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November 29, 2025 Reminder: The Los Alamos Study Group is showing and discussing "A House of Dynamite" tomorrow, 11/30/25 at the Guild Cinema at 12:30 pm Dear friends -- We will be showing the worthwhile and educational "A House of Dynamite" (trailer) tomorrow, 11/30/25, at the Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave. NE in Albuquerque (map), at 12:30 pm. There is no charge for admission. We hope those of you who live in or near Albuquerque will be able to attend. Even if (or especially if) you have already seen the film, please come if you can. And please invite your friends. It is amazing how few people do this. People unconsciously assume we can reach many people with a notice like this. We can't. At first we praised the film for its technical accuracy, fine acting, and for the excellent questions it raised. After showing and discussing the film at three locations in northern New Mexico (Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Taos), we are used to the realism and fine acting, but the questions raised by the film seem more significant and powerful than ever. The film is perfect for high school and university classroom use, when presented by teachers who are ready to call out the implicit questions deftly incorporated in the screenplay, questions that hang in the air long after viewing. Our notion of education about nuclear weapons, by the way, is one that involves active citizenship, i.e. education for effective moral action in the public sphere. It also involves "education" (in the broad sense) of those who hold decision-making authority. (I almost wrote "power," but along with Hannah Arendt, let's reserve power for what appears when people act together in the political sphere. What upholds the nuclear state is something else, or rather a few something elses.) What we mostly see around us in New Mexico is a kind of colonial education system, right through university studies, which typically prepare students for their humble places within the existing power structure, one where nuclear weapons and all they entail are fully accepted and indeed praised. For many, nuclear weapons become not just unassailable facts of life but sought-after ways of life -- or more accurately ways of death. "And all the Arts of Life. they changd into the Arts of Death in Albion," sang the prophetic Blake. We don't see any resistance in New Mexico. We have been full-time peace and disarmament activists since 1992, and the present historical moment is the all-time nadir of peace activism in this state. We see none at UNM, and none anywhere else for that matter. The Democratic Party, which long ago had an antiwar wing, continues to support the meat-grinder in Ukraine and makes only gestures to stop the horrendous genocide in Gaza and the looming war in Venezuela. Our own congressional delegation is pro-war and pro-nuclear-weapons. They smile through the crocodile tears they summon for victim groups, so valuable for distracting audiences from these representatives unwavering support for the nuclear-military complex and its wars. No one is holding them accountable. That said, there is significant support for nuclear disarmament in society right now, as a very recent YouGov poll illustrates ("Most Democrats and one-third of Republicans think it’s likely the U.S. will get into a nuclear war in the next decade") (details). There is for example considerable support for partial unilateral disarmament, and essentially no support for the arms race in which we currently find ourselves. This gives us a lot to work with. If you want to work with us, call or write us at the address below. There is no better or more needful time. If you can't come, and haven't seen the film, we hope you will take the opportunity to do so (it is still streaming on Netflix), preferably with others interested in discussing what you have seen. More soonest on the main mailing list; until then Greg, for the Study Group Permalink for this letter (posting may not be instant); prior activist letters. |
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