars* . Susan Cakars*. Jerry Coffin o Lynne Shatzkin Coffin o Ann Davidon ¡ Ruth Dear o Ralph DiCia* ¡ William Douthard. Dwight Enresl . Rutlìann Evanoff o Chuck Fager ' J im l-orest . Larry Cara. Ed Hedemann* ' Crace Hedenrann* . Marty Jezer. Paul Johnson o John Kypero Elliot L¡nzer". Jackson Mac Low.David McRevnolds* . Mary Mayo. Dav¡d Morr¡s. Mark, t Morris . J inì Peck o lgal Roodenko. . Vick¡ Rovere* Wencly Schwartz* . Martha Thomases o Art Waskow o Susan W¡lkins o Beverly Woodward San *Memberof WIN Ed¡torial Board I Wl N is publ i shed every Th ursday except for the first week in January, the fourth week in March, the seconcl week in J une, the last two weeks in August, the first two weeks in September and the last week in our inner l;ntrfltrriffii¡äffi ffiüi,;t#***m*$*;= ffiå'ållrgq{trffiiffitrlîiiïJ,ä$$¿ån"";ïËË#iîî: iï¡,råî:'r',Ë,::ï{ît'i'åîst"i,ü,'ö, iüiiiä*ti"ã añnesialcotnickis sub' Organizing Against Arms Sales/ Mike Clark dangêrous and evil gxprelsion. rook closelvãt the debate in ;;i;h Ga. ri.,l'diå+:T:.**Ë"äi:#n" poi't on,p.ritici. \ryatch thè recent de:iFJ:åiåä[::i:i:i:i"iänÍåä-*'"'" right pacifist,/ Session/Da v id McRey nalds B. fä:iri,'"""ïîii,,ï'lË;i#iiu,i,"å::i Hïå*Ïi:llfäi¡;if,'"år:ïl:iÉ'* "bïliX",TiJåi|fåli!ìi*'*bip::: of sion to do so. n"t"'J"ty u"- vasive'contemoi for libertv' Too many sturi*iïüïà''iti'ió'i"uily Mv l¡vIN subscription ran out last win- .uur" iiìuugl.,t ,,the currênt g";;Jañ ter and I was starting to miss it, Recent_ ¿;d;;;ã" "iriá", lv. r,ve been using back iii-u-es â rot ". tt'c io.åâ'åisoJiäii.'' n ui'u"õ' peacãôonversion "rM";;i;t.ç;;rr"ïì the United Nations Special -MIRIÄMW-OLF Oakland, Calif. December Drawing by Erica Weihs by W.l.N. Magazine, lnc w¡th the suooort of the War Resisters League Subscript¡ons are $15 oer vear. Second class postage paid at New York, NY IOOOI and additional mailing offices lndividual writers are responsible for opinions exoressed and accuracy of facts g¡ven. Sorry-manuìcripts cannol be returned unleìs accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope printed ¡n USA May 25,1978WlN 3 üisarmament: the politics of the ruritednations special session which has demonstrated, in some quarters, a singular incompetenceon the matter. There arethree points to be made as a preliminary to discussing the Special Session. First, to condense into â few lines the points l'd made in a recent issue of WRL News, the United Nations today has undergone a tremendous shift from the early years, when ¡t was effectively under the total control of the United States and ser:ved as a usef ul cloak for a good deal of US foreign policy. With the steady libeiation of much of the-world from colonialism, many new nations have entered the UN, and so many of these have ref used to join either the Soviet or Western bloc, that the UN simply is not underthe control ofeitherone Second, the United Nations has no power in itself . World Federalists and United Nations Associations often act as if the UN were in some way independent of the.national states that make it up, and as a consequence they have illusions about the UN andwhat itcan do. ln factthe UN is not a sovereign power; iñdividual states (lsrael and South Afriãa åre excellent examples) can defy UN reso-' lutions with complete impunity, and theonly Power any UN delegatehas is to ref lect on the f loor of the UN the instructions from the delegate's capital. Andrew Young, for example, does not make poticy-he states policy thatthe US government has already agreed on. A memberof the United States Congress has very real power, however limited.,Congress can levytaxes on us, it can conscript us. lt can require us to be lailed if we don't paythetaxes or serve in the military. And members of Congress arethere until theirterms expire-they cannot be dismissed by the President. There is no UN Ambassador who cannqt be replaced tomorrow by his or her government. And : by David McReynolds r|.r I he United Nations Special Session on Disarm- ament, opening May 23 and running for f ive weeks, is oneof the most important, and least pub- \ licizedevents in the history of the United Nations' (Carter has already shown his contempt for it þY. àxcluding from the ÚS delegation anyone from the Americañ peace mbvement. ) lt is doubtful if one American in a thousand knows the Special Session is aboutto open (again, Carter musttake responsibility for faiiing.to use any of the vast power of his off ice to inform the public or prepare them for any serious proposals the US might present.) Disarmament conferences call to mind- if they call anyth ing to mind -the sadness of those held in the 19j0's añd early 30's, which ended in World War ll . Disarmament itself is one of those noble objectives every political leader favors, and about *h¡.h no politicai leader planstodovery much' The wholä issue of disarmament seems so unreal to the average person that there is no mass constituencv fortñe issue in this country' ln contrast, the irtu'" ¡t so real to the Japanese, who suffered even a unanimous vote of the UN cannot raise my taxes by a single penny. ln this sense the buildings that stand iust north of 42ndstreeton theeast sideof First Avenue are illusions. ,But i//usion s have power, because world opinion has power. And thereforethe Special Session of this powerless body is, in the real political world, a powerful political fact powerful symbol 'how and also a it came to be convened. The United because of States, China, and the Soviet Union all opposed the Special Session. The Soviets had favored a Confer- the only use of nuclear weapons, that they have gatirered several tons of names on petitions to the ÚN and are sending nearly 50Odelegates, including theVen. Sato, headof the Japanese Buddha Sangha. lf the Special Session was on solar energy, it ' would be very chic, and if it was on the new inter- well is urgent, but also, by its nature, toovastto be dealt with by factory workers and housekeepers. ln fact, as this article will attempt to show, the issues involved can only be dealt with by "average .' citizens," and must notbe leftto governments, nor, for the most part, to the peace movement enceon Disarmament which would have f ull power to conclude a treaty that would bind the states. ( I f rankly doubt the Soviets are quite that eager to but di ssol ve'thei r whole m i I itary establ i shment posipublic their sincere, they are ,r,vhether or not tion continues to be complete and general disarmament and the US has never tried to f ind out if the Russians are bluff ing. ) The Chinese are bitterlyopposed to moves toward di sarmamedt because they recogn ize thei r own military weakness as compared to the US and David McReynolds isco'convener of the May 27th Task Force ol the Mobilization for Survival, and is on the national staff of the War Resisters League. the Soviet Union. They deeply fear that the real intent of any Soviet-spónsored disarmament conference would be the continuation of the unea$Y national regulations for baseball it would be the main topic of every bar in town. But it is only a . conference about the survival of human lifeon this planet-a topic the average person knows perfectly . - existing US/Sovietdominationáf theworl¿. . l ;qr1d international arena. But I have absolutely no Bluntly.put, the Chinese have said they will be .,oillusions.that the Special Session can do more than. perfectly happy to stop their n uclear tests and ' open a discussion. Much of the peace end movement their milítary programs when they,üiÀ;4";Ëi; has been extremely unrealistic about the Special and Americans.get rid of their boabs butìñ;y;b_ Session solutelyrejectthepresent,,t*opowli-.*',, .,,, There is, first, a failure within the US movement ' domination." . , to see that Soviet arms are a/so a problem. lt is a ., The Americans.opposed the Special Session for human error to act in the present on the basis of the same reason the US.has consistently opposed past experience. During the Vietnam War one of Tolel toward general disarmament since'the risé, the complications was that men like Dean Rusk did of Soviet power-the sensible u*ur"nér, thut not see the Vietnam situation as a legitimate imperial capitalism has much greater need for. national struggle, but saw it-based on the armies than the Soviet bloc. (Tie Soviet needfor m.emoryof Munich-as an expanding lmperial , maintaining troops in Easter:n Europe is gui{8, China. Now, having learned from thñ¡einam real- but it does not compare