Author: David Swanson

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
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From Scranton to Ukraine, All Is Not As It Seems

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 22, 2023

Remarks in Scranton, Pennsylvania, July 22, 2023

There is something that we need to tell a great many of our friends and neighbors. It is that we have been misled. All is not as it seems.

Here we are outside what appears to be a factory where U.S. government dollars create jobs, boost the economy, and fund activities that support the important needs of the U.S. public and the people of the world. Not a bit of those appearances is real.

When government read more

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When in Rome, Do as the Americans Do?

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 12, 2023

There may be more U.S. tourists in Rome than Romans. It’s hard to get away from them — impossible if you are yourself one. But it’s a bit of a shame how they’ve taken over. Every square and street is wall-to-wall people. They’re not all American people. Some of them are Italian. Some of them are even Roman. But they all speak English. They all dress like Americans. Every bar and osteria caters to English-speaking tourists and their tastes. read more

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The Flawed Moral Logic of the New York Times on the Flawed Moral Logic of Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 10, 2023

On Monday the New York Times argued in favor of continuing the war and supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine but not cluster bombs:

“However compelling it may be to use any available weapon to protect one’s homeland, nations in the rules-based international order have increasingly sought to draw a red line against use of weapons of mass destruction or weapons that pose a severe and lingering risk to noncombatants. Cluster munitions clearly read more

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A World for Eight-Spot Butterflies

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 7, 2023

What most excites me about Julian Aguon’s book No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is that (1) there is very little indication in the cover, the blurbs, the preface, the table of contents, etc., that it opposes war, militarism, or empire, (2) but it does, and (3) people are reading it. I’m aware that only small numbers of people read any books, but this is a short little book, and it’s clearly aimed at people who care about art, read more

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Cruelty to Immigrants Is Cruelty to Children

Some books shouldn’t have to exist, but you’re glad they do. This one describes a whole field of work — using art-creation to help kids in Arizona and Southern California deal with trauma created by anti-immigrant policies and attitudes — which shouldn’t have to exist, but you’re glad it does. The book is called Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance Among Immigrant Children by Sylvia Rodriguez Vega. The author has worked with kids in school classes, helping them to create read more