Sunday, January 31, 2021

US CAPITALISM NEWSLETTER #23,

 

OMNI

US CAPITALISM NEWSLETTER #23, January 31, 2021.

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology.

 

What’s at stake:  We seek an economic system for all people and species that enables affirmative government and supports domestic and international peace, economic and social justice, human rights, democracy, and protects and enhances the earth and species.    [For more see What’s at stake in Newsletter #18.]

 

Contents:  US Capitalism Newsletter #23,  Jan. 31, 2021

Foster, et al.  The Ecological Rift

Alperovitz, Governing for Sustainability

Weissman, Citizens United, Gov Contractors, Elections

Wilkin and Martin, Sustainable Parenting, Teaching Caring v. Capitalism

Lowy, A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe

Wittner, The US Is #1 in ??  Consequences of Capitalism

Newsletter #22  http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2015/04/us-capitalism-newsletter-22.html

 

 

TEXTS

 

The huge ecological rift driven between human beings and nature by capitalism

The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth

by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York. MONTHLY REVIEW:  AN INDEPENDENT SOCIALIST MAGAZINE, 2011.

 

Humanity in the twenty-first century is facing what might be described as its ultimate environmental catastrophe: the destruction of the climate that has nurtured human civilization and with it the basis of life on earth as we know it. All ecosystems on the planet are now in decline. Enormous rifts have been driven through the delicate fabric of the biosphere. The economy and the earth are headed for a fateful collision—if we don’t alter course.

 

In The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth, environmental sociologists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York offer a radical assessment of both the problem and the solution. They argue that the source of our ecological crisis lies in the paradox of wealth in capitalist society, which expands individual riches at the expense of public wealth, including the wealth of nature. In the process, a huge ecological rift is driven between human beings and nature, undermining the conditions of sustainable existence: a rift in the metabolic relation between humanity and nature that is irreparable within capitalist society, since integral to its very laws of motion.

 

Critically examining the sanguine arguments of mainstream economists and technologists, Foster, Clark, and York insist instead that fundamental changes in social relations must occur if the ecological (and social) problems presently facing us are to be transcended. Their analysis relies on the development of a deep dialectical naturalism concerned with issues of ecology and evolution and their interaction with the economy. Importantly, they offer reasons for revolutionary hope in moving beyond the regime of capital and toward a society of sustainable human development.

 

Praise for the book:

This book is desperately needed, because it ends any illusion that we can solve our pressing environmental crises within the same system that created them. With tweaking the system—using incremental market-based strategies—off the table, we can put our efforts into genuine, lasting solutions.   —Annie Leonard, author and host, Story of Stuff

 

Marx’s concept of ‘metabolic rift’ in the circulation of soil nutrients between countryside and town is generalized by Foster, Clark, and York to an insightful Marxist analysis of the current ecological rift between modern capitalism and the ecosystem. It is a scholarly, well-referenced, and important contribution.   —Herman E. Daly, Professor Emeritus, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland and author, Beyond Growth

 

This important book treats industrial capitalism as the globally destructive force that it is, and powerfully points the way toward, as the authors put it, ‘universal revolts against imperialism, the destruction of the planet, and the treadmill of accumulation.’ We need these revolts if we are to survive. This book is a crucial part of that struggle.   —Derrick Jensen, author, Endgame and The Culture of Make Believe

 

This timely new work promises to become a basic resource in understanding the incompatibility between capitalism and ecology, and also in arguing for the ecological dimensions of any future socialism.   —Fredric Jameson, Professor, Duke University; author, Valences of the Dialectic

 

The Ecological Rift deserves to—and needs to—become a classic in its field.  

—Simon Butler, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

 

John Bellamy Foster is editor of Monthly Review. He is professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and author of The Ecological Revolution, The Great Financial Crisis (with Fred Magdoff), Critique of Intelligent Design (with Brett Clark and Richard York), Ecology Against Capitalism, Marx’s Ecology, and The Vulnerable Planet. Brett Clark is assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. He is coauthor (with John Bellamy Foster and Richard York) of Critique of Intelligent Design. Richard York is associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon. He is co-editor of the journal Organization & Environment and coauthor (with John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark) of Critique of Intelligent Design.

 

FROM PRIVATE ACCUMULATION, PURSUIT OF PERSONAL PROFIT, AND CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH, AND ENORMOUS INEQUITIES, TO PUBLIC GOOD

 Gar Alperovitz, “The Political-Economic Foundations of a Sustainable System,” Ch. 18,  Governing for Sustainability, The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2014.  Analysis by Dick Bennett.

