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US and World Politics

War Is Immoral

Hundreds arrested nationwide, as Poor People’s Campaign demands an end to the war economy

By Jake Johnson

Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s warning that “a nation that continues year-after-year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom,” the Poor People’s Campaign launched its third week of action in cities nationwide on Tuesday, May 29. 2018, with the aim of confronting the American war economy, which pours resources that could be used to provide healthcare and food to the poor at home into the killing of innocents abroad.

Hoisting signs that read “The War Economy Is Immoral” and “Ban Killer Drones,” demonstrators gathered at the capitol buildings of New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and several other states to denounce a militaristic system that profits “every time a bomb is dropped on innocent people.”

As of this writing, hundreds have been arrested and many more are facing arrest as they gather outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office in Washington, D.C.

As Common Dreams reported, the Poor People’s Campaign unveiled a detailed series of demands1 last month ahead of the launch of its 40 days of action in more than 30 states across the country.

“We demand a stop to the privatization of the military budget and any increase in military spending,” the agenda reads. “We demand a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a Veterans Administration system that must remain public.”

Common Dreams, May 29, 2018

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/29/hundreds-arrested-nationwide-poor-peoples-campaign-demands-end-war-economy



1 https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/demands/