Fall 2003 Issue 27
Re: Leave No Child Behind: The Rights of the Child
Dear Ms. Stewart,
Your wonderful article produced so many “nodding” affirmations, that I felt compelled to write to you. I work in the public school system, biting my tongue almost daily for need of my job. I have seen so much of what you describe. When elementary school children can matter-of-factly mention that mom is getting out of jail on Tuesday or say succinctly, “I don’t have a dad”, it is so evident that things have gone terribly wrong. We have been sold a horrendous bill of goods. America is the richest nation, yes. As long as the wealth is controlled by a very few, and “democracy” goes to the highest bidder, it will also be a nation of extreme economic and social polarization. My question, then, is what to do? As lower middle-class non-conformists, my husband and I have felt very powerless at times. We cannot afford to buy a house, nor send our sons to college. Although we are both quite gainfully employed (and therefore good taxpayers), there are not many programs to help those caught in the middle.

I would propose that the rights of the child should also include paid college for those with the grades to qualify. I would also create a new American Dream, one in which special housing loans/programs and flexible qualifying would be extended to people who wish to live communally, i.e., pooling resources and buying or building homes large enough to be shared. People with stable jobs but credit difficulties would still qualify. Utilities could also offer reduced rates to homeshare households. Secure housing with more than just two committed adults is one of the best preventive measures we can give our children. So is decent food and medical care.

The system has created this cultural monster with frightening cleverness. The Christian Right and the corporate government have turned our culture into one of consumption addicts with spoon-fed “morals” and trivialized relationships. It seems to me that the answer has to lie in like-minded people coming together and making the changes from the inside out. I would welcome hearing from you, or information on any other connection along these lines that might be helpful to know about. My support is a given.
Sincerely, Emily Calkins, Beaverton, OR

Lisa Mayfield Stewart responds:
Dear Ms. Calkins
I enthusiastically second the points you make in your thoughtful and highly articulate letter. Your ideas for change are brilliant ones. I’m much better at complaining, so seeing a liberal thinker advocating FOR specific meaningful changes is a good reminder. Many of us seem to be up to our hubcaps in a rut of reaction, protest and fault-finding. Oops, there I go again. Alternatives Magazine is so great because it focuses on other ways of living and maintaining ourselves, our lives, and our world.

You make sense to me when you speak of like-minded people coming together and making changes from the inside out. Twelve Steppers say something like, “You can’t do it alone but you have to do it yourself.” To me, and in this context, that means that not only is community necessary but I must (pardon the cliche parade here) walk my talk. Which, frankly, is a struggle in some ways. I assume, or maybe hope, that other people have such struggles. Surely I’m not the only one who knows she could walk to work, but drives. How I live my own life doesn’t much matter in the grand scheme, but it seems to me that cultural change occurs because many individuals change and grow.

Finding or achieving that community thing is no small challenge. Barriers to community abound all around us, but mostly in us. True community requires us to fully embrace differences. Which means staying put on that committee or that board until the job gets done. Dr. Strangelove II: How I Learned to Bite My Tongue, Bide My Time, and Love the [your choice of board/committee/organization]. I don’t know about you, but I’ve flunked that class a time or two, to my chagrin. I can’t let myself stop trying.

All of which is to say, “Just keep on truckin’, Emily.” You are an example and a model, and as a public school employee, your life is a light for the kids around you. History instructs us that, short of revolution, societal change comes slowly—because we are human, I’d say. Our government’s invasion of Iraq disheartened me, in part because it seems to signal that shifts and events I had hoped to witness in my life have been dropped overnight below my horizon.

Nevertheless, well within our typically small spheres of influence, our daily decisions and actions shape the evolving culture that our children and their children’s children will inhabit. There’s hope in that. Meanwhile, perhaps people who read your letter and are drawn to your ideas will get in touch and something important will be born. Perhaps legislation concerning communal housing, college tuition or utility credits will be drafted for next session, or a support group of teachers will coalesce. Trends and policies sprout from ideas. By sharing yours, you seed a garden of new possibilities.
Lisa Mayfield Stewart

Re: War on Drugs
Dear Editor
The immorality and the cost of the War on Drugs harm us more than the drugs themselves. With 10 years of experience in law enforcement, (Illinois Dept. of Corrections), I have met many convicted drug offenders, “BAD” people labeled as a threat to my family and me. I assure you I’d have no qualms living next door to the vast majority, and I have two small girls, 6 and 7 yrs.

Make no mistake, drugs are bad and can ruin a person’s life—but we have more people killed in drug-related shootings than in overdoses.

