The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, November 7, 1972 :: University of Virginia Library

(The following is an account
of a speech delivered by
Sanford Gottlieb, Executive
Director "a citizens group
for a sane world," SANE. Mr.
Gottlieb, who spoke on
October 24, was in town to
dedicate the newly founded
Charlottesville - Albemarle
Peace Center.–Ed.)

Sanford Gottlieb stood
before the small, graying
audience, slowly pacing here
and there as he spoke. A few
steps. A pivot. A look into the
crowd. And then the
words–calm and controlled,
yet behind every quiet phrase
there was an unmistakable
quiver of suppressed rage.

Gottlieb was without mercy
as he attacked what he
labeled, "the military,
industrial, congressional, labor
union, academic think tank
complex."

He pummeled the fat,
wasteful monopolies that
execute the government's
defense contracts. Due to a
lack of competition, these large
companies have grown
inefficient to the point of
wasting millions of tax dollars
a year. He matter-of-factly
explained that Lockheed
Aircraft's C-5 jet gave birth to
3227 defects in 6 months–just
in the landing gear. The
audience laughed an
embarrassed laugh.

The Lockheed Corporation
was likened to a dinosaur that
ambles up to the steps of
Congress and warns, "if you
don't feed me I'm going to die
right here." And because
Lockheed and other such
corporations "pack a lot of
clout", the Congress continues
to fatten them up while the
rest of the nation's ribs are
showing.

As I listened to his words, I
pictured the military-industrial
complex as something akin to
the Blob in the old science
fiction movie–a seemingly
infinite, stimy, black mass that
pitches and rolls its way across
America, destroying everything
in its path.

The mother of this
uncontrollable monster was the
belief that we were good and
the Commies were bad, and the
best way to stop the Commies
was by strengthening our
military might. Mr. Gottlieb
lamented that although we
already have a 3 to 1 lead in
nuclear weapons over the
U.S.S.R., we continue to waste
millions a year on new
weapons systems. The great
Communist threat. First it was
Vietnam, and after Vietnam
Gottlieb says, "I'm convinced
that the Pentagon will come up
with an Albanian threat."

Then Sanford Gottlieb
expressed his greatest fear.

"We have built the ramparts
and behind the ramparts is a
decaying society. If we don't
turn the corner (to a sane
military policy) by 1980, then
we'll be dealing at home with a
very different kind of war.
We'll have a civil war in our
ghettos and cities, with black
against white and rich against
poor."

My stomach doubled over
with a sick, sinking anxiety.
These were not the words of a
maniacal fatalist. These were
the words of a man who has
traveled around America for
decades, and who knows this
nation's pulse better than most
other men.

He continued.

"The hour is late. I think
we have about one decade left
to live in this country. I think
we have one decade of
civilization left."

Mr. Gottlieb:"It Ain't Rosy"

Gottlieb had succeeded in
saddening the audience. They
sat in their seats, their faces
distraught, concerned, looking
very much like the imaginary
faces of the God-fearing
founders of our nation. They
wanted to know what could be
done.

Sanford Gottlieb offered
two choices. We could say that
it was all too complicated, too
difficult; and that no one man
could stop the massive military
machinery. Gottlieb dared the
audience to give up and simply
warned, "Just be prepared to
face the consequences."

The other alternative
presented by the SANE director
was to pursue sustained,
organized action. "We're up
against massive power, and the
only kind of power we have is
what we organize ourselves. To
end the system, it takes
continued, organized action.
And if you're not prepared to
do it, then forget it." We may
not change things, "But you
can be sure that the other side
will certainly get their way."

"If I had to pick a slogan,
and I don't like slogans, then
I'd say staying power."

"It ain't rosy. It's grim. I'm
prepared to go on fighting. I
get paid for it. Like I said, I'm
a lucky guy."

Concerned Charlottesvillians,
said Gottlieb, could
join SANE. Perhaps most
importantly, Gottlieb and the
evening's other speakers invited
the audience to join the
Charlottesville-Albemarle Peace
Center.

The purpose of the Peace
Center, founded by members
of the Charlottesville United
Ministry, is "to coordinate,
facilitate, and inform citizens
in their quest for peace on all
levels of human life."

Anyone interested in
pursuing the elusive dove
should call Rev. Howard
Gordon at 296-8849.