To mark the now decade-long US-led “Global War on Terror,” The War Resisters League and the South Asia Solidarity Initiative have created an interactive, popular eduction-style workshop that explores how organizing against federal military spending relates to and can forward local campaigns for economic justice, as well as how the past decade of war has effected Afghans and what they are doing in response. Brought to You by Bombs and Budgets: Tools for Reclaiming Communities from Militarism, tries to get to the how of "bringing the war dollars home", as more and more people recognize the brutality and wastefulness of occupation.
The workshops, which can be adapted for students and communities of many kinds, are divided into four areas of focus:
"A Living Pie Chart" which encourages communities to reflect on present U.S. federal budget priorities and imagine a budget where their priorities are at the forefront.
"Me and You and all of the War Profiteers We Know" challenges communities to expand their understanding of "war profiteers," find patterns in how militarism and the U.S. economy have evolved over the past thirty years, and reflect on who profits most from these systems.
"Narratives of Liberation: Holding the Government and War Profiteers Accountable" explores case studies of financial institutions and companies at the heart of our economic decline and the war economy (such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Sodexo). It also looks at grassroots campaigns that take on these targets and the elected officials that enable them.
"Occupied Afghanistan," communities discuss commonly heard justifications for the continuing U.S./NATO occupation and learn from Afghans how occupation violence has affected them and their organizing.
Download Brought to You by Bombs and Budgets: Tools for Reclaiming Communities from Militarism
If you plan to use this curriculum, send us a quick e-mail at ali [at] warresisters.org.