  Section One: Alperovitz, like Klein, asks us to master a new story with a new set of characters and contexts and vocabulary.  Ridding ourselves of US capitalism requires us to give our minds a thorough wash, after lifetimes of indoctrination favoring an economic system of self-aggrandizement, and then commit ourselves to the struggle to replace that pernicious system by one that serves and cares for the planet and its inhabitants.  Here is his central statement:  “…getting serious about sustainability requires focused attention on why public policy support has, at best, been able to slow but not stop ecological deterioration.  The roots of this challenge lie in the growing concentration of wealth and income and the consequent self-reinforcing capture of the machinery of politics to serve private ends.”  The rest of the essay discusses symptoms of this conquest and how we can restore public ends.   Examples of the symptoms, in addition of course to the steady concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals devoted to capital accumulation instead of the public  good, are:  the dispersal of cities and the destruction of labor unions.

Section Two, “What Does Justice Require?”  summarizes a case against the “enormous inequities of today” and for more equal societies simply because equality (equity, fairness, justice) produce a better world (e.g., better health) for all.  Here Alperovitz digs into the conceptual corrosions that prevent us from bonding as communities and rising up against the system’s wrongs, especially the long, powerfully funded and organized manipulation of the ideas of “private” and “public.”  Contrary to the constructed wisdom, the glorified “private” market system is in fact highly subsidized by the public, and the rich are rich by having grabbed common assets egregiously.  Read pp. 194-95 carefully.

Section Three, “Building an Alternative,” singles out “community wealth building as the place to begin developing an alternative.”  These institutions “—non-profits, cooperatives, employee-owned institutions, land trusts, community corporations—“create living-wage jobs, and anchor those jobs in communities.”

Section Four, “International Developments,” extends the argument and examples globally, to the worker cooperative movements of Argentina and Mondragon in Spain, and the consumer cooperatives.  Some countries, Italy and Japan for example, have strong worker and consumer cooperatives.

Section Five, “Next Steps,” explains ways the people’s economic power can be translated into political power, how “locally anchored jobs and investment” can become the national system “to build political support for sustained green transition” and a durable democracy.  This will require an enormous struggle by the people, but we have done it before with FDR’s/Democratic Party’s New Deal.  A key concluding statement: “The ultimate goal of these strategies is to undermine and eventually replace the destructive ‘grow or die’ imperative inherent in the current market-driven system.”  [See Alperovitz’s book:  What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution.  2013.]  

 

 

 

SUBVERSION OF US REPUBLIC BY MONEY--CITIZENS UNITED—AND RESISTANCE

Public Citizen:  Urge President Obama to require all federal contractors to disclose how much they spend trying to influence elections.

Robert Weissman, Public Citizen via uark.edu 

9:46 AM (4 minutes ago)

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https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

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to James  4-9-15

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Dick,
Right now.
We have our very best chance to severely disrupt Citizens United since the moment the United States Supreme Court handed down that abominable ruling more than five years ago.
But we have some hard work to do.
Right now.

HERE’S WHERE THINGS STAND:

Thanks to a campaign spearheaded by Public Citizen, President Obama is thinking about requiring all federal contractors to disclose how much they spend trying to influence elections.

Don’t mistake this for some bureaucratic triviality.

Our taxpayer dollars go to thousands of companies — including most of the largest corporations — that supply the government with everything from pencils to toilet seats to nuclear submarines.

And, because of Citizens United, those corporations can secretly spend literally as much as they want supporting (or attacking) politicians.

However, with an executive order from the president requiring transparency, we can prevent Big Business from corrupting our democracy with all that dark money.

Right now.

HERE’S HOW WE GOT THIS FAR:

Over the past few months, Public Citizen and our allies have made a major push to win White House support for this much-needed rule.

We’ve collected more than 600,000 petition signatures in support of dragging the dark money out of the shadows.

Last week — on the anniversary of another horrid Supreme Court campaign finance ruling, McCutcheon v. FEC — we held a rousing demonstration in front of the White House (and brought all those petitions to deliver to President Obama).

With allies, we also organized rallies in 50 cities around the country — from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Concord, New Hampshire — in support of the executive order.

Those are absolutely stunning numbers.

But we have more to do.

Right now.

HERE’S HOW WE WIN:

In the weeks ahead, we’re going to:

·  Direct thousands of calls to the White House from concerned citizens across the country demanding presidential action on political spending by corporations that do business with the government.

·  Organize members of Congress to add their voices to the nationwide grassroots demand for disclosure. Constituents across the country will contact their representatives and senators — by email, by phone and in person — and urge them to ask President Obama to act.

·  Provide policymakers our detailed and technical expertise to back up the push for an executive order.