This moralism that pushes prohibition in our free society, combined with the vast amounts of money generated by the prohibition (both selling and fighting drugs) create a far greater threat to our country than the drugs themselves. In this world of terrorism and oppression we must not spend our time and resources fighting or imprisoning ourselves—we are not the enemy.

If we channeled the money through our medical system that we push through our penal system fighting drug addiction, wouldn’t our society be better off? I can tell you first hand our penal system is a bottomless pit and offers little benefit to our society, other than segregation of the “BAD PEOPLE”. These prohibition laws unfairly place far too many people into the “BAD PEOPLE” category.
We must call for an end to the War.
Mark Hill

Re: War & Peace
Dear Editor
The Bush Administration knowingly misled the nation into war. 10,000 innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed. The Iraqi environment has been contaminated with depleted uranium, and unexploded cluster bombs.

The Administration rained down an unprovoked blitz of 14,000 Tomahawk missiles, at a million dollars apiece, on one of the poorest countries in the world the size of California, with a population that is 50% children.

The administration ignored international law. The voices of 40 Nobel Peace prize winners. The pleas of heads of all the world’s main religions. The leaders of 90% of the planet’s countries. Tens of millions of world citizens who marched against the war. The UN and many prominent international environmental and humanitarian organizations who predicted the quagmire that the US faces today. The administration bragged, “It’ll be a cakewalk....”

The Administration has bankrupted the US treasury. Hijacked the US Constitution, the US Bill of Rights, the government “of, for and by the people.” Consolidated the “free press” necessary to democracy under control of a few corporations. The Administration is the ground zero of corruption. It must go.
Suzanne Nonamee

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Summer 2003 Issue 26
Balance vs. Left Wing Rants (Continued from Spring 2003)
Dear Editor,
I had no idea that you would reply to my letter, published in the Spring issue. I’m no defender of George W. Bush or his foreign and domestic policies. I agree with you that his actions have been reckless and will ultimately be disastrous for the U.S. My comments were meant to call your attention to what I saw as a growing political tone in the magazine. Right or left is irrelevant. The winter issue had too much shrill political rhetoric. I’m intrigued by your assertion, paraphrasing Gandhi, that “political expression ... is spiritual expression.” I admire Gandhi and am familiar with his public statements and writings, but I’ve never come across anything like that. I’d appreciate the source. In any case, if he said anything of that nature he was probably referring to the formation of the Congress Party in India as the country struggled for independence from England. I doubt he’d endorse the partisan mud-slinging that passes for political discourse in this country.

We can strongly challenge the leadership and dominant paradigms of the U.S. without demonizing individuals. We all share responsibility for what we see around us. Blaming or “naming,” as you called it, only shifts the responsibility to someone else. I stand by this observation about the recent tone of columnists in Alternatives. There was a good deal of Bush-bashing. You seem to be advocating some form of relative spirituality when you ask: “Who is to say what real spirituality looks like or acts like in times like this?” I’d say: “Real” spirituality doesn’t waver from time to time or situation to situation. It’s constant and eternal. Most religions and spiritual traditions embrace some form of the Golden Rule and some form of compassion. Compassion may be the key element—and that includes compassion for those who we disagree with or who threaten us. They can be our greatest teachers. Pray for George Bush and those around him that they may be able to see and act clearly and wisely. Use your passion to enlighten him, his advisors and underlings. Ironically, the page following your reply to my letter contained advertising for programs at Breitenbush, including one called “Compassionate Listening.” I had the impression that the magazine was intended to foster such ideas.
Michael Sullivan, Philomath

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Dear Michael Sullivan,
We agree “that his [Bush’s] actions have been reckless and will ultimately be disastrous for the U.S.” And we agree that “right or left is irrelevant”—Alternatives isn’t about political parties, affiliations or labels. As regards Gandhi’s political expressions, he said quite a lot on the subject of politics and spirituality. For instance: “I draw no hard and fast line of demarcation between political, social, religious and other questions.”; and “Politics are a part of our being; we ought to understand our national institution.”; and “All constructive activity is in a sense part and parcel of the politics of the country.” (Gandhi also said “I would dance with joy if I had to give up politics.”) Gandhi was a politician—an extremely successful one—and part of his success is reflected by his ability to say, without guile, “I have sacrificed no principle to gain a political advantage.” You’d no doubt agree this was Gandhi’s leadership genius. But Gandhi was a social activist and did take forceful stands. He named political and military leaders responsible for colonial oppression and massacres, and led massive social resistance against institutional extremes led by such men. His guides were truth and non-violence. You and I agree on such guides. I wish Bush could.

