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Viewpoint:
Avenues of Activism -- On violence vs. non-violence.
Natural
Resistance: Pledging to the Light -- Matching
our words and our values.
Living
Out: Getting There: No longer half the fun.
Letters:
EW readers sound off.
Avenues of Activism
On violence vs. non-violence.
We environmental and social justice activists are
going to save the world when average, mainstream folks come over and
join us in our struggle. Average folks are not going to join
us because they are impressed by the anger and hatred that we exhibit
breaking windows and referring to our adversaries as "pigs." Average
folks are going to join us when they are impressed by the elegance,
dignity and (I should say) spirituality with which we carry out our
activism.
As a male product of a dysfunctional society, there
is plenty of rage burning away inside of me. More than 20 years ago,
I was doing much of what I see "anarchists" doing now. That includes
playing loud, fast angry music and performing acts of vandalism late
at night -- all of this in the (now laughable) interest of creating
a better world. To this day, there's a part of me that would like
to line up politicians and corporate executives against a wall and
mow them down. But I now recognize this for what it is. Indeed, I
see the effects of it every day in the news.
What I have found helpful in cultivating my own attitudes toward love
and compassion and away from anger and violence is to consider the
psychological state of those that we hold as adversaries. It cannot
be overemphasized that politicians and corporate executives are not
"average folks." They have achieved (or inherited) pinnacles of success,
prestige and wealth that the vast majority of us can only dream of.
The decades they spent in preparation for the positions they now occupy
have included a rigorous program of grooming and conditioning. For
them to do their jobs it was mandatory that they enthusiastically
embrace the belief that any and all economic growth and development
is inherently good and that the wise and invisible hand of the free
market is superior to government regulation in determining how business
conducts itself. Issues of social justice, civic beauty and ecology
are, out of necessity and by virtual definition, not on their minds.
Noam Chomsky calls this "the internalization of values."
Think of it as a distillation process. The higher
someone climbs up the ladder of success in corporate life or in politics,
the more their view of reality has been distorted by the world in
which they are immersed. By the time someone becomes a corporate CEO
or a U.S. Senator, there are hundreds if not thousands of people laying
by the wayside not having made it to the top. These include people
not aggressive enough, people insufficiently obsessed with money and
power, people with too much honesty and integrity, people not given
to back-stabbing their adversaries, etc. Thus we have the alarming
situation of having exactly the wrong people running the world.
This is not to say that politicians and corporate
executives are bad people. They wake up in the morning, look at themselves
in the mirror and sincerely believe that their behavior is good and
right or at least acceptable. Their lives function fast and loose
with truth, especially when confronting themselves. They exhibit the
very human capacity for talking oneself into believing whatever's
convenient to believe. In its converse, its called denial --
where we must deny whatever point of view conflicts with our own.
We're all human and we all do this to some extent. It's just that
politicians and corporate executives are particularly adept at it.
As activists, if we had a friend who was an alcoholic wife beater,
we would talk about it. We'd say, "He's in denial. How are we going
to get him to do some soul searching?" Calling our friend a pig would
be widely seen as counter productive. The same is true of our adversaries
in the social justice and environmental struggles. And therein lies
our challenge as activists. We must overcome our knee-jerk, angry
reaction (justifiable as it may be), see the humanity in our adversaries
and begin to address their delusional psychological state.
While I could imagine some property destruction being
carried out in a creative and intelligent enough manner to be a net
gain for our side, I consider it a slippery slope to tread on. This
is not El Salvador in the 1980s where carrying out peaceful protest
often meant being "disappeared" by (U.S. financed) death squads. We
have many avenues for activism open to us. The average folks that
we would like to win over know this. Whichever form our activism takes,
let it not be a reflection of our anger, but instead of our wisdom
and our growing capacity for love and compassion.
Robert Bolman is a builder, artist, activist and mediator
in Eugene. He is working to develop an "urban ecovillage" and is active
with the NW EcoBuilding Guild.
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Pledging to the
Light
Matching our words and
our values.
A Gary Larsen cartoon shows astronomer Carl Sagan as a young child.
He's looking up at the night sky, saying something like, "Wow! There must be
HUNDREDS of stars!"
Perhaps the following could be a similar picture of someone who
was destined to be a biologist: At school as a child, I remember reciting the Pledge
of Allegiance. What thrilled me was the heartbeat under my hand. There it was, every
morning, beating, just as it had been when I last checked, the morning before. It
had a quiet, pulsing rhythm. It was me, alive, inside there. Very mysterious.
