tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post3101137711855629490..comments2024-03-28T00:20:01.688-05:00Comments on Little Blog In The Big Woods: Rice goes into the handbasket-Greenpahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17224906349154302210noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-10423393992387396022008-03-31T10:19:00.000-05:002008-03-31T10:19:00.000-05:00I just saw a film called "Flow", about water. How ...I just saw a film called "Flow", about water. How it is affected by climate change and resource consumption, how powerful corporations are taking control of water availability and creating huge environmental damage and social injustice in the process. Also about "water riots" and demonstrations and legal action by community activists, and about the sheer beauty of water, the miracle of it. <BR/><BR/>One of the messages of this film is what ordinary people can do in the face of disaster, when they put their minds to it. And nothing like disaster in your own backyard to put your mind to it. Every time one of those food riots happen, or an icefield melts or a city is destroyed by hurricane and human complicity, somebody out there wakes up and puts his or her mind to it. Whole communities wake up. <BR/><BR/>The network news programs only show the riots, they don't show the successful community actions to fight injustice and environmental degradation. I don't know if it's too late, maybe it is, but don't go quietly into that final night. No one has to do it all, every little bit counts.Zabethahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15707695353117499996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-14434762256437779142008-03-31T07:41:00.000-05:002008-03-31T07:41:00.000-05:00Greenpa, Greenpa, Greenpa. There you go again. D...Greenpa, Greenpa, Greenpa. There you go again. Don't you remember what Ronnie Reagan said? What do you mean, you've "done your best to repress all that." What he said was that we're a nation of optimists. Or was it optometrists? No, I'm sure it was optimists. Here are just a few examples of things that have gotten better:<BR/><BR/>1. slavery - we don't have slavery anymore. True, people are working two and three jobs just to have enough food to eat and enough money to pay their rent because they just lost their homes in the recent mortgage debacle. True, there are even people who have full time jobs who are homeless because minimum wage is so frigging low. But the important thing is that those people are free to lift themselves out of desperate poverty whenever they want.<BR/><BR/>2. the right to vote - We can all vote now. Yippee! We couldn't always do this. Now everyone over 18 has a chance to elect a person from one of two parties funded by and representing large corporate interests. There is even a chance that your vote will actually be counted correctly. The right to vote is called "suffer-age", right?<BR/><BR/>3. universal healthcare - no wait, that's in Cuba where they have that. But at least you can't be denied healthcare here. All you have to do if you're poor and uninsured is go to the right hospital and wait 8 hours to see a doctor. If you have kids, this can be an educational experience for them. They can wait with you and learn how hospital bureaucracy works. And if you're not poor and don't have insurance, the news is even better. If you have a major illness and have medical bills you can't pay, all you have to do is give all the savings you have to the hospital, declare bankruptcy, get a "fresh start" and hope you don't get sick again.<BR/><BR/>I could go on and on about all the progress we're making, but I think I have schooled you enough in this subject for now, Greenpa. So the next time you don't think we're doing better than our grandparents at running things, just remember that not only is this the best of all possible worlds, but things are getting better all the time.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16638079335012155807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-11835548322138870142008-03-30T21:54:00.000-05:002008-03-30T21:54:00.000-05:00Ack! Long post deleted since it was just a bunch o...Ack! Long post deleted since it was just a bunch of rambling and wondering without any point. I'm still pondering at length about this, even more so after the previous comments...Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03908227916944431265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-72536966866414087072008-03-30T08:52:00.000-05:002008-03-30T08:52:00.000-05:00Lovely post, Greenpa. Can I just say that I bet m...Lovely post, Greenpa. Can I just say that I bet most people, if they think about it, know what their 'berg is. Its the thing you care about above everything else, the thing that shocks you and worries you, and that you can't not care about.<BR/><BR/>Crunchy's a great model, and there are others. But somewhere in your gut, I'm going to bet that most of us know what we care about. Maybe it is homeless veterans because you were one, or because your Dad was a Vietnam vet. Maybe it is poor world debt relief because you find the subject strangely fascinating, or clean water supplies, or teaching kids how forage or beer for democracy - it doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it is your piece of the project of the repair of the world. Not everyone will pick the same thing, not everyone will lead, some will work behind the scenes, or just do what others ask, and that work needs doing too. Just find your piece.<BR/><BR/>Good luck!<BR/><BR/>Sharonjewishfarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17547121621115074866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-21807391236147554952008-03-30T07:48:00.000-05:002008-03-30T07:48:00.000-05:00Teresa- and Arduous- there, in Crunchy's comment- ...Teresa- and Arduous- there, in Crunchy's comment- is a big part of your answer.<BR/><BR/>Here is a lady who knows all this stuff- and is not feeling doomed. (I don't either, of course- but I also don't want to ignore the fact that the poo is getting deeper).<BR/><BR/>And in terms of "what to do" - I doubt that providing sensible menstrual supplies for Africa, so girls can stay in school would have been on the top of many Big NGO lists.<BR/><BR/>But- Crunchy ran into it. Found herself thinking- "look- I could DO this..." - and- did it. It would be hard to find a better example- and answer.<BR/><BR/>I do want to address your questions in more detail; they're good ones. Right now I've got a couple icebergs converging on me, though, and kinda need to concentrate on them...Greenpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17224906349154302210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-13644633969676997372008-03-29T20:40:00.000-05:002008-03-29T20:40:00.000-05:00Candide is great. It's been a while since I read i...<I>Candide</I> is great. It's been a while since I read it, but the parallel analogy works. <BR/><BR/>And, while I may be overwhelmed, I am most certainly overjoyed at the same time. <BR/><BR/>What are the studies saying? People are much more happy when they spend time/money helping others rather than spending on themselves. In that regard I am a billionaire.Crunchy Chickenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10612320939936593420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-68399466550576537262008-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:002008-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:00I think part of the problem is that global warming...I think part of the problem is that global warming seems so bad, and so awful that people ARE paralyzed. They see icebergs breaking off, and think, well s**t. What can I do? And throw their hands up in the air.<BR/><BR/>The only reason I am able to do ... anything at all, whatever little things I do personally to help the environment, is because I believe absolutely fervently in human ingenuity. I have hope, no, faith, that things WILL get better. If I didn't, I'd probably throw my hands up in the air too.<BR/><BR/>I guess my question is this: how can we expect people to care, if we are telling them they are basically doomed? Many people who are told they are doomed, resort to hedonism. Look at the many stories of people infected with HIV who take to partying and doing illicit drugs. I just don't think we can afford to tell people they're doomed.ruchihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17043512641324366469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-47838095315338257992008-03-29T12:52:00.000-05:002008-03-29T12:52:00.000-05:00Greenpa - which in your view are the most importan...Greenpa - which in your view are the most important 'burgs on which to push? Because I find myself pushing a little on this one and on that one, and then the next. A shotgun approach like that is probably not as good as a focused one, but there are so many important things to be doing, when I do one I feel I'm neglecting the others. I've got to do some serious thinking about this.Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03908227916944431265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-75369217818882370002008-03-29T12:35:00.000-05:002008-03-29T12:35:00.000-05:00mamabird- thank you. :-) Love kites; love the Ma...mamabird- thank you. :-) Love kites; love the Mall. very nice.Greenpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17224906349154302210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-78270657191860708152008-03-29T12:16:00.000-05:002008-03-29T12:16:00.000-05:00love the image of pushing icebergs. we are headed ...love the image of pushing icebergs. we are headed off to the (national) Mall for a kite festival. thought i would hand you the image of 800 kites in the wind and people having simple fun.JessTrevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000531822628182708noreply@blogger.com