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Somerville resident and peace activist Christopher Spicer Hinckley addressed the Board of Alderman last week, sharing his feelings on the importance of nuclear disarmament.
By Jim Clark
At last week’s regular meeting of the City of Somerville Board of Aldermen, a resolution urging the US government to take steps to avoid nuclear war, such as renouncing the first use of nuclear weapons, taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, and ending the unchecked authority of the President to launch a nuclear attack was voted on and approved.
The resolution, originally sponsored by Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang and signed onto by Alderman At-Large Mary Jo Rossetti, Alderman At-Large Wilfred N. Mbah, Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen, Ward 2 Alderman J.T. Scott, reads in full as follows:
“WHEREAS: Nine nations collectively have approximately 15,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenals, most of which are far more destructive than those that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945; and
WHEREAS: The detonation of even a small number of these weapons would have catastrophic human and environmental consequences that could affect everyone on the planet; and
WHEREAS: The United States maintains several hundred nuclear missiles in underground silos on hair-trigger alert, capable of being launched within minutes after a presidential order, which greatly increases the risk of an accidental, mistaken or unauthorized launch; and
WHEREAS: The United States continues to reserve the right by formal, stated policy to use nuclear weapons first, which reduces the threshold for nuclear use and makes a nuclear war more likely; and
WHEREAS: The U.S. President has the sole and unchecked authority to order the use of nuclear weapons; and
WHEREAS: Over the next 30 years, the United States plans to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion to replace its entire nuclear arsenal and the bombers, missiles and submarines that deliver them with more capable, more usable versions; and
WHEREAS: Taxpayers spend over $2 million every hour of every day to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal; and
WHEREAS: The United States, as well as Britain, China, France and Russia, are obligated under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to take concrete steps toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS: In July 2017, 122 nations approved the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which makes it illegal under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, or otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Somerville Board of Aldermen calls on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:
- renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;
- ending the sole, unchecked authority of any U.S. President to launch a nuclear attack;
- taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert;
- cancelling the plan to replace its entire arsenal with enhanced weapons; and
- actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this resolution be communicated to Somerville’s U.S. representative and senators in Congress.”
Prior to hearing from guest speaker Christopher Spicer Hinckley and taking a vote on the resolution, Alderman Niedergang addressed the matter, telling the Board, “Generally, we don’t get into what’s viewed as foreign policy in this body. But I will argue, I think, and Mr. Hinckley will too, this is something that affects all of us.”
Niedergang then read from a news report on the U.S. pulling out of a long standing arms treaty with Russia based on the claim that the Kremlin breached the accord on intermediate range weapons.
Niedergang also cited a Massachusetts Peace Action Newsletter article from November, 2017, reporting on a conference entitled Presidential First Use of Nuclear Weapons: Is It Legal? Is It Constitutional? Is It Just?
“So this affects us because our money is going for this. Yours and mine and everybody in Somerville,” Niedergang said. “Our tax dollars that we pay to the federal government is going to pay for these nuclear weapons programs.”
Mr. Hinckley, a Somerville resident a peace activist, then addressed the Board, expressing his thoughts on the matter saying, in part, “Today, the story is in league with a movement of people. Ploughshares, they’re called, out of the second chapter of Isaiah. And the fourth verse is, ‘We shall turn our swords into ploughshares and we shall train for war no more.’ It’s a faith filled pledge that God has given to the people of peace. And this is a banner of the ploughshares.”
Hinckley went on to briefly review the history of the disarmament movement and emphasize the importance of disarmament in the modern era.
After Hinckley’s address, Alderman At-Large Mary Jo Rossetti expressed her support for the resolution as presented to the Board.
Alderman At-Large William A. White Jr. told the Board that he had reservations about the resolution, explaining his view that the complicated nature of arms negotiations, coupled with the latest advances in Russia’s capabilities for delivering nuclear weapons to selected targets was a matter of concern for him.
“That’s not in my pay grade,” White said. “If I were going to vote on this, I would have to listen to foreign policy experts, etc. There are a lot of issues on this.”
White indicated that he would not attempt to block passage of the resolution, but that he would not be voting in favor of it.
Niedergang countered that “the U.S. is the most powerful military force in the world, much more so than back when this policy of first use of nuclear weapons was developed.” He further asserted that there was no defense against a nuclear weapon being delivered and that they are only used for deterrence and that any first strike capabilities would not be used by a sane leadership.
The resolution was passed by a majority of the Board members present, with Alderman White and Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne abstaining.
The resolution will be referred to the city’s representative in Congress for further action.
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I too would like to avoid being consumed by the fiery death cloud of an atom bomb, but please let’s not go down the route of passing symbolic resolutions over things we have no control over.
I’m as Left as they come and this feels like meaningless virtue signalling so that electeds can say how leftist they are to people like me.
One actual step the Board could take would be to divest any and all city contracts from corporations which have a role in the construction of nuclear weapons. That would be more than symbolic and I’d support it.
But if not, let’s please get back to the work of fixing the affordable housing crisis, the fact that our city workers haven’t had a raise in 7 years, ensuring that Tufts & Partners Healthcare pay a fair amount under PILOT agreements and not a tiny tiny percentage of the real estate taxes they’d be on the hook for.
The world is heading for nuclear war. The pattern of history is being fulfilled.
• Power, (manifested as interest) was present in very conflict in history – no exception. It is the underlying motivation for war. Interest cuts across all apparently unifying principles: family, kin, nation, religion, ideology, politics – everything. We unite with the enemies of our principles, because that is what serves our interest. It is the one thing we will destroy ourselves for, as well as everyone else.
