For me the rest of the day was about jobs. I went to a workshop on jobs where suggestions were discussed to counter the argument that the industry provides a large amount of employment and to a workshop on non-violent communication related to the jobs argument. Even the final panel discussion was about jobs.
With Copenhagen high on people's minds links between the arms industry and environmental issues were also a recurrent theme of the day. In the final panel discussion Paul Dunne from Economists for Peace and Security and Louise Hutchins of Greenpeace discussed 'Ending arms production: Is the answer blowing in the wind?' Dunne said that powerful group of invested interests in the military industry is not as important as it thinks it is for our economy: the claim that cutting military expenditure leads to loss of jobs is 'nonsense' (as a move away from military to civil expenditure is less capital intensive and therefore likely to lead to more jobs). Hutchins focused on the need for a revolution in energy production and efficiency, saying that there is an opportunity to transform our economy from one which is over-reliant on finance and the military industrial complex to one which is focused on the growth area of clean energy. To win the support of people who are suffering under the current economic crisis the argument about shifting production away from the arms industry needs to be framed in a way which is relevant for being a solution to the crisis and not about it being about the loss of arms trade jobs. We have the skill sets to turn the natural resource of the coast line into energy by building offshore wind farms, with panellists mentioning the report 'Oceans of Work: Arms Conversion Revisited' (PDF).
I think one of the most important things for me to take away from the day was the need to be positive. Quite often campaigning groups are criticized for constantly being 'against' things. Feinstein pointed out that using money for expensive unnecessary equipment meant money couldn't be spent on health care. Many of the discussions around jobs concluded that if we are to meet the challenges of climate change we need our skilled engineers to be working on solutions; not producing arms. During the day someone (sorry I can't remember who!) even suggested that maybe one of the ways this positive direction could take would be for CAAT should become 'Campaign for Alternatives to the Arms Trade'.
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