Picture the Washington Mall filled with people protesting the move toward war by the Trump Administration. Polls show that over two-thirds of Americans do not want war. But it would be hard to mount an actual march on Washington. That would take time and organization. We might not have time. War could start anytime.

So, what we need now is a VIRTUAL march on Washington. We need computer programmers to visualize a simulated Washington Mall in a way that will allow protesters at home to send an avatar to stand in the virtual Washington Mall in protest against the real threat of war. As the program goes viral, the empty mall will begin to fill with protesters. It will be different from an ordinary online petition effort. It will be visual. It will make it easy to see that the masses oppose going to war.

We need this because large numbers of people are anxious about Trump and Kim playing chicken with nuclear weapons but need an easy way to express their fear. A protest after a war has begun would be meaningless, especially if the war goes nuclear. There needs to be some mode of expression that can go viral quickly now.

I am writing to you to urge you to use your leadership and your resources to find programmers who could make this happen. It should not be too expensive nor take too long to build, test and put out to the world.

The program could be kept simple, providing only a visualization of a march with others in Washington. Or it could have supplementary activities, like teach-in materials about the backgrounds to the situation in Korea and Iran, visualisations of the impact of nuclear war, materials on the history of the Constitutional power to declare war, legislation to restrict a president from launching a preemptive nuclear first strike, etc. It could be part of a complex of activities, quizzes, message boards and other activities to engage people in an effort to stop the world from sleepwalking towards war.

I am writing to you and to other groups who might be interested in taking this idea and running with it. I do not have the resources to bring this into reality. But some of you might. I have set up VirtualMarch@Googlegroups.com to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas and activities so that people do not unnecessarily duplicate efforts. If you have any interest in this idea, please do let me know either by email or through Google Groups.

Peace.

Jock McClellan