Sustainable Good

What do words mean?

As an advocate for Native Americans, I was glad to see that Sen. Brownback from Kansas introduced a joint resolution to "acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the United States Government regarding Indian tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States." 

Finally -- SOMEONE representing the U.S. government will simply acknowledge the fact that our European ancestors committed awful crimes against humanity:  genocide against a people who have lived on this land for thousands of years before white settlers stepped foot on it.

SOMEONE will apologize for the forced removal of Native Americans from their homes and their sacred and spiritual spaces.  Someone will apologize for stealing lands and treasures and never returning them. 

SOMEONE will apologize for the forced assimilation techniques white people used to "kill the Indian, save the man."  This included separating children from their families and forcing them into boarding schools where they were punished if they spoke their own language or practiced their tribal customs.  This also included sterilizing many women and some men so that they could not bear children.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My family is coming in to town.  We've bought the food and will soon start preparing the squash apple bisque and my mother's famous cornbread dressing for the big event tomorrow.  Thanksgiving shows are on the radio, shared recipes abound, and I'm trying to ignore the Christmas decorations hanging on store windows and doorways --as always.

Unfortunately many people in the United States aren't experiencing a traditional Thanksgiving this year.  Jane Black in today's Washington Post states that: "Breaking the symbolically important 30 million mark [of requested food stamps] comes on the heels of government data showing that 11.9 million people went hungry in the United States at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50 percent from the year before."

Clearly, we're in an economic crisis of a magnitude that many of us have never seen.  Now that the middle class has been affected -- the government is paying attention. While that makes the people who have been working against extreme poverty a bit cynical, there is some good that comes from this.

My hope is that these hard times will get the attention of hundreds of thousands of middle-class Americans to see the hardships that some folks all over the world face on a daily, weekly, yearly basis.  We need to work on structural change.  That's the point of sustainable good:  we don't spend our weeks pointlessly shifting dollar figures around to this and that agency.  We work -- at a grassroots level -- to bring structural change  within our economy and within the minds and hearts of all.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Celebrate the hope that everyone can have 3 full meals a day.

-Karyn Wingard-Manuel 

Bombs, War, Weapons, and more...

I just got back from Dr. Atomic, an opera about Dr. Oppenheimer, the leader of the Manhattan Project to develop the Atomic Bomb. (I know it sounds odd, and it was, but it was also powerful.) And I just kept thinking that if the US ever spent as much money on any public sector (health, education, development, environmental protection) as we spend on the weapons and war machine, this would would be SO much better. I watched in anguish as Dr. Oppenheimer struggled with the morality of the work he was doing. And I was so thankful that I believe in the movements and organizations I am a part of. I wish that for everyone.

I also wish that we really would make progress on shifting budget priorities away from weapons and war toward the needs of people and the environment in this country and around the world. At a conference this weekend, a representative from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities spoke about opportunities in the next year with the new Congress and Administration, but when asked if she thought we could actually shift funding from the Pentagon to other priorities in the next year, she wasn't optimistic. Apparently, Congress has made some long-term budget committments to the Pentagon that have come due. While I appreciate her honesty and expertise, I can't accept that answer. I do not accept another year of such lopsided priorities. And I am going to work toward making sure this doesn't happen. You can too! Before Nov 26, 2008, urge your Senators to take action to ensure our priorities are better reflected in next year's budget.

Movements start with one person standing up. Let's stand together against injustice!

-Stephen Donahoe