Tag: Sustainability

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Sustainability

Reinventing Weekend

Le WeekendLAKE MACBRIDE— The idea of a forty hour work week and regular, scheduled workdays, including a Friday until Sunday weekend, was blown up a long time ago.

Beyond reason, I continue to long for le weekend, as elusive as it has become. Longing overcoming reality in a way common in the consumer enclaves where life often finds us.

Any more, I work every day, and enjoy almost all of it.

The unfinished work of my generation has been reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. What has changed is the weapons systems have aged, support structures have become calcified, and each year we understand new ways nuclear weapons could be the end of everything we know about life on Earth. Whether by design, by accident, or madness, a nuclear explosion would have devastating consequences for humanity and must be avoided at all costs.

“There have been two conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in the last year and a half, in Oslo, Norway, and in Nayarit, Mexico,” Gunnar Westberg wrote on the IPPNW Peace and Health Blog. “At the latter 146 states participated. The conclusion was that any use of nuclear weapons would have such severe humanitarian consequences that they must be abolished completely.”

There will be a third conference in Vienna Dec. 8-9. The good news is two of the nine nuclear states will be in attendance for the first time, the U.S. and U.K. The rest of the news is the U.S. is committed to a methodology for arms control based upon enforcement of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Therefore, besides many chats over Viennese pastry and coffee, only limited work toward abolition seems possible.

In my early sixties, I can still work on nuclear abolition. But what about after I am gone? When living memory of the dawn of the nuclear age and its aftermath recedes, what then?

Our descendants will be left with an aging nuclear complex, the purpose of which has been in doubt for decades already. If current government operations continue, it will continue to be five minutes until midnight.

Considering the doomsday threat, talk about le weekend seems futile. Better get back to work.

Categories
Social Commentary

Diversity in Tight Enclaves

Saul Bellow 2001 - Photo Credit New York Times
Saul Bellow 2001 – Photo Credit New York Times

LAKE MACBRIDE— What is going on in Ferguson, Missouri, and around the country, over the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by Darren Wilson, 28, and subsequent absence of grand jury indictments? Don’t ask. What I know is filtered by biased media—both corporate and social. The many people with whom I spent time in a real place yesterday simply didn’t mention the topic—not one time among hundreds of people.

What matters more than this emotionally charged incident is how we view people in the context of the society we construct among friends, neighbors, family and acquaintances over the course of time in a place. We create our own enclaves, and that’s where we live much of our lives, and deal with human diversity as best we can.

When a person has experienced ethnic diversity in countless settings, the tropisms regarding Ferguson make little sense. By framing Ferguson in terms of ethnic diversity, I am already opening myself up to criticism. So be it—that’s who I am and have been since my youngest days. In my defense, I tried to live the dream as best I could.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said.

It takes more than citing a quote to achieve justice.

The 2013 population of our county was estimated at 139,155 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The white, not Hispanic or Latino population was 81.6 percent, with 5.5 percent black or African-American, 5.5 percent Asian, 5.4 Hispanic, and two percent other categories. These are facts.

Most people I encounter have little cognizance of them. Neighbors whisper about what would happen to property values if a black family would move in. Among working poor, conversation is often about how “different,” and by implication unacceptable, the behavior of “foreigners” is. In the most rapidly-growing parts of the county, a homogeneous culture centered around church, school, family and work blocks out basic facts about ethnic diversity. In each scenario participants have built an enclave that by any definition includes palpable intolerance.

“I cannot exceed what I see,” 1976 Nobel laureate Saul Bellow said. “I am bound, in other words, as the historian is bound by the period he writes about, by the situation I live in.”

In terms of ethnic tolerance, the situations I call home are not the best. What’s a person to do?

At a minimum, intolerance should not be ignored. We must say something when its ugly face is raised in conversation. It’s not easy to do when a lot depends upon our continued interaction with people found in the places we live, learn, worship, shop and work. Nonetheless, we must confront intolerance personally and directly. We can all do more in that regard.

