Organizing & Activism (Also see Nonviolence, Outreach)

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Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve: Yes, Olympia’s peace vigils occur as usual both Fridays!

December 23, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Olympia’s weekly peace vigils occur all year around, regardless of holidays and regardless of weather!   We warmly (!) invite you to join us FRI DEC 24 and FRI DEC 31 (and every Friday) from 4:30 to 6:00 (or as much of that time as you can spare) at the SW corner of 4th & Water downtown (across the street south from the Kissing Statue).  (This is for 2021, and our vigils will continue every week in the future too.) I’ll bring a good, varied selections of signs, or you may bring your own.  We support peace, human rights, nonviolence, […]

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Smart insights for strengthening our organizing for the climate

December 23, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

My notes here summarize some main points of the article I’ve linked below – and add some of my own thoughts:   The article I’ve linked below says that – although 70% of the public is worried about the climate – this has not translated into real organizing.  Instead of playing politics (nice words and political wheeling-dealing, but falling short of making the bold changes that are necessary, the article says we need to deepen the public’s concern with a profound “change of heart.” Instead of “transactional” politics, we need “transformative” politics.  Without a profound change of heart we’ll be […]

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MORE GOOD NEWS: New York City joined ICAN’s appeal for cities to oppose nuclear weapons!

December 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The main international non-profit organization promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is educating people worldwide.  ICAN — besides urging national governments to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) — is also urging state/provincial/local governments to pass resolutions supporting the Treaty. New York City has joined this effort.  See this great news: https://worldbeyondwar.org/new-york-city-joins-ican-cities-appeal/?link_id=33&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-wbw-news-action-we-took-over-a-pipeline-company-office&email_referrer=email_1383052&email_subject=wbw-news-action-solidarity                      

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In early December 2021, the 57th and 58th nations ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons!

December 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The movement is growing to PROHIBIT NUCLEAR WEAPONS worldwide. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was ratified by the 50th nation in October 2020.  Since then, several more nations have ratified the Treaty.  The 57th and 58th nations ratified it in early December 2021. See information about the TPNW at www.icanw.org Mainstream news media in the U.S. are ALMOST TOTALLY IGNORING this bold, historic effort for peace, so “WE THE PEOPLE” must educate the American people and organize skillfully to promote the Treaty!          

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Sign up NOW for FREE, PRACTICAL ONLINE WORKSHOPS to help you make more progress on issues YOU care about

December 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

ALL OF US — new people, experienced organizers, and everybody in between — can STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS and add resources to our “toolboxes” so we can make more progress in working on our issues. That’s why I’m offering my 6 FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS. Please see information on the flyer I posted at this link – and SIGN UP NOW! 6 practical workshops on Grassroots Organizing — 2022 JAN-FEB — FLYER.docx Let’s build strong nonviolent grassroots movements that will significantly move public opinion — and change the dominant paradigms — and push governments, big businesses, mainstream media, and other entrenched entities to do […]

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Let’s use more HUMOR in our political organizing! It’s a creative way to overcome people’s barriers to fresh ideas!

December 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

All of our progressive movements (for peace, the environment and climate, for human rights and social justice, etc., etc., etc.) need smart ways to reach out to other people with messages that they will be able to hear and understand. Creativity, the arts, and humor can be more powerful than hard logic and facts, because they go over and around and under the barriers that prevent some people from hearing and absorbing new ideas. Here are some examples and resources:   Watch this excellent 7-minute video: Why it is best to listen to political satire.  Mainstream news media have legitimized […]

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COP26: Information, Analyses, Successes, Shortcomings

December 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, generated a lot of news.  Some news sources thought COP26 made progress.  Other news sources criticized it from several perspectives.  Here — in no particular sequence — are a variety of reports about what COP26 did and did not accomplish, and what we need to do now: (I have a few more articles, but this is enough for now.)   COP26 Brought progress but also disappointment:  The United States released a slew of new climate commitments at COP26, last month’s international climate conference in Glasgow. Climate advocates view the results of […]

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Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress

