The United States’ top industry, peddling weapons to the rest of the world, is at its zenith, and as a result, the union has never been weaker, peace studies graduate student Brian Bogart told students and Eugene residents during a panel Wednesday.
“As we finally recognize this 60-year crime and how it continues to steal our prosperity and true security, may we rally around it and draw from it the impetus to take back America,” he said.
Bogart headlined a lecture in PLC 180 titled “War Research and the University” that included speeches from several professors.
Bogart, founder of the CampU.S. Strike for Peace Campaign, was joined by assistant professor Jane Cramer, assistant professor Gordon Lafer, professor Louise Westling and biology professor emeritus Frank Stahl, who gave an introduction and worked as a master of ceremonies of sorts for the night. Several speakers gave 10- to 20-minute speeches on a topic relating to the war industry in America and how it has come to affect the life of every American.
The night started with Bogart, who gave a speech concerning origins of the war economy.
The soft-spoken Bogart lashed out at the last 60 years of American presidents for their contributions to the war machine. He called the war on terrorism a “permanent replacement to the Cold War.”
Jane Cramer, an assistant professor of Political Science, spoke about the U.S. military’s budget, the topic of a book she is currently working on. Cramer detailed how much money the U.S. government spends on its military endeavors and compared that to all other aspects of life.
At the base of her argument was the idea that the American military had adopted the policy that “if we can build it, then we should,” and that the high rate of spending is a result of the government’s desire for “global dominance,” a term that Cramer said has become much more commonplace over the past few years.
Assistant professor Gordon Lafer focused on the effect the war industry, and the war in general, is having on the civil liberties of Americans and people abroad, most notably Iraqi citizens.
“What looks like is happening in Iraq looks nothing like democracy,” he said.
He said the lack of due process and no guaranteed right to the freedom of the press as two major undemocratic developments occurring in the war-torn country.
Lafer also spoke about the loss of civil liberties on American soil, especially in relation to Hurricane Katrina and the way the military handled chaos in New Orleans.
University English professor Louise Westling, who connected the war industry back to the local and more specifically the collegiate level, said her main concern was the University’s participation in the
Association of American Universities because of that association’s desire to increase the amount of government funding to universities for military research.
She fears for the integrity of academic life at the University if such funding continues at its current rate, she said.
For more information, go to www.strikeforpeace.org or e-mail Bogart at [email protected].
Peace activist says ‘take back America’
Daily Emerald
February 16, 2006
Jane Cramer, assistant professor of political science, spoke Wednesday night in opposition to funding from the Department of Defense for University programs.
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