Anti-War Activists Focus on Opportunity Costs of Bloated Military

The American anti-war movement is struggling at the moment. Obamania peeled away many of its liberal activists, and the recent economic churn has pushed war news off the front pages and out of people’s minds.

However, that movement seems to be increasingly focusing its outreach message on the connection between bloated military spending and the economic troubles we’re having. This could find a receptive audience, and certainly plants the seeds for a possible future uptick in war tax resistance.

For example, New Hampshire Peace Action is teaming up with the National Priorities Project for a series of events throughout New Hampshire “that call attention to the costs of a militarized federal budget.” This will include leafleting and “penny polls” at post offices as people come in to file their tax returns.

Meanwhile United for Peace & Justice is planning a series of events culminating in an rally in New York City.

is the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech in and, sadly, the anniversary of his death one year later. Our urgent call to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be linked to our call to help solve the current economic crisis by dramatically cutting military spending and, instead, investing in our communities.


In New York City, the local chapter of the War Resisters League will be screening excerpts from films and television shows in which tax resisters are featured, and asking: “What do we learn from movies and TV shows about who refuses to pay for war, and the consequences they suffer for their actions? How much of this truly reflects real-life tax resistance?”

  • On : An episode of American legal drama-comedy Boston Legal, and segments of the film Stranger than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
  • On : British documentary Contempt of Conscience, about the Peace Tax Seven.

Both screenings will take place at 7:00 p.m. at Judson Memorial Church. Please enter at 241 Thompson Street (an unmarked door next to 239 Thompson), between W. 3rd and Washington Square South in Manhattan. Free popcorn and snacks will be available!