·  Build on our success in generating media support for contractor disclosure — including a recent column published by The New York Times.

·  Use social media tools to engage more and more Americans in this critical opportunity.

One of the things that distinguishes Public Citizen as such a powerful public interest organization is our ability to deploy so many different advocacy tools: organizing and lobbying; research and legal analysis; traditional media outreach and innovative online advocacy; and much more.

And we are going to bring everything we’ve got to strike a blow against Citizens United.

Right now.

Your support can help lock down this benchmark victory against Citizens United  and power all the work we’re doing together to preserve democracy.

Can you chip in $5 or more?

We can make history.
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen © 2015 Public Citizen • 1600 20th Street, NW / Washington, D.C. 20009 • unsubscribe

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HOW WE CAN MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM THE SELF-REGARDING CULTURE OF US CAPITALISM TO THE OTHER-REGARDING CULTURE OF CARING : EDUCATION
Sustainable Parenting: Unlocking Our Human Potential - Healing Our Plundered Planet. January 28, 2014.   Donovan C. Wilkin Ph. D.Cynthia D. Martin Ph. D.
What if civilization disappeared virtually overnight, including 90% of the world’s population? What if the survivors had to start over on a desperately depleted planet? A growing number of prominent experts is warning of the potential collapse of human civilization before the middle of this century. What sort of human culture might re-emerge? Wilkin and Martin believe a more sustainable culture with a higher and more equitable quality of life is not only possible, but with a better understanding of evolution, probable. The key is in teaching children to be more caring, sharing, and tolerant of differences, as well as instilling deep reverence and respect for the natural world. This highly readable collection of parenting tips based in an ecological perspective on the latest childhood development research is intended to educate today’s parents, the first and most important teachers of tomorrow’s pioneers, in the skills they will need to establish a more livable and lasting human culture.

 

PRESERVATION OF THE PLANET V. DESTRUCTION BY CAPITALISM

Ecosocialism:  A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe BY MICHAEL LÖWY.  Haymarket, 2015.

http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Ecosocialism

Publisher’s description:

Capitalism is killing the planet, and the preservation of a natural environment favorable to human life requires a radical alternative. In this new collection of essays, long time revolutionary and environmental activist Michael Löwy offers a vision of ecosocialist transformation. This vision combines an understanding of the destructive logic of the capitalist system with an appreciation for ongoing struggles, particularly in Latin America.

 

About the author

Michael Löwy is emeritus research director at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research). His books, On Changing the World and the Politics of Combined and Uneven Development have been translated into twenty-nine languages.

 

Reviews

Praise for On Changing the World:

“His collection of essays, combining scholarship with passion, impresses by its sweep and scope.”   —Daniel Singer, author, Prelude to Revolution

“Michael Löwy is unquestionably a tremendous figure in the decades-long attempt to recover an authentic revolutionary tradition from the wreckage of Stalinism, and these essays are very often powerful examples of this process.”   —Dominic Alexander, Counterfire

 

Michael Löwy, Ecosocialism: A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe.  Haymarket, 2015.

     For me personally the most revealing expose of the politics of global warming is James Hansen’s Storms of My Grandchildren (2009).  By 1988 Hansen knew the terrible truth of increasing CO2 leading to global warming, and he tried to tell Pres. George W. Bush.  Clever Bush advisers invited him to make a presentation at the White House, followed by a bought scientist who argued uncertainty, the well-honed corporate tricksterisms to prevent public awareness of scientific truth.  The President could say, I listened to two notable scientists on both sides--peril or not--and decided Hansen was not convincing--and the US lost a decade of effective prevention of climate change. 

     Lowy opens (Preface, p. 2) with a quotation from Hansen’s book: “Planet earth…is in imminent peril”; it is the rock on which Lowy makes his case for a radical change in our dominant economic system, which he labels ecosocialism.

     Ecosocialism is a political current based on an essential insight: that preserving the ecological equilibrium of the planet and therefore an environment favorable to living species, including ours, is incompatible with the expansive and destructive logic of the capitalist system” (vii).  –Dick

 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF US CAPITALISM:  A SUMMARY

WITTNER THE BLOG

The United States Is Number 1 -- But in What?   10/13/2014 01:54 pm ET | Updated Dec 13, 2014  [I read it in The Free Weekly, Fayetteville, AR, 10-30-14, www.freeweekly.com  --Dick]

·          

Lawrence WittnerProfessor of History emeritus, SUNY Albany

American politicians are fond of telling their audiences that the United States is the greatest country in the world. Is there any evidence for this claim?

Well, yes. When it comes to violence and preparations for violence, the United States is, indeed, No. 1. In 2013, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. government accounted for 37 percent of world military expenditures, putting it far ahead of all other nations. (The two closest competitors, China and Russia, accounted for 11 percent and 5 percent respectively.) From 2004 to 2013, the United States was also the No. 1 weapons exporter in the world. Moreover, given the U.S. government's almost unbroken series of wars and acts of military intervention since 1941, it also seems likely that it surpasses all rivals when it comes to international violence.

This record is paralleled on the domestic front, where the United States has more guns and gun deaths than any other country. A study released in late 2013 reported that the United States had 88 guns for every 100 people, and 40 gun-related deaths for every 400,000 people―more than any of the 27 economically developed countries studied. By contrast, in Britain there were 6 guns per 100 people and 1 gun-related death per 400,000 people.

Yet, in a great many other areas, the United States is not No. 1 at all.

Take education. In late 2013, the Program for International Student Assessmentreleased a ranking of how 15-year old students from 65 nations performed on its tests. It showed that U.S. students ranked 17th in reading and 21st in math. Aninternational survey a bit earlier that year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the ranking was roughly the same among American adults. In 2014, Pearson, a multinational educational company, placed the United States 20th in the world in "educational attainment" ― well behind Poland and Slovakia.

American health care and health fare even worse. In a 2014 study of health care (including infant mortality, healthy life expectancy, and mortality from preventable conditions) in 11 advanced industrial countries, the Commonwealth Fund concluded that the United States ranked last among them. According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. health care system ranks 37th in the world. Other studies reach somewhat different conclusions, but all are very unflattering to the United States, as are studies of American health. The United States, for example, has one of the world's worst cancer rates (the seventh highest), and life expectancy is declining compared to other nations. An article in the Washington Post in late 2013 reported that the United States ranked 26th among nations in life expectancy, and that the average American lifespan had fallen a year behind the international average.

And what about the environment? Specialists at Yale University have developed a highly sophisticated Environmental Performance Index to examine the behavior of nations. In the area of protection of human health from environmental harm, their 2014 index placed the United States 35th in health impacts, 36th in water and sanitation, and 38th in air quality. In the other area studied―protection of ecosystems―the United States ranked 32nd in water resources, 49th in climate and energy, 86th in biodiversity and habitat, 96th in fisheries, 107th in forests, and 109th in agriculture.

These and other areas of interest are dealt with by the Social Progress Index, which was developed by Michael Porter, an eminent professor of business (and Republican) at Harvard. According to Porter and his team, in 2014 the United States ranked 23rd in access to information and communications, 24th in nutrition and basic medical care, 31st in personal safety, 34th in water and sanitation, 39th in access to basic knowledge, 69th in ecosystem sustainability, and 70th in health and wellness.

Poverty, especially among children, remains a disgrace in one of the world's wealthiest nations. A 2013 report by the United Nations Children's Fund noted that, of the 35 economically advanced countries that had been studied, only Romania had a higher percentage of children living in poverty than did the United States.

Of course, the United States is not locked into these dismal rankings and the sad situation they reveal about the health, education, and welfare of its citizens. It could do much better if its vast wealth, resources, and technology were utilized differently than they are at present. Ultimately, it's a matter of priorities. When most U.S. government discretionary spending goes for war and preparations for war, it should come as no surprise that the United States emerges No. 1 among nations in the capacity for violence and falls far behind other nations in providing for the well-being of its people.

Americans might want to keep this in mind as their nation embarks upon yet another costly military crusade.

Lawrence S. Wittner (www.lawrenceswittner.com) is Professor of History emeritus at SUNY/Albany. His latest book is a satirical novel about university corporatization and rebellion, What's Going On at UAardvark?

 

 

US Capitalism Newsletter #22

 

History of Capitalism

Steve Fraser, The New Robber Barons | Moyers & Company ...

US Capitalism Today
Fulton, Swiss HSBC

Boing, Boing:  Taibbi, The Divide

Resistance (but so is this all)

Venus Project Documentary Series

Public Citizen, Appeal to Pres. Obama

Naomi Klein, Capitalism vs.The Climate

Foster and Clark, “Crossing the River of Fire” Review of Klein

Dick, Klein’s Appeal for a Cooperative World Before Too Late

Ladha and Kirk, Capitalism Is Just One Story

Pilisuk and Rountree, The Hidden Structure of Violence

Give Us Alternatives in Affirmative Government:   Post Office Banking

Friday, January 29, 2021

NUCLEAR ABOLITION TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, OMNI NEWSLETTER #1, JANUARY 22, 2021

 

NUCLEAR ABOLITION TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, OMNI NEWSLETTER #1,

JANUARY 22, 2021

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology

http://omnicenter.org/donate/

 

 

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) includes a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities. These include undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

 

UNITED NATIONS’ ROLE IN THE TREATY

Today we look back to a long struggle that has brought us to this day.

