Well, the war tax resistance meeting is finished. It was a busy weekend, I didn't even have time to report on the second 2 days as they were happening.
I really don't even have time right now to do a detailed report. To be brief, I will say that I'm really glad I came. It has really been a good boost for my WTR documentary project, and for my own involvement and enthusiasm for war tax resistance. I met lots of great people from all over the country, interviewed many of them, and learned a lot.
There was a lot of talk about how to increase the visibility, accessibliity, and appeal of WTR. A lot of good ideas were discussed. I really would like to see more people, and at least more peace activists, to become active, public war tax resisters.
An ironic and sort of disturbing thing happened after the meeting officially ended Sunday afternoon. I went hiking with my brother and his wife on one of the small peaks next to Pike's Peak, and then we went over to the house of a friend of theirs. The guy has a really nice house, up in the hills kind of overlooking the city and with a beautiful view of Garden of the Gods. Plus, there's a hot tub on the roof! This was our main goal after our tiring sweaty hike.
I guess this guy, he's sort of the typical successful young professional. Like, if you are a U.S. citizen completely unconcious of any higher social goals in life, any artistic or activist or political involvement, then this guy's life would be basically what you'd be dreaming you could have. He's got this amazing house with a huge home theater system in the basement, pool table, bar, the aforementioned hot tub, etc etc.
After soaking in the hot tub for a while the conversation got to the point where he mentioned the military guys he worked with. I asked him where he worked and it turns out he is an engineer or a programmer or something at Schriever Air Force base!!! I felt glad that I had not explained exactly why I was in town. I couldn't believe it, the irony. I felt a little bit like a monk in a whorehouse or something. Just the previous morning we had learned in a presentation at the meeting about the militarization of outer space that Colorado Springs is virtually the center of that effort, and that there are 5 different military bases here. This is where they control a lot of horrible shit, the robot drones with the hellfire missiles, the surveillance satellites, the smart bombs, etc etc. And here I was in a hot tub with a guy that works on that stuff!! At least I could say that none of my taxes were going to help this guy buy more DVDs, cars, and beer.
I should have asked for more details about what he did, but chickened out. I didn't want to risk pissing the guy off or saying something offensive. He's a good friend of Allan and Jeannette, and the thing is, he is a really nice guy. He just obviously doesn't think to hard about things like politics and U.S. imperialism and his own participation in those. Just like most North Americans, I guess. You get to know them individually and a lot of them are great people, I believe. But most of them just don't think about the consequences of how they live their lives, and the connection between themselves and the rest of the world.
So how do you judge those people? Are they really such "great people" if they're so blind? I can't figure it out yet. All I know is there is some severe cognitive dissonance in this country. Severe.
Posted by steev at Mayo 10, 2004 12:18 PM