A New Compassionate Conservative

In the past couple of months, I’ve seen an emergence of new thought in regards to compassionate conservatism. I first saw this new approach a few months ago in advertisement for a website called “Values and Capitalism”. I couldn’t resist clicking through the link. At first I dismissed it as a ploy by the free-market think tank American Enterprise Institute but with the rise of Rick Santorum, the idea is starting to pick up steam.

Santorum touts himself as religious man and a compassionate conservative but doesn’t exactly line up with his predecessor Bush Jr. Instead of promoting social programs like PEPFAR or No Child Left Behind, Santorum proposes that churches and charities do the work, that we should cut the government intervention and allow churches and non-profits the space to work.

This was a similar idea I had many years ago but now spending the past 8 years doing work related to poverty, I will admit this idea was a bit naïve.

Unfortunately the church or non-profits are in no place to pick up the slack of the hurting social scene. I don’t know the numbers domestically but charities provide only 4% of aid internationally. I would imagine it being very similar domestically.

I want to believe in the church and that it will rise to the occasion but I just don’t see any signs of it. On average, churches keep over 90% of the money they bring in inside the walls of the church.

Some have said, oh when things get bad enough, the church will step up. A recent report in the United States found that 30% of children in America are in poverty. When will it get bad enough to act?

With all that said, there are many things that more free markets could benefit those in poverty. The Farm Bill protects large American “farmers” while distorting food markets overseas making it harder to compete with American subsidies. Aid programs can learn from the free market. Groups like Toms, who does “shoe drops” distorts shoe markets in the area they are giving out shoes, usually taking jobs away from shoe makers, sellers and transporters. Micro-finance has exploded onto the scene in the last 10 years, creating a more even playing field for millions, allowing them to get decent credit in unbalanced markets.

All in all, we are at an interesting time in politics. Although I disagree with this libertarian hands off, let churches and NGOs take care of things, there are many things to learn from this approach. Neither side is right or wrong and if we actually came together (i.e. Farm Bill), putting people before politics, we might be able to help a lot of folks at the stroke of a pen. 

Another Year to Commemorate the King

As another year comes and goes, its time commemorate my hero Martin Luther King Jr. His way with words and as a fierce orator changed America forever. Perspective has changed for me, I now live in a small town in Southwest Georgia. MLK Jr. once called the sheriff of Americus, “the meanest man in the whole world,” after a visit in 1961. The famed video of a group of young white men in suits linking arms to not allow black people to attend their church was at First Baptist and first Methodist of Americus. Those churches are less than a mile from my house. The famed integrated Koinonia Christian Community, which MLK Jr. once visited is just a few miles outside of town. The history of this town is rich. The scars are still here. Blatant racism is more prevalent here than many places I’ve been.  With that said, it’s a different kind of racism. I don’t believe it’s a deep seeded hatred. It appears as though may folks elders hold a deep racism and its only passed down through family. Either young adults or kids will make racist comments but it appears as though they are just repeating words that they have previously heard and not truly believe the words they are saying. Even with the more blatant racism I see, I still believe its just a short matter of time before deep seeded racism will be a thing of the past. There is too much evidence that there are fundamental differences between people because of their race, that it’s a matter of time till the shallow racism that prevails will be snuffed out.

As I posted last year though, Martin Luther King Jr. was not just a man standing up for civil rights, especially toward the end of his short lived life, he expanded his words to speak out about many more injustices in the world. The growing inequality in America and war on Vietnam are just two issues MLK Jr. was approaching with more veracity. Let’s celebrate the true MLK Jr. and work together to create a world more fair for all people who inhabit it, regardless of race, land boarder, religion or economic status. 

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Martin Luther King, Jr.


Democracy Now- as always, amazing. 

Oil Oil Everywhere

Oil has saturated current events as of lately. First, while everyone was anxiously waiting for Christmas to arrive, Shell’s announcement of spilling 40,000 barrels or 1.7 million gallons of oil off the coast of Nigeria quietly slipped through the news cycle. This is coming just 4 months after a UN study concluded that it will take Shell and others 30 years and $1 billion to clean up previous spills in Ogoniland. Shell has claimed that it contained the entire spill and cleaned it up with dispersants but many news organizations are reporting oil starting to was up on shore.

Criminal charges were recently filed against BP for the Gulf Coast oil spill. I guess 405 million gallons of oil being spilled can come with some consequences.  We will see what comes out of that.

The Keystone XL decision was delayed. I guess that’s good after scientist James Hansen said, “it’s essentially game over if the tar-sands are tapped”. Canada called our bluff and offered the oil to China who would gladly take it. The most telling quote was from activist and hero of mine Bill McKibben, "Stopping Keystone will buy time," he said, "and hopefully that time will be used for the planet to come to its senses around climate change.”

That’s a grim outlook from a hopeful man. When will we come to our senses?

Last and most depressing is the saber rattling between the US and Iran. After Iran promised to close the Strait of Hormuz- an essential oil pathway- gas prices in America bumped 15 cents. America responded by promptly selling $30 billion worth of f-16 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

When will we learn, oil will continually become harder to get and continually pollute the environment. We need a new way forward. 