These include previous treaties: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT); the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water, also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT); the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was signed in 1996 but has yet to enter into ratified force.

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – UN ttreaties.un.org › pages › ViewDetails › src=TREATY:  Current status.

 

The following entry offers a comprehensive summary of the new Treaty by the authoritative ACA.  Home

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

"No one can solve this problem alone, but together we can change things for the better." – Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima Survivor

Alicia Sanders-Zakre.  Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty to Enter Into Force: What's Next?”  ARMS CONTROL TODAY.  November 2020
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-11/features/nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-enter-into-force-whats-next

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will soon enter into force and become binding international law for its states-parties. The milestone will be meaningful for those nations, but it will also affect countries that have yet to ratify or accede to the pact.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, president of Costa Rica, preside over the signing ceremony of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations on July 7, 2017. (Photo: Kim Haughton/UN)

UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, president of Costa Rica, preside over the signing ceremony of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations on July 7, 2017. (Photo: Kim Haughton/UN)

Earlier weapons prohibitions have successfully curbed proliferation and advanced norms against weapons of mass destruction. Within one year of the treaty’s entry into force, its states-parties will convene to discuss these issues and the next steps to strengthen the agreement.

The treaty’s final text was approved by 122 nations at the United Nations in July 2017, but nuclear-armed states boycotted treaty negotiations and have since rejected the treaty as simultaneously irrelevant and dangerous.1 Nevertheless, the majority of the world’s countries have continued to support the TPNW, including by signing and ratifying or acceding.2 States-parties hail from all regions of the world, with many from Africa and Latin America, and the fewest from Europe. According to the treaty, 50 ratifications or accessions must be submitted to the United Nations before the pact can take full legal effect.

Legal Implications for States-Parties

The 50th state, Honduras, ratified the TPNW on October 24, and the treaty will enter into force and take full legal effect for all countries that had ratified or acceded by then on January 22, 2021. For any state that ratifies or accedes to the TPNW after its entry into force, the treaty will take full legal effect 90 days after that state’s ratification or accession.

Before the treaty takes effect, signatories and states-parties are only obligated to refrain from violating the treaty’s object and purpose.3 States-parties must implement positive obligations and adhere to prohibitions, while states that have only signed it are simply required not to violate the object and purpose of the treaty.

Some positive obligations are simple, such as submitting a declaration within 30 days of the treaty’s entry into force about the country’s nuclear-weapon status. Others may take more time, such as adopting additional safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), implementing national laws, providing assistance to people and places harmed by nuclear weapons use and testing, and urging other states to join the pact.

The treaty requires states-parties to adhere to their current IAEA safeguards agreements and, if they lack one, bring into force a comprehensive safeguards agreement within 18 months of entry into force. Concretely, that means TPNW states-parties that already have an additional protocol to their safeguards agreement are now legally obligated to maintain that protocol. This is an obligation that exceeds the requirements of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which does not legally require states to adopt or maintain an additional protocol. All states-parties except for Palestine have already brought into force a comprehensive safeguards agreement. Palestine negotiated and signed its agreement in June 2019, but will still need to bring it into force.

States-parties will adopt national measures to implement the treaty’s requirements, both its prohibitions and its positive obligations, and prevent treaty violations on all territory under their jurisdiction or control. Ireland has already adopted such legislation, and the International Committee of the Red Cross provides a model template for other states to do so.4 National measures provide an opportunity for states-parties to spell out how and where they will enforce the treaty. It is up to each state to decide if the law applies to its citizens violating its terms in another country and what penalties will be imposed for violations. Some countries have adopted national implementation measures consistent with their obligations as states-parties to nuclear-weapon-free zones, although these measures only apply within the zone.5

For nations where nuclear test explosions were conducted, the treaty requires them to provide assistance for the people affected by those activities and to take measures to remediate areas under its jurisdiction contaminated by nuclear weapons use and testing.6 Specifically, states must “adequately provide age- and gender-sensitive assistance, without discrimination, including medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support” for affected individuals, “as well as provide for their social and economic inclusion.”7 Several nations with people affected by nuclear weapons use and testing will be states-parties at the time of the treaty’s entry into force, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, and Kazakhstan. Some of these countries already have programs designed to help victims and remediate environments, although programs vary widely.

