Social and Economic Costs of Endless Wars

Friday, April 26, 2 – 5:30 pm

MIT  34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge

1:30 pm: On site Registration

2:00 pm: Welcome: The Task We Face -Jonathan King (MIT, MAPA)

2:15 pm: Opening Panel:

Chair: Prof. Sally Haslangar (MIT)

- The Costs of War – Prof. Neta Crawford (Boston University)

- The Bloated Pentagon Budget - William Hartung (Center for International Policy)

- Saudi Military Aggression in Yemen - Michael Page (Human Rights Watch)

- U.S. Interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq  – Major Danny Sjursen (U.S. Army -retired)

3:00 pm: Emerging Responses:

Chair Cole Harrison (Mass Peace Action)

- Build Bridges not Bombs; Bringing Nuclear Disarmament into the State Legislature – [Rep Nika Elugardo Mass State Legislature]

- Don’t Bank on the Bomb – Divesting from Nuclear Weapons Manufacture - Rep. Mike Connolly (Mass State Legislature)

- Bringing the Moral Revival to Massachusetts- Savina Martin (Poor Peoples Campaign)

- The Intensifying Struggle for Affordable Housing – Chuck Collins (Institute for Policy Studies)

- Massachusetts Battles to Protect and Promote Public Education - Andrew King (UMass Boston).

4:00 – Workshops:

• A) Organizing on Campuses: Facilitator, Brian Garvey, MAPA; Zac Bears (PHENOM); Alice Pote (MIT/anti-Saudi Coalition); Husayn Karimi (MIT Students Against War); Paul Shannon (AFSC).
• B) Nuclear Disarmament Initiatives: Facilitator, Joseph Gerson and Michelle Cunha; Jerrold Ross (MAPA); Prof. Aron Bernstein (MIT).
• C) Moral and People’s Budget: Connecting battles for Economic Justice with Reducing Pentagon Spending: Facilitator, Jared Hicks (Our Revolution); Andrea Burns (MAPA); Andrew King (UMass Boston); John Ratliff (Mass Senior Action); William Hartung (Institute for International Policy).
• D) The Continuing Links between Militarism and Racism: Facilitator, Rosemary Kean (MAPA); Savina Martin (Poor People’s Campaign); Caesar Mc Dowell (MIT).
• E) Mobilizing Communities of Faith: Facilitator, Keith Harvey (AFSC); Rev. Vernon Walker; Rev. Herb Taylor (Harvard-Epworth); Rev. Leslie Sterling (St. Bartholomews).

5:00: Report back from Workshops

5:30 Adjourn.

Co-sponsored  by MIT Radius (of the Technology and Culture Forum), Massachusetts Peace Action, the MIT-Saudi Arabia Divest Coalition, MIT Students Against War, AFSC, the Institute for People’s Engagement, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security.