I haven't stood up for or saluted any flag, or recited any pledge
of allegiance since grade school, and likely never will, but it's not because I'm
trying to make some political point or be obstinate. It's just that if I ask myself
whether I really give my allegiance to a flag or a nation (or even any person, right
or wrong), I have to admit the answer is "no."
Which leads to the question of what I do give allegiance
to. I suppose to Earth, the only home I know. Also to open democracy, the best form
of government I've heard of (and the U.S. is not the only democracy in the world).
And to personal integrity.
Two Saturdays ago, friends and family gathered in Whittier, Calif., for
the memorial service of my 90-year-old mother-in-law, Helen O'Brien. At one time
a member of the Communist Party, she ceased that allegiance once she learned how
Stalin was behaving. During the '30s in the South, she helped organize the Southern
Tenant Farmers Union, an early integrated organization of blacks and whites. During
World War II, she and her husband, University of Washington sociology Prof. Robert
O'Brien, worked to find inland college openings for Japanese-American students who
were incarcerated in the West Coast's "relocation" camps. They were able
to get more than 5,000 young Japanese-Americans out of the camps and into college
during the war years.
With a masters degree in social work, Helen first worked in a Seattle
orphanage; and then for 23 years taught in and headed a public school unit for cerebral
palsy children in Whittier. She finished her last teaching stint with these children,
at age 80, filling in for one teacher for three months.
A Quaker, Helen participated in and chaired numerous committees
for the American Friends Service Committee, the social action organization that reflects
the spirit, goals, and processes of the Quaker religion. When she died this February,
she was serving on the Executive Committee for the Southwest and the Mideast Peace
Committee.
I think of intelligent, capable, wise Helen. I never saw a flag
around her home. As she was a traditional Quaker, I doubt she pledged allegiance
to any flag, because Quakers' allegiance goes to the light that exists in each person,
no matter what religion or nation. (Quakers don't stand up for judges, either; it
would imply that judges are more important than other humans.) And yet, I doubt anybody
who ever met Helen during her 90 years would question that she was one of those great
citizens and humans who, when they see problems, work in positive, effective ways
to solve them.
Any crowd reciting any pledge of allegiance to anything is faintly frightening
to me, because people acting as part of a group to which they are "loyal"
have often been willing to undertake inhumane, destructive, or shameful acts that
they never would have approved if they were thinking individually. However, throughout
the years, no one has ever acted belligerently toward me as I sit while they stand
to pledge allegiance to the flag; I am grateful for that. It is a testament to their
tolerance. I return their graciousness by thinking about fine things other than nations
to which I do offer my allegiance.
We can only believe what we truly believe. And we can only strive
to utter words that truly reflect what we love, and what we believe will help the
world that holds us all.
Mary O'Brien has worked as a public interest scientist for the
past 20 years. She can be reached at mob@efn.org
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Getting
There
No
longer half the fun.
Just thinking about travel overwhelms me.
Used to be I could load up my guitar and backpack
and stand on the freeway ramp with my dog until a van with a "Sisters
Pick Up Sisters" bumper sticker would pull over. Off I'd go, open
to whatever adventure the universe would provide. I have a lot of
sweet memories from those days, many of which involve pubic lice.
But now that I'm happily nesting, traveling is much
more of a hassle -- all the planning, schlepping, paying a housesitter
to take care of our pets and plants and eat up our Haagen Dasz. But
this summer, our friends Kathy and Marilyn, who have been together
since the Pleistocene, are finally getting married. This is one wedding
Sweetie and I wouldn't miss for the world, so we are packing our bags
and flying to Vermont.
I dread getting on an airplane. I worry about the
hijacking thing and whether the captain has missed any AA meetings.
I'm scared that the space where you can see through to the tarmac
between the ramp and the plane door might suddenly widen mid-stride,
like that moment at the end of the escalator when even though you're
almost positive you'll make it off in one well-timed, nonchalant step,
you still picture your toe getting caught and the unstoppable force
sucking you under.
But hesitating at the aircraft doorway is dangerous
because the rest of the passengers are in a big hurry to elbow their
way to an available overhead bin into which they will stuff their
enormous carry-on bags. I always seem to get stuck in the aisle behind
some guy trying to stow a huge army duffel bag containing a live manatee.
It would take a snow plow to cram that bag into the bin. But, as everyone
knows, as of Sept. 11th we can no longer carry snow plows on board.
No way that bag passed the carry-on measurement test
on the sign back in the terminal. That is the problem with the honor
system. Even though the size limit is very specifically illustrated
and passengers are instructed -- in writing -- to check
bags that don't comply, anyone with a diploma can tell you: People
cheat. Some passengers will do anything to avoid checking their oversized
bags. They have their reasons. Maybe they don't want the baggage crew
handling their manatees.
