A Second Renaissance

A Second Renaissance


http://www.soulutions.co.uk/np_politics-8.htm

Saturday, September 14, 2002

SPEECH BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, DENNIS KUCINICH.

Venue: The Redwood Sequoia Congress University of California Berkeley,
California

Last week I joined hundreds of members of Congress in solemn
commemoration of 11th September 2001 and in solidarity with New
Yorkers at Federal Hall in the City. You can sense a special energy at
this sacred shrine to democracy where George Washington was sworn in,
where a Congress of two centuries ago received the Bill of Rights. As
I stood there in a moment of reflection I could envision that Congress
of long ago gathering as a Galaxy of Stars cascaded from the sky
through the circular opening above the rotunda.

In my mind's eye, I could see a Galaxy of Stars representing universal
principles pouring into the venerable site, informing the pledge
Washington made to a new nation, Freedom's Holy Light illuminating the
Bill of Rights. In that moment I had a new understanding that this
flag, as spangled with Stars as a bolt of Heaven itself, connects the
United States with eternal principles of unity, of brotherhood, of
sisterhood.

The energy of the Stars presented at the birth of this nation is with
us still. It is upon that dark blue cloth of our flag. One bright Star
shines for hope. Another Star for optimism. Another for well-being.
One for freedom. One for abundance. One for creativity. One for
togetherness. One for peace. One Star to wish upon to create your
highest aspirations, to make your dreams come true.

This, our country and our very selves are all made of Stars as a
popular song goes. This is who we are. This is what gives higher
meaning to being an American. This is what gives higher meaning to
patriotism. I love our flag. Though some would make it stand for chaos
and war, I see the field of Stars as standing for the highest
expression of human unity.

A higher meaning of the United States is that we express wholeness
through the unity of 50 states. "Out of many we are One." We present
ourselves to the world as an exemplification of the principle of
Oneness, of the universality of all, of the confirmation of One in the
many. The World: "Out of many nations we are One." Universality! This
is where we come from.

The idea of America emerged from the intellectual energy, the heart
energy and the spirit energy of the Renaissance. The genesis in a
journey of "lovers marrying their fortunes together" bound for
America, looking for that lamp lifted beside the Golden Door of
Liberty.

The quest for universal principles of justice, of human rights, of
civil rights, of opportunity, of a meaningful future is what caused
millions to see America as the Light of nations. These universal
principles are stars by which those who came to our shores sailed.
These are stars which can guide us past the shoals of arms dealers and
oil interests who today would crash our ship of state upon the rocks
of war.

America has a Higher Destiny. As with generations past, our destiny
can take us to places we have never been, or can only imagine. Places
of peace. Places of plenty. Places of hope. Places of love. We have a
right to live our ideals. That is our birthright. We should not trade
it for the pretensions of empire. Nor for delusions of grandeur, nor
for all the gold in Fort Knox, all the tea in China or all the oil in
Iraq. America has a Higher Destiny.

Today I want to speak to you about the America that can be. About
reestablishing the context of our nation. About remythologizing
America. About a Second Renaissance which can begin in this nation,
with this generation.

First let us travel to the place where civilization was born thousands
of years ago, upon the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Let us
see if there, instead of dancing with death, and killing untold
thousands of innocent people, we can change directions, pull back from
war with Iraq, change the outcome, connect with our aspirations for
peace and reclaim our ingenuity and creativity in human relations.

Why is war with Iraq presented as inevitable? Isn't it time to insist
that our leaders suspend their incessant talk of preventive war, of
assumed right to unilateral action? Isn't it time for insistence upon
preventive diplomacy and our obligations to work with the world
community on matters of global security?

Why is this war presented as inevitable? The headlines from The New
York Times of September 12, 2002, read: Bush to Warn UN: Act on Iraq
or US Will; He Leads Nation in Mourning at Terror Sites. There is no
credible evidence linking Iraq with 9/11, with Al Qaeda or with the
anthrax attacks.

There is no credible evidence that Iraq has usable weapons of mass
destruction, the ability to deliver those weapons or the intention to
do so. That Iraq possessed and used such weapons, they did so, quite
sad to say, with the knowledge of, and sometimes with materials from,
the United States... "We have met the enemy," said Walt Kelly's
'Pogo,' "And he is us." US. By the way, it's called the Department of
Defense, not The Department of Offense.

