Category: Choice

The Dreaded Season of Goodwill

Here we are again, the dreaded season of hope, goodwill and glad tidings. I was quite young when I realized how few were the genuine well wishes and how quickly they evaporated. Before you decide I’m jaded and cynical, please understand I’ve never disbelieved in Hope and Goodwill. I’ve built my life around them. Yet the conundrum persists. I want to celebrate the hype of the season, but the realities of our society come crashing in. How can we who hold the sweetness of love and kindness, and still allow the most hideous acts of inhumanity?

As I write I’m reminded that December 14th is the 10th year since the massacre of children at Sandy Hook. 

How do we go from the sacred to the profane so rapidly? And more importantly, why? 

I’m convinced the answers lie in the inauthentic ways we live. 

Prayers are often wish lists to a god we have not taken the time to know. Acts of kindness are accumulated points towards some heavenly reward. And the real tell is that our beliefs are taught to us and seldom do we make them our own.  If they belonged to us through effort and acceptance, we wouldn’t need assurances from anyone. 

Those who express doubt are hushed. Yet doubts about superficial beliefs may be a most genuine expression of our humanity. The need to know, not simply believe, may be an essential prerequisite. 

Perhaps societal ills are a reflection of this silenced need. And while reliance on belief may pacify some, it’s harmful to many.  Life calls us to celebrate our uniqueness. But that uniqueness is something we must know. Belief will never cut it.

My wish for all of us: May our doubts become our knowing. 

Valuing Human Life

A new farm bill will be drafted in 2023. In a public letter to senate committees that will negotiate the bill, fifty diverse organizations asked for an agricultural system that values human life.  Yes, in 2023, we are finally asking to value human life. 

The letter goes on with requests to transition to chemical free agriculture, and to support community based farming and food marketing systems. It asks for improved housing for farmworkers and to redirect federal finances from industrial operations towards farms that are using regenerative methods. Basically it’s asking to resolve all of the inhuman aspects of our chemically driven industrialized food. 

It’s a comprehensive letter and it represents thought leaders from a variety of areas. From fenceline communities who live and work within miles of hazardous chemical plants to food system workers and farmworkers, family farmers, businesses, scientists, and environmental health and justice organizations, all are human beings with skinny in the game. But then again aren’t we all?

There was another request that got my attention. It’s to amend the Farm Bill’s Conservation Title to include protecting human health in addition to soil health. Imagine that. All these years we’ve waited for the government to codify protecting human health in agri-business. Maybe we are remembering the ancient wisdom of food as the first medicine. 

Ever wonder how the chemical manufacturers and agricultural industries have been able to diminish our health and well being for decades? Thank lobbyists, advertising and Wall Street … but there can be no excuse. Where are we in all of this? Isn’t it time we all value human life?

Learn more at Coming Clean From their website: Coming Clean is a nonprofit environmental health collaborative working to transform the chemical industry so it is no longer a source of harm, and to secure systemic changes that allow a safe chemical and clean energy economy to flourish. Our members are organizations and technical experts — including grassroots activists, community leaders, scientists, health professionals, business leaders, lawyers, and farmworker advocates — committed to principled collaboration to advance a nontoxic, sustainable, and just world for all.

You can also listen to my conversation with John Peck, Executive Director of Family Farm Defenders on WDRT‘s show Conversations, December 8 at 9 am. Listen live or at the website.

They Paved Paradise

Hello, I am writing from my old home in Western Pennsylvania and welcoming you to Consider This*.

Once there was a hillside by a river. The hillside was blasted and a city was built. Well, not really a city, but the bright lights can be seen throughout the rolling hills all over Beaver County as night falls.  No chance of star gazing here. It’s a multi story ethane plant, one that will feed on the Marcellus shale readily found in this state. Known as a cracker plant it will convert natural gas into ethylene and then into plastics.  Pennsylvania will allow the release of 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. The deals were sealed with the American subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell in 2012, as most of the world understood the need to move towards renewable energy and to step away from plastics. 

And what of the pipelines that will transport the natural gas to the plant? Well, in 2018 the Revolution Pipeline operated by Energy Transfer Partners breached when heavy rains caused a landslide that tore through it. One house was destroyed from the blast and other homes and vehicles were damaged.

I have family in the area. Emergency evacuations have always played a part due to the Shippingport nuclear site near-by, but now they have taken on new meaning. The oppressive air is noticeable and inescapable as will be the increase in breathing disorders. But those factors were not part of the agreement between the state and Shell. 

Why am I telling you this? I’m telling you because everyday decisions are being made about our energy and the costs with little to no input to or from us. We carry on and pay the price – both in finance and in health. 

It’s time we uncover the hidden costs of fossil fuels.

This photo was taken from the hillside behind my childhood home on November 8, 2022. Our home was located about twelve miles from the cracker plant. About 15 from the nuclear site (plum of smoke in the background). Numerous chemical plants like Valspar Corp. dot the area. This is a nuisance to all living beings in the area. And it will soon be shown to be unnecessary.

