CODEPINK – 2017-10-04 19:51:39
http://www.codepink.org/divest
Divest from the War Machine: October 21-22 Conference
CodePink
(October 2, 2017) — Seven wars in process. A potential war with North Korea and Iran. Tanks on our city streets. The war machine rakes in the profits, and it’s up to us to do something about it. CODEPINK and 50 partner organizations are launching a new Divest from the War Machine campaign targeting companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman that make a killing from killing!
Join us at the Divest from the War Machine on October 21 & 22 at University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Law School, 4340 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008. Reserve your spot now.
Help us examine the current state of the war machine (surprise — it’s thriving!), shine a critical light on the weapons producers that profit from deadly hyper-militarism both at home and abroad, and learn how to get your city, university, bank, church or pension fund to divest.
We have an awesome lineup of inspiring speakers you won’t want to miss . . .
Andrew Feinstein is the author of the brilliant book Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade, which has just been made into a soon-to-be-released searing documentary exposing the greed and corruption among politicians, weapons manufacturers, arms dealers, and the military.
Andrew, a former South African Member of Parliament, resigned in 2001 to protest the government’s refusal to launch an independent investigation into a multi-billion dollar arms scandal. Andrew’s participation in the Divest from the War Summit is a rare US appearance so reserve your space now!
At a time when this administration is putting us on a catastrophic path to war with both North Korea and Iran and the stocks of major US arms dealers are surging to record highs, we, the people, must step up to resist!
This low-price event is a sliding scale of only $15 to $100. Read more about our campaign, the Summit, and our speakers!
DIVEST FROM THE WAR MACHINE
CODEPINK
“It is an absurd contradiction to speak of peace, to negotiate peace, and at the same time promote or permit the global arms trade. Is this war or that war really a war to solve problems? Or is it a commercial war for selling weapons in illegal trade and so that the merchants of death can get rich?”
— Pope Francis
Campaign Overview
CODEPINK, in partnership with an array of peace and disarmament groups, is launching a divestment campaign to encourage universities, religious organizations, retirement funds, mutual funds, private investors, and other financial institutions in the United States to take action to reduce violent global conflicts and slow the hyper-militarization of our world by divesting from the US War Machine.
Divestment from the War Machine means divesting (removing invested assets) from companies that derive their profits by supplying and profiting from US military interventions, expansions, and the militarization of our streets. In other words, we are calling for divestment from companies that make a killing on killing.
Through this strategy we plan to:
* Uncover the hold the military industrial complex has on our government and our foreign policy
* Spark a vital public debate questioning the role of weapons manufacturers and military contractors in perpetuating conflict around the globe
* Expose how our financial and educational institutions are supporting those companies
* Inspire the public and investors to pressure these institutions to divest
* Hold the arms industry accountable in political and financial spheres for its culpability in the death and displacement of millions of innocent people
* Condemn our government’s prioritization of military spending and demand that diplomacy and aid, not militarism, be our country’s response to global conflicts.
The United States’ preoccupation with expanding and protecting its military and economic interests has created a system which prioritizes “defense” over human rights, military spending over diplomacy and aid, preparing for combat over preventing wars, and profit over human life and the health of the planet.
With this divestment campaign we are calling for a radical rethinking of American priorities. Diluting the power of those who profit most from war-making is the first step in building a transformed nation that stops spreading violence and death at home and abroad.
A divestment campaign gives power to the public to dismantle the war economy and demand that our nation operate to uphold the right of every human being, both at home and abroad, to live in freedom and dignity, safe and free from poverty, danger, and despair.
To learn more about the US War Machine and alternatives to the war economy, refer to the following resources:
* “The Shadow World” by Andrew Feinstein
* “The American Way of War” by William Hartung
* “The Military Budget and the Cost of War” by William Hartung and Catherine Lutz
* “War Comes Home” a report by the American Civil Liberties Union on the militarization of America’s police forces
* “Project Indefensible” to learn about the myths that sustain the Global Arms Trade
* Airwars.org to understand the human costs of the US War Machine
* National Priorities Project, in particular its “Protecting Our Communities: A State’s Guide to Demilitarizing for a Brighter Future” project to see what a demilitarized budget could look like.
* “A Global Security System, an Alternative to War” from World Beyond War
* “Shadow World” Documentary based on Andrew Feinstein’s book of the same name