ENDNOTES   MORE

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-11/features/nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-enter-into-force-whats-next

Alicia Sanders-Zakre is the policy and research coordinator of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

 

CELEBRATING  JANUARY 22 and TAKING ACTION

In new window

Invitation to organize an action on January 22, when the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will enter into force

Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa <nukeresister@igc.org>

Dec 28, 2020, 8:55 PM (2 days ago)

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to me, Abel

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Dear fellow nuclear abolitionists,

 

Now that nuclear weapons are outlawed, it’s time to take action!

On January 22, 2021, people around the world will celebrate the day that the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force (EIF Day), which the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) describes so eloquently as “the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons".

Please join us — the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) — to help maximize the global impact of this historic event with a wide variety of public actions across the U.S. on that day and beyond. (see list in progress below)

 

We envision coordinated, nationwide public actions that spotlight the TPNW as a victory for humanity on this historic day, with coordinated publicity and documentation of these events. Places to act (including some where action planning is already underway) include: nuclear weapons facilities, military bases, federal buildings, congressional offices, churches, public squares, overpasses, and financial institutions, corporate facilities and academic institutions that are participating in nuclear weapons activities (using materials prepared by PAX/The Netherlands and ICAN). 


You can add your actions and activities to the ICAN events calendar and map here, and also check to see if there’s something happening in your area: 
https://www.icanw.org/events.



We hope to develop an enduring collaboration with organizations who recognize the TPNW is an opportunity to renew the disarmament effort in the U.S. Please join us! If you have any questions, contact nuclearbantreatyEiF@gmx.com.


For a nuclear-free future,
ANA, OREPA, Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister

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WHAT YOU — YES, YOU! — CAN DO ON JANUARY 22, 2021

TO CELEBRATE THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

ENTRY INTO FORCE

Yes, celebrate—but be smart about it. Any celebration should include an action item that raises the profile of the Treaty in the US. The first goal is to make people aware of the Treaty. Goal #2 is to make sure they know that it is entering into force. And Goal #3 is to begin to use public awareness to pressure the government to recognize, sign, ratify and comply with the Treaty. If that sounds like a lot it is, and it will take time. But it will never happen if we don’t make it happen.

Here are some options. Some you can do all by yourself, others work better with a small group (please take pandemic precautions!). Pick one or more of your favorites.

And please, report back! This is crucial—even if your action is a simple one. We gain strength from working together and knowing that people all over are taking action. And your effort, large or small, is amplified when it is shared. We hope to build a database of actions and we hope to demonstrate widespread support for the Treaty across the country. You can post your actions on facebook at the Nuclear Ban Treaty EIF group; we will publicize other sites as they become available.

1. Everyone can learn about the Treaty, and you don’t have to wait until Jan 22. A quick google search will turn up resources. Some as brief as 90 seconds; others are deep-dive webinars. There is a Fact Sheet here with basic information.

2. Hang or hold a banner in a public space. Activists will be hanging banners at nuclear weapons sites and nuclear military bases across the country. We have a template that you can use to have a banner made (around $50 if you go on-line) that you can hang or hold at any federal building—your local post office, federal courthouse, congressperson’s office. You download the template here.

2b. Think a banner is a bit much? Here is a template for a poster size version of the Treaty that you can hold or deliver or post in the place of your choice.

3. Focus on the $$$. Our friends in Europe have been successful in pushing investment funds and corporations to divest from nuclear weapons funding—the Treaty gives us even more leverage. You can find a list of the companies and banks that invest in nuclear weapons at Don’t Bank on the Bomb. You can hold a poster outside the local Bank of America or Wells Fargo branch office. If your credit card is issued by a nuke-bank, you can change cards or write to the issuer and ask them to get out of the illegal nuclear weapons business.

4. Check out your local university or college. There is a list here of US educational institutions that are directly involved in supporting nuclear weapons production. Some of them even operate nuclear weapons sites! Your local school not on the list? With a little digging, you might find out where their endowment funds are invested—chances are there is a link to a nuclear weapons corporation or fund.

5. Write your congresspersons—Senators and Reps. Tell them you expect their name to be on the first bill introduced in the new Congress that addresses the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Tell them you’ll be watching. It is highly likely that Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Ted Lieu will introduce bills that include a call for the US to join the Treaty.

6. Write a letter to the editor. This is really important—it is a way to broaden your reach through the public media. Mention your congressional representatives by name so their staff will clip the letter and show it to their boss.

7. Share the news on social media—if you use instagram or facebook or if you tweet—you can share the ICAN pages and other news about the Entry Into Force.

8. Donate! You can write a check or give on-line. There are dozens of groups around the country that are dedicating themselves to long-haul work to make the promise of the Treaty a reality around the world and in the US. They rely on donations and public support to keep going. Even a small contribution counts.