*Consider This is my 2 minute weekly commentary on WDRT, 91.9 FM Community Radio which airs Thursdays at 5:30 pm CST.

Which Side Are You On?

I’m traveling between Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, two bitterly divided states as the mid-term elections are upon us. These are states where millions have been spent on slick advertising designed to elicit straight party line votes. Advertisements have been fear baiting and relentless in divide and conquer tactics pitting neighbors against one another. The threat of violence and voter intimidation is on the rise and there are candidates throughout the country declaring they may not accept election results.  

There are candidates who would turn back the clock on LGBTQ rights in the same way the clock was turned back on a women’s right to choose her own healthcare. These are people who would be content to see our history whitewashed, immigration sidelined, and workers rights eroded. If Governor Evers loses, Wisconsin could face a MAGA governor who sees himself as an old western sheriff. Movements towards restorative justice and efforts to end racial profiling will be dealt heavy blows. 

The question before us cannot be: which side are you on, because it is not that simple. There is another consideration that we have not tried. And it lies in the question; can we choose to be human? 

Can we afford more escalation of violence? Can we continue on the ill fated belief that hard work alone is all that is needed for success, as we watch more and more of our people slide into poverty? Being human is not about following doctrines and leaders. It is about compassion and dignity. And government should not be about power; it is about caring for all of us.

I will always believe the violent are the minority of people, but I am equally certain it is the silence of those who know better that allow the violent to win.

This is not a moment for silence.

Enjoy Which Side Are You On, a labor movement classic sung by Natalie Merchant.

And then there is this: Power to the People by Patti Smith.

Regardless of the outcome, our effort continues.

Clean It Up

Abolition is a fearful word for those who insist on living in fear. When Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tim Michels spews about maintaining “law and order” he’s actively seeking the fearful, people who have all but forgotten their humanity. The ones who desperately try to erase the historical context of this country. Content to live with division and superiority, they are willing to sacrifice the common good. But our history is not merely in the past; it’s hauntingly in the present. 

It’s present every time a Black man is brutally killed by police. It’s present in our schools and in the stories we omit to teach. It’s present as the Supreme Court attempts to whittle away the sovereignty of Tribes, and as we ignore the hideous truths of boarding schools. Our lack of accountability for past harm and our care-less approach to reparations of any kind are testaments to our inhumanity.  

The cry of many politicians, to escalate the police state, is in direct opposition to the voices of Abolition. And while the unyielding word “Abolition” is turned into “All That Should Be Feared”, the truth is this: the more human we become the less tolerant we are of inhumanity. And that is as it should be.

The violence of the dominant or those who would be dominant is escalating. They are and have always been the minority. We’ve been taught to believe otherwise and have cowered because of it.

Being human is not radical. We have the tools for transformation: clarity, kindness and love. Add conviction to the mix while maintaining the recognition of what is possible and we can begin to make it happen. Let’s have a new beginning.

Roll up your sleeves; it’s time to clean it up.

The Empowerment of Choice

The abundance of harvest and the beauty of the season are upon us. So are the bombardment of political ads and the ridiculous robo calls vying for attention.

Choice. It’s an amazing tool if we use it.

The stark contrast of the sublime and the degenerate surround us. Nature carries on and for a brief moment we are witness to her glory. And politics carries on and we are witness to lies and false promises. We really should replace the words “In God We Trust” with “We Have Forsaken Trust”. It would be more accurate.

When politicians pit us one against another and instill fear, they do so with deliberate aim. Power is the goal. Greed is the motivation.  The bitter seeds of hate are offered, often wrapped in the cloak of religion, and too many are swallowing those seeds and becoming very ill. Politicians scream of rising crime and boast of law and order, while they champion January 6th insurrectionists and scramble to elect them. The excuses given are to protect the unborn and to get tough on crime. Few blink an eye at the audacity of the claims and fewer still recognize the ignorance of electing those who will incite more division.  

We have become the parrots who learn to say the words, “Beware the hunter” and chant that mantra as we step into the hunter’s net. 

Who is served by the arousal of anger and fear? Ask yourself that. The inciting of racial division is real. The consequences of the choices we make may harm us for generations. We have the opportunity to learn from one another. We have the opportunity to heal and to emerge as one people for the good of all.

Choice. It’s an amazing tool if we use it.

Get Out and Vote: Enjoy this great video from  No Studio highlighting the need to register AND to vote on Nov 8th. Sponsored in part by WNPJ member groups Building Unity, SOULS (Solomons Outreach & Urban Learning Sessions) and Mother’s Against Gun Violence, Milwaukee. 

Discarding Straitjackets

My wife and I binged watched Heartstopper, a British coming of age romantic comedy. I was touched by the openness of the teens regarding their gender questioning, but startled by the hatred and fear that remains towards those not status quo.

In the fifty years that have passed since my own teen-age questioning things have changed. Youth who refuse the straitjacket of heterosexuality can more easily find support. Gender fluidity and non-binary concepts have replaced the need to take on stereotypical labels. Organizations like PFLAG have helped lessen the sting of abuse. Yet abuse remains

The morality police have made it their business to beg local school boards to prohibit any displays of gender questioning. How absolutely foolish this is on so many levels. 

