Humanists for Peace represents nonreligious and religious humanists and freethinkers who oppose militarism and seek to reform the US's historically unethical foreign policy.
On Saturday, October 17, citizens from across Florida held a protest to “End the War Economy” in Orlando. Activists set up across the main entrance of the University of Central Florida (UCF), taking advantage of a stream of college football fans pouring into the university to watch UCF’s team take on the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes.
Activists from cities across Florida including West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, and St. Augustine held signs reading “Troops Out Now, Iraq for Iraqis,” “End All Occupation,” and “Raytheon, Merchants of Death.” Multiple participants held signs carrying the message of the day: “Healthcare Not Warfare.” In response, passerby honked and waived in support. Some asked questions as they waited at red lights. Others showed their disapproval with thumbs down, shouting “kill them all!,” or chastising activists with a variety of obscenities.
The action was organized in response to the National Assembly Against the Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan’s call for action and held in solidarity with actions taking place in more than 40 cities around the nation (War protest October 17 - October 17 Peace Demonstrations to Demand U.S. Pullout from Afghanistan). Participants in the Orlando protest represented a variety of groups including Veterans for Peace, Codepink, World Can’t Wait, Patriots for Peace, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, and Humanists for Peace.
An hour into the event a rally was held in which Debra Sweet, director one of the U.S.’s leading anti-war groups, World Can't Wait said that the U.S. needed to immediately withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, and that Bush-era officials who ordered, justified, and carried out torture of detainees needed to be prosecuted. Phil Restino, co-chair of the Central Florida Veterans for Peace, also spoke. He called on citizens to pressure politicians into enacting peaceful policies.
In addition to highlighting the anniversary of the U.S.’s invasion of Afghanistan the protest sought to the draw the public’s attention to the way in which U.S. corporations profit from war-making. As co-organizer and a representative of Humanists for Peace, I told participants that we were holding the rally across from UCF to draw attention to the connection between the university and the war economy. A mile away from the school’s main entrance, UCF’s Central Florida Research Park houses local divisions of military contractors Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. In 2007, these four corporations received $96 billion dollars in tax payer dollars via the military budget.
The Orlando action illustrated the hypocrisy of those who endorse open-ended spending on warfare, but decry increased spending on human needs such as affording healthcare coverage for all. While our government continues its open-ended spending on warfare to “keep America safe,” tens of thousands die annually due to poverty and lack of health care. Some of the largest spikes in increasing U.S. poverty rates have occurred in Florida cities such Tampa-St. Petersburg, Orlando, Bradenton, and Palm Bay, and Lakeland-Winter Haven (Associated Press, US income gap widens as poor take hit in recession).
