Why I March (This Time)

Bill Scheurer, Editor

Many of my friends in our local peace community were surprised when they heard I planned to skip the march in Washington, DC this weekend.

My response, “I don’t march anymore,” bewildered them.

Well, I have repented of this decision — at least, this (one last?) time — and have already made the trip east to take part in this weekend’s activities.

My reason for marching is simple. You. I march because you do.

Before returning to this, let me share some of the reasons why I did not want to march. Some you have heard before. Others you may have not.

Marching Has Not Worked

First, our marches have not worked. If our purpose for marching is not to satisfy ourselves, but to reach others, we have fallen far short of our goal in the past.

I started (or resumed) marching in October 2001, in the face of the planned U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Most of these early marches were led by A.N.S.W.E.R and its affiliates.

Later marches were also led by United for Peace and Justice and its affiliates, in tensely balanced power-sharing agreements between A.N.S.W.E.R and UfPJ.

Either way, we still were talking to ourselves, “preaching to the choir” as the saying goes.

The media and the public dismissed our efforts out of hand — or worse, completely ignored them. Actually, this may have been a proverbial “blessing in disguise.”

People of questionable speaking ability and public credentials occupied the podium with personal rants and mixed agendas that even the most faithful could barely endure.

If anyone had been listening, would these speeches have helped or hurt our cause?

Also, our numbers have been too few. There is nothing weaker than a mass movement without the mass. It undercuts the very point we are trying to make.

One of the (many) chants I often heard during these marches was, “This is what democracy looks like.” Well, I’m sorry, but no.

A few thousand people marching in the streets — is this really what democracy looks like? To me, a hundred million people in the voting booth — looks more like it.

Well, we had our democracy, and guess what? We lost. Again, and again. Which brings us to the next point.

What Else We Could Do

There are 649 organizing days left before the next election, November 4, 2008.

While we spend our time (and money) marching in the streets — war candidates for president (in both major parties) are flooding the corporate mainstream media, filling their campaign coffers, and building committed field organizations.

Which course — theirs, or ours — is more likely to result in taking over control of our government in 2008? Do we remain content to keep “speaking truth to power” — or, do we realize that we must take power itself in our democracy to build truth.

Let’s be “conservatively optimistic” (to borrow another phrase) and project that 500,000 people from around the country will come to the march this weekend.

If the average cost of participation is $200 (for those of us coming from Chicago, it is much more), that is $100 million dollars we will spend on this march. With that kind of money, we could fund a credible presidential campaign.

Up the estimate to a million people, and that would bring $200 million — now in the stratosphere of the two major party candidates (even before matching funds)!

Meanwhile, we could take all the fun, festivity, and shared energy of our marching community, and redirect it to local organizing for our peace candidate. This would fill the local and national media with a message of peaceful security they could not ignore.

I Go Where You Go

Anyway, I will be with you this Saturday in Washington, DC. I go because you go. I go to be with you, to support my friends and fellow activists in the peace community.

Dozens of groups have rallied around the leadership of UfPJ in this thing. That alone is worth something. Our numbers and spirits should be high, the speakers great.

Because of the recent change of party control in the House and Senate, and all the coverage of the Iraq war in the press, our efforts will be noticed this time.

The glorious parade of so many people, marching behind the banners of our peace groups, is something I could not miss. I will be with my fellow members of Military Families Speak Out. Look for us with the yellow ribbon and black peace sign.

Still, I can only hope we will rally around something else next time, like taking over our democracy for peace. We have only 649 days left to the next election.