I understand learning that gender is not binary and that gender fluidity has always existed in the human race must be hard for some who’ve been raised with blinders on. But to insist that your ignorance be law is a bit much. We are crawling out of the hole dug by puritanical thinking, and I’m sorry for your discomfort. But march on we will.

Perhaps your discomfort will be lessened if you learned about different cultures and their acceptance of the reality that gender is a spectrum. It would be kind of you to drop your shock and fear long enough to understand the pain caused by bigotry. 

Bigotry: noun

  1. obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction; in particular, prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.

I can assure you from my own personal experiences, that your momentary discomfort over things that are not your business are nothing compared to the struggle and pain of being gender fluid in this culture. And the statistics on suicide and suicide attempts by gender questioning youth confirm this.

And to youth daring to be: Don’t be robbed by ignorance. Dance on.

Books Unite Us…

In recognition of Banned Books Week, September 18 through 24, I took a deep dive into the list of Classics that are banned or challenged. Unsurprisingly I found some of my favorite authors: Faulkner, Hemingway, Morrison, Steinbeck, Alice Walker, and James Baldwin. Seeing Richard Wright’s Native Son on the list took me back to a high school English class and the horror I felt at the shocking truth it taught me about race. 

I’m forever grateful to the teachers who encouraged us to step out of our parochial view of the world. Through books they opened the door of our mutual humanity, in all of its complexities, glory, and ugliness.

I learned I had nothing to fear in words or ideas. I learned that the free will to choose is a powerful tool and that the ability to discern right from wrong is an inherited strength. In reading about diverse people, empathy grew. In understanding history from those who lived through wars and the Depression, I recognized the wisdom of not allowing ignorance to rule. 

Those who fear books and the ideas expressed within them cling to a worldview as skewed as the ones they fear. Those who would ban books are afraid to open minds and hearts to a broader humanity. They curtail understanding and are a curse to upcoming generations.

Fear is not what we need to propagate. Censorship is not a game to be played. Self-reflection is a worthy art and when we understand we are a fraction of the human kaleidoscope, life becomes a wondrous journey.

No one should have the right to clip the wings of freedom. In truth no one can. Ideas are born within the breath of every unique individual.

And that cannot be banned.

You can Support the Right to Read by signing the petition from the American Booksellers Association.

From ALA.org

What Informs You?

The people of Pakistan are suffering monsoon rains never before witnessed, thousands displaced and over a thousand dead as the toll mounts. Afghanis are suffering malnutrition and starvation while the United States and the World Bank restricts the flow of money to them. Nineteen years after the invasion of Iraq the culture remains fractured, the infrastructure tattered, leaving many in dire need. And while the game of annihilation continues in Ukraine, most of the “civilized world” can only insist on money for more bombs, more destruction and more death. 

If that’s too far away we can zoom in on Jackson, Mississippi where people are currently and in the unforeseeable future without water due to flooding and damaged systems. That would be drinking water, bathing water; you name it, no water for 150,000 people elders, babies and everyone in between. 

Is it too much to think about? Some, I know, only want to hear good things. Happy things. Or maybe you’re one of those who believe it’s all preordained. The world is getting its just deserts delivered by an angry god. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be the lucky one.

The way I see it, we got ourselves into this mess and we need to be the ones to get ourselves out. As a member of humanity, I allow myself to grieve our losses and celebrate our victories – wherever they may be. And I will champion my hope that our better days are still ahead. 

I choose to recognize the drop of the divine we carry may ultimately triumph over the ignorance we exalt.

If we challenge the beliefs that keep us imprisoned, if our hearts would inform us instead of our fears, the hardships will come, but our outcomes could be so very, very different.

Keep the faith and fight.

Calling All Hearts

I like talking to people. They tell you in very few words what they believe and how they live. Believing is the easy part. Living with conviction is a bit more daunting. 

You can believe we’re one race, but continue to uphold systematic racism.

You can believe the environment is harmed by human behavior, but refuse to consider even the smallest steps to rectify it.

You can proclaim we’re all equal and never let the ERA pass.

You get my point.

What then helps a person jump from believing to knowing and from knowing to conviction of action? Believing is the weak link in the chain. Throw doubts at it and belief falters. Or feed it lies and it grows into a mechanism of societal destruction. Look no further than January 6, ‘21 to understand this point.

So the first leap, from belief to knowing is crucial. Facts change. They always have and always will. It’s the nature of the physical world to be in flux. Knowing fact is not the “Knowing” we need. 

There’s an internal knowing available to us if we take the time to seek it.

That knowing supports the recognition of humanity and leaves no doubt about the massacre of innocent people or the ignorance of war. It simply should not be. That knowing understands the interconnectedness of all life. And that knowing honors the Earth as our home. 

With this Knowing a person can be readied for a life lived in conviction. A life lived in fulfillment of purpose, in recognition that we’re not here by accident or chance and that we all have a part to play.

And what is that part you play? 

The discovery and enjoyment of the part you play is left to you and to your heart.