He came apologetically. He said it was his tax dollars that were funding the war. We agreed. He said he was not ready to face the consequences of refusing to pay his taxes. We said no one was telling him to, he would have to make that decision when he was ready – if it was a decision he chose to make. In the meantime, is someone who is not willing to live by the standards they are setting for others really in a position to tell soldiers to make choices they are not ready to make, facing potential consequences they might not want to face? We wondered if he understood. She came to us after a speaking event. There had been a discussion of the consequences soldiers faced by speaking out against the war. She came determined to strengthen the position of one soldier speaking out. She said she knew the war to be illegal and therefore the soldier was right to speak as he had been doing, it was his choice. We agreed. She realized that the war had not yet been proven illegal in a court of law; even though we all concurred it had certainly shown itself to be in many of the actions taken by our administration and even some military personnel. We said it is not the responsibility of the soldiers to prosecute manipulated and deceptive policy. It is the responsibility of the soldiers to defend sound policy implemented by the Congress which represents the people whose policy the soldiers are meant to defend. Should the people have allowed the soldiers to be in a position to face the consequences so many now face? Rather than merely “supporting” the dissenting soldiers, isn’t it time for the people to stand up and demand that Congress change the policy? We wondered if she understood. It’s time to build a bridge. We drove through a small town on our way to a speaking event. For every restaurant open there were two now closed. Small town America is losing ground. The owner of the restaurant we ate in was also the cook. Her spirits were high and the history of her little café was recorded in photographs and newspaper clippings hanging in gilded frames on the walls. She smiled a thank you as we left; doing her best to hold on a little longer in a community where many had closed up shop and given in to the corporate franchises whose financial backing comes from somewhere overseas. Corporate “America” calls with the skewed voice of the illusion of success shouting temptations over the quiet sound of truth. Every day one more American gives in to the beckoning sound of money, of “getting ahead,” of security with retirement benefits all neatly spelled out in the work of creative public relations firms producing bright-colored websites, as those believing their words leave the security of tangible work for the empty promises showing little of the truth. They read graphics detailing pay scales, perfect work weeks and benefits designed to make life easy. The grass is always greener, and the hope of no more struggle leads many to a greater struggle when the truth does hit them as they clock out after three hours of overtime for the tenth day in a row, seeing home only in the darkness of a late night arrival that never had mention on the front page advertisement of the corporate giant that called their name and the money in the bank at the end of the week is nowhere near the pay scale displayed in rainbow hues on the home page of a parent corporation that doesn’t even know the worker’s name. People talk of saving America. People talk of small town communities and honoring the sacrifice of those who refuse to give in to the mega-giant conglomerates with ownership in a foreign country that doesn’t care what happens on Main Street in the heart of the USA. It’s talk, all talk and when the chips are down and the going gets tough the talk becomes more talk and it’s always someone else’s job to take up the slack while we save ourselves. We turn to the very corporations we claim to disdain and become one of them just to make a bigger buck while the door closes a little tighter on those who still keep fighting, wondering how we could have left them standing after the talk we made which led them to believe they were not going to be left there standing alone. Selling Out. Who will stand and not sell out? Who will live their talk? Who will face the struggle with more than just words, hanging in when it gets tougher; not quitting simply to save them? Who will face tomorrow even knowing how much better it would have been if someone had faced it before, leaving a legacy to build on? Who will look at the future knowing they didn’t back down simply because it seemed that no one else wanted to care? Who will take a stand and mean it? Who will keep their word? He came to us after a speaking event, telling us we must get our story into the schools. He came with a pleading voice, desperate to find a way to keep our young people from making a decision that could eventually send them to war. He said they need to hear what you have to say. We said words are not the answer if there is no program for change in the works to back them up. We cannot tell our youth not to join the military if we are not willing to raise the funds, create the programs and present the alternative in something other than idle talk. As we sellout to the highest bidder in the race to get rich, leaving small communities in the dust, forsaking the values that have helped them survive through depressions, oil busts and droughts, we leave little behind for our youth to turn to except the very corporate entities we claim to disdain. He came to us through an email, having heard our name from someone who attended a speaking event. He was getting ready to leave for Iraq and his second return for an indefinite deployment was tearing his marriage apart. He was anxious for support, and his wife was threatening to leave. They had married young, had their first child soon after and the military gave them the benefits and security they could not find anywhere else. They wanted a better life, to fulfill the dream others lived while he stood on the frontlines keeping them safe, but he saw nowhere to turn except to return to war. It is time to build a bridge. Who will help? It is time to stop the talk, to stop the futile attempts to justify our complacency by claiming it is someone else’s turn to pick up the torch and carry it further. For social change to happen, we must implement social change. It takes honest commitment to do this; it cannot simply be a vision. Some of us have risked it all to open the door for people to understand what is needed and to light the path for moving in the direction of establishing real solutions, but we can not do it alone. It will take the work of all of us together sharing the talents we have been given to build the bridge we all must walk across if we are to arrive at someplace a little closer to peace than where we now have settled. Please help us make a difference. We’ve heard the promises and we’ve walked a long way believing in the words. Please help us do what we know must be done – creating a connection between communities of people who want to survive as people, not as pawns in a corporate game of greed where the winner has the brightest web design. Please help us build a bridge. Monica is the wife of Sgt. Kevin Benderman, a ten-year Army veteran who served a combat tour in Iraq and a year in prison for his public protest of war and the destruction it causes to civilians and to American military personnel. Please visit their websites, www.BendermanDefense.org and www.BendermansBridge.org to learn more. Monica and Kevin may be reached at info@bendermansbridge.org