On poverty

So many in this world are poor.  In the US income inequality is growing, as the national discussion of the 99% and the 1% indicate. 

Poverty's sorry companions are hunger and disease.  Each contributes to the other, in a downward spiral through misery to heartbreak and death.  I mention heartbreak becuse the weak suffer more and across the globe, that means children.

Most of the world lives this way, especially in our planet's southern hemisphere.  We in the northern hemisphere must look at ourselves.  Our governments exploit their governments.  The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from the system - the laws and luck of a culture. 

Here is a website that explains the problems pretty well.  

Now...what to do, what to do?  Buy local.  Buy fair trade.  Buy less.  Give generously.  Very generously. 

Peace and justice, y'all

Molly

Peacemaking on Halloween

I have a sweet idea for Halloween. I am in the phase of life of having little trick or treaters visit my home, not escorting one of those little duffers. I wince over the trash this holiday creates and the escalating decoration, plus the tragic waste of food--pumpkin is a food after all.

I learned recently about "reverse trick or treating." That's when kids give adults a small piece of fair trade chocolate taped to a card with the hard facts of child slavery in cocoa-growing areas.

I am going to order little pieces of fair trade chocolate and make my own card. It will say something like

Hey, parents! Did you know that most of the chocolate you child collects tonight was grown in tropical areas by slaves who are children just a few years older than your own precious child? Mainstream chocolate companies don't want to tell you that. Using disposable slaves keeps costs down and profits up. This little bit of chocolate was made by adult workers who have decent conditions and get a fair wage. Enjoy this morsel

Visit www. I'll find the websites .

How does that sound?

Stuffed and Starved

Yesterday I finished reading Raj Patel's "Stuffed and Starved." Enlightening, showing how all the dots connect to food, poverty, and power on our planet. Raj is not American, and I truly valued the perspective of America's role in the world. Sobering.

The fear of the restless masses destabilizing governments and threatening the bottom line for businesses has made the poor poorer and the rich richer. The poor grow our food, the rich profit from their labors. On the receiving end, the poor cannot afford good healthy food. Instead they are subjected to subsidized, processed crap, cheap carbs, high fructose corn syrup, soy, etc. So as this unhealthy diet spreads, so does diabetes and heart disease.

There are so many things wrong with this picture it would, and did, fill a book. Raj Patel's to be precise.

His prescription is a blend of what I'm starting to do already (locavorism, eating lower on the food chain, CSA, fair trade...), which are personal actions, and the group actions that are so much more challenging-- using those wonderful rights in the USA's First Amendment

Speech
Press
Religion
Assembly
Petitioning the government.

My birthday gift to USA is to flex these rights. That which we exercise gets stronger.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Where I am right now

Just reminded myself to start wherever I am, which is at this moment, in my dining room. So I am going to turn up the thermostat a few degrees, because just as we do outdoors, we should use clothing to regulate our comfort rather than electricity.

Now I want to share the preamble to the platform of the state Democratic platform. It resonates with me and I hope you too.

We are Democrats, the party of the people. We believe in teh values of community, dignity, equality, opportunity, fairness, tolerance, respect, and the common good of the world we share. gthese values provide the basis for our ideas, supported by our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Now here's the preamble for the state Republican party platform:




PREAMBLE

The Washington State Republican Party is dedicated to preserving a constitutional republic. We believe that active participation by citizens is absolutely necessary to protect and preserve conservative values which include preserving a free society, free markets, free trade, the sanctity of human life, limited government, low taxes, a minimal bureaucracy, a strong national defense, private property rights, and the concept that government should do for individuals only those things they cannot do for themselves.

Washington State Republicans believe that good government is based on respect for, and trust in, the ability of individuals to chart the course of their own lives. We believe that respect for each person’s ability, dignity, and liberty is the foundation for a free and prosperous civic body politic. Good citizenship begins with protected rights and ends with accompanying responsibilities.

We believe individuals are more enlightened than governments, that markets are more efficient than bureaucracies, and that the citizen is more visionary than the collective. To this end, we reaffirm the words in the Declaration of Independence, “That all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness -That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”

To each generation falls the responsibility to uphold the values that have made the United States the most free, wealthy, compassionate and successful civilization in history. As we confront security threats from international terrorism, economic threats from ever-increasing state intervention, and social threats from liberal cultural elites, we must also see these times as an opportunity to move society in the right direction. We are committed to ensuring that the two-centuries-old experiment that is America never fails.

It has been over two centuries since our Founders established the American creed — government under God and accountable to the people. We believe their vision is best preserved by supporting the policies outlined below.

Well! I wish I could embrace just the parts I like. There are some parts I like. If less government really mean less government, it might be OKAY. But when less government means turning folks loose to profit from exploiting people and the environment, I flinch.

There it is--I believe government's role is to help those who cannot help themselves. This means the environment, animals and fish, children, disenfranchised, the weak, and the poor.

That's where I am right now,

Peace, y'all

Molly

P.S. Happy Birthday USA! My gift to you will to be a more engaged citizen, to exercise my rights, and keep working to make this country a better place.

M

Start wherever you are

That is one of the key messages I got at the low carbon diet training.

Climate change has begun. We must address it!

It will take at least 10 years to scale up renewable energies and new technologies. Conservation is available today. It's the low-hanging fruit. And when we are in a conservation mind frame, we are more inclined to embrace the new technologies that come along.

US citizens are 5% of the planet's population and use 25% of its resources. And we waste up to 75% of it through inefficiency and ignorance. Americans are a huge part of the problem--so we also can - and n
must - be big part of the solution.

We like to think we are the world's most innovative. Fine. (and no let hago and tend the garden).

Join me in reducing my carbonfootprint. I'll start where I am. Thee do likewise.

Peace, y'all

Molly

On sharing what I receive

I receive tons of great information from Quaker sources and always think--I'll share that in the blog! And sometimes I actually do. But like so many of my great ideas, it clutters my life and surrounds me with one more "shoulda." I sure don't want more of those.

In a recent bulletin from Friends Committee on National Legislation, a (the?) Quaker lobby group in Washington DC, came a gem from Dr King: "coalitions of concience to close the gaps in broken community." These few words make a phrases that inspires me to keep sharing messasges and ideas, to keep living according to my faith and practice, to be a shining example of simple living and loving, to gently encourage others.

The broken community I see is the oil-addicted society and its members. When we can't do without our car, we are expressing that addiction.

The broken community is our now polarized partisan political system. My community received almost $2B in stimulus funding but our congressman voted against it. Guess what party he is in?

The broken community is the "us" and "them" culture, wherever we find it. I am ready to form a coalition of conscience with anyone, everyone. Any takers?

Peace, y'all

Molly

What would John Woolman drive?

Gentle readers, John Woolman is the American Quaker version of a saint. He walked, mainly, because horses were treated poorly.

We in the US are addicted to oil. Oil:
o contributes directly and hugely to global climate weirding
o is bankrupting our nation
o Is to valuable to burn, really
o comes from environmental sensitive areas, since the oil in easier places has
already been burned up
o Comes from Petrodicators, whose profits go to suppress their own people and to foment violence against America.

Still, we drive and drive and drive. I'm getting better about bus but there is so much more to do.

Smoking used to be glamorous. No longer, now we scorn and shun smokers. Can we effect the same change for single-user vehicles? how?