You misread me when you write “You seem to be advocating some form of relative spirituality...” What I’m saying here is that I do not relate to spiritual expression as a formulaic exercise. My commitment is to truth, not to consistency. Though the guiding principles are changeless, the actions that flow from these principles are anything but predictable. Who knows what the most skillful means are toward achieving social institutions and public policies that reflect our core principles and values? I try to discern such means. No doubt I do this imperfectly. For instance, you definitely got me on the point of compassion for George Bush et.al.—I have no illusions that my prayers for Bush will in any way “enlighten him, his advisors and underlings,” ... “that they may be able to see and act clearly and wisely.” But in the end, the value of prayer isn’t so much about getting what one prays for as in humbling and perfecting one’s being by seeking truth and finding time for silence, thankfulness and spiritual intention regardless of outcome.
Thanks for the reminder and challenge.
Peter Moore, editor

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Spring 2003 Issue 25
Balance vs. Left Wing Rants
Dear Editor,
It’s been interesting to watch the evolution of Alternatives from what I had once considered to be a spiritually based, holistic publication to yet another “Alternative” publication filled with angry rants from allegedly enlightened people. While I have no problem at all with expressions of opposition to war with Iraq or with objections to those aspects of federal or state domestic policies that subvert the Bill of Rights or target citizens with little economic power, there is an increasing left-wing political slant to the magazine and far too many personal attacks on President George W. Bush. Isn’t “balance” a key component to holistic living? How about applying it to your editorial policy? Is blaming a spiritual practice? One recent columnist actually talked about “taking the moral high ground,” as though his view of what that constitutes applies to all concerned, thinking people. I’m finding less and less useful information for living intelligently and harmoniously during this challenging period and more and more anger, self-righteousness and divisiveness—which are among the fundamental problems facing humanity throughout the world.
Michael Sullivan

Dear Michael Sullivan,
Thanks for your letter. It makes me pause to consider the truth of what you say. Balance is indeed a key component to holistic living. So is telling the truth, as we see it, as independently and articulately as possible.

To begin with, Alternatives makes no pretense of objectivity. The media offers up more bias than “balance” anyway, regardless what reporters and news producers want us to believe. I just wish the corporate media were more honest about what (and why) their bias is. But more to the point: we have a legitimate disagreement with George W. Bush, and with a host of policies—domestic and international—put forth in his name. Alternatives is under no obligation to find some “balance” in editorial or public discourse with regard to these policies. Quite the opposite: we are obliged to point out their terrifying consequences. Beyond that, we have a duty to offer solutions and I think our writers do a good job of that.

Our difference with the Bush administration is not a polite agreement to disagree. It is personal. This is our world and our future we’re talking here. In our view, his arrogant disdain for history, social norms of fair play, international relationships and compassionate action invites our response. What would you have us do, act like everything is just fine, perfectly normal? This man and his advisors put us all at risk. It is my belief that the current American regime will be judged harshly by history, as all cruel spirited opportunist leaders are. But we’re not future historians, looking back on the past. We are living in “real time”, in the now. Our obligation is to speak to the highest values of our culture, our country, our humanity, not to be loyal to polite balance or the current president.

You can call it “blaming”, but I call it “naming”: naming things by their true names.

To paraphrase Gandhi, political expression isn’t the opposite of spiritual expression, it is spiritual expression. Alternatives has as its mission to bridge spiritual practice and social activism. There is too much at stake here to assume a disinterested approach on the issues of national and international interest. Passion in the pursuit of what makes our world real for us isn’t wasted, even if it makes things uncomfortable between people who would otherwise enjoy each other’s company. Why do it? Because real lives are at risk, real rights are being taken away, real prison sentences are being handed down, billions are spent (wasted) for the worst of what we’re capable of, lies masquerade as truth, sentimentality and dangerous nationalism masquerade as wise leadership…. there is a juggernaut rolling across the landscape of our nation, our world, and George W. Bush is having way too much fun playing “leader” at the helm of that thing. He and his accomplices are begging to be called to account.

It takes a lot of energy to awaken the collective will of our people to call our leaders to a higher standard. Alternatives contributes to that.

Who is to say what real spirituality looks like or acts like in times like these? I don’t pretend to know that. I feel spiritual in my days and in my acts, even when I am outraged by what feels like Rome Reborn by this pursuit of American Empire economically and militarily across the world.

