Public awareness is shifting toward the possibility of nuclear annihilation, said David Borris of Chicago Area Peace Action at an antiwar rally Saturday in Evanston.
Two major nuclear powers no longer believe that a nuclear war cannot be won, he warned, referring to the United States and Russia.
“We are literally sleepwalking our way to unimaginable disaster,” said Borris, of Highland Park. “We’re not going to succeed in influencing the world’s politicians until we change the narrative.”
Borris was one of five speakers at “Nuclear Roulette – 80 Years on the Brink,” a peace and disarmament rally hosted by Chicago Area Peace Action and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship of Chicago at Fountain Square in Evanston on Saturday, Aug. 9.
The rally marked the 80th anniversary of the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, just three days after dropping the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan.
Sean Reynolds, another member of Chicago Area Peace Action, warned that world leaders are increasingly unstable and a nuclear war “could end our planet in a tantrum of the elites.”
“We have to understand our species is precious and the threat of nuclear war is real,” said Reynolds, of Chicago. “There is no sign leaders or voters are giving any thought to seeing human lives extinguished. And the fate worse than dying in a nuclear war is surviving it.”
Antiwar organizations need to launch a broad campaign to stop the U.S. from using nuclear weapons, he said. The hope of antinuclear negotiations succeeding is “antagonistically faint” today, Reynolds said.
“How are hopes for peace possible when our future is tied to making everybody else like us?” he said. “This is not a drill. We need to stop rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and start talking about icebergs.”
Neal Resnikoff of the Chicago Antiwar Coalition charged that the U.S. is using Ukraine as a “proxy” to eventually launch nuclear weapons in a first strike attack on Russia.
“The U.S. government acts to suppress opposition and beat back competition in the markets,” Resnikoff said. “These ruthless acts of imperialism are usually covered up by noble justifications.”
Resnikoff argued that World War II would have ended in two weeks without the use of atomic bombs in Japan. Japan was already defeated and prepared to surrender, he said.
“The U.S. broke Japanese code to learn Japan was negotiating for surrender with Russia,” Resnikoff said. “We have the responsibility to share the lessons of this ruthless killing to as many people as possible.”
Renikoff led the small crowd in chants of “No More Hiroshimas and Nagasakis” and “No to Use of Force to Settle Conflicts Between Nations.”
Borris, coordinator of the rally, said the devastation of the two bombings in Japan has “lulled” the world into a false sense of security.
“The effect of the two bombings was so horrific that the world’s conscience has not offered space for another use of such diabolical weapons – until now,” he said. “We have had the benefit of an extraordinarily long winning streak with nuclear weapons, and it won’t last forever. Our luck will run out, and we won’t get a second chance.”
David Conrad of Evanston led the crowd in a singalong of “Doing the Two Step,” a song he wrote about sacrificing self interests for the better good.
“It’s a dance of believing,” Conrad sang. “It’s a dance of forgiving. Dance to give up your tears.”
