Activists rally to end warfare, fix health care

Only a few remained in the stands as activists and concerned citizens representing uninsured Americans and fallen soldiers lay on the ground outside Austin City Hall on Saturday afternoon at the “Healthcare NOT Warfare” rally.

The rally, which marked the 8th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, protested the war and called for affordable health care with music, poetry and speeches from veterans and other anti-war organizations.

Roscoe Overton, chairman of the Austin Center for Peace and Justice, said the event was a way to bring the community together and to lead by example.

The Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupation, a UT organization, was represented along with CodePink, an anti-war, pro-health care organization that focuses on mobilizing women— the International Socialist Organization and other groups.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, said health care is a human right and nobody should profit monetarily from it.

“We want to be a culture that celebrates life, not a culture that causes death,” she said to the animated crowd. “We must keep fighting.”

The crowd enthusiastically applauded and shouted words of encouragement to the guest speakers.

The presenters all touched on the importance of cutting military spending to improve the health care system in the U.S. According to a speech made by President Barack Obama, $533.7 billion will go to the Department of Defense in 2010, while $76.8 billion will be appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Bobby Whittenberg, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran, also said that health care is a human right.

“How is it that we can afford to kill people, but we cannot afford to heal people?” he asked the crowd.

Whittenberg, who grew up in a conservative, religious home, said that through his experiences in the service, he came to see the injustices of war and now identifies with anarchistic and communistic ideals.

“I have a real sense of urgency about bringing liberation of justice to the people and building a world based on love, not hate,” he said.

Comments

3 comments

What-a-crock

Tue Oct 20 2009 12:26

Bobby, missed the point. The government's tit is not voluptuous enough to provide everything that someone declares to be a "human right." The current recession is largely due to the policy that everyone in the U.S. has a right to own a home (a.k.a. the American Dream) regardless of their inability to pay the mortgage. The government (Dems and Repubs) have spent the U.S.Taxpayers into many TRILLIONS in debt. It is a "human right" to grow-up, get a job, and be responsible for your own life---including your own health care and buying your own a house WITHOUT the government's tit.

Bobby

Tue Oct 20 2009 05:03

Yeah, because having your basic needs met is exactly the same as having a luxury car and a quarter million dollar house. With all the people dying from the lack of BMWs and quarter million dollar homes, your comparison is totally valid.

What-a-crock

Mon Oct 19 2009 13:32

Health care is a human right? Maybe it is also a 'human right' to have a $250,000 house and a new BMW at taxpayers' expense, too.

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out