9. Commit for the long haul. Find the group nearest and dearest to your heart and join so you can stay involved, track the progress of the Treaty, and learn about more things you can do to help make it a reality. Get on their mailing list, either on-line or on paper.

10. Ask your local place of worship to ring its bell for peace on January 22.

11. Ask your local government to join the ICAN Cities appeal—present a copy of the Treaty and ask for a resolution calling on the US to join the Treaty.

12. Deliver copies of the treaty in person or send via mail (link to printable format) to congressional representatives and other public officials, and business, financial and educational institutions with ties to nuclear weapons activities, with a warning of their complicity.

13. Watch for more ideas: You are encouraged to post your plans on the Nuclear Ban Treaty EIF facebook group, and to look at what others are planning to do.

______________________________________

Prepared by The Nuclear Resister, Nukewatch, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. For more info: nuclearbantreatyEiF@gmx.com

______________________________________

TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS –
ENTRY INTO FORCE (EIF) 
ACTION SITES

 

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Nevada National Security Site (nuclear test site), Mercury, NV
Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM
Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC
Kansas City Plant, Kansas City, KS
Pantex Plant, Amarillo, TX
Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, TN
Hanford Site, WA
Rocky Flats Plant, CO
Naval Base Kings Bay, St. Marys, GA
Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, WA

Hill AFB, Ogden, UT
nuclear missile silos
Whiteman AFB, Knob Noster, MO
Barksdale AFB, Shreveport , LA
Minot AFB, Ward County, ND
Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE
Malstrom AFB, Great Falls, MT
F. E. Warren AFB, WY/CO
Vandenberg AFB, Lompoc, CA
Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV
Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM
Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA
General Dynamic Electric Boat, Quonset Point, RI
General Dynamic Electric Boat, Groton, CT
Lockheed Martin, King of Prussia, PA
Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale, CA
Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Tucson, AZ
Raytheon Headquarters, Andover, MA
Pentagon, Washington, DC
White House, Washington, DC

Applied Physics Lab–Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

 

WHERE U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE BASED
Aviano and Ghedi-Torre air bases, Italy
Büchel AFB, Germany
Incirlik AFB, Turkey
Kleine Brogel AFB, Belgium
Volkel AFB, The Netherlands

 

Find information about U.S. universities with nuclear weapons ties here.

 

Find information about financial institutions with nuclear weapons ties here.

 

 

 

In case you missed it, on January 22 I will be moderating a webinar with renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky on “The Threat of Nuclear Weapons: Why Canada Should Sign the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty”. Join 700 others who have already grabbed their seats!

 

In solidarity,

 

Bianca Mugyenyi,
Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhHoSLKrK_PUW65NhlOk2U5ySuPrxMXFqhMqtPHUkeJ9vQSZUjcUyetKHOPwuRQW6o-z2vLRdOQR_f8sBvwmqJumv0KE0rd7yYkAU6zK21ky4P0Gn-lCVE_f0HuzzMi86qggJFd88W4kOuI2GpcKOzcc6Un6-RCyU7mdYeb5TF4Am4xkl9618qXu8IsxMDWLOHHZsaCh4ko3T7URFQjlzJTmp1s=s0-d-e1-ft

 

P.S If you haven’t already, please sign the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War’s Parliamentary Petition to Free Meng Wanzhou.

 

 

 

CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE 

The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute informs people about the country’s diplomatic, aid, intelligence, trade and military policies abroad.

 

 

 

 

Visit our site:
www.foreignpolicy.ca

 

 


Some of the main PROPONENTS OF THE TREATY

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSP6e89WHybYTnKdd6h11RV0olPdMZGWr8QYil8qQ&s=0

Internatio... Campaign to Abolish...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRyLINvkiXVlrl2ZCy5we2aXSm_nEMmVfsNo-UWrAs&s=0

Arms Control Association

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2SZ0uY5N4Dy17esQmxV1mXQeboIXYPq9tNPmsog&s=0

Campaign for Nuclear Disarma...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQFAJ2PhGg3G6xZkpQUTQaiKyz2WBljJZ41gMfVcQ&s=0

Global Zero

Anti‑nucle... organizati...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQS6ARi9SDehaU-6DZfOhHiG85syoTsy4CVF62k5A&s=0

Physicians for Social Responsi...

See more

 

FOR FURTHER READING


Signature and ratification status – ICAN  www.icanw.org › signature_and_ratification_status

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons opened for signature at United Nations headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017. It will enter into ...
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Treaty_on_the_Prohibition_o...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. Concept · ‎Overview of provisions · ‎History, intentions and ... · ‎Positions
Nuclear Weapons Treaties | Prohibition of Nuclear Arms ...

