Student Strikes Against War - Feb15

SB student's rap about the strike:

People keep asking, why a strike on Thursday?

Even though it makes sense to most students, a few of your friends have either told you they’re not striking, or you’ve seen a couple skeptical accounts in the Daily Nexus about the “efficacy” of the strike. People are asking, “what will not going to class accomplish?” “Aren’t there more effective ways of protesting against the war?” And, “how is this thing here at UCSB going to make a difference with the Bush administration?”

The Bush administration can ignore us and our newly elected Congress because we’re obeying them and not really challenging their power. We’re going along with what the self-proclaimed “decider” does. We are complicit. We are complacent. We are weak and powerless in the face of this very antidemocratic constellation of forces – the Bush administration, US military, and right-wing policy makers – all of whom are “surging” troops and making threats against Iran while the majority of the nation wants to make peace and use diplomacy.

What to do? The renowned political scholar of nonviolence Gene Sharp can give us an important insight here. According to Sharp, the means by which a people’s movement can reign in a reckless leader is by limiting and controlling his power. Bush is a reckless leader. Sharp prescribes that the peace movement take action to address issues of (1) authority, (2) human resources, (3) skills and knowledge and, (4) material resources. Sharp tells us that, “a ruler’s political power depends intimately upon the obedience and cooperation of his subjects.” (For more on Sharp’s nonviolent political strategy see his The Politics of Nonviolent Action).

Striking is a tactic used by social movements to withdraw obedience and complicity from oppressive and antidemocratic governments or corporations. A strike means a withdrawal from the system in order to disrupt it. Disruption inhibits the ruler’s ability to carry on with business as usual.

Right now business as usual in our nation is a nightmare of war, torture, and secrecy. It has created the conditions of domestic decay here in the US with no money or political will to rebuild the Gulf Coast or fund education and healthcare. The war is consuming our national treasury and killing some of the best men and women of our generation. The death toll and damage it has wrought against the people of Iraq is indescribably horrific.

The strike is a kind of protest that cuts straight through the bullshit, grips the foundation of the leader’s power, and pulls it from under him. It challenges authority, withdraws human and material resources, and applies skills and knowledge to the people’s goals. The student strike is meant to put an end to business as usual. How can we continue going about our days as though nothing were wrong, as though the war were not destroying our country as well as Iraq and forfeiting our future to a debt of trillions and an body count based on lies? If we truly oppose the war it is time for a peace movement that does more than just symbolically protest. The movement must start withdrawing consent and resources from Bush’s illegal war.

Still not convinced? Ask yourself this; if the entire nation went on strike tomorrow – didn’t go to work or school and didn’t buy anything – how much longer do you think Bush’s war could last? I’d give it 24 hours or less. Striking alone here at UCSB might not mean much, but the world is watching. News of our strike is spreading across other campuses and cities. We will not be acting alone on the 15th. And if the 15th is empowering, perhaps there can be a real movement beyond this, a shift toward a larger national peace movement that joins us in withdrawing consent and shaking the foundations of power. The more of us that act together, the more hope there is that we can end the war.

Here's a list of all the schools currently planning actions against the war on February15. See http://february15.wordpress.com for more info.

1. Berkeley High (CA) - joining UC Berkeley rally
2. City College of NY- participating at Columbia U.
3. Columbia College (IL) - Strike!
4. Columbia University - Strike!
5. Eastern New Mexico University
6. Fordham University (NYC) - solidarity rally
7. Freemont High (CA) - joining UC Berkeley rally
8. Georgia State - demonstration
9. Lewis and Clark College (OR)
10. Lowell High School (San Francisco)
11. Mills College (CA) - solidarity rally
12. Occidental College (L.A.) - Strike!
13. Rutgers (NJ) - solidarity speak-out
14. San Francisco State - rally
15. Sarah Lawrence College (NY) - teach-in and speak-out
16. Sonoma State (CA) - march and rally
17. University of North Carolina, Greensboro
18. UC Berkeley - solidarity rally linking antiwar/labor movements
19. UC Davis
20. UC Santa Barbara - Strike!
21. UC Santa Cruz - solidarity walkout linking antiwar/labor movements
22. Vanderbilt (TN)