Self Promotion

http://rejectapathy.com/worldview/columns/26200-a-guide-to-giving

Small Reminders

I’ve never thought of myself as a history person but I made it out to Andersonville today and it was a very enlightening trip. Andersonville was the site of the largest Confederate prison. It was very sobering to walk through the field and see the 15 foot walls, the small creek that served as the only water source for upwards of 30,000 prisoners of war.

Besides seeing the actual prison itself, there was also a National Cemetery with around 14,000 graves and the National POW museum.

The museum was well put together expanding from Civil War POWs to POWs from all wars America has participated in. The narrative painted by the museum was of perseverance from their captors. There was video of released POWs and their will to survive.

The thing about POWs is that they’ve done nothing wrong. Their honest men and women who are serving their country put into prison due to the circumstances they are in. There is no trial, their just held captive till they are either killed or released.

 In light of trip to Andersonville, I couldn’t help but think about the bill President Obama is about to sign. Buried within the new defense bill authorization, the US is given permission to indefinitely detain anyone. To put this in more technical terms, during war time, anyone deemed a terrorist can be detained indefinitely. This can be very broad as we have now been fighting the war on terror for 10 years now and when you create a war with vague phrases it can create unsure beginnings and ends. The same can be said with the term terrorist, an act “dangerous to human life”. These vague terms leave the possibility for anyone to go to jail on American soil without having a trial, ever.

This means people can be locked away forever as enemy combatants, and never stand the chance of a fair trial.

It reminds me of Andersonville- in the name of war- we are locking up people who may or may not have done wrong but they will sit, without trial and wait. When will we learn from the past, war is hell, war does not preclude human rights. I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately but put yourself in someone else’s shoes, picked on the street and left to sit. As a country we detest anyone else from doing so but are actively legalizing it in our own country.

The Protester

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while but Time today has finally convinced me by declaring The Protester as the person of the year for 2011.

It started with a spark, Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, sacrificed his own life as a sign of protest against the corrupt Tunisian government. This sparked the Arab Spring in which hopefully when all is said and done, 6 corrupt leaders will be out of office one way or another. 4 countries have achieved their goal while Syria and Bahrain are still paying dearly for their attempts at freedom. On a side note it was reported yesterday that over 5,000 people have been killed in incidents related to the protests in Syria (most killed by Assad’s army).

This brings me to America. Occupy started with a small group of folks over two months ago and quickly spread across America. I guess because folks know that I am fairly politically active, but I get asked about Occupy quite frequently.

My short answer is- I stand with Occupy.

My long answer is a little more detailed. I believe the Atlantic gets it right:

                And yet it is all too American. America has a very long history of protests that meet with excessive or violent response, most vividly recorded in the second half of the 20th century. It is a- common fantasy among people born in the years since the great protests movements -- and  even some not so great ones -- that they would have stood on the bold side of history had they been alive at the time and been called to make a choice. But the truth is that American protest  movements in real time -- and especially in their early days -- often appear controversial, politically difficult, out-of-the-mainstream, and dangerous. And they are met with fear.

When will people realize that true movements and ideas can’t be snuffed out with violence. I think many news channels and political groups are trying to write off Occupy as lazy college students, crazy homeless people or just unintelligent folks in general. Sure those demographics could make up some of Occupy but at its core, Occupy is and has a great potential to address real social inequalities that are truly facing this country.  

Those standing in Occupy’s way and trying to marginalize the movement will look back and see themselves on the wrong side of justice.

Again, Occupy isn’t perfect. They really need to articulate an ask and definitively go forward with a more clear message but as for now, I stand with Occupy. 

A Loss of Innocence

Do you remember when you lost your innocence? I do. It came in three stages for me, the first two parts happening in high school and the final stage in college. The first came as I learned that life was than a mold that I needed to fit into. I felt the depth of knowledge I was gaining through my new perspective of critical thinking. I didn’t have to accept everything that I heard. I learned to decipher and analyze information. From then on, the straight narrow box through which I saw things was blown apart.

The second part came March 19^th 2003. I was in Language Arts class when our normally scheduled class was canceled to watch the start of the Iraq War. It was night time in Bagdad as CNN’s night vision cameras displayed thousands of missiles soaring through the night sky, pouring into the city. It was surreal to see bombs look like fireworks and know that when they would land they would indiscriminately kill everything around. As we sat quietly in class watching the entertainment, I found myself sinking deeper into my chair than ever before. I was astonished at the lack of humanity. I would say this was the first time I started to develop political opinions. It just seemed wrong regardless of how much bad has been created to kill so many people.

The last bit of naiveté I had was lost in August/ September 2005. I was in my first semester of college. Katrina had hit and reports started to come in about the devastation. I remember sitting in my Peace Studies class constructing a strong argument as to how the government was going to help people affected by the hurricane. I thought I had represented the point well that day, even mentioning the fact that we even turned down help from other countries. It quickly turned out I was wrong. Day after day passed as chaos took over New Orleans temporarily, images of people on their roofs waiting to be saved dragged on day after day. We’re not saints.

Life has seemed cyclical lately, similar concepts to those I wrestled with first starting my journey are reemerging. I have recently thought back to how I got here today and can say that these three events shifted my life significantly. Taking me to place of consideration I had never been before. What has brought you here?