• History shows that every civilization/nation eventually gets the war it is trying to avoid: utter defeat. This applies as much today as any other time in history.
• Leaders and decision-makers delude themselves, thinking they can avoid their fate – they can’t. If survival is threatened, there is no alternative to war, however destructive.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
There is a benefit for all of us when the BOA expends their time on silly initiatives such as this. It means that they’re spending less time developing more silly harmful policies.
Good for ORS Steering Committee member Matt Miller for calling out a a new BOA that ORS had influence in getting elected. Irony aside, as Matt says, these largely *symbolic resolutions* have what place in this little fish pond of 80K Somerville residents represented by 11 BOA members who should be looking to local Somerville concerns to work on rather than wasting time on national and international political posturing which makes no difference whatsoever[ unless, as Matt notes, they get to actual reality with divestment ideas, for example].
But such posturing has become too common. Will Mbah, for example, introduced a resolution about Cameroon. But there’s no picking on Will here when many in the BOA have been guilty of it, and especially the newer ones like Ben, JT, Jesse, and Stephanie, and supported by older members like Mark, Matt, and Lance. While credibility appears to exist more with Katjana, Mary Jo, and Bill, this current *take themselves ever so seriously* pretentiousness leaves their left wing weak and hollow, because if we can’t trust them with time wasting on posturing, then how can we trust them with major social concerns? It does beg this question.
It begs a question when Ward 3’s Ben E-C suggests that residents call 311 about potholes and such and quit bothering him with ‘trivial’ matters. It begs a question when Stephanie postures that geek think tanks at City Hall are a possible solution to arrive at answers, where, like Stephanie, we’d get more geeks with more abstract questions that don’t get to answers. And will JT ever explain how he got from being a Republican to a Socialist so quickly, and as Curtatone did when he stated that he wasn’t going to get elected to the BOA as a Republican, so he switched to become a Democrat.
No, this is NOT a call to get the old BOA back, crooks as some of them were, and where the Mayor was second only to Boston’s Tom Menino in campaign financing, and where much came from developers, their lawyers, their architects, and other assorted *characters*[ Go look up his past records for campaign contributions which he received.]
And while Mr Miller does well with this article, there are many in ORS than might take some responsibility for those who did get elected, because we had no choice when it’s the old *bad* one v the new *good* one, and when the new ones leave much to be desired. A solution?
One BOA race in the more distant past had 27 candidates. In today’s more apathetic political climate a few candidates per seat would be a start, and when one ORS backed candidate when there was ONLY one candidate seems not to be a solution. And the millennial voters fell for it thinking any ORS candidate mouthing *I’m Bernie* would be the best thing since sliced bread. However, who has seen these millennial voters since? So very few attend city political meetings. But this isn’t so different from before, when people voted at election times and then went about their regular lives. So, what to do?
Many more people might get involved. But there’s no great reward with a BOA job at $40K which promises little other than long hours. So while criticism has been applied to many on the BOA–new and old–they did step up to take the job on. How they did is for voters to decide. But individuals who got elected on Bernie’s coattails might be assessed more as individual people. Why would we trust an *Our Revolution* that became dominated by a few members of ORS like Rand, Matt, Jon, Mike, Penelope, Ben and co, to become *Their Revolution*, and that of the *few*, and to have significant influence on new BOA members who they helped elect. And where conversations about affordable housing–for one example–are determined by such few people who may, or may not, know much about what they talk about.
Enough of political posturing.
Perhaps there are some people out there who might run for office as independent individuals who can think for themselves? It would be better if we had representation from both those stereotypes of *Old* and *New* Somerville. Or individuals like Denise Provost and Tom Taylor in the past, but where are their like today? I think that there’s some of you out there, but will you come forward when the carrot is low pay, long hours, and little recognition? And where this is not an *anybody but Trump* type sentiment: it’s a where are the insightful, sensible, down to earth folks with balanced adult personalities?
But before all get caught up with this new BOA, or with the old BOA, and the upsides and downsides to, one person they have in common is still the Mayor, the problem child of all the problem children. Anyone want the job? Pays $180K with benefits. But, unlike Peyton last time, you need to be viable and you need to be seen as such. There are people out there–more than a few of you–so who wants it? And sad to say that a little ass kissing to around 6 BOA members and a like number on ORS’ Steering Committee could be enough for an endorsement that wins the job. *Sad to say.* Or will some truly independent spirit step up who isn’t beholden to one group or another? This is one time where *anyone but Curtatone* can hold up in similar fashion to *anyone but Trump*, and where ORS and their millennial voters would feel the need to respond.
Whatever happens on Nov 6th, there’s another year for this equation to play out. I hope some people do step up to be candidates, because last time we had so little choice, and where *good* and *bad* have, in hindsight, sure gotten blurred. *Old crooks* and *new fools* are hardly symbolic of social reality. So leave the stereotypes and the symbols out of it, and start looking at what each person is, and what they have done in office. Aside from a bunch of chatting, that is.
What if the answer to solving the affordable housing crisis is to build more homes? Ugh. And what if the VAST majority of new homes are built by for-profit housing developers? Double ugh. It’s like you’re saying we live in a market economy or something. God, reality bites. Let’s pass resolutions about Cameroon, the Year of the Bird, nuclear demilitarization, and block parties. But look at my newsletter!! I supported a new tax that didn’t get passed. That’s gotta count for something. There’s more where that came from, just you wait for my next Big Idea. I like the poors too, unless my union friends need something. Also, I hate Trump. I tweet all the time about it… Quick, look over there!!
terrific! keep it up!
harold burbank
tufts alium
human rights lawyer
canton, CT