A great diversion is following incidents like those in and around Ferguson and asserting actions, opining in media, taking direct action. This is little more than a distraction from the work that must be done to challenge intolerance in the tight enclaves where we live our lives.

The work has begun for many of us. If there is a lesson from Ferguson, it is we must do better.

Categories
Work Life Writing

Meeting at the Cemetery

Rural Cemetery
Rural Cemetery

BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP— There was trouble last night at the cemetery, the first such trouble since I was elected township trustee.

It had to do with who could be buried in whose plot, and the trustee who coordinates plot sales and burials wanted to discuss the issue. The funeral is Friday, so no time for dalliance. We are meeting at 8:30 a.m.

Two years into my term, being a township trustee has provided a steady stream of learning about our community. There has been time to consider things, and almost no controversy—just repeated expression of wills about what should get done and how. Any conflicts that surfaced were quickly resolved.

I’m confident we will figure this one out.

Yesterday it was shown that Mary Landrieu did have 59 votes to proceed on Keystone XL, and that’s all she had. The bill overriding the executive process on evaluation and approval of the project now goes into the dustbin of the 113th Congress. It likely will be back next congress.

I spent part of the last two days transcribing testimony to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide particularly.

“I began my career as a summer intern at EPA 42 years ago under what has euphemistically become known as Russell House One,” Dianne Dillon Ridgely said. “I was a 19-year old kid. And what is most dramatic is much of what we addressed that summer—in terms of air pollution, in terms of the public’s engagement on power production—are exactly the same things, particularly in terms of coal, that we are still addressing and fighting 42 years later, and to me that is really a sad commentary.”

Ridgley is a 42-year veteran of governmental action (or inaction) on clean air and clean water, having been appointed by Presidents Clinton, Bush 41 and Bush 43 to international delegations to address environmental issues. We’re still addressing them. There is hope the EPA’s actions won’t be blocked by the 114th Congress, something the presumed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated is high on his to-do list. Time will tell, but I believe we are on the right side of history regardless of what the Congress does.

My last workday at the local paper was Sunday. It will feel a little weird to be able to focus on my writing on the weekends instead of proof reading the paper. The bucket of part time paid jobs is down to three, and one of those is finished the second week in December. When the number surged to eight last summer, it was too much to juggle. Having found a bottom, the goal for next year is to keep what remains, and use it as a base. In addition, I will seek paid writing jobs and temporary positions and opportunities that can add a few C-notes to the treasury each month. What remains is that I work to support my ability to write.

Hope against hope, I want to get out in the yard and mulch the leaves, and shorten the grass. For that to happen, the snow needs to melt, the yard dry out, and half a day of warmer temperatures roll in. In these days of crazy weather, that is possible, however improbable. That’s where this Wednesday finds me.

Categories
Environment

Keystone XL — Bright Shiny Object

Dave Loebsack
Dave Loebsack Voted for Keystone XL

LAKE MACBRIDE— Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill directing the federal government to move forward on the Keystone XL pipeline on a 252-161 vote. It was less than the number of votes needed to override a presidential veto, but Barack Obama has been holding his cards close to the chest on Keystone. What he would do if a bill reached his desk is uncertain.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. Senate scheduled a vote on the bill for Tuesday, and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) believes there are already 59 of 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster when the vote comes up. If the senate can get past a filibuster, the bill’s passage is assured, although getting 67 votes needed to override a presidential veto is less certain than it is in the the house. It’s all political theater.

Our Representative Dave Loebsack voted for the bill, reversing his last vote on Keystone XL. He sent social media atwitter with shock and disappointment framed in terms that appeared to help the authors vent frustration more than say anything coherent. I am disappointed with the vote, but what politician ever consistently voted my way?

I know a couple of things.

