"An optimist isn't necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." ~ Howard Zinn

Cruelty-Free News

I do not discuss issues of vegetarianism much. To be honest I do not really enjoy discussing it, it is just one aspect of the way I choose to live. But I have discovered two significant things recently, one bad and one good, but both information that is potentially relevant to my fellow veg/vegan comrades out there.

BAD NEWS:
I am sad to say Trader Joe's has disappointed me for a second time, the first time being when they didn't hire me in Boston. I seem to be getting to a point in my life where DIY ethics are becoming more relevant: bosses abusing you and places not hiring you, then start your own organization; public transit too slow and expensive, then ride a bike; furniture for your apartment too expensive and fancy, make your own; restaurants serving mediocre, overpriced food, make your own. Sometimes in life if you want something done right you just have to do it yourself, and in this case making pesto. While eating some tasty whole wheat pasta with Tofurky Italian sausage, broccoli, mozza, feta, and pesto prepared by my beautiful girlfriend Tara something compelled me to read the ingredients of the pesto. There already seemed to be too many ingredients in a condiment that traditionally consists of just olive oil, basil, garlic, and pine nuts when I came across this ingredient "Rennet (animal)." What is this? Some kind of squirrel or gerbil? My research tells me it is a stomach enzyme in young cows that helps them digest their mother's milk. Apparently it is used a lot in the production of cheese and is what keeps curds separated from whey. While rennet can be derived from plant sources the ingredients specifying "(animal)" tells me that it is likely harvested from the stomachs left over from veal production. I don't want no dead cow enzyme in my body and Trader Joe's y'all betta check yo' self.


GOOD NEWS:
My quest for a good looking vegan shoe has come to an end. My stank feet have found a new clean, fresh home and my filthy old shoes will get vacation. As many who have been on this journey may know the selection is slim for vegan shoes: classic canvas vans, some mediocre-looking skate shoes, weird shiny fake leather shoes, some straight up ugly shoes, and maybe a few odd hemp shoes thrown in the mix. The vans are alright but not my thing and not too original and the other ones are enough to make me reconsider my ethics, buy all shoes second hand, or just go barefoot for the rest of my life. But now I can sleep at night thanks to the shoe company Supra releasing a line of vegan shoes to their roster last holiday season, two of which I approve of! I know those who know me may not believe it, but I am picky. I chose the Diablo shoe that is a mid-ankle skate shoe, which is what I was wanting. So booyah to Supra! Now if only they would make their own shoes instead of making China do it.

To end this post I will leave you with some lyrics to the song "Be Healthy" by the hip hop group Dead Prez. It is kind of relevant, but it is also just an awesome song. This is for Tara:

I don't eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets
only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat
I'm from the old school, my household smell like soul food, bro
curried falafel, barbecued tofu
no fish though, no candy bars, no cigarettes
only ganja and fresh-squeezed juice from oranges
exercising daily to stay healthy
and I rarely drink water out the tap, cause it's filthy

Lentil soup is mental fruit
and ginger root is good for the yout'
Fresh veg-e-table with the mayatl stew
sweet yam fries with the green calalloo
careful how you season and prepare your foods
cause you don't wanna lose vitamins and miner-ules
and that's the jewel
life brings life, it's valuable, so I eat what comes
from the ground, it's natural
let your food be your medicine (uh huh)
no Excederin (uh uh)
strictly herb, generate in the sun, cause I got melanin
and drink water, eight glasses a day
cause that's what they say

They say you are what you eat, so I strive to be healthy
my goal in life is not to be rich or wealthy
cause true wealth comes from good health, and wise ways
we got to start taking better care of ourselves, be
healthy y'all . . .

