tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484662326396778106.post7337426177696371297..comments2023-11-05T03:25:20.581-08:00Comments on STOP THE MADNESS: CHAPTER ELEVEN. A CALL TO ARMS! ENLIST NOW IN THE ARMY OF THE SOLDIERS FOR PEACERick Staggenborg, MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16587630200799702811noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484662326396778106.post-86815925375276728482011-01-20T18:45:05.375-08:002011-01-20T18:45:05.375-08:00This essay interweaves a number of themes and imag...This essay interweaves a number of themes and images in a style that I try to use throughout the book.<br /><br />It is of course a direct appeal for patriots to serve in the Army of Soldiers For Peace International, both those who have not served in the military of any country and for all willing to work for social justice. <br /><br />While the issue around which I hope a movement would be built was single payer, the American public remained to divided (as did the movement itself) to successfully run the media blockade that kept most citizens from realizing that real reform was possible.<br /><br />We have an ongoing need for others to join the effort to build a virtual Army with the strength to crush the corporatocracy that has brought us the threat of endless war. The key in my mind is to unite around the one issue that is the key to all further progress: The abolition of corporate personhood.<br /><br />My intent in forming this group was to link average individuals into an ever-tightening network and to eventually make a coordinated effort to educate the public about the need to abolish corporate personhood through Constitutional amendment, a theme elaborated on in in later essays. <br /> <br />Another theme of this essay is that ending war is that this is an international effort. Referring to the glory of the French proletariat rising to create its own version of democracy is very relevant to our larger effort. The essay reminds of us of a time when the American and French efforts to establish democracy in a way that is too often forgotten.<br /><br />The French Revolution may have started out as a bloody mob who failed to distinguish between the honorable and the dishonorable among the French aristocracy, but the country has become a model of what a democratic society can provide for the people of its nation, who are in fact supposed to be the ultimate decision makers of the nature of society and government in a democratic society.<br /><br />The reference to Bastille Day was a personal indulgence that seemed to fit the theme. It was the day I held my first large event in support of the effort to bring single payer to America. I had formed a local group in my current home in Coos Bay, Oregon and our first big project was to bring Anne Feeney's Sing Out for Single Payer tour to our community. <br /><br />An unexpected five month paid leave from the VA gave me the opportunity to transition from state and local advocacy to traveling the country on behalf of the movement. This allowed me to eventually meet nearly every major leader in the fight to bring single payer to the United States, connections that I hope will prove increasingly valuable as my work for Soldiers For Peace continues.Rick Staggenborg, MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16587630200799702811noreply@blogger.com