When people talk about “environmentalists” I no longer have a clue to whom they refer. Is a farmer who plants a buffer zone based on a government grant an environmentalist? Is a non-governmental organization’s local staff member—overly dependent upon funding sources—an environmentalist? Is a Washington lobbyist for a large NGO an environmentalist? What about members of the defense department working toward a lower carbon footprint for the military? What about my neighbors who protest building a subdivision near Lake Macbride? There aren’t real answers to these questions, and that’s the problem with vague references to “environmentalists.” There is no club to which they all belong, and fewer common denominators. The idea is actually a right wing talking point, and the frame “environmentalists” is used to demonize advocates for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and against production of electricity using coal, natural gas and nuclear fuels. Keystone XL is not a common denominator among environmentalists.

The failure of environmentalists was targeting the pipeline at all, instead of the tar sands. The tar sands is a bigger problem because of humanity’s inexhaustible thirst for oil and natural gas. This is the same problem for the Bakken, West Texas and Eagle Ford formations. Because oil and gas are in demand, there is direct financial return, subsidized by our government, in exploiting these resources. The environmental communities have been unable to adequately articulate the unrecognized costs in terms of human health of these exploration, discovery and production operations—even if a small number of people are working on it. Successful efforts have taken a targeted, NIMBY approach, like the fight against frac sand mining in Allamakee County. By targeting Keystone XL, environmentalists set themselves up for failure. As a friend wrote me last night, “there are hundreds of pipelines in this country already—what’s one or two more?”

I also know unions favor building pipelines. Ken Sagar and Bill Gerhard laid out their position in a Dec. 11 opinion piece in the Des Moines Register. Only a cynic would say that Loebsack’s vote on Keystone XL was quid pro quo for union financial and canvassing support during the 2014 midterms. It is likely more complicated than that, but it had to have been a factor. Part of being Democratic is the fact that Democrats don’t always agree. Keystone XL and Iowa’s proposed Bakken Oil Pipeline are a prime examples of that. Loebsack’s framing of the explanation for his vote makes his sympathies for the union’s legislative priority clear.

“I was skeptical of side stepping the normal processes, but the jobs attached to building the Keystone Pipeline are too important and can no longer be tied to D.C. gridlock,” Loebsack said, according to Ed Tibbetts of the Quad-City Times.

What I also know is October 2014 was the hottest month recorded on the planet since record-keeping began, according to the Washington Post. Yes, you skeptics, the world’s temperatures may have been higher or much colder in some prehistoric era. But what matters more is our civilization, and the changes produced by the industrial revolution are at risk. The underpinnings of basic facts about our lives, when the first frost comes, the amount of rainfall in a region, how we produce electricity, how we sequester carbon in the land, water sourcing, and others are all being undone.

It will take more than one vote in one governmental body to address these broader challenges. What I know is that is unlikely to happen in my lifetime unless we stop focusing on bright and shiny objects like Keystone XL.

Categories
Home Life

Odds and Ends

Fall Colors
Fall Colors

LAKE MACBRIDE— It is a late frost this year. Oct. 20 and the tomatoes and peppers are still growing, inspiring hope to pick more before the season finally ends. I gave away a bushel of kale on Saturday, confident there will be more.

In between part time jobs there are blocks of time with which to build a life. There are fewer of them, but between interactions with members of the public and spells of writing in public, there is a private life about which I haven’t and won’t write much here.

In most ways, mine is the plain life of a common person. The profound awakening I had as a grader—that Cartesian view about communication with others through media—shaped much of who I am and have been. Realizing it was not unique to me has shaped my life as I moved from school to worklife to homelife. I don’t mind being a commoner.

Part of each week is spent with people in public, and discontent seems to lie below craggy surfaces. Some appear to have had a rough life, and take little joy in human interactions. Others, especially people accompanied by children, are more positive and joyful. Life in society is a mixed bag, and that is not news.

For me there is much more than getting through to the next day. Since Monday is my Friday, I am resolved to get something done during these weekdays. To transform this quotidian existence into something at least as beautiful as the fall colors—or as close as I can get.

Categories
Social Commentary

Inequality in the 21st Century

Blog Action Day“We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.”

These first words to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, and proclaimed on July 4, 1776, are what most U.S. residents think of when considering equality—we all are created equal.

A month earlier, George Mason had written the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which included, “all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which… they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

As Jefferson and Mason both understood, liberty meant the right to own property, including slaves, something each of them did.

