In conclusion
Suffragists and feminists gave me the right to my home, comfortable clothes, sports, exercise, paid work, the vote, and some good women for whom to vote! Suffragists and feminists gave me the right to assemble, to speak in public, to protest, rights to a free press, certain rights to privacy, and so many protections -- Constitutional and legislative. I would be a fool to stand silent as they slip away for Bush's war.
Of course, for all of us, rights and protections are limited, flawed, and authority still abuses. Maybe most alarming, the ever shrinking "free press" is owned by an ever smaller group of voices, and, under Bush's antiterrorism legislation, several reporters are already collecting unemployment. But, to the extent these rights and protections are respected, we are more secure.
Worldwide, nations spend over $800 billion every year on military budgets. A mere $80 billion a year could provide water, sanitation, basic health, nutrition, literacy, and a minimum income to all of us. The military-industrial complex is out of control. But even more important, as a woman, I know, without liberties, even peace and life's "basics" are nothing. We must struggle on all fronts. You, my comrade activists, are the only real security.
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