By Debra Sweet,
Director of The World Can’t Wait
Today, The New York Review of Books, carrying our full page ad, will start to appear in mail boxes. It will be on newsstands on the 13th. Some have asked why we chose this publication to start with.
As the Review’s website states: "With a worldwide circulation of over 135,000, The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire’s words, as ‘the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.’"
We will be reaching academics, intellectuals, and thinking people concerned about humanity across the country and around the world with this ad.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can view it here.
I am really proud that we all responded to some of the most egregious actions by the government with this statement that will challenge, alarm, inspire, and provoke people. I only hope that Glenn Beck, the Wall Street Journal, and Fox News notice and decide to make a big deal over our stand, and that we can break into the mainstream with this message.
Most importantly, though, we need more than words… we need a renewed and determined movement against these occupations, and the torture, indefinite detention, civilian killings they require.
We will continue to gather signatures and donations and try to publish this statement in other national publications. You can help, and get involved with other creative actions through worldcantwait.net. If you come up with any other ideas for how to maximize the impact of this public statement, write me!
To the person who scoffs at the NYRB ad: Do you understand the key role of intellectuals and the role of ideas in a society? Do you get the significance of the names of those who have signed the statement and the following that they have and how this represents a potentially key turning point? Do you fail to see how the right\’s use of their think tanks, pundits, intellectuals, media outlets, publishing houses, and their equivalents among the liberal and neocon hawks at the Washington Post, WSJ, and New York Times (such as Michael Ignatieff) have played a central role in justifying and popularizing the Bush Program? Do you see how in the absence of an influential alternative intellectual force that their framing of what is going on and what should go on creates the egregious policies that both the Democrats and the GOP operate within today?
While we can agree that bringing millions into the street is a major and indispensable part of what must happen, the process by which this comes about is complex. To swing a majority of people to sympathy for your position, and to trigger the direct engagement of millions to your side, requires paying major attention to the role of ideas and the power of moral authority.
Oh, and by the way, the other ads DID make a major difference. We didn\’t succeed in driving Bush from office in disgrace, but we are still determined to win this fight in the end.
OMFG! THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS?! WHOA! THIS WILL BRING OUT PEOPLE IN THE MILLIONS JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER FUCKING ADS THAT NEVER WORKED! AAAAWWWEEESSOOOOME!!!!