Listening for a Change - Surprising Results

Listening for a Change- Surprising Results!

On Halloween, in downtown Palo Alto, peace activists rallied, not to speak, but to listen, and ask a few questions:

What do you think, feel, about the tragedy of September 11th and the government's response?
How do you think that we could defuse terrorism?
How can we create a safer better world for our children, all children?

Unlike a Gallup Poll, large numbers of people weren't interviewed, but those who chose to respond to the questions gave a new insight as to how Americans really view what happened, and how we could change the current situation.

Only one woman, a middle-aged African American mother thought that the government's response to the bombing was good. She was the only one who felt that the U.S. would always be susceptible to terrorism, and needed to rely on the latest technologies to defend itself. However, she did feel that we are overspending on the military and should spend more money on the poor in this country. "Instead of giving food aid to other countries, we should teach other countries how to grow their own food," she said.

Every other person interviewed denounced the U.S. bombings of Afghanistan as "inappropriate, too violent, excessive, sad, very upsetting, wrong, pointless, unrelated to the conditions that gave rise to the attack."
"Bush is a reactionary Facsist Nazi; I don't like the man."-(from a disabled veteran),
"The government hasn't adequately reflected on the complexity of the international situation."
"It's not right- killing more people. It's not helping. They will retaliate. It could have been handled in a better way. Causing more deaths is not working. American people are scared half to death. Now, there is fear on our side. All the guns, missiles and violence will not help."
"I'm saddened by at all the attention its getting. I'm sad about the innocent people dying- the loss of mothers, fathers, children. I'm saddened by all loss of innocent life. Its acceptable to give support and assistance to those in New York and in D.C., what about the other victims that we don't hear about- the homeless, the hungry, impoverished children throughout the world whose numbers far surpasses that. The U.S. has its head between its legs and can't see the bigger picture. These descendants of slave owners are responding in the same old way, but on a larger scale; the consciousness has not changed. I'm disgusted about our government's terrorist acts and their use of language to justify their atrocities. The day we touched American soil, we began committing genocide. How dare they raise the flag, and drop bombs, and then ask children to send their pennies to help the people our government is killing. What hypocrites! Like a parent slapping a child across the face and saying, 'Be nice!'

So how could we defuse terrorism?

"Show love and kindness to our children."
"Re-examine U.S. /Middle East and 3rd World World policy. The terrorism is caused by poverty which is a direct result of U.S. policies; the terrorists hurt us to make us pay attention to their problems. The number of people killed in the U.S. was small compared to how many have been killed by U.S. policy in the Middle East. The situation in Israel is untenable."
"We need to listen carefully to those populations and respond to their needs."
"We need to keep our nose out of other countries business."
"We need to keep our children out of the military- enough children have died."
"Understand why a person could reach that point."
"If one person says,'you are unfair, when millions say it' you must listen. One must be willing personally to examine the unfair things- tell the truth about injustices, be willing to make a change. If you do that- it is defused- when you do that - people get that you are trying to make a change and more willing to work with you."

And how could we create a safer, better world for our children?

"Spend money to help the people of the Middle East and the rest of the world; redistribute the wealth. It's a small world, you can't let the poor suffer and die."
"Eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Ensure that a minimum economic level of well being is provided for everyone, everywhere."
"Teach our children about respect, respect for all races, how to accept the culture that you are living in. Children are our future."
"We need to be able to communicate, get rid of distrust, practice being sincere- for example the U.S. shouldn't have walked out of the Conference on Racism. The U.S. needs to take responsibility for its actions; we need to take responsibility- we can change it."
"Examine how we see the rest of the world. See how we value our children more than the rest of the world's children. Recognize and connect with the reality that all children are valuable- connect with the rest of the world. Look into other's eyes, connect at a heart level. When parents connect, then the children can. Our government needs to be peaceful and non-violent."

The people interviewed included (self described)- a liberal 38 year old scientist, an engineer/father, an African American father/writer, an African American Architect/Photographer/father, an African American Universal citizen. The event was sponsored by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center. "Listening for a Change" will continue from 11a.m. til 1p.m. at Lytton Plaza, in Downtown Palo Alto, as long as the U.S. government continues to wage its "War on Terrorism." Peace activists are encouraged to come and participate.