Counter-Recruitment Presentation
After doing a number of concerts at various high schools around the US, I realized that I need to do this much more regularly. It has proven to me to be among the most effective ways to reach out to the general populace that I have found. Whether I have the opportunity to do more shows like this will depend on the interest of high school teachers, students and administrators (as well as other members of the community who know any such people). I hope somehow I will hear from them and have the chance to come to many more schools. Here is the gist below.
-- DavidMilitary recruiters are an increasingly common presence in high school cafeterias around the US. In an effort to give students the opportunity to think critically about the military and the negative aspects of it that the recruiters don't talk about, David Rovics is available to come to your high school and balance the discussion with a coherent and entertaining anti-war perspective.
David is a staple musician in the US anti-war movement and has performed at hundreds of rallies, conferences and other events throughout the country -- often for dedicated crowds of a few dozen at a vigil and often for hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of New York City, Washington, DC and elsewhere.
His presentation mixes relevant information with relevant original songs. In a folksy, accessible way David will present the viewpoint that rather than a war of liberation, this is a war about oil --
Operation Iraqi Liberation, as it was briefly named by the Bush administration (thus proving that material in the modern era comes "pre-satirized" from the powers that be).
He will talk about the disillusionment of the soldiers in Iraq, provide resources about what they themselves are saying about the war (such as
www.militaryproject.org), talk about the dangers of Depleted Uranium munitions, Post-Traumatic Stress and other hazards soldiers are exposed to, and tell stories about disabled and neglected veterans returned from Iraq, such as
The Face of Victory.
He will discuss the apparent contradiction between the basic tenets of Christianity ("thou shalt not kill") and the seemingly irreconcileable "war without an end." David will ask the question,
Who Would Jesus Bomb?He will talk about the US, international law, the Nuremberg Principles, and individuals such as helicopter pilot,
Hugh Thompson, who decided to abide by them.
He will bring the human element into the discussion about war and talk about the civilian toll with songs like
Hiroshima and
Song for Basra.
He will discuss the historical justifications versus the realities of wars in which the US has participated, from the Alamo to the Lusitannia to the Gulf of Tonkin.
Finally, he will provide information about groups in civil society who are involved with assisting soldiers and veterans in various ways, such as
Iraq Veterans Against the War,
Military Families Speak Out,
Veterans for Peace, the
War Resisters League, and the
Central Committee on Conscientious Objectors.
Common sense says that students should be exposed to both sides of this argument. A functioning democracy requires an informed populace. A real "volunteer" military requires soldiers who know what they were actually volunteering for. To provide your school with this opportunity,
contact David now, before more of your students make decisions which they may regret for the rest of their lives. You may also visit
www.davidrovics.com for more information about David, his life and work.
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