Unilateral action on the part of the United States, or in partnership
with Great Britain, would for the first time set our nation on the
bloodstained path of aggressive war, a sacrilege upon the memory of
those who fought to defend this country. America's moral authority
would be undermined throughout the world. It would signal for Russia
to invade Georgia; China, Taiwan; North Korea, the South; India,
Pakistan; and destabilize the entire gulf and Middle East region.

There is a way out. We need a comprehensive solution to the crisis in
Iraq. It must involve the United Nations and can be facilitated by
Russia which just signed a $40 billion trade agreement with Iraq.
Inspections for weapons of mass destruction should begin immediately.
Inspectors must have free and unfettered access to all sites. New
negotiations must begin concerning the counterproductive policies of
regime change and sanctions. Emergency relief should be expedited.
Free trade, except in arms, must be permitted. Foreign investments
must be allowed. The assets of Iraq abroad must be restored. A
regional zone free of weapons of mass destruction should be
established.

If we can take a new direction in Iraq and the region we can begin a
New Era of Peace. We can refocus our efforts on the conflict between
the Palestinians and the Israelis. We can bring new initiatives to
help Pakistan and India resolve Kashmir. The United States can repair
its position in the world community, through cooperation, not
confrontation. We can change the world for the better.

WE CAN LOOK TO HEAVEN ITSELF FOR GUIDANCE. We can begin by banning any
research, planning, or deployment of weapons in outer space. Human
destiny has always been linked with the Stars. How grim that America
is planning to put weapons in outer space, to seize the ultimate high
ground, to attempt to gain strategic advantage over every nation on
Earth. We must turn back from such arrogance. We must let the name of
peace be hallowed on Earth as it is in the Heavens with a Space
Preservation Treaty. We must direct our efforts toward solving
conflicts on this planet rather than spread war in perpetuity,
throughout the Universe in a plan paradoxically called "Vision 2020."

I have a vision of nations work together, cooperatively, using what
President Roosevelt called the "science of human relationships." That
is the basis for the creation of a Department of Peace, which seeks to
make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society for domestic
as well as international policy. War is not inevitable unless we
refuse to work for peace, patiently and tirelessly.

I envision a new US leadership to end the threat of nuclear
destruction by realizing the promise of the Nonproliferation Treaty.
Seventeen nations possess, are pursuing or are capable of acquiring
nuclear weapons. Now is the time to provide incentives to stop the
nuclear arms race, to stop building nuclear weapons, and to stop
testing. .... It is the United States which can lead the way toward a
global community which is inclusive and sustainable, which promotes
democratic values and which enables the growth of the potential and
the health of each person by putting human rights, workers rights and
environmental quality principles into each and every trade agreement.

There is much to do on the world stage. But we cannot do it by
creating war when we ought to be working for peace. Iraq is not an
imminent threat. But an unemployment rate which approaches 6% is an
imminent threat. Forty-one million Americans without health insurance
is an imminent threat. The high cost of prescription drugs, an
imminent threat. Unregulated energy companies which charge
confiscatory rates for electricity and gas are an imminent threat.
Large corporations which lie about their value and deprive
stockholders of their life savings constitute an imminent threat.
Seniors losing their pensions. That's an imminent threat. So too is
the climate of fear which is being cycled in this country.

Each time a civil liberty is rolled back or undermined in America, a
little bit of our free nation dies. Each government report which drums
terror and fear weakens our nation. When Francis Scott Key wrote "oh
say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave," he made the essential connection between
democracy and courage. Courage will guide our nation through this
crisis. Courage will enable us to set our government right. Courage
will enable us to go to the campuses, to labor halls, to church halls
and to the streets to organize against a war which will undermine our
nation, ruin our reputation, kill innocent people and damage the
economy of our nation and the world.

We are at a critical and creative moment in human history where we
have it within our power to change the world. It is about evolutionary
politics which follows an evolutionary consciousness. We can do it be
changing the way we look at the world. By contemplating and realizing
the universal brotherhood and sisterhood of all persons. We can do it
by tapping our own unlimited potential to think anew.

Imagine if we could look our nation with the same daring with which
our founders gazed. Imagine if we could regain the capacity of spirit
which animated freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to
vote, freedom from fear, freedom from want. I tell you there is
another America out there. It is ready to be called forward. It is the
America of our dreams. It is the America of the flag full of Stars. It
is the America which is in our hearts and we can make it the heart of
the world. Thank you.


-- 
"When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding.
When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding."  ---Dennis
Kucinich