Cindy Sheehan speaking on Staten Island
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — June 26, 2009. Has the nation’s most prominent “Peace Mom” developed her own class analysis — the answer is Yes and although she avoids much of the jargon her message is essentially Marxian.
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Cindy Sheehan (born July 10, 1957) is a 51-year-old American anti-war activist and mother of four. Her son Casey was a specialist in the First Cavalry Division when he was killed in action in Baghdad on April 4, 2004. Sheehan got international attention in August 2005 for her extended protest at “Camp Casey”, an encampment outside then President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch. Sheehan ran for Congress (California’s 8th CD) in 2008, losing to incumbent Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who is currently speaker of the House of Representatives. Sheehan cites her race against Pelosi — Sheehan’s first exposure to the reality of the two party system — as a major influence in her current, class-based, analysis of U.S. politics.
On Wednesday, June 24, Cindy Sheehan spoke at the Unitarian Church, the progressive center of Staten Island’s North Shore. The church was packed and it was hot and humid but the enthusiasm of the audience made it clear that no one’s spirits were dampened. Sheehan spoke at the church as part of a nationwide tour to promote her new book, “Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution”.
“We protest very stupidly, we go to Washington D.C. on a Saturday…” — Cindy Sheehan
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Sheehan spoke for an hour and focused on four main themes: the “System” itself is the problem, the crimes of Bush and Cheney should be prosecuted, the myths that perpetuate consumerism and false consciousness must be debunked, and the people need to start building a revolution from below. Tying it all together: the idea that a “robber class” is preying on a “robbed class”. Haves and have nots described in language that recalls Bertolt Brecht’s famous quip: “Which is the greater crime — to rob a bank or to own one?”
Sheehan opened with a salvo targeting Barack Obama. Arguing that Obama’s “foreign policies are essentially the same as the Bush administration”, Sheehan said that she was “one of Obama’s earliest and most ardent critics.” Sheehan expressed frustration that the peace movement is sitting idle while Obama expands the Afghan war into “Af-Pak”: the Afghanistan-Pakistan war.
“Where is the anti-war movement?” Sheehan asked the crowd.
Noting that Obama voted for the “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act” (FISA) extension as well as the renewal of the Patriot Act, two Bush era pieces of legislation that abridged basic liberties, Sheehan argued that the problem is that Obama is part of a broken system. A system run by a “robber class” which includes both Democrats and Republicans who do not serve their constituents but their (upper) class interests:
“The House of Representatives is supposed to be the people’s house,” Sheehan said. “When the Democrats conspired with Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson and the Bush administration for the ‘bankster’ bailouts I started seeing that it was more of a class divide than a political divide,” she added.
It was this realization that gave birth to Sheehan’s class analysis.
“They take our money, they take our labor, they take our wealth, they take our land. And they even take our children to kill in their robber class wars — and kill other people’s children in their robber class wars,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan spoke about the crimes of Bush and Cheney and condemned the complicity of elected officials in not prosecuting Bush for war crimes. Her conclusion: a revolution is necessary to establish democracy in the U.S. This revolution will not be a violent overthrow, Sheehan said, but an unraveling of foundational myths that would expose the true nature of capitalism and social class in America — and a grassroots efforts to set things right by building a new society.
Towards this end, Sheehan decided to formalize her class analysis by writing a book which she entitled “Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution”.
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Top Ten lists are popular - here is Cindy Sheehan’s:
“Myth America:
10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class
and the Case for Revolution”
Cindy Sheehan — conflict theorist?
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
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Myth One: America: Greatest Nation in the Universe!
Myth Two: Elections Matter
Myth Three: There’s a huge Difference Between Dems and Repubs
Myth Four: It is Noble to Die in Robber Class Wars
Myth Five: The Federal Reserve Cares About You
Myth Six: It’s a Privilege to pay Income Taxes to the Robber Class
Myth Seven: Housing, Health Care and Education are Privileges, too
Myth Eight: America has a Free Press
Myth Nine: The Environment, Who Needs it?
Myth Ten: 19 Muslims with box cutters were responsible for 9/11
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In the book, available on the internet, Sheehan challenges ten common beliefs that act in concert to subvert democracy. Outlining what she sees as the ideology of “Myth America”, Sheehan argues that the solution to the misuse of myth and mystification by corrupt politicians is to foment a nonviolent revolution from below, a revolution to be accomplished via the building of “healthy subsystems” that will ultimately replace The System. These communities would bring people together to build democratic structures at the local level — not unlike Murray Bookchin’s libertarian municipalism or the Wobblies’ idea of building a new society in the shell of the old.
“We need to … very slowly and very subversively remove ourselves from their system.” — Cindy Sheehan
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Sheehan described her revolution as a process that will require participants to “very slowly, very subversively, remove ourselves from their system.”
The specifics of her plan include: joining food growing cooperatives, using credit unions instead of for-profit banks, joining local parent-teacher associations and community boards, running for local office, recycling, “park(ing) your car” and using mass transit, not using credit cards, buying used items, supporting local merchants, supporting local service/repair shops, and learning to “make do” with less than the latest consumer goods.
Although she has formalized a class analysis — and taken on the role of conflict theorist — Sheehan remains a “Peace Mom”. She urged the crowd to stop war, using what she sees as the only really effective means available to ordinary people: to stop children from enlisting in the military. She acknowledged that in the current economy this is difficult but argued that a way must be found to offer children options other than military service.
Sheehan wrapped up her talk by mentioning the need to support alternative, progressive media, including her own show, cindysheehanssoapbox.com - and to encourage others to do the same. She asked the crowd to perform “soapbox actions” - to talk to friends and neighbors about war and its causes, to build community, and to educate and inform the public — one person at a time.
“Turn off TV news,” Sheehan said, urging people to tune into cindysheehanssoapbox.com. “I haven’t talked once about if Jon is divorcing Kate or Kate’s divorcing Jon,” she said.
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