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"If we take the full meaning of the term society into consideration, it will be seen that till now human beings have not been able to form a real society. If India builds a society for only Indians, Pakistan for only Pakistanis, and England for only the English, then these three separate societies will exist, but we cannot look upon them as the society of humanity. Because humanity is divided into groups, one society will naturally try to thrive by exploiting the vitality of others. �You will notice that efforts are being made to establish so-called societies in some particular part of the world, for some particular section of the people, and based on some particular 'ism" or faith. A social consciousness based on such divisions lies latent in the minds of the people, whether they are Indian, Pakistani or English, so they remain absorbed in thoughts of their smaller groups." - Shrii Prabhat R. Sarkar


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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." - Shrii Prabhat R. Sarkar

"Power concedes nothing without a demand.' The struggle for justice must never be adjourned. The forces of injustice do not take vacations. Societies are not static in this regard. They await the political and civic energies of individuals who engage the arenas of power, multiply their numbers and emblazon in deeds and institutions the immortal principle that "Here the People Rule." - Ralph Nader

...changing hearts one at a time...


And his mouth was foaming. His stomach was falling out in his hands. And I was just stricken with fear and shock and didn't know what was going on. And, as I looked down at him, he didn't say any words because he was obviously in a lot of pain. But I'm from a small town right outside of Seattle. I'm not from a big city. I've never seen anybody die. I've never seen a dead body before in my whole life. - Ricky Clousing

September 16, 2006 Sgt. Ricky Clousing speaks on his resistance to the Iraq War at Camp Democracy, National Mall, Washington, DC.

Copyright 2006 Traprock Peace Center [Excerpts]

There were a couple of instances in particular that really stood out to me and made me question my ability to perform as a soldier and question my participation not only in Iraq but in the United States military in general.

I saw one time that one of the vehicles had been hit by an IED when we were providing security down the road, making sure none of the other vehicles turned down our road. A car with a young man driving, probably 18 years old, a small maybe high-school age kid, he was going about five miles an hour and turned down our road. Once he saw American soldiers with weapons drawn, he was obviously terrified. I was the one closest to the vehicle. I was providing rear security on our convoy.

So he was about 15 feet from me. I could see it in the windshield when he was approaching us at a slow speed, and he braked immediately, took his hands off the wheel, was terrified to see a whole bunch of Americans with big weapons as you can imagine. And he immediately grabbed the steering wheel and started turning the car around trying to get out of there.

Well, one of the soldiers in the turret of the humvee behind me just opened up fire on the machine gun on the vehicle. As the vehicle was turning away, all I heard above my head was *pop pop pop pop pop. This was my first deployment, my first combat experience was that moment right then, and just the sound of machine guns going off over my head. He popped about five or six rounds in the side of the vehicle.

Myself and two of the other guys ran over to the vehicle, smashed the window, and pulled the guy out to provide first aid on him. As the medic came over, I was in shock. I couldn't believe not only that that was happening but that this guy was bleeding and getting dragged out of his vehicle in front of me.

So, as they pull him out of his car, they laid him on the ground. I was providing first aid on him. I was standing above the kid, and it was a very interesting situation I found myself in at that time, because I was looking down at this kid who had just been shot in the stomach for no reason really--he was trying to leave--and, as the soldiers were doing their policy --the proper procedure is to provide first aid on injured civilians--they were crouched down, ripping the shirt open, bandaging him, and I was still just standing there in shock, looking down at this kid, and he looked right up at me.

And his mouth was foaming. His stomach was falling out in his hands. And I was just stricken with fear and shock and didn't know what was going on. And, as I looked down at him, he didn't say any words because he was obviously in a lot of pain. But I'm from a small town right outside of Seattle. I'm not from a big city. I've never seen anybody die. I've never seen a dead body before in my whole life.

But I was looking down at this kid, this young boy who was trying to just drive around town and took a wrong turn and tried to go the other direction, was shot at and killed, and I'm looking down at him now.

And we made eye contact for about five seconds, and he just looked at me with the most empty, terrified, confused look in his face that will never leave me in my whole life I'm sure.

There was no dialogue traded between us, but I could just feel the words inside of his head, just wondering 'why did this happen and what's going on? Why does this hurt so bad? What did I do? What's happening now? I don't
understand what is going on right now.'

Really just put me in shock, and I was glued standing there. And it took me about 30 seconds to snap out of it. The guys that were providing first aid looked up at me and yelled at me to go back and pull security, and so I snapped out of it and ran over until we got him loaded in the vehicle. We drove to drop him out at one of the hospitals, and, when I got out, I went directly over there to see if he had survived or what his status was, and he had died in route to the hospital. So I was very upset that he didn't make it and that he was dead now.

Ref: GI SPECIAL 4J9 http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

Last Updated October 13, 2006 10:35 PM

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and
do not necessarily reflect those of the World Prout Assembly.

The World Prout Assembly is a non-profit organization affiliated with
Proutist Universal Global Headquarters, Kolkata, India.