9/19/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Have you heard of AJ Muste (AJM)? I just found out about him this AM when I looked up, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”

I recalled that sentiment as I listened to your remarks at the UN where your economic orientation dominated your comments on how we can BUY a solution to climate change. Money cannot solve all of our problems. We have to change our hearts & minds & start changing habits.

            AJM preached against the economic emphasis, too, so much so that when he died in 1967, he was called, “America’s Gandhi.”

I hope Shawn Fain has an advisor like AJM right now to help him navigate his unprecedented strike action. AJM would tell him to stop using the rhetoric of war to unify his workers. I don’t mind phrases such as “poverty wages” & “greedy CEOs,” but calling the car companies, “the enemy,” makes me cringe! I prefer AJM’s phrase, ‘a new earth in which righteousness dwelleth.’

            I also appreciate AJM’s preference for action over theory & I hope to read his book, “ Non-Violence in an Aggressive World.”

            I was disappointed that I did not hear any mention of Burma in your UN remarks. Brazil’s Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva didn’t say anything about it either. I did like his call to promote a “culture of peace!” & was happy to hear him say “work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.” While he may have been speaking to VOZ, he could have been speaking to the junta.

            I hope your event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art tonight is a blast. I encourage you to send a last-minute invite to AOC. She’s in NYC with the climate action kids. She needs to know that you are listening to their concerns.

            BYBS,