By Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph.D., Anthropology, UCLA
CONGRESS CRIMINALIZED DISSENT VIA SEDITION AND ESPIONAGE ACTS
In 1917–1918, lawmakers criminalized honest speech against war policy. Officials arrested critics. Judges handed down harsh sentences. Postal authorities blocked anti-war newspapers. The First Amendment sat ignored while elected leaders punished people of conscience.
Howard Zinn wrote: “During war, government needs control over the population; it achieves that control by silencing dissent.” [Zinn, pp. 30, 137, 144]. “Domination waves flags while it gags truth. Democracy collapses without free breath.”
An activist woman, Anna, faced a crowd and declared: War profiteers fear truth more than enemy bullets. Whenever courts stand with repression, repression spreads.“Speech that questions war protects democracy.
The domination mindset, our heritage from the Anunnaki, loves obedience and hierarchy, but the partnership orientation of women like Anna honors conscience and truth.
COURTS DEFENDED THE CRACKDOWNS
Judges upheld convictions against those who challenged wartime policy. In Schenck v. United States, the Court claimed that speech can create “clear and present danger.” In Abrams, the Court again supported punishment of dissenters.
Even Justice Holmes—though dissenting later—still spoke within a war logic framework. The message from power rings clear: war needs silence, and domination demands unity, not wisdom. Partnership awareness defends conscience, not silence.
PRIOR RESTRAINT?
Officials move beyond punishment after the fact. They attempt prior restraint—censorship before publication. War rhetoric functions as the justification. Once leaders invoke “security,” domination gains a blank check.
Howard Zinn warns that “governments lie and newspapers print the lies when whole nations go to war.”
Military authorities maintain far tighter speech restraints than civilian agencies. Service members risk punishment when they question policy or reveal wrongdoing. Oversight remains weak. A strict obedience culture replaces open inquiry.
Howard Zinn reminds us that “The battlefield always expands to include the citizens at home.”
OUR MILITARY CONTROLS SPEECH EVEN MORE, WITH NO CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT
When military power expands, honest voices retreat unless citizens defend them.
Activist woman Nadia, mother of a young corporal, spoke out, Our children deserve truth, not gag orders.
Domination worships command. Partnership honors moral courage.
PERSECUTION OF EUGENE DEBS AND THE AMERICAN SOCIALIST PARTY
Federal officials targeted Eugene Debs because he spoke for peace and worker dignity. He stood before audiences across the Midwest and declared that workers have the right to question war. He reminds listeners that democracy requires dissent. The government reacted with fury. Prosecutors charged him under the Espionage Act for criticizing the draft. A judge sentenced him to ten years in federal prison. Crowds still gathered, because their love for Debs never fades. His message traveled from town to town even while he sat behind bars. Supporters placed his name on the presidential ballot in 1920. Almost a million citizens voted for him anyway. War fever cannot crush conscience.
Howard Zinn writes that “Debs spoke for those without power and paid the price for it.” The Socialist Party called for social justice, workplace democracy, peace, and dignity for all citizens. Government agents raided party offices, seized papers, and arrested leaders. Loyalists faced job loss and public shaming. Free speech bent under the weight of state power. Domination fears anyone who tells working people that their voices matter. Activist woman Clara told a street meeting, “When they jail Debs, they jail part of America’s heart.”
Domination insists on obedience at any cost; Domination obedience is challenged when Partnership trusts conscience — even in wartime. Debs went to prison for anti-war speech, yet never surrendered conscience.
VIETNAM, IRAQ, AND THE WAR MACHINE
During the Vietnam era, federal agencies harassed critics. Employers threatened activists. Journalists who questioned the official narrative faced exclusion and ridicule. Later, during the buildup to the Iraq War, déjà vu arrived. Intelligence distortions spread. The media amplified them. Critics lost jobs, platforms, and safety. Zinn, however, wrote, Protesters, do not damage democracy; war makers damage it.
Truth packs its suitcase whenever the empire prepares for war.
Joy, a nurse who spoke at a town hall, said, Peace grows only from honest speech.
Domination markets war. Partnership nurtures healing.
THE PENTAGON PAPERS: TRUTH BREAKS THROUGH THE WAR CURTAIN
Defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg studied classified documents. He discovered deception at every level: leaders expanded war while privately admitting failure. Ellsberg made a moral choice: truth outranks career and privilege. He shared the papers with The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The Nixon White House erupted with rage. Officials launched smear campaigns. They burglarized Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office and demanded prior restraint from the courts. But the Supreme Court ruled — in New York Times v. United States (1971) — that the First Amendment forbids government censorship before publication except under the narrowest conditions. The horrid truthes of America’s war crimes in Nam reached the public thanks to Ellsberg’s courage. [Zinn, op. cit. pp. 218, 221, 230]
Ellsberg said, My courage cames from love of truth, not from hatred of enemies.”
Domination hides. Partnership illuminates. Truth about war belongs to the people — always.”
TRUMP ERA: POWER CHALLENGES PRESS LEGITIMACY
During the Trump period, he attacked journalists. He branded the press “enemy of the people.” Critics faced loyalty tests. Whistleblowers feared prosecution. Censorship language — treason, sedition, enemy — filled the air. His rhetoric came straight from war culture. But, as Zinn wrote long ago: “Dissent does not mean disloyalty; dissent means loyalty to humanity.”
When leaders frame dissent as treason, can democracy still breathe? Activist woman Serena responded, We claim free voice — especially when power snarls.
Domination confuses obedience with patriotism. Partnership defines loyalty as honesty.
PARTNERSHIP CONSCIOUSNESS: THE PEOPLE REFUSE SILENCE
Throughout history, women, veterans, students, clergy, and workers defended speech when war threatened it.
Partnership consciousness rises wherever love outranks fear. The Great Goddess voice speaks for compassion, humanity, accountability, and truth. Women, veterans, students, clergy, and workers defend speech when war threatens it.
Speech keeps democracy alive. Silence feeds empire. “No empire outranks conscience. Domination demands silence. Partnership sings truth.
REFERENCE
Zinn,H., 2003, Passionate Declarations, pp. 30, 137, 144, 218, 221, 230.
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