COUNTERPLAN/NUCLEAR ABOLITION

MOVEMENT: INDIVIDUAL ACTION IS THE KEY TO ACHIEVING NUCLEAR ABOLITION

WE ARE NOT DOOMED TO LIVE FOREVER UNDER A NUCLEAR THREAT, WE CAN ACT AS ETHICAL AND RATIONAL BEINGS TO SUPPORT NUCLEAR ABOLITION

We reject the argument that we must live forever with such weapons or that the nuclear genie cannot be put back into the bottle. We, as ethical and rational human beings can make this choice: the responsibility is ours. There is a special obligation on the nuclear weapons-states and nuclear-capable states to rapidly move towards universal nuclear disarmament.

PEACE DOES NOT JUST HAPPEN, WE MUST MAKE IT HAPPEN, NOT JUST TRUST GOVERNMENTS

Peace does not just happen to us.  We must make it happen.  We must build effective global institutions of peace such as an International Criminal Court and we must strengthen existing institutions such as the United Nations and its International Court of Justice so that they can better fulfill their mandates.  We cannot turn decisions on war and peace over to national governments.  This is what led to World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and countless others.  It is what led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

CITIZENS OF ALL NATIONS MUST RISE UP TO DEMAND ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

If we awaken to who we truly are not only Americans, not only Russians, not only Japanese, not only Indians, but above all citizens of Earth then our choices will be clear, and we will do everything within our power to preserve this extraordinary planet and its abundant forms of life. Our first step forward on this path will be our absolute commitment to ridding the world of nuclear weapons, the only weapons capable of destroying the future of human life on this planet. In achieving this goal, we will know what we are truly capable of accomplishing, and we will get on with the serious problems of creating cultures that are committed to liberty, justice, human dignity, and ecological integrity. 

WHEN GOVERNMENTS USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS THEY LOSE THEIR RIGHT TO REPRESENT THE PEOPLE

As we approach our task of seeking to eliminate all nuclear weapons from the arsenals of all countries, we must remember that there is no legitimate authority vested in governments to place the future of humanity and other forms of life at risk of obliteration.  The authority of governments comes only from their people.  Governments lose their authority when they become destructive of basic rights, including the rights to life, liberty and security of person as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PEOPLE TO PRESS FOR NUCLEAR ABOLITION

Peace is not the province of governments.  It is the province of the people.  It is a responsibility that rests upon our shoulders.  If we turn over the responsibility for peace to the governments of the world, we will always have war.  I am convinced that the people know far more about achieving and maintaining peace and human dignity than the so-called experts — political, military or academic — will ever know. 

IN THE FACE OF GROWING NUCLEAR DANGER WE MUST TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEMANDING AN END TO NUCLEAR MADNESS

HOWARD BREMBECK, Fourth Freedom Foundation, 2000; IN SEARCH OF THE FOURTH FREEDOM // VT2002 acs p. 68

The threat of weapons of mass murder is our problem and it is growing, not receding, as the days and years roll by. To solve it, to reduce the dangers that face us, we must not be afraid to assume personal responsibility. We must become knowledgeable about the peril we face and courageous in exercising the new and expanding power of the everyday individual. Most of all, we must break the habits of the past as we pursue the goal of lasting security based on enforceable world law.