I think the worldwide response to this ugly American development isn’t “Left Wing”, it’s wings in flight. The demand for peaceful resolution of conflict is becoming universal, in all languages, religions and cultures. On Feb. 15, millions of people all over the world poured into the streets and marched peacefully, but with great passion. Their message: use peaceful means to end the threat of war, not preemptive invasion and slaughter. If the people of our world can do it peacefully now, with Iraq & the US, there’s a good chance we’ll do it the next time someone needs to be convinced to not use their weapons. Think North Korea. Think India & Pakistan. Think Israel & its neighbor countries. Think U.S. “foreign” policy in pursuit of oil, cheap labor and & “safe markets” for its corporations across the planet, never mind the suffering of hundreds of millions of people directly affected by these policies and deployments.

Bringing up all of these connections is relevant to our American lives. It informs our choices. I see it as the work of applied spirituality.
Peter Moore, Editor

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Dear Editor,
It is so easy to be blinded in patriotism to the more thoughtful questions that need to be asked and answered. Living through this now is an even more humbling experience than anything I ever felt during the Vietnam War. I find myself feeling small and insignificant, unable to respond with the kind of vitality that renders any kind of easy solution. My heart aches and I am sorely concerned for those who will be brutalized mentally and physically by this never-ending war on terrorism. In watching OPB's two part series on the first Gulf War, it is clear how little we can project the future we inherit in human conflict. Now we are poised to do it again and I fear we will sow the seeds of our own destruction, not just in Iraq, but in the world.

In failing to adhere to the very institutions created to institute a system of world justice, we are sending a message that only might makes right, especially if it is clothed in the divine right of our own manifest destiny. Underpinning it all are natural resources being exponentially exhausted in combination with the compromise of life support systems relegated to the externalities of a global economy. What we do to the earth, the air we breathe, the water we drink - we do to ourselves and all living creatures on this planet. I pray for the wisdom of our questions and for loving answers borne from within each of our hearts.
Lloyd Marbet, Portland

Dear Editor
The combine is revving up again and once again the masters of war are preparing us for the periodic great sacrifice of our sons. Not theirs. For what? Oil, I guess. You know, aside from the destruction of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, our forests, our constitutional rights, the economy, our respect and good standing with the rest of the world, and world peace itself,...this president is doing a pretty good job. Don't ya think?
What's wrong with this country.
Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition, www.canarycoalition.org

Dear Editor
I was gratified to read your very well written, very well expressed editorial on the loss of our basic rights with this war on Terrorism. I have felt all along that it is we who will most injure us, long after the Twin Towers are rebuilt, we may have scarred ourselves out of our own Fear and lack of Mindfulness in how we dealt with our Fears. That our Fears are grounded in reality cannot be debated, however that does not relieve us of our responsibility to act with caution, intelligence and wisdom as we come to grips with a World that harbors those who have no interest in our most basic principals of Human Rights, of Justice or even Basic Humanity. If we do not exercise Great Caution and Great Wisdom, we may do the very injury to our American Way of Living, our American Tradition of Law, Justice and Basic Human Rights and Freedoms that we are attempting to protect ourselves from, with these Terrorists. Thank You ever so much for what you were willing to write and publish.
Robert Volkmann, MD, Salem

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Fossil Fuel Vampires, by Richard Marianetti
Dear Editor
Cudos, Please give Rick Marianetti a raise or at least a slap on the back. Congratulations on some fine editorship. He has the gift.
Joel Hazard

Leaving Home: Obedience to Authority/War in Iraq
Hello Ness
I’ve always enjoyed reading your articles in Alternatives, but this one (Obedience to Authority / War in Iraq) was especially powerful and timely. Timely, for obvious reasons, but powerful because I think this is the type of info that will make the average person stop and think. I know so many folks who don’t like to read “alternative” articles, books, magazines, etc. BUT they do really open their eyes when they see the credible (in their eyes) institutions of science echoing thoughts that may come from less credible (in their eyes) sources.
Bob Welsh, Salem

To the Editor:
Regarding our President's Sanctity of Life Day in January, I have two points.
Each person should have the choice to decide what happens to their own body. If you do not believe in womens' right to have an abortion to terminate a pregnancy, don't have one. Any woman who does wish to have this procedure, deserves to be able to make their own decision on this issue.

Second, to those who support abstinence-only sex education for our children, please get your heads out of the sand. Our young people need the most medically-accurate information available to protect and educate themselves about life. They say "ignorance is bliss", but in this case ignorance, or the lack of accurate information will just lead to increased teenage pregnancy and the spread of AIDS and other STDS. AIDS still leads to death the last time I looked. Teenagers and adults will keep having sex and not just to procreate - let's not keep anyone from information that may save their life.
Please keep abortion safe and legal and let's all push for medically-accurate sex education in our schools. For a better world,
Albert Kaufman, Portland, OR

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