Even though the plane is listing dramatically to the
manatee side, everyone is glad when we are finally ready for takeoff.
You're wedged into a seat so narrow that part of your butt squishes
up along the armrests, proving that humans actually have a lot in
common with water balloons. When the plane is taxiing on the runway
all the oxygen is sucked out of the cabin and replaced by jet fuel
fumes mixed with re-circulated air that sick people have sneezed out.
Everyone sits tight, all buckled in, praying that the manatees don't
come crashing down.
I am willing to endure this hassle because attending
a lesbian wedding is a profound spiritual experience. It is also an
important opportunity to unload a lot of money. Wedding guests spend
big bucks on transportation, room taxes, restaurants, wedding gifts
and souvenirs and generally stimulate the state's economy --
not to mention each other. The betrothed couple shells it out for
rings, flowers, music, food and photographers. If you live in a state
that doesn't have a law recognizing same-sex unions, you might want
to remind your legislators that these weddings bring wads of cash
into their host states, which, as of 2002, include: Vermont. Right
on, Vermont!
When you consider that 36 states have recently passed
laws against gay marriage, the task ahead is pretty daunting.
It takes chutzpah to do all that calling and writing letters to lawmakers
and sending checks to gay rights organizations. Fighting for equality
is a huge hassle. But hey, if I can get on an airplane ...
Sally Sheklow has been a part of the Eugene community
since 1972 and is a member of the WYMPROV! comedy troupe. Her column,
which began at EW, also runs in several other newspapers and
magazines around the country.
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FIGHT
FOR THE 'HOOD
Here is your chance to stand
up for your favorite neighborhood -- Moss Villard Columbia. On
April 16 the UO planning department representatives are meeting with
neighbors to try to persuade them to redevelop 12 blocks just east
of Hayward field.
Because nearly 20 homes have been empty for years,
organizing opposition for the removal of 12 historic blocks has been
an uphill battle. The PeaceHealth fiasco and emergence of the ugly
building issue show that the general population is starting to understand
that old structures are essential to civic health. A large part of
this 12-block area has already been replaced with higher-rent, vinyl-sided,
motel-like structures with large parking lots instead of trees, alleys
and backyards. Diverse families who use bikes have been pushed off
the land, while graduate students of two elite majors and no children
repopulate the area.
I have personally talked with evictees and many who
experienced waiting-list unfairness. Traffic in the area has increased
and speeded up since the new dorms and law school have gone in. Houses
sit unpainted and empty, affecting property values for blocks in every
direction because the very affordable labor of historic preservation
students was turned down a year ago. Conversion of a safe pedestrian-friendly
historic area to a generic Chase Village/Spencerview-style compound
is a huge mistake and the worst kind of outdated planning.
Let the people who live in that area decide its future.
If city historic preservation officials were allowed back on the agenda
of the Fairmont Neighborhood Association, residents could find out
how the program can protect the area from cell tower placement, demolition,
development, intentional neglect, pollution and crime.
Zach Vishanoff
Eugene
MANGLEGRAMS
I received a joke via e-mail
and the punchline included several sadistic preparations one might
do to ready herself for her next mammogram, i.e., have a friend back
over your breast with a car while it's exposed on an ice-cold garage
floor, slamming it in the refrigerator door repeatedly, etc. I passed
it onto many of my middle-aged women friends, we shared a good laugh
and discussed our experiences.
Since my last mammogram, I have carefully followed
the debate concerning their value. During that mammogram my breasts
were crushed so painfully I'd have to describe it as the most severe
injury they have ever been exposed to. I have to wonder if exposing
the tissue to that sort of crushing trauma and then irradiating it
can increase one's possibility of contracting breast cancer? My experience
also included a follow-up visit that I would liken to awaiting a death
sentence. I can't imagine the stress if they reported a false positive,
which happens as often as 30 percent of the time.
When I read the article, "Mammogram Still the Best
Test" (4/1 Register-Guard), in which it clearly states that
there is no definitive reason to submit oneself to the anxiety,
pain and expense of a mammogram because there's no real proof it can
save your life, I was confused by the headline until I remembered
deep in the article, Mr. Christie reported, "-- mammography is
a multibillion dollar business."
Your article about ductal lavage questioned the value
of mammograms as much I have. I would like to recommend going to www.pwgazette.com/kaggen.htm
for further information.
Ann Schwartz
Eugene
RETAIL
RUCKUS
It could be a long hot summer if
the major Lane County retail grocers (Albertson's, Fred Meyer, and
Safeway) continue down the path of their current demands. They talk
about the need for financial relief in the form of two-tier employment
benefits and work conditions. They need to realize that they already
enjoy an unfair two-tier system.