December 9, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093 glenanderson@integra.net The January 2022 theme for the Olympia-based publication Works In Progress (www.olywip.org) – “Where do we find light” – is a smart question to ask.  I recommend finding light in two places:  in ourselves and in the world around us. Contrary to the cynical assumption that human beings are inherently competitive and cruel (and contrary to the religious assumption that we’re doomed by “original sin”), powerful research affirms humans inherently want to cooperate and be good to each other.  I read the book Humankind: A Hopeful History written […]

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Our world on the verge of transition

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

“We are moving from a world in which individual choice and competition made sense to one in which collective choice and cooperation are necessary, not because ideologies have changed but because both the problems we face and the nature of the resources required to solve them have changed. “When the costs of economic activity are collective, capitalism (i.e., private property rights and individual choice) is suicidal; when the benefits are collective (e.g., new vaccines for COVID, new forms of alternative energy), capitalism in inefficient.  The main challenge remains how deeply wedded politicians, economists and even the average person are to […]

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Understanding Environmental Water Quality Problems and Solutions

November 27, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The December 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” helps people understand how water quality in Puget Sound (and bodies of water elsewhere) has been seriously hurt.  We also explain — in easy-to-understand ways — the damage to the the rivers and streams that flow into these salt waters.  Besides examining problems we also propose solutions. Glen Anderson interviewed Harry Branch, who has a solid educational background and extensive professional expertise that includes a variety of hands-on experience in fisheries, skippering boats, conducting marine science research, and more.  Harry explains the science and the practicalities — and the public policies — […]

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Proposing a Bold New Global Peace Movement Led by Women

November 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” proposes a bold, new worldwide peace movement – and it will be much more successful if women lead it. The world is stuck in violence, militarism, systemic injustices, and ecocide.  The status quo is dominated by top-down systems of war and other kinds of injustices.  Wars do not work.  Nuclear war could instantly destroy us all.  Instead of top-down dysfunction, the world needs a very bold grassroots movement grounded in profound nonviolence.  The movement can succeed, especially if women to lead it on behalf of children and all of humanity. Glen interviewed […]

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Understand what Critical Race Theory really is. Counter the right-wing lies about it.

November 13, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

This background helps you understand the controversy: Our nation is suffering from a number of huge problems that need huge solutions.  But instead of solving the problems, the right wing and the Republican Party keep promoting fear and hatred and ignorance.  They have no practical solutions for the problems, so they want to distract the public and promote cruelty. Recently the right wing and the Republican Party have become obsessed with denouncing Critical Race Theory.  Actually, CRT has existed for decades but was not noticed until right-wingers started publicizing it in grossly false ways. Law school professors developed Critical Race […]

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These articles criticize COP26’s shortcomings

November 13, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Leaders at COP26 are massively killing the Paris Agreement:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/12/leaders-cop26-are-massively-killing-paris-agreement-critics-say-talks-drag-past?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email   The Young Climate Diplomats Fighting to Save Their Countries:  They grew up witnessing damages from climate change in Rwanda and Ethiopia and are calling on wealthy countries to fund adaptation and pay for losses already suffered:  https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13112021/young-climate-diplomats-cop26/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=d0d82f91ba-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d0d82f91ba-327502737   In a New Policy Statement, the Nation’s Physicists Toughen Their Stance on Climate Change, Stressing Its Reality and Urgency:  The American Physical Society’s new policy is a shift from its 2015 statement, which called the magnitude of future climate impacts “uncertain” and referred to “significant” natural sources of warming:  https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11112021/american-physical-society-climate-change-statement/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=d0d82f91ba-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d0d82f91ba-327502737   […]

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Greta Thunberg keeps speaking boldly! Watch these powerful short videos.

November 7, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Greta Thunberg’s powerful 9-minute video in early November 2021 exposes COP26’s hypocrisy.   This powerful speech really nails it:  WATCH: “It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure.” – Greta Thunberg   In another COP26 speech in November 2021, Greta Thunberg accuses world leaders of “pure madness” for climate failures at COP26:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/05/greta-thunberg-accuses-world-leaders-pure-madness-climate-failures-cop26   In late September 2021 another global climate strike occurred.  This article includes video of Greta Thunberg speaking boldly in Berlin. Click this link to read the article – and when you open this article, click the link to watch Greta Thunberg speak boldly in Berlin:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/24/hundreds-thousands-take-streets-worldwide-uproot-system-climate-strikes?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email […]