A man asked me: “Why does a fellow like you—with an education, and who has been all over the country—end up in this out-of-the-way place, working for very little on a farm?” I explained that people who had good jobs in factories had a withholding tax for war taken from their pay, and that people who… Continue reading
The New England WTR Gathering, October 14-16 The Gathering was powerful. I drove there and back with Ruth Benn, the NWTRCC Coordinator, and we had a great conversation about the history of war tax resistance in the car ride. The Agape Community in Ware, Massachusetts, generously opened their space for us all to meet, including… Continue reading
by Cathy Deppe Last August was the 70th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan. As members of the international peace group Global Network, Alex and I were fortunate to participate in commemoration services in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A year later we traveled a shorter distance to California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to… Continue reading
Home ownership might seem like a mundane topic while confronted with the latest news headlines, but most of us in war tax resistance see life choices as inextricably linked to global issues, so let’s see where this goes. I saw the movie The Big Short a while ago. I totally don’t understand what those guys… Continue reading
“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Western Michigan University, 1963 “Creative maladjustment” emerged as a take-home theme (at least for me) from the day I spent at the… Continue reading
I have a pile of clippings from newspapers and magazines intended for notes in the NWTRCC newsletter. They go back a few years because the newsletter pages seem to fill up before I get around to the clippings, and the pile keeps growing. I was pulling out some of the articles that have to do… Continue reading
In Campaign Nonviolence’s recent conference call, Metta Center for Nonviolence staffers Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook talked about Gandhi’s concept of a constructive program. War tax resisters have a history of giving away their resisted taxes to worthy causes, and we have sometimes called this a “constructive program” in the model of Gandhi. For… Continue reading
Book review: Dietrich, Jeff. 2011. Broken and Shared: Food, Dignity, and the Poor on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. Marymount Institute Press / Tsehai Publishers. In 1970, Jeff Dietrich was a young draft resister who had just returned to the United States from traveling in Europe. He heard about the Catholic Worker movement at a Peacemakers… Continue reading
Recently redmoonsong, who lives in North Carolina and is a committed war tax resister among her many other activities, sent the list below to NWTRCC with this note: Here’s the page I mentioned to you on the phone. One of the things I love about it is that each one begins with action (I really… Continue reading
by Anne Barron (Introductory editorial note: On February 15, Activist San Diego hosted a teach-in about war tax resistance, organized by Anne Barron, a war tax resistance counselor and NWTRCC network activist. The promotional materials said: “Communities around the world are resisting American militarism. Join us in a discussion of how each one of us… Continue reading
I recently finished reading travel writer/TV show host Rick Steves‘ book Travel as a Political Act. Rick describes himself as an interesting blend of political perspectives: capitalist, Christian, proud American, supporter of marijuana legalization, and… a pacifist! In addition to his specialty helping US residents learn the ins and outs of traveling in Europe, he… Continue reading
War tax resisters, supporters, and friends gathered for the 30th time in 30 years — an impressive record in our circles. A persistent if changing group of war tax resisters has planned gatherings large and small over a fall weekend each year since 1985. To many the themes, topics, and discussions will sound repetitive —… Continue reading