The retail employees of Lane County are hardworking,
dedicated employees providing superior customer service to the citizens
of this community. The companies are extremely profitable. They owe
their employees more than what they are demanding.
They currently compensate their Lane County employees
less than Portland, Vancouver, Longview and other major metropolitan
areas. The health insurance is a lesser plan. But the cost of living
is higher in Lane County. So, why the inconsistency?
No reason they can offer is credible. If so, then
their management staff would also be on a lower tier. Next time you
shop at your union Lane County grocer, tell the staff that assists
you that you do care and you'll be there for them.
Gene Pronovost
President, UFCW Local 555
SAD
I tried to read the letters
berating Spruce Houser's talk with an open mind but found myself
horrified by the rhetoric. I grew up in a neighborhood where racist
name-calling was a fact of life. These letters were full of ideological
name-calling. This only serves to dehumanize the individual so that
one can unleash hate without guilt.
Come on people. If groups who want the same end results
can't find a way to get along, then I'm sure that the "bad guys" will
win. Can't you put your bruised ideological egos aside so we can get
down to doing something constructive to fend off the real enemy?
Sheila Seitz
Eugene
AVOIDING
THE CRUNCH
I don't usually think it's
worth the effort anymore to react to the anarchist rhetoric (bleating),
but it is too amusing to read John Zerzan (4/4) referring to those
"willing to step up and risk privilege to fight for life."
When was the last time you saw any of the so-called
leaders of the anarchists get their heads crunched by the police or
get pepper- sprayed or caught doing the "night work" they advocate?
When was the last time you heard about the leaders going to prison
for 22 years for blowing up SUVs? These leaders just egg on naïve
young people to do those things while they stand conveniently out
of the way. They own homes while teenagers are taught that it's noble
to eat out of dumpsters.
Les Castle
Eugene
IT'S
NO GAME
So now it appears Mr. Baxter of Enron
fame may not have committed suicide after all? The first thing that
came to my mind, and I'm sure now to a few others, was, "How convenient."
It also occurred to me that since it happened in Bush
country, the police will be more than a little reluctant to pursue
any other verdict besides suicide.
There are a few people in this country who view Big
Business and all its machinations as a game. You do what you have
to do to "win." Lying to accountants, lying to employees, lying to
stockholders and lying to Congress is all part of the game, and now,
it appears, so is murder. If you think this is farfetched, then you
weren't tutored in that rarefied financial atmosphere that Skilling,
Lay, and Fastow were. And remember folks, tens of millions of dollars
are at stake here.
However, not all participants are accomplished as
actors, as anyone who watched Skilling's furrowed brow, pained "who
me" expression as he testified, will agree.
Whether these players win or lose in this "game" depends
on how well they cover their tracks, and if any of them go to jail.
John DeLeau
Springfield
NEW
BUSH, OLD RESULTS
When George Bush was pushing
for war against Iraq, he proclaimed that he had nothing against Iraqi
people. When the war began, U.S. armed forces began what a U.S. defense
official subsequently has called "carpet bombing," one result of which
was widespread demolition of sewage-treatment facilities. Another
of which, in the words of a French general, was that in villages generally
"everything was destroyed."
George W. Bush now seems to be pushing for more war
against Iraq. Will the results for Iraqi people be the same?
Orval Etter and four others
Eugene
POSITIVE
POTENTIAL
Gandhi believed it naïve to
suggest that a campaign of nonviolent resistance could itself bring
about a better society. It is equally naïve, in my view, to suggest
that either violent resistance or economic sabotage could do so.
I'm not against defending oneself. Yet it's easy for
Bush, bin Laden, Sharon and Arafat to selectively excuse some violence
as necessary for self-defense, while condemning other violence as
oppression or terrorism.
As for economic sabotage, the costs exacted by ELF
and ALF amount to a few millionths of the GDP. This is hardly "bringing
down capitalism." What if the scale of economic sabotage were to increase
by several thousand times? This would heighten fear and hatred, and
increase government and corporate repression. If economic sabotage
led to revolution, it would be a violent revolution. This would not
pave the way for a peaceful and just society.
To those who disagree, I respect your view and your
choices. But in my view, if we aim for peace and justice we must focus
on helping people to become peaceful and just. This requires faith
in the positive potential of human beings. Next year the Eugene Children's
Peace Academy will open. Let's support efforts like this! And let's
support Shamrock House!
Gandhi was right to emphasize the constructive program.
He was also right to emphasize that each of us holds a part of the
truth. I hope we can all contribute to the dialogue, that we can try
to better understand and appreciate each other's perspectives, and
that we can work together.
