The Peace Education Centers will hold a community b-ball fundraiser for veterans as an alternative to MSU's game on the USS Carl Vinson on Veteran's Day
The PEC issued this statement:
Supporting and entertaining troops is fine, but this college basketball event does not seem appropriate at a time when many soldiers and innocent civilians are suffering after ten long years of war. Playing a college sporting event on a battle-ready aircraft carrier serves to make ‘war’ seem innocent and fun.
The Peace Education Center has scheduled an alternative basketball game on Friday, Nov. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Avenue in Lansing. The “Nets for Vets Basketball Benefit” will raise money for the Volunteers of America (VOA) Veterans Services. Donations will be accepted at the door. The public is invited. All veterans attend for free.
The PEC Peacemakers will play the NorthStar Center Troublemakers in a basketball challenge match between the two community organizations. The halftime show will feature the PEC Pep Band.
The Peace Education Center considers flying two basketball teams across the continent, and using an aircraft carrier costing billions of dollars as a basketball court embarrassingly frivolous when:
- College students are staggering under record levels of debt.
- Millions of Americans are losing their homes and jobs.
- The U.S. is spending vast sums on perpetuating war at a time when important domestic lifelines are being cut.
- Troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering and dying and the public barely pays attention.
- Soldiers are suffering multiple deployments over ten long years of war, with suicide, drug abuse and homelessness at record-high levels.
- Health care for all citizens is viewed as ‘too expensive,’ and even health benefits for veteran sare being considered for cuts.
- About half of U.S.federal tax dollars go to the military. The U.S. military is larger than the militaries of the rest of the world combined.
The PEC statement goes on to say:
The aircraft carrier game is a media event that we feel glorifies militarism and trivializes the devastation of two wars. Our pick-up game is a community event that calls attention to, and supports, veterans who are living with the consequences of war. Many veterans remain homeless and lack proper health care and other needed services.
