Sustainable Good

Managed Decline or Rejuvenation?: The Community of Christ at a Crossroads

Rejuvenate. Verb [trans]. To make young again, to breath new life into.

Following the decolonization of its empire, political commentators have often, tongue-in-cheek, described Britain’s foreign policy as one of ‘managed decline.’ The UK doesn’t want to drop precipitously off the global scene, but recognizes its days as a global superpower are over and it must move slowly to the fringes.

A similar attitude seems to have taken hold among mainline and liberal Christians in the US, particularly in my denomination, the Community of Christ. Mainline Christianity is graying, slowly dying off and keeping out of the way of the growing evangelical and Pentecostal churches.

Permaculture: Creating a More Sustainable World

I had the opportunity to go to a presentation a couple weeks ago about forest gardens, a subset of the permaculture movement. This is really only the second time I have been exposed to the ideas of permaculture, but it sounds really interesting. I was especially intrigued by the way in which permaculture seeks long-term sustainability.

This definition by the Permaculture Institute sums up the concept pretty well: "Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human endeavor. It teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities and much more. "

Want to Write for Us?

Sustainable Good is looking for submissions from aspiring writers who have something to say about social justice, poverty, politics and progressive faith.

This is a good opportunity to share reflections on your work, activism or research to a broad audience of young adults interested in social justice issues. Publications also always look good on your resume.

Submissions should be written in clear, concise language. We are looking for articulate observations, personal reflections and humorous anecdotes – that means no dry, academic or technical jargon!

Please ensure that you have the rights to any photographic or video material used and that your written work has not been previously published elsewhere.

Please email submissions with the subject line “Sustainable Good Submission” to Matthew Bolton at notlobman@yahoo.com

-Matthew Bolton

10 Ways to Link Academia and Activism

'Navel-gazing’, ‘ivory tower’, ‘book smart but not street smart’, ‘pompous pseudo-intellectual’ – all these epithets, while insulting, point to a common perception that academics and university students are often disconnected from ‘The Real World.’ Indeed, higher education institutions can often seem like privileged enclaves, isolated from the daily struggle for existence that so much of the world faces.

While I was in college, following summers in Kenya, Nicaragua and the Philippines, I grew increasingly frustrated by how many of my classes lacked relevance or insight into the shocking levels of poverty I had observed. I couldn’t wait to graduate and immerse myself in the world of international humanitarian and development NGOs.

Inauguration Speech on POVERTY!

During the last moments of Barack's Inauguration yesterday, I picked up one of the flags that had been given out and dusted it off. This was a powerful symbol for how I feel about these amazing times. I feel like we have a tremendous opportunity to take Barack's challenge and dust ourselves and this nation off--wiping away years of hopelessness and bad policy. I am excited to wipe away exploitive foreign aid and trade policies that have helped create the global poverty crisis. And I am thrilled that Obama made poverty a priority in his Inauguration speech!

Change comes from sustainable and unchanging values

My husband and I went to the inauguration concert yesterday. Despite the cold -- we were warm and toasty due to the approximately 400,000 bodies surrounding us.

Other than the inauguration tomorrow -- this might be the most historic event Jeff and I will ever go to. Memories of the March on Washington were conjured up and I can't help feeling as though I was part of something just as important -- especially when Barack Obama mentioned that despite the foundational memorials to Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt surrounding us on all sides, that the most crucial to the change we wish to seek now was what filled the spaces in between.  Us. Me and all the people we were snuggled up with on either side of the reflecting pool.

It's times like these that make me sentimental.  I can't help but think of my own grandparents and great grandparents -- people born in poverty -- as farmers, sharecroppers in Alabama.  They certainly were not perfect, born in their time and place, they were embedded in racism.  And now their granddaughter or great granddaughter-- who has never lacked for money -- is celebrating the first black president of the United States. 

Despite all the fundamental differences I have with my ancestors, I am a product of of them as well.  They are the ones that helped shape my deep sense of connectivity with humanity and the earth.  They are the ones that taught my parents to love me and raise me in a way that is open to different ideas and worldviews. 

Yes, much has changed -- but change embedded in the unchanging ideas of love, respect, and as Rod Downing so aptly expresses, openness to possibilities.  I can't think of a better case for sustainable good in our world.