to ihe'US néed to situation that America was the problem, we tend to maintain controlover a vast ånd complex network look on the arms race as if it had the samã single of economi^c holdings. ) tn the 1920,s ånd iO;r,' The New York heaclquarters of the Unìtecl Nat¡on s, where the betore the Soviets were a major power and "uriy Dis¿rnìanrent will be lrelrl. phurograph bv patrick LacefielJ. Special Session on before wars of liberation, the US had been quite seriousiy, ,-# interested in disarmament. Wewoui¿ hãu" gaineã from the disarming of the imperial poweis France and Creat Britain. We emerged f rom the SecondWorld War a great imperialþower in our ôwn right, and from that time on have shown no interest in "complete and general disarmament.,, The US and the Soviets have, after aii, managed to exclude the restof the world from the SALT " ió talks, which are nothing but a bilateral effort to R Ët. maintain suff icient armid power to control the world without continuing to pay quite as much as it -.4 now costs. The two superpowers were extremely .funhappy to have the whoie world iuttåJ ¡" ro j;; thediscussion. How, then, did ¡t happenifhäån_ swer lies in the non-alig.ned and developing nations w.hich now comprise a clear majority in [tre U¡l_a bloc without military power, and without any clear political agreement within itself , and vet a bioc which neitherthe US northe Soviet UÁion can afford to ignore. These nations, ranging from democracies to military dictatorship"s, ind including socialist and capitalist statés, joined to compel the major powers to accept thãspecial Ses_ sion. And here we have a major twist on ihe theme of the earl i er conferences of ihe 1920, sand 30,s _ in that case one intent was to curb the m ilitary powerof emerging states, and in this case it is the collection of emerging states that are seeking to curb the superpowers, knowing that the long_ promised funds for developing nations will ñever become avaitabte untess tti" uiÀi.ãcã ii Ë"riãâ.' (One can th ink of this as a vast effort by ihå Afriian, Latin, and Asian states to get some k¡nd of ,,TransrerAmendment,, through the UN.) al Sess ion itielf can noi draw up an d ^, _The.Soeci s_rgn a treaty for submission to the membei states. It ts to be simply a forum, a ,,special session,, to tare upthe problem of arms. ln a certain sense it is a consultation to see if more serious action should later be taken. support the Special Session precisely ,oecause l:!i:tgl.t rt r,s a victory over the great powers, and torces the discussion of disarmament into a public , ¿d. 4WlN May 25, 1978 May 25, 1978 WtN 5 , isthefailureof what I woulcl call the "establishment" peace A rnr.¡ch more serious problem groutr)s to understancl the systemic roots of the anrs race or the link between disarmament and raclical economic anclpolitical change. I had a chance to watch this problem manifest itself both at ('.¡r \ t ' ,, ,' r br P¡l Oliphant /f he Washington Star cause. Unhappily it is much morecomplex. America is the greatest single part of the problem, but the problem is worlcl-wide. The Soviets are deeply involved. lf you lookecl at the world for a moment through Yugoslavor Chinese eyes, you might even be more worried about Soviet intentions than about those of the US. So while we must give primary attention to the US (not becausewe live here, but becausethe US is the primary problem) we cannot afford the error of assuming there are no aggressive tendencies in the Soviet -ilitary's high command, orthat all Soviet troops are going to act only in self -defense (if we had any illusions about that, the invasion of Czechoslovakia just ten years ago should have shattered them). We have also just seen the Belgrade Conference end with a clear ref usal by the Soviets to abide bV key provisions of the Helsinki Agreements. And in small but signif icantways the Soviets have tipped their hand. When t was at the U N to lobby for UN recognition of the lnternational Con- federation for Disarmament and Peace (ICDP)-a firmly non-aligned group with which the Yugoslavs are affiliated- I found that it was the Soviet Union which objected to granting ICDP consultative sta- tus and finallyvetoed it. (l alsowas presentduring the discussion on Amnesty