A woman arrived very early at the place where I work for a meeting last week, because it's difficult to time things just right when you take the bus. She seemed to me to be the retired sort, with plenty of time on her hands, and she was content to read and pay her bills while she waited for the others participating in her meeting to arrive. She told me that she gave up her car over 4 years ago and takes public transportation because of the war. She said to me, solemnly and in lightly accented English, "It is so horrible, we must pray . . ." and she crossed herself.
Not all of us, especially in our car-centric society, are able to do what she does, but there are some things we might be able to manage. A couple of friends of mine have started a new kind of peace campaign: a petroleum peace offering. They are asking those opposed to the war to commit to not driving one day per week. From their just launched website,
http://www.nodriveday.org/:
"They are sacrificing our children's future as they run up unprecedented debts to pay for their wars. They are sacrificing our service men's and women's lives. They are sacrificing the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. They are sacrificing the American values that stand against torture and inhumanity. They are willing to demand all these sacrifices yet lack the moral courage to ask even the smallest sacrifice of ordinary Americans.
As ordinary American citizens we want our leaders and the world to recognize that we are willing to personally sacrifice to bring about a more stable, peaceful and just world. We are willing to sacrifice some of our own comfort and convenience in order to build a better world not only for our children, but for all the world's children.
As President Bush recognized in his state of the Union Address, our demands for oil and other energy resources are creating a threat to our national security and giving rise to serious conflicts in many regions of the world. Oil is currently a prime contributor to conflicts raging from Afghanistan to Nigeria to Nicaragua. Although it is not the sole factor involved, oil undeniably plays an important role in the rising conflict with Iran, the war on terror and our occupation of Iraq. Because of the important role petroleum plays in global conflicts, we believe that changing the way we use our petroleum burning cars is an excellent way to show our leaders and the world that we are willing to sacrifice for peace and justice.
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To demonstrate our willingness to personally sacrifice for world peace and justice, we have committed to forgo the use of our cars on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays we will walk, we will ride bicycles, we will take mass transit, if need be we will stay at home, but we will not drive our personal cars.
Beginning on Tuesday, March 20th 2007 (the 4th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq) and continuing on every Tuesday until there is a systematic withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, we will not drive our cars.
We invite all like-minded individuals to join with us in this symbolic act."
There are options for those who can't go without cars on Tuesday, like part day or another day of the week, or even just a conscious awareness that daily activities that we take for granted over here can have devastating effects somewhere else.
