Dear CCI Friends,
To those of you who have participated directly in our face-to-face diplomacy both across Russia and here in our American cities, we are so grateful to you. Also, many thanks to those of you who have become informal educators, resending CCI’s educational emails to your colleagues, friends and families. We greatly appreciate your notes and support for our joint missions to create a better educated and safer world in the immediate future!
Best Wishes to You for a
Wonderful Creative Year in 2019
upon which we are now embarking!
I wonder if you are deeply grateful, as I am, that our planet has survived this past tumultuous year?
Given the numbers of surrogate war-making threats and incursions in numerous areas of the world, i.e. Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, the Baltic states and others … we are lucky that none have ignited an all-consuming conflagration. Perhaps parity of nuclear weapons and instant delivery systems maintained the tenuous peace between the two nuclear giants of the world––our nation and Russia. For whatever the reasons, I’m deeply grateful that we have a bit more time ahead to develop beyond the warring mentalities among us.
Traveling around the U.S., I continue to be so impressed with the sheer goodness of ordinary American citizens. This year I visited Rotary clubs, witnessed over a hundred fathers signing up to volunteer at a lower-income school and others volunteering to benefit local disadvantaged children and families. I’ve witnessed men, women and their children raising funds to serve the needs in their communities.
We are a nation of good people … yet most of our people aren’t educated in international issues. In places of power, a very thin layer of VIP’s make decisions about war-making that our good-hearted citizens would never knowingly permit if all the facts could be known. Our mainstream media justifies such decision making to grow their careers or keep their positions. If they don’t, they lose jobs and seldom get hired in their profession. In polls Americans indicate they don’t trust the U.S. media … yet with little education on international issues, our people absorb “enemy making” without questioning it.
VIP’s feel they must maintain the U.S. as the invincible #1 nation in the world, with the right to decide how other countries are run and others are invaded. Google “The Wolfowitz Doctrine” and understand how this “right to interfere” in other countries is justified. Our media propagates memes on news channels, in daily newspapers and weekly/monthly magazines. This is patently dangerous to our futures and the future of other countries.
Starting in 2019, what can we personally do to create a more ‘just nation’, a less war-torn world, fewer refugees and a safer planet for our children and grandchildren to inhabit?
You and I must become formal and informal public educators in this new year ahead. We need to take responsibility for circulating truthful memes throughout our society. We need to experiment with ways to inform/educate friends, family and colleagues.
In order to assist us all in 2019, we plan to:
• Develop and send to you “backgrounders” on hot spots.
• Develop sophisticated handouts and computer versions to give or send to others.
• Make available video & slide presentations with current images, data and people.
• “Travel as Citizen Diplomats: Speak in the Kremlin––2019.”
• RMMA for Russians to visit American cities to discuss US-Russia relations.
Let us commit in 2019 to educate ourselves and others through the above activities. Let us join with many others to stand for pulling out of all current wars, begin the work of rebuilding war-torn countries, practicing goodwill and self rule to set the stage for a different world from this year forward.
Blessings to you as you move into this fresh New Year ahead!
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives