Dear all,
I was struck recently by something I read about how attention to gratitude helps restore a feeling of abundance and attract what we most value. So, with this month very much like the one before, here are some things I’m grateful for. The summer vegetables are coming in. I’ve discovered that a weed we pulled out all through my childhood (called purslane) not only is nutritious, but makes a delicious pesto. I saw the almost-full-just-waning moon on an early morning walk this week, then two rainbows!
Only having written this, do I remember that there is news—I’ve just received a contract for a book! It’s a collection of my columns: That Clear and Certain Sound; Finding Solid Ground in Perilous Times. Now I just have to find my way through the challenges of publication and promotion. There are so many challenges in this world, big and small. I wish you well with your share of them.
Love,
Pamela
Being vulnerable
I’ve been puzzling over why white America was able to take in the killing of George Floyd in a way that opened our nation up to racial injustice at a whole new level. The same things had happened so many times before and we had managed to get back to normal within days.
I was wondering with a friend about whether it might have been the graphicly callous evil of the act, captured so starkly. It was way out there, completely unambiguous. But she reminded me that this was far from the first time that such callous evil had been played out for the whole nation to see. So it wasn’t that. It had to be the pandemic, a different context that allowed us to see differently. But what about it?
Sharing my perspective on what we are facing with a group of peer counseling teachers that I lead, I found myself talking about vulnerability. Our vulnerabilities are so much closer to the surface than usual these days. Even those of us who are buffered by economic privilege—whose incomes are not in danger, who don’t have to go to work in ways that put us at risk, who are not trying to take care of children while doing our full-time work at home, who have enough indoor space to spread out—are still feeling vulnerable. Even if, whether by chance or fortune, we don’t know of someone who has died of COVID, who hasn’t wondered who among us might be carrying a disease against which we have no protection? Who hasn’t imagined what it would be like to die alone?
As we are more in touch with our own vulnerabilities, with those of our aged relatives and other loved ones, and those of the essential workers we may not know who are putting themselves at risk to provide what we need to live, our hearts are more open. While the impact of a brutal and senseless killing might once have washed over a smooth surface, our raw ends are now more exposed. We are feeling things, taking them in.
In the course of our conversation, other pieces of the puzzle came out. There was all the organizing that had been done over the last six or seven years by the Movement for Black Lives, creating the groundwork for mass protests. There was the fact that schools were closed and young people were restless and already upset. There was the new reality that we can’t just go back to living our regular lives after a day or two of outrage. There is no normal to return to, no readily retrievable status quo in which to take comfort.
One man mentioned something I hadn’t thought of: there were no sports to distract us. With no games, or scores, or plays, or players, or rankings or trades to fill their heads, he said, guys are talking about what’s really going on. It made me think about the incredible amount of addiction and distraction that is built into our daily lives, and how much that has been disrupted by the pandemic.
And so we are embarked on a journey into unchartered territory. It’s scary. There’s so much we don’t know. But maybe we can remember the value of our vulnerability, how it can allow us to pay attention in ways that connect us where we were not connected before, and offer up new opportunities for living together in this world.
Wood chips
This little pile of wood chips caught my eye
six weeks ago between the sidewalk and the street.
Were they trash or treasure of this house?
I eyed the pile, could make good use of it.
But when neglect had shown that it was trash
the days had grown so hot that moving it
would be a sweltering task.
Other outdoor needs called urgently
For those cool early morning hours,
and so the little pile remained
and life went on.
A big rain finally came and broke the heat
It brought another change as well:
Mushrooms sprouted from the wood chip pile!
Life had, indeed, been going on.
Fungal threads—mycelia—had taken hold
somewhere within the pile, and spread and spread
till finally, dense enough, they pushed the mushrooms out.
Without a doubt this pile is treasure now.
It’s come alive, is on its way to join the soil
that, with the water and the sun,
sustains us all.
I may dig into this pile or I may not.
Already it has nourished me
with its reminder of abundant life.
Dare to imagine: A new economy is possible
South Korean Coops
Cooperatives have played an important part in the Korean economy for generations. Established in the 1960s to uplift the still largely rural economy, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, for example, has grown to include nearly all rural households as its members. Alongside farmer-owned producer cooperatives the federation also runs a banking network which is the second-largest financial group in South Korea in terms of total asset value, but it is not the only cooperative in the financial sector: 900 credit unions in the country boasted 5.9 million members in 2012. Membership in iCOOP KOREA, which provides consumers with reliable and eco-friendly agricultural products through direct dealing with producers, grew from 11,645 members in 2002 to 294,000 in 2019.
Cooperatives were previously limited to only a few industries, each with their own specific legislation, but this changed following the passing of the 2012 Cooperative Framework Act. Cooperatives can now be established in almost any sector, and requirements to launch one have been drastically reduced. For example, the previous laws required at least 1000 founder-members to form an agricultural coop, 300 for a consumer coop and 100 for a credit union. The passing of the new law reduced the minimum number of members to establish a cooperative to 5. Other substantial changes included recognizing worker cooperatives as a specific legal entity, and making them newly eligible for conventional bank loans for small and medium-sized businesses.
https://coop.exchange/blog/d8bf329f-c512-11ea-b711-06ceb0bf34bd/the-number-of-cooperatives-in-south-korea-has-exploded
Some things that have made me hopeful recently:
Schools that are turning into solar power stations, saving money and shining a light on solar electricity.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/america-schools-turning-into-solar-power-stations_n_5f1f423fc5b69fd473105a63?ncid=engmodushpmg00000006
The planning process the city of Amsterdam in engaged in to move from a growth economy to one that meets human needs while staying within planetary boundaries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/amsterdam-doughnut-model-mend-post-coronavirus-economy
Cuba’s neighborhood public health doctors, who go to their patients, door by door, to provide preventative care and education. short video
A Brazilian photographer and his wife, who planted two million trees and created a new forest.
https://youtu.be/p0Aw3JEtQoU (video) https://allthatsinteresting.com/sebastiao-salgado-forest
Resources
Finding Steady Ground
If you need reminding of some simple ways to stay grounded in challenging times, I recommend this website, which I helped a friend develop following the last presidential election.
www.findingsteadyground.com
Other resources from my friend Daniel Hunter
Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow; An Organizing Guide. http://www.danielhunter.org/books/building-movement-end-new-jim-crow-organizing-guide
Climate Resistance Handbook, or I was part of a climate action. Now what? https://commonslibrary.org/climate-resistance-handbook-or-i-was-part-of-a-climate-action-now-what/
Leading Groups On-Line. https://www.trainingforchange.org/training_tools/leading-groups-online-book/
Money and Soul
My new book (based on a pamphlet of the same name) available via QuakerBooks or other on-line distributors.
("If money troubles your soul, try this down-to-earth Quaker perspective on economies large and small.")
Money, Debt and Liberation
A video of a talk I gave at Pendle Hill in January, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nP8eJ5vy8
Toward a Right Relationship with Finance
A book that I co-authored on Debt, Interest, Growth and Security.
The growth economy is failing to provide equitable well-being for humanity and a life-sustaining future for Earth. However our institutional endowments and individual retirement are dependent on that same growth economy. This book:
• offers background on our current economic system--how it is based on unearned income on the one hand and debt on the other, with a built-in momentum toward economy inequality and ecological overshoot;
• frames the conversation within the context of our deepest values and beliefs;
• suggests plausible and historically grounded alternatives to the current system, particularly with regard to financing retirement; and
• invites everyone to imagine new forms of durable economic and social security, and to help create the relationships and institutions that will make them a reality.
With many people now counting as never before on the performance of Wall Street for retirement security, how can this system be challenged with integrity and effectiveness? Can we break with our dependence on financial speculation and build up new structures of security in a transformed, life-centered economy?
To order the book, or read it on line, go to http://www.quakerinstitute.org/?page_id=5 and scroll down.
More resources
Posts on other web/blog sites:
In http://www.classism.org/gifts-american-dream/, Pamela Haines locates her family's homey DIY celebrations on a class spectrum of different connections to upward mobility.
http://www.transitionus.org/blog/unlikely-suspects-–-deep-outreach-diverse-initiating-groups-–-pace-building-trust
http://www.classism.org/demolition-derby
Muscle Building for Peace and Justice; a Non-Violent Workout Routine for the 21st Century--an integration of much of my experience and thinking over the years: New link: https://www.peaceworkersus.org/docs/muscle_building_for_peace_and_justice.pdf (or just google the title)
Finding Steady Ground
If you need reminding of some simple ways to stay grounded in challenging times, I recommend this website, which I helped a friend develop following the last presidential election.
www.findingsteadyground.com
Other resources from my friend Daniel Hunter
Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow; An Organizing Guide. http://www.danielhunter.org/books/building-movement-end-new-jim-crow-organizing-guide
Climate Resistance Handbook, or I was part of a climate action. Now what? https://commonslibrary.org/climate-resistance-handbook-or-i-was-part-of-a-climate-action-now-what/
Leading Groups On-Line. https://www.trainingforchange.org/training_tools/leading-groups-online-book/
Money and Soul
My new book (based on a pamphlet of the same name) available via QuakerBooks or other on-line distributors.
("If money troubles your soul, try this down-to-earth Quaker perspective on economies large and small.")
Money, Debt and Liberation
A video of a talk I gave at Pendle Hill in January, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nP8eJ5vy8
Toward a Right Relationship with Finance
A book that I co-authored on Debt, Interest, Growth and Security.
The growth economy is failing to provide equitable well-being for humanity and a life-sustaining future for Earth. However our institutional endowments and individual retirement are dependent on that same growth economy. This book:
• offers background on our current economic system--how it is based on unearned income on the one hand and debt on the other, with a built-in momentum toward economy inequality and ecological overshoot;
• frames the conversation within the context of our deepest values and beliefs;
• suggests plausible and historically grounded alternatives to the current system, particularly with regard to financing retirement; and
• invites everyone to imagine new forms of durable economic and social security, and to help create the relationships and institutions that will make them a reality.
With many people now counting as never before on the performance of Wall Street for retirement security, how can this system be challenged with integrity and effectiveness? Can we break with our dependence on financial speculation and build up new structures of security in a transformed, life-centered economy?
To order the book, or read it on line, go to http://www.quakerinstitute.org/?page_id=5 and scroll down.
More resources
Posts on other web/blog sites:
In http://www.classism.org/gifts-american-dream/, Pamela Haines locates her family's homey DIY celebrations on a class spectrum of different connections to upward mobility.
http://www.transitionus.org/blog/unlikely-suspects-–-deep-outreach-diverse-initiating-groups-–-pace-building-trust
http://www.classism.org/demolition-derby
Muscle Building for Peace and Justice; a Non-Violent Workout Routine for the 21st Century--an integration of much of my experience and thinking over the years: New link: https://www.peaceworkersus.org/docs/muscle_building_for_peace_and_justice.pdf (or just google the title)
