An optimist isn't necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. Howard Zinn
After 9/11 and the Talibans refusal to turn over the al Qaeda leaders and others we invaded Afghanistan ridding that country of their leadership and Supposedly to go after the guilty of that huge criminal terrorist act against our Nation and People, Then We pretty much Left, taking our military personal and promised rebuilding money with us. The War Drums beat instead for invasion of an innocent country and it's people, Iraq, which became the overwhelming focus while smaller numbers of troops stayed in Afghanistan starting a long stagnated occupation.
See, back in 76, I was a 12 year old kid during the Gerald Ford / Jimmy Carter election. I'd seen the Watergate movie, and I had a pretty good grasp of what was going on.
Probably most here have forgotten or never even knew that in '76 there was also an independent run by Eugene McCarthy--the actually semi-leftist guy the Dems screwed way back in 1968.
Despite strong showings in several primaries - indeed, he won more votes than any other Democratic candidate - McCarthy garnered only 23 percent of the delegates at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, largely due to the control of state party organizations over the delegate selection process.
Anyway, in 76, since I was 12, I couldn't drive yet, but I had a cool bike with a blue banana seat, and I cruised all over town handing out literature for Gene.
When election day came I too young too vote, but old enough to canvass, and I witnessed an amazing phenomena:
The Democrats were bringing in carload after carload of scared old people from old folks homes. In return for a nice dinner, they would vote a straight Democratic ticket. That was the deal--the other poll watchers informed me-- I was incredulous at first, but they brought them in by Lincoln, they brought them in by vans, they came and they came and they came.
And they didn't look left. They didn't look right. Not one took any literature from me or anyone else. And there was fear in their eyes when they saw me--real fear. I assume from hunger, but I don't know.
They voted, they ate. Or, they ate they voted, I'm not sure which--but I've always wondered--since if they were fed first what were they worried about?
I bet they hadn't eaten yet. And now 33 years later they're all dead anyway.
Well, 33 years from now I'll likely be dead too, or at least I'll be getting pretty damn fragile.
And, I'll still look left, when asked, even if I have to forgo supper.
We all know the economic situation sucks. We all know people who have lost their jobs, families - often in our own neighborhoods - who have lost their homes, their means of transportation, their health care, their sense of self-worth and ability to meet basic needs. We all want to help, but if you know anything about "the system," you also know that politics only decrees focus. It doesn't exist to actually help people, it exists to see how many hoops they'll be able to jump in order to get the bare minimum.
And if you're at all like me and ever dealt with "the system" yourself or for a family member, you also know a good handful of people who will live in a cardboard box before hitting the shelter, will walk double-digit miles to work rather than tell anybody the car's been repo'd, will go hungry because there's just no way to get to the county seat on-demand to jump hoops bi-weekly just to get food stamps. Why, you might even know some who have been given help, but are just too embarrassed to use them at the grocery store.
I've worked with several hunger projects over the last quarter century, usually grant-supported non-profit based or purely local and supported by area churches, community groups, fraternal organizations and businesses. They all try to reach the people who need help, and the people involved are more than willing to help with paperwork or details in order to make the hoop-jumping easier. But they all know, as I know, that there are many who aren't reached because they won't or can't jump hoops. For any of a number of reasons they don't want us to know.
There has been a lot of talk about the G20, solving the world financial melt down and regaining our stature on the world stage. Hearing Nicolas Sarkozy say Obama is the man who can change the world, pretty heady stuff. In fact Obama did change the world today in a far more important way than solving the world financial crisis or bringing an end to terrorism, nope. Follow me below the fold for the single statement that changed everything forever and you may have missed it.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is en route to Myanmar today, but already his presence in the region seems to have had an affect:
"We have received government permission to operate nine WFP (World Food Program) helicopters, which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible," Ban told reporters in New York on Tuesday before departing for Southeast Asia. His announcement was not immediately confirmed by officials in Myanmar.
"I believe further similar moves will follow, including expediting the visas of (foreign) relief workers seeking to enter the country," Ban said, warning that relief efforts to save survivors of the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis had reached a "critical moment."
"We have a functioning relief program in place but so far have been able to reach only 25 percent of Myanmar's people in need," he said.
"Right now most of the world is living under appalling conditions. We can't possibly improve the conditions of everyone. We can't raise the entire world to the average standard of living in the United States because we don't have the resources and the ability to distribute well enough for that. So right now as it is, we have condemned most of the world to a miserable, starvation level of existence. And it will just get worse as the population continues to go up... Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are, the less one individual matters."
That's from Bill Moyers interviewing Isaac Asimov in 1988.
fascinating video here - I had never seen this particular show before, did not know it existed until tonight.
What was true 20 years ago has not changed. It has become worse.
* More than 854 million people in the world go hungry
* Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes - one child every five seconds
* Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities, according to the World Health Organization.
* 35.5 million people in the United States - including 12.6 million children-live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger.
* Undernourishment negatively affects people's health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.
* Economically, the constant securing of food consumes valuable time and energy of poor people, allowing less time for work and earning income.
My concern is that these conditions will be getting much worse, (and from the data see I suspect changing quite rapidly as well), as climate change interferes with normal growing cycles, disease vectors and availability to obtain clean water for billions on this planet: what is an 'inconvenient truth' for us is a death sentence for perhaps billions who will not be able to cope.
The political upheaval we see today is nothing compared to what the future holds as climate change destroys the crucial infrastructure of areas where billions live.
Asimov said 20 years ago in the interview ..
.. you get the feeling somehow that Americans somehow are smarter somehow .. that what we consider a decent econmic system, freedom, free enterprise, that that alone "will do it for us" .. but not if we are lazy.
.. mixed in amongst the interview strikingly accurate views of the future
And then, he smacks George Bush for making comparisons between Harvard and Yale ..
..
..
That's George Herbert Walker Bush, and Mike Dukakis he was talking about.
-----------
I wish Asimov were still with us, to hear his wisdom again about where we are now.
We need bold leadership right now to address the issues that face us, and there are still too few voices.
(FP'ed 4:54 AM EDT, Thursday, October 25, 2007 - promoted by exmearden)
One of the big travesties in this country is the fact that we still have hunger and homelessness in this country even though we are still the most prosperous nation in the world. However, given the continuing problem of hunger and homelessness in this country, we need to be able to engage in much more effective planning in order to reduce hunger and homelessness and get people off of the streets and into homes.
The HEARTH Act is designed to do that by bringing groups and people together in order to address the problem of hunger and homelessness.
Reform Immigration -
March on Washington