Whatever liberty and the enjoyment of life we have gets parceled out unevenly at birth. We are more alike genetically than different, but the circumstances into which we enter life and live make us more different with each passing day. The cards are already dealt in terms of family, religion, and social and economic status when we are born.

For those who come into a life of wealth and property—an increasingly small portion of the population—life can be good. For the rest of us, it can also be good, but we have to find our own happiness and hope our liberties are not eroded by the government our forbears helped create to protect them. That is hard to do in today’s political environment.

The influence of money in politics favors the wealthiest among us and has been eroding the commons and our well-being since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. We held back the Robber Barons once. It seems unlikely the political will exists to do it again… yet.

On this Blog Action Day, what matters more is not the life we possess at birth, influenced by others. What matters is the way we seek common ground and lend each other a hand in times of adversity.

For if there is inequality in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, and there is, it’s whether and how we come together to fight oppression and get back to the best part of what the founders intended that will help resolve the greatest inequalities among us.

Today is a small step toward that end.

Categories
Social Commentary

Days of Gatherings

Rep. Dave Loebsack Addressing Democrats
Rep. Dave Loebsack Addressing Fall BBQ Attendees

JOHNSON COUNTY— It is possible to fall into a trap of believing that the world and society are about us— our small circle of friends and family and how we live. That would be perilous.

Not only is it impossible to live outside the broader context of global society, believing so isolates us from serving any greater good, and ultimately from taking care of our personal needs. A day’s events can become “all about me,” and the most pressing issues of our time—man-made contributions to climate change, nuclear proliferation, economic justice, food security and public health— can wrongfully be set aside. Not only does this affect society, it filters down to each of us in one form or another.

This weekend, I participated in different ways in a number of gatherings of people in diverse settings. Based on my personal interactions with hundreds of people, the definition of “us” needs broadening before substantial social progress is possible.

Make no mistake, there is a culture of “me.” I see it in everything I do outside our home. At the convenience store people line up to serve their addictions, whether it be tobacco, alcohol, sugar, gasoline or salted snacks. At the warehouse three generation families disperse in the aisles like an infantry squad on patrol exploring a foreign land. At the orchard, large groups of young friends bring along their usage of “perfect” or “awesome” as they head out to pick apples. At the political barbeque, activists gather to hear speeches and espouse judgments of each. At the same time, in the vast emptiness that is Iowa’s agricultural land, soybeans and corn stand ready for harvest and nary a person can be found as they were at home or in town, distracted from the leaching of nitrogen from last night’s rain. The culture of me creates isolation but not loneliness, even as people gather informally together in these settings.

To express my opinion, other than to select what is in this article, would be one more futile voice in the wind, and who has time for futility?

What I saw and participated in this weekend was a reminder of how little humanity has changed since Hieronymous Bosch made the painting below in the late 15th century. In a way we each seek our own giant strawberry to hold and consume. Despite ease of communication, we live compartmentalized and focused on personal delights, eschewing a broader perspective except as it serves our needs.

What to do about this weekend’s observations is uncertain. Figuring it out is important to sustaining a life at risk in so many ways as the days pass, and as people disengage from society.

The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Categories
Living in Society

3 Things about the Iowa Senate Race

Jefferson's Autobiography
Jefferson’s Autobiography

Partisan politics, and the manner in which the founders set up the federal government with its bicameral legislature, yielded an inability to deal with problems much beyond our noses. The founders planned it that way.

“A government of representatives, elected by the people at short periods, was our object; and our maxim at that day was, ‘where annual election ends, tyranny begins;’ nor have our departures from it been sanctioned by the happiness of their effects,” wrote Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Adams in February 1800.

With due respect to a fellow Virginian, the Congress seems unable to solve the most pressing issues of our time and that is becoming problematic. In a choice between Congressman Bruce Braley and State Senator Joni Ernst, Braley is the only choice to meet today’s needs. He isn’t perfect, but who is?

The constant reference to getting things done through bipartisanship by both candidates indicates a failure to understand the nature of what the founders intended in favor of politics of the day. That is not all bad, but it misses the point.