Hope Based On Openness

“Why are you here?” voiced a 12 year old boy living in a refugee camp on the border of Darfur, Sudan.  When Canadian Senator Mobina Jaffer, who at the time in 2005 was Canada’s Special Envoy to Sudan, started to reply, the boy interrupted – “No, I mean why are you wasting your time here? – it’s too late for us!  You should be in Iraq helping people before they end up like us in refugee camps!” 

Upon returning to Canada, when Senator Jaffer told a group of us this story, I asked her what might have been the hidden agenda of the boy -- maybe family trying to make him look special and gain favour, or someone using him to make a political statement?  In this particular case, she couldn’t see one – it simply seemed to be a spontaneous, honest reaction. 

 

 

Openness – The Foundational Concept

When asked to write a guest column, one usually starts with a riveting topic.  But ‘openness’? – Where’s the sizzle in that?  - It sounds so mundane as to verge on a ‘motherhood’ (parenthood) issue!  I agree and hopefully will have more compelling articles later.  But to use ‘sizzle’ as an analogy, I’d say openness is not the food sizzling in the fry pan, nor the fry pan, nor even the fire, oxygen or wood – the best analogy would be that it is the possibility that bringing together wood, oxygen and a spark will create a fire.

Fine.  But isn’t this blog about the gritty topic of poverty and its elimination? – surely such esoteric topics should be discussed elsewhere!  True.  But occasionally it is worth some reflection to ensure things are well-anchored. 

As a crusty-old activist who has been involved in peace and justice activities for over 30 years, including many years on the Board of a similar international development organization in Canada – World Accord - I have found that almost any issue has openness as one of the core components for a lasting resolution.  So that is always where I like to start.  In fact it is why I like this blog, for its basis  – to redefine poverty – is an acknowledgement to remain open to how old and even current thoughts may need refining.

Nobel Peace Laureate Faces Iranian Govt Persecution

 

Human Rights Watch reports that the Iranian government has escalated its campaign of persecution against Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, who runs the Iranian local NGOs, the Center for Participation in Clearing Mined Areas and the Defenders of Human Rights Center. 

Gaza Crisis: A Human Rights Disaster!

"I’ve just come from the Congressional briefing by representatives of Israeli human rights organizations sponsored by Americans for Peace Now, Churches for Middle East Peace and other groups.

These groups are doing invaluable work to provide a clear picture of what’s happening in Gaza and to preserve human ties between Israelis and Palestinians.

The organizations have joined to provide information at the blog site: http://www.gazaeng.blogspot.com

Their current summary of the dead and injured:

Gaza: at least 700 killed, of them at least 240 children and 100 women. More than half those killed since the ground incursion began (313) are women and children. Over 3,100 injured, of them over 350 severely injured. Israel: 10 killed, of them 1 woman and 7 soldiers. Over 68 civilians injured, of them 4 severely injured, not including those treated for shock, and 60 soldiers injured, of them one in critical condition."

The Continuing Israel/Gaza Conflict

It seems as though all three of my new year's hopes have been summarily dashed by the Israel/Gaza conflict.  

The Washington Post reports that about 625 Palestinians have been killed and almost 3,000 injured in Gaza.  The UN states that about a third of these have been women and children. This comes on top of an already tough situation because of the Israeli blockades of basic essentials like food, oil, and medicines.  Simply speaking, the humanitarian crisis is quite dire.

Today, Israel implemented a three hour cease-fire so that humanitarian aid can reach some of the Palestinians who are desperately hanging on to their lives.  But many did not feel safe enough to retrieve the sacks of flour and packages of medicines from the UN Relief and Works Agency.

The People Behind the Numbers

I listened to This American Life this weekend and it talked about people who quantify things that should never be quantified, such as their love lives, the perfect song, and every daily task. One of the lessons of the show (I hate to give it away) was that quantifying deep experiences prevents us from feeling the depth...It glazes over them. This morning I was walking to work and I started thinking about some of the numbers in my life that prevent me from engaging in the depth behind them.

And I remembered that 25,000 children die every day from poverty-related causes.

Poverty and the Impact of the Economic Crisis

Spending Christmastime with my in-laws in Michigan really opened my eyes to the depth of the economic crisis. I heard many people talking about their fear of slowdown and layoffs in the auto industry and the surprising number of small businesses that have gone under.  I spoke with the owner of a small independent bookshop that has struggled to make ends meet as people have cut back on spending.