United States Pacifist Party

Last updated
United States Pacifist Party
Founded1983;36 years ago (1983)
Ideology Non-interventionism
Anti-war
Pacifism
Political position Left-wing
Website
uspacifistparty.org

The United States Pacifist Party is a pacifist party in the United States which supports the anti-war movement. It supports the non-violent resistance of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Pacifism opposition to war and violence

Pacifism is opposition to war, militarism, or violence. The word pacifism was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud (1864–1921) and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ahimsa, which is a core philosophy in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While modern connotations are recent, having been explicated since the 19th century, ancient references abound.

Anti-war movement

An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts, or to anti-war books, paintings, and other works of art. Many activists distinguish between anti-war movements and peace movements. Anti-war activists work through protest and other grassroots means to attempt to pressure a government to put an end to a particular war or conflict.

Contents

History

The party was founded in 1983 by Bradford Lyttle. Lyttle ran in the 1984 Presidential Election and got enough support to continue the party running again as a write-in candidate in the 1996 Presidential Election and the 2000 Presidential Election. In 1998, Gary Swing ran in the 1998 Colorado Senate election as a member of the Pacifist Party but got the fewest votes of any candidate. He received 1,903 votes, or 0.14%.

Bradford Lyttle is an American pacifist and peace activist. He was an organizer with the Committee for Non-Violent Action of several major campaigns against militarism, including "Omaha Action", against land-based nuclear missiles (1959); "Polaris Action" against submarine-based nuclear missiles (1960); the San Francisco to Moscow Peace Walk (1961); and the Quebec-Washington-Guantanamo Peace Walk (1963).

A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. The system is almost totally confined to elections in the United States. Some U.S. states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker, with the write-in candidate's name, to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name. Write-in candidacies are sometimes a result of a candidate being legally or procedurally ineligible to run under his or her own name or party; write-in candidacies may be permitted where term limits bar an incumbent candidate from being officially nominated for, or being listed on the ballot for, re-election. In some cases, write-in campaigns have been organized to support a candidate who is not personally involved in running; this may be a form of draft campaign.

In 2008 Lyttle ran for U.S. President and was on the ballot in Colorado. He received 110 votes. Nationally he came in last out of 23 candidates who were on the ballot in at least one state.

Following the September 11 attacks interest in the party grew[ citation needed ] and Lyttle appeared on a special for CNN and The O'Reilly Factor explaining the party's response to the attacks in a pacifist sense and getting threats for it. [1]

September 11 attacks Attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001

The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks.

CNN American news channel

Cable News Network (CNN) is an American news-based pay television channel owned by WarnerMedia News & Sports, a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel. Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.

Presidential candidate performance

2008 Bradford Lyttle / Unknown111[ citation needed ]0.00%0
2016 Bradford Lyttle / Hannah Walsh382[ citation needed ]0.00%0

Policies

Overall the Pacifist Party is moderate in tone and is on the left wing when it comes to issues despite references to a "divine revelation" as a source of inspiration. [2] [3]

International relations

The Pacifist Party opposes the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) and the Iraq War and in general all war that's not related to national defense.

War in Afghanistan (2001–present) war in Afghanistan since 2001

The War in Afghanistan, code named Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (2001–14) and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (2015–present), followed the United States invasion of Afghanistan of 7 October 2001. The U.S. was initially supported by the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and later by a coalition of over 40 countries, including all NATO members. The war's public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. Since the initial objectives were completed at the end of 2001, the war mostly involves U.S. and allied Afghan government troops battling Taliban insurgents. The War in Afghanistan is the longest war in U.S. history.

Iraq War War which started on 20 March 2003, based in Iraq

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. In 2009, official US troops were withdrawn, but American soldiers continued to remain on the ground fighting in Iraq, hired by defence contractors and private military companies. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the unrelated September 11 terrorist attacks.

The Pacifist Party is against nuclear weapons, biological warfare, and chemical weapons as well as all foreign military aid. It supports reducing the military budget to zero and abolishing weapons through treaties. [3]

Biological warfare use of biological toxins or infectious agents with the intent to kill or otherwise neutralize enemies as an act of war

Biological warfare (BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities that reproduce or replicate within their host victims. Entomological (insect) warfare is also considered a type of biological weapon. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare and chemical warfare, which together with biological warfare make up NBC, the military initialism for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). None of these are considered conventional weapons, which are deployed primarily for their explosive, kinetic, or incendiary potential.

The Pacifist Party is opposed to the Patriot Act and for normalizing Cuba-United States relations by terminating of the Helms-Burton Act and putting an end to the United States embargo against Cuba. [3]

The environment

The Pacifist Party is for creating a global solar power system, against logging and oil drilling on public lands, and for taxing polluting industries. [3]

Healthcare

The Pacifist Party is for remodeling the current model of health care after the Canadian model. [3]

The Pacifist Party supports funding alternatives to abortion but not making abortion illegal. [4]

Immigration

The Pacifist Party supports unrestricted immigration arguing the money need for health care and education will be paid for by shutting down the majority of military war acts. [3]

Economy

The Pacifist Party supports employment through private employment and a minimum wage for everybody through a negative income tax.

Civil rights

The Pacifist Party opposes all forms of discrimination and supports a Constitutional amendment banning it. It supports free and unrestricted travel across the border, family planning, and banning handguns and assault rifles. It opposes the death penalty and supports prison reform. [5]

Election reform

The Pacifist Party supports limiting campaign spending, transparency, and proportional representation. [3]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "History of the United States Pacifist Party". www.uspacifistparty.org.
  2. ↑ "warbaby.com - This website is for sale! - warbaby Resources and Information". www.warbaby.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The United States Pacifist Party 2008 Platform". USPacifistParty.org.
  4. ↑ Lyttle, Bradford. "The United States Pacifist Party's Position on Abortion". USPacifistParty.org.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Kathy. "An Alternative Approach to Criminal Justice". USPacifistParty.org.
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