What has changed since the 18th century is humanity’s increasingly global perspective and interconnectedness. I’m not only talking about the Internet, although that is part of it. On any given day, I run into people from most inhabited continents, but from China especially. They are in Iowa to study at the university, but they have an opportunity to make connections that was unlike anything the 1700s. These travelers will take home what’s best about Iowa, and I don’t mean corn, soybeans and pork.

Additionally, business has gone global. When I worked for the oil company, we did business in 89 countries. With their merger with BP, the footprint grew even broader.But that is not all of what is different.

A global perspective on business was evident in the 18th century, and one might say the “discovery” of the Americas was part of business growth. At the same time, the need and desire to comprehend laws and culture throughout the globe and leverage that information for profit has grown to a scale unimaginable three hundred years ago. The U.S. is not isolated from the rest of the world, and it is unbecoming for politicians to assert that we can do what’s best for Iowa without examining a global context.

That said, there are three things I would like to hear from the Republican contender to be Iowa’s junior U.S. Senator, but likely won’t.

I would like to hear something other than that there is a problem with Social Security. Ernst is a parrot of the Congressman Paul Ryan plan for Social Security. In a cynical ploy to retain votes, she asserts keeping the sacred trust to seniors and those approaching retirement, but advocates doing something else, although she hasn’t decided what, for younger people. She indicated privatizing Social Security is on the table, but what she really means is that future retirees will have to fend for themselves.

She recently criticized Braley for not solving the problems with Social Security during his eight years in Washington, but the truth is that Republicans have never been fans of Social Security and have worked to chip away at its benefits since its inception. Ernst is no different and Braley has defended Social Security.

I would like to hear how Ernst would address our nuclear complex. The late Robin Williams pointed out, “remember the big weapons− huge weapons− the ones that really can do us in− are not in the hands of us. Something much bigger. Whether you believe in intelligent design or just a guy named Phil who’s pissed.” The threat of nuclear annihilation is not funny, even if Williams was. Would Ernst have the U.S. join the international humanitarian campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, or is she already under the spell of John Bolton and other conservative hawks that continue to assert U.S. hegemony through a weapon that could end or change permanently civilization as we know it without solving any of our most pressing problems?

Finally, I would like to hear what Ernst will do about the tangible impact on business and society of our changing climate. I heard and previously wrote about her lack of understanding about climate change as stated in the debate with Braley. Either she is incompetent to be a U.S. Senator, or she can learn. If she can learn about climate change, what is she willing to do to protect our common interests in air, water and the conditions that currently nurture life in Iowa and throughout the globe? Bet we don’t hear from her on that either.

The challenge this election cycle is the media and its corporate backers have created such a firestorm of disbelief among voters, that many are expected to skip this cycle. There are more than three things I’d like to hear from Ernst, but I am already confident of where Bruce Braley stands, so why should I insist. That would be time taken away from convincing people to vote for Bruce Braley.

Click here to get involved with the Braley campaign.

Categories
Social Commentary

Pent Up Demand

FencelineLAKE MACBRIDE— While the dental hygienist was scaling, I noticed an odd shape on the upside down computer screen above my head. Leviathan? No. Ink blot? No. It was an image of a jaw bone and the hygienist was recording gingival margins as she poked and scraped with the tool. The screen is used to record information, view X-ray panels, and who knows what else. What I know is getting regular dental checks is one of the few remaining luxuries in life, and when at the dentist’s office, I pay attention to everything that’s going on.

Within earshot, another patient was defending Obamacare, saying the popular conception, that the law was a bad deal, was wrong. All of his children were now covered with health insurance thanks to the law, including one with preexisting conditions. He was grateful and appreciative, and spreading the good news.

For small talk, I chose my warehouse work where I was scheduled for a shift that afternoon. I had my work uniform on so discussion came naturally with the same hygienist I’ve had for a number of years. While we don’t know each other, we chat. She lives in the same town as the warehouse, so we had that in common.