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Nov 30, 2020 — The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (or Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty) prohibits state parties from developing, testing, producing, ...
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The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), negotiated by more than 130 states, is a good faith effort to meet their responsibility as signatories of ...
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On October 24, 2020, the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached the required 50 states parties for its entry into force, after Honduras ...
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Dec 7, 2020 — The treaty also prohibits states parties from allowing another state to station, install, or deploy nuclear weapons in its territory. Most notably, the ...
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - cloudfront.netd3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net › tpnw-info-kit-v2
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons includes a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities. These include ...
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Set to Enter Into ...thediplomat.com › 2020/11 › treaty-on-the-prohibition...
Nov 5, 2020 — Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Set to Enter Into Force. On January 22, 2021 the TPNW will enter into force. But will it matter?


Doomsday Clock 2020 - It Is 100 Seconds to Midnight

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The Impact of Nuclear Weapons - Effects of Nuclear Weapons

From no first use policies, to de-alerting, to nuclear flashpoints - Read the reports now.

Our Action Plan · ‎Steps to De-Escalate · ‎Support No First Use · ‎Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The nuclear ban treaty is coming into force. So what ...

www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org › commentary › t...

Nov 27, 2020 — In January 2021 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will enter into force as part of international law. Michal Onderco argues that ...
Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons Passes Important Threshold

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Oct 25, 2020 — “Although we recognize your sovereign right to ratify or accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), we believe that you ...
A Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons - UNIDIR

www.unidir.org › files › publications › pdfs › a-prohibi...

Another common feature in disarmament treaties is the prohibition of inducement or encouragement to the activities prohibited by the treaty. In a new nuclear ...
Banning nuclear weapons - Research and advocacy projects

www.reachingcriticalwill.org › publications-and-research

As part of this effort, Reaching Critical Will worked with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to achieve the Treaty on the Prohibition ...
Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America ...

www.iaea.org › publications › documents › treaties › tr...

Convinced that the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America, negotiated and signed in accordance with the recommendations of the General ...
Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty | PSR

www.psr.org › issues › nuclear-weapons-abolition › nu...

On July 7, 2017, the U.N. adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which prohibits nuclear weapons and related activities.
The Softening Rhetoric by Nuclear-Armed States and NATO ..warontherocks.com › 2020/12 › the-softening-rhetoric-...
Dec 7, 2020 — Probably the most iconic moment during the negotiations on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (or "nuclear ban treaty") was the ...
News: North Atlantic Council Statement as the Treaty ... - NATOwww.nato.int › cps › natohq › news_180087
Dec 15, 2020 — As the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or ban treaty, nears entry into force, we collectively reiterate our opposition to this treaty, as ...
NATO Rejects New UN Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons ...

www.newsweek.com › World › Nato › Nuclear weapons

Dec 15, 2020 — The Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) also known as the Ban Treaty, was approved by 122 countries in July 2017 and ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Introduction

www.odu.edu › dam › odu › offices › mun › docs

The Treaty on the Prohibition of NuclearWeapons (Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty) is the result of mounting global frustration with the failure of the Nuclear ...

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The 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear ...www.sipri.org › commentary › expert-comment › 50th...
Oct 26, 2020 — Yesterday Honduras became the 50th state to ratify or accede to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), meaning that ...
Living With the Nuclear Prohibition Treaty: First, Do No Harm ...carnegieendowment.org › 2020/11/10 › living-with-nucle...
Nov 10, 2020 — Summary: The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will neither rid the world of nuclear weapons nor leave it more vulnerable to ...
UN: Nuclear weapons ban treaty to enter into force - AP Newsapnews.com › article › nuclear-weapons-disarmament-u...

Oct 24, 2020 — UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations announced Saturday that 50 countries have ratified a U.N. treaty to ban nuclear weapons ...
Nuclear Weapons and International Law: The Impact of the ...

www.ejiltalk.org › nuclear-weapons-and-international-l...

Dec 2, 2020 — The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was ... As regards a prohibition to threaten use or use nuclear weapons, it is ...
US urges nations to withdraw support for UN nuclear weapons ...

www.cbsnews.com › news › us-urges-nations-to-withdr...

Oct 22, 2020 — Nuclear weapons ban backer tells AP a U.S. letter to other countries ... or accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), ...

 

 

END TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, OMNI NEWSLETTER #1, CELEBRATING TREATY and PROTESTING UAF JANUARY 22, 2021

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Dick's Wars and Warming KPSQ Radio Editorials (#1-48)