David Duemler
Eugene
MOST
DO
The article "Focus on Women" (4/4)
contained an important factual error. The article states, "Currently,
prescription contraceptives are still not covered by many insurance
companies." This is incorrect!
Oregon has only nine insurance companies that offer
group health insurance to companies with fewer than 26 employees.
The vast majority of Oregon employers employ fewer than 26 employees,
and most these employers provide health insurance for their employees.
Of the nine insurance companies in this market, eight
of them automatically include prescription contraceptives in their
prescription drug benefit. The other offers the employer the choice
to cover prescription contraceptives.
Having correct facts is one thing. Debating the values
of mandatory additional benefits to be covered by health insurance
is an entirely different item.
Dean Kortge, Vice President
Oregon Assoc. of Insurance & Financial Advisors
Eugene
OLD
FRIEND
I'd like to take this opportunity
to make sure our community is informed about the valuable resource
offered by The White Bird Community Crisis Center. With all the terror
and violence in our world recently, more people than ever are struggling
with fear, confusion, and despair. Often these emotions gain power
when one feels alone. White Bird Crisis is here for you, 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, both by phone and face to face. Our trained
counselors can help explore situations and problem-solve. Or they
can simply listen and let you know someone cares. No issue is too
big or small -- from suicide, abuse, and mental illness to relationship
problems, family and parenting issues, or just plain feeling overwhelmed
-- we work with whatever comes in the door. The service is anonymous,
confidential and FREE!
We provide eligibility screenings for the county's
mental health programs. We can also give in-depth mental health information
and referrals. Call 687-4000, or walk in to 341 E. 12th Ave., 24 hours
a day.
Wren Arrington
Crisis Program Coordinator
White Bird Clinic
SICK
SYSTEM
The mental health system itself is
sick. Have you ever called the cops to haul off someone behaving oddly
or, in your opinion, acting as a danger to themselves or others? I
would guess you pat yourself on the back thinking that person will
be helped. Think again.
Abuse on psychiatric wards is more common than society
wants to believe. Also, the wards are geared to drugging people senseless.
Patient complaints of toxic side affects are downplayed, ignored and
sometimes mocked. On the psychiatric wards where I have been imprisoned,
therapy was limited to pacing, crafts and useless groups such as medication
awareness. Medication awareness was all about the good things psychiatric
drugs would do for me. It didn't mention the bad things, such as extreme
weight gain, loss of sexual response, blurred vision, chronic constipation,
increased triglyceride and cholesterol levels, loss of motivation
and creative thought, and sometimes death, to mention only a few.
And do you think being tied down nearly nude on a
table for hours, even days, and being left to urinate on yourself
is useful therapy? I really don't. I've been through the psychiatric
system. Now I'm out, and I see it for what it is -- detrimental
to physical and mental well being, as well as ineffective and blatantly
cruel.
Jody A. Harmon
Corvallis
DAMN
THE OPPOSITION
The Associated Press article
about Venezuela in The Register-Guard (4/15) was one of the
more patronizing and condescending articles I've read lately. I suppose
reporter James Anderson was trying to be sympathetic, but he makes
abundantly clear that he thinks Venezuelans, especially poor Venezuelans,
are children.
Since I haven't lived in Venezuela since 1966, has
the country regressed? I didn't recognize the citizenry the author
describes. Not to worry, however -- I don't recognize the history
he describes, either! He must be talking about some other country
on some other continent. "Throughout the 1800s no one ruled Venezuela.
It's people lived in anarchy...." I guess that means that after Spain
was kicked out, they lacked an imperial power (such as the U.S.) to
civilize them.
"The past 44 years of democratic rule have been riddled
with corruption, ineptitude and an increasing marginalization of [the]
poor." Is this a description of the U.S. or some other country? Oh,
that's right, the U.S. isn't a democracy. Must be some other country.
"Venezuela is Latin America's longest-running democracy,
yet Venezuelans still seem incapable of running a 'traditional' Western-style
democracy in which the concepts of give-and-take, forging consensus,
and a constructive opposition are essential to national unity." Is
this about them or us? We are the country where the concepts of take
and take some more, terrorizing the opposition with accusations of
anti-Americanism, and a cowed and demoralized opposition party are
essential to national unity. This is better than vigorous argument
and a spirited opposition?
Which is the more civilized country -- Venezuela
with it's debate and argument, or the U.S. with it's neo-Nazi unity
enforced by the machinery of intimidation at home and death and destruction
abroad? In Venezuela, they called off the coup d'etat because of widespread
opposition. In the U.S., it's full steam ahead, and damn the opposition.
Ann Tattersall
Eugene
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