Draft Resistance, Conscientious Objection, and the Poverty Draft

Summary: Two MP3's, both 64kbps

Part One: 59:34 -- 27,925 KB

Part Two: 55:03 -- 25,810 KB

This is a recording of Noah Merrill on “Draft Resistance, Conscientious Objection, and the Poverty Draft". He spoke at the Quaker Meetinghouse in Storrs, Connecticut, on November 11th, 2004. This is the first of a two-part recording.

With the war in Iraq grinding on, and the U.S. military preventing people from leaving the service, many young people in the United States have been watching out for a military draft. The legislative situation is ever-changing, but there are many ways to prepare for that possibility, and the first step is to keep informed.

Noah Merrill is the Program Coordinator of the Southeastern New England American Friends Service Committee (or “AFSC”). He has a degree in Cross-Cultural Conflict Transformation from Indiana University. He has also served as a trainer in nonviolent direct action, as an AmeriCorps Team Leader working with inner city communities addressing issues of violence, and as a human rights observer in the indigenous Mayan communities of Chiapas State, Mexico.

Noah Merrill and the AFSC in Southeastern New England conduct trainings in counter-recruitment, draft and enlistment counseling, and alternatives to military service and militarism, and these were the topics presented at this event.

It should be noted for those of you from outside the area, that the meetinghouse in Storrs is right near the main campus of the University of Connecticut system. Like Storrs and its surrounding town of Mansfield, nearly all of the people in attendance that evening were white and middle class, two demographic details that will factor into the discussion.

Noah Merrill was introduced by Shoshana Levinson.

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Relevant Links

AFSC: http://www.afsc.org

SENE-AFSE: http://www.afsc.org/sene/default.htm

CCCO: http://www.objector.org

GI Rights Hotline: 1-800-FYI-95GI (394-9544)
GIrights@objector.org
http://girights.objector.org

WRL: http://www.warresisters.org

Peace Abbey: http://www.peaceabbey.org

CCLU: http://www.cclu.org