When I changed health and dental insurance policies after implementation of the Affordable Care Act, I cancelled our dental policy because dollars covered were less than the cost of premiums. We have been paying directly for dental care since, and while there is a cost, it’s not that expensive with a successful dental practice.

When people don’t have enough money, dental care is one of the first things to go, especially if there are no symptoms. Right behind that is preventive maintenance on automobiles. That’s where my day of relieving pent up demand to take care of things began.

Motor oil has a useful life beyond the 3,000 miles shops write on the windshield sticker for the next change. My last oil change was in March, so even with my extended interval, service was past due. Partly, the challenge was making time, but partly, I knew from the last inspection some work would be needed, and was avoiding it. I inspect my own tires from time to time, and without a gauge, I could tell the tread depth was well below 4/32nds of an inch, and winter is coming.

The dealer had noted an axle going bad in March, and the local technician confirmed it and gave me a $700 estimate for four tires, a replacement axle and some other necessary repairs. The local labor rate is far below the $100+ per hour charged at the dealership, so it is good business to buy locally.

I declined the offer on the tires knowing my next stop was Cedar Rapids for the dental appointment. I had some time to kill. We have used the same tire dealer for most of the 20 years since we moved back to Iowa. I arrived and he had many options, including one priced much lower than our local repair shop. I bought four tires which were changed in about 20 minutes.

One thing led to another on a day designed to meet existential needs. I stopped at the hardware store and bought a couple of wooden toilet seats. I stopped to eat at a sandwich shop in North Liberty, spending the six dollars in my wallet on an Italian-style sub. I accessed the app for my hair salon and saw there was no waiting. I checked in and drove there to cut the shaggy ponytail beginning to grow in an effort to look my best at the presentation scheduled in ten days. There is a different stylist each time, so no relationship. We talked about my warehouse work.

From there I drove to the warehouse where I spent the shift chatting with scores of people. Afterward, I bought two loaves of bread, a gallon of milk and a bag of tortilla chips, all for $10.51, and headed home.

In the darkness of the drive home through the lakes, I thought about the mash-up that was the fourteen-hour day and about how, except for the Obamacare comments, there was no political talk whatsoever. That is bad news for the candidates in the 2014 midterms. Lack of buzz means lower voter turnout.

Delayed existential errands were checked off a mental list, however, the pent up demand was not for that. What we crave is human contact. In sustaining a life, we need it that way, and appreciate each day of living. Sometimes pent up demand takes care of itself.

Categories
Environment

Outside

Garden Work Day
Garden Work Day

LAKE MACBRIDE— It is hard not to engage in the news from outside Big Grove Township. U.S. and partner states are bombing Syria, the United Nations is taking up the expiration of the Kyoto accord, and more than 100 world leaders will address security issues at the U.N. It has already been a busy week.

Today, the U.N. Climate Summit 2014 convenes on an optimistic note:

Climate change is not a far-off problem. It is happening now and is having very real consequences on people’s lives. Climate change is disrupting national economies, costing us dearly today and even more tomorrow.  But there is a growing recognition that affordable, scalable solutions are available now that will enable us all to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies.

There is a sense that change is in the air. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders, from government, finance, business, and civil society to Climate Summit 2014 this 23 September to galvanize and catalyze climate action.  He has asked these leaders to bring bold announcements and actions to the Summit that will reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015. Climate Summit 2014 provides a unique opportunity for leaders to champion an ambitious vision, anchored in action that will enable a meaningful global agreement in 2015.

While many states recognize the validity of what Ban Ki-moon has said, in the U.S., a positive outcome in the form of a binding and meaningful legal agreement seems unlikely. Even if some of us are pessimistic about U.S. participation, it will be worth our attention today and in coming days, to see what the Climate Summit produces. It is noteworthy that President Obama will be trying to get a resolution on counterterrorism passed by the U.N. Security Council rather than making any bold announcements on mitigating the causes of global warming.

In the universe of a single life, there can be hope. So that’s how I will spend this day on earth. Believing that we can sustain our lives in peace despite so much evidence to the contrary.