lnternational (Al), wh ich has con sultative status, i n the same way that War Resisters International (WRl) does, and heard the delegate from fascist Chile make a bitter attack on Al followed immediately bythe Soviet delegate who made an even more hostile,attackon Al for daring to protest on the matter of political prisoners. ) So. . .wh ile the US is the main problem, the Soviets aren't innocent and the Chinese aren't being helpf ul and we must proceed without illusions that the whole problem can be blamed on any o¡e country 6WlN May 25, 1978 the Ceneva Conference of Non-Covernmental Organizations tlrat met in early March to prepare for the Special Session, and in Washington DCatthe State Department's brief ing of American peace grollps in mid-March. lnthecaseof Cenevathe disturbing thing was that aside from the WRI and ICDP clelegates, no one else seemed to notice how few non-al ignecl nations hacl bothered to show up or to worry that not a single Chinese off icial had been sent-orVietnameseor Korean. ltwas basically a conference of 7OO US/West European,/East European folks who were happy with their "sense of fanrily, " honored to be meeting in the UN building in Ceneva, and quite unaware even of the tinre of clay. Most of the Western delegates did not notice that the Soviets had so heavily packed the conference that they effectively destroyed its value as an inclependent world forum. They didn't seem too happy to find that the J apanese had sent nearly 100 delegates -the J apanese had to f ight for minimal representation on the commissions, And it was damn harcl to even get a minority position reg i sterecl - if you read the documents caref ul ly yoLr'll f incl that one commission recognized the rights of conscientious objectors as a universal hr.rman right and another commission report had an asterisk noting that some delegates "insisted" (how very diff icult of us !) on being recorded, over Western and Eastern objections, as favoring unilateral actions toward disarmament by each and every nuclear power. Those little concessions were won by the WRI delegatioñs, who were well represented and fought hard. But I think it was hardly worth the bother -the general political level of the conference was extremely low. The one victory at Ceneva was the post-Conference meeting of the Yugoslavs, J apanese, ICDP and WRI people, which led to calling the lnterna- tional Mobilization for Survival Conference. fhat was worth the plane fare- but getting aste¡'isks i nto clocuments wasn't. This general problem of a naive and ingrown approach to the Special Session has continued. lt ranges from the lsizarre (on May lBth something called "Planetary Citizens lnc." gave an lnternational Peace Ball insidethe UN building, with tickets going for $65 each, Chase Manhattan and Chemical Banks among the f ive sponsors, and featuring a special "Cucci Fashion Presentation") to the incredible. The incredible is that the UN agreed to have one day set aside for Non-Covernmental Organizations (NCO) to speak to the off icial delegates, and the NCO's proceeded to set up a committee to determine who could best speak for the people of the world. I should not have been sur- prisedthatthe committee decided it Should simply nominate itself, which it did. The speakers list was drawn up in secret and included-when itfinally sawthe lightof day-groups astinyas Homer J ack's World Conference on Religion and peace, the "lnternational Peace Bureau" which doesn,i even havq a f ull time staff of one, let alone a serious constituency, and of course the Friends World Comm ittee for Consultation, si nce the chai rman of the Nominations Committee was f rom that group. WRl, which has NCO status, has working relationships with UNESCO and ECOSOC, and represents tens of thousands of pacifists on all f ive continents, was neither nominated norconsulted. WRI had suggested a speaker be chosen from the Mobilizatioh for Survival, but that suggpstion was simply ignored. The irony is that th is self-appointed group of establishment peace groups was bluntlytold by the UN itself -when the UN sawthe listof speakers - that they would have to add at least one J apanese, and it would be nice if some effort could be made to include NCO speai