Good News

Let the Games Begin

As many know, and probably few care, today is the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. I became involved with the anti-Olympic movement about 3 years ago while a resident of BC. I was around when 71 year old indigenous/aboriginal activist Harriet Nahanee was imprisoned for contempt of court related to her part in a protest. She was sent to jail where she developed pneumonia and passed away. I was around when the Native Warrior Society stole the Olympic flag from City Hall in response to Nahanee's death and when late at night local police broke into the community housing/anti-poverty organization I volunteered at and searched the basement for where they thought the flag was hidden. I was around when the same organization lost city funding for their program to Chinese Seniors as retaliation for political affiliations amongst organization workers. I was also around while SRO after SRO was sold off to developers and real estate speculators leaving low-income, vulnerable residents displaced and many illegally evicted. So today I sit around wishing I was in Vancouver to join the 2010 Convergence (the name given to the mobilization of protesters) but I could not afford the cost of getting there so instead I am staying at my parents house, jobless, and exhibiting the early symptoms of a cold. So I have decided to be a part of the movement in my own way by educating those around me starting with this caffeine-induced blog post.

Already I have heard reports of protesters disrupting the last leg of the torch run as well as getting in the way of the Governator's route. To that I give a booyah with hopes that these disruptions and protests will cause for future cities to avoid opening their arms to the games and all the heavy baggage it brings and unpacks in the cities it visits.

Let us go over some of the facts. The Olympics are not about sports, they are initiated by developers and not athletes, in Vancouver's case real estate baron Jack Poole. Cities do not benefit by the games, never have, never will and there are studies and statistic to show this. As I have already mentioned, on a local level the 2010 Games have displaced and made many individuals homeless through the loss of affordable housing mostly within Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (formerly Skid Row). Where in the past owners of low income hotels and SROs would do anything to keep their buildings open and vacancy low the years leading up to the games saw owners not complying with city codes in order to be shut down and having to evict tenants; a vacant building is easier to sell. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is prime real estate given its close proximity to the Olympic village and its historical, ornate buildings. The 2010 Games Inner-City Inclusive Commitment Statement (http://www.vancouver2010.com/dl/00/12/30/commitmentstatement-en_56d-Zr.pdf), that was approved and signed by all three levels of Canadian government, falsely claimed that Vancouver would “protect rental housing stock...ensure people are not made homeless as a result of the Winter Games...Ensure residents are not involuntarily displaced, evicted or face unreasonable increases in rent due to the Winter Games...(and) Provide an affordable housing legacy and start planning now.” These commitments have been ignored and are contrary to reality. Thanks to anti-poverty groups protesting and petitioning the local government for bylaws making it harder to convert buildings to condos some housing was able to be saved.

Besides the poor being displaced they have also been harassed by former Mayor Sullivan's Project Civil City initiative. Disguised as a way to combat homelessness and crime it really does nothing to house people but is just a way to clean up the city for the Olympics using a law enforcement approach to poverty issues as opposed to a human service approach. Through this initiative poor people are criminalized and ticketed for things that are part of their survival such as pan-handling and sleeping in parks.

Those who have ever been to Vancouver or seen pictures will see that it exists in a beautiful, picturesque setting surrounded by water, mountains, trees, islands, etc... License plates boast “Beautiful British Columbia” and that is no lie. Vancouver Olympics have also boasted to be a “green” games, which is laughable at the least. Many sensitive ecosystems have been destroyed and developed on such highway construction over Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver and farther north the development of the Nordic Ski Center in Callaghan Valley. Not to mention this development was done despite much opposition, with a strong voice coming from the indigenous populations that have been existing in these areas for a long time. The land in British Columbia was never officially ceded over to Canadian government which is why you will hear people state “no Olympics on stolen native land.” It is a sad waste of resources and nature to build huge Olympic centers and unnecessary highways for a two week event at the convenience and enjoyment of non-residents and to the detriment of people who call these lands home.

Not only does the Olympics affect the poor, the land, and First Nations people but it affects every tax paying British Columbian. My research has not brought me exact or current statistics but if I remember correctly a source from three years ago conservatively estimated the costs at well over $500 dollars per BC resident, a number which by now is way higher. In sync with every other Olympics the spending has been well over budget and now they are even spending money to transport snow to the warm, rain-drenched city from the Canadian Rockies which I am sure is not a cheap date. The Olympic hot-shots have stolen huge amounts of public money while still requiring residents to pay to attend the Games. Hopefully it will not be a repeat of the 1976 Montreal games that took over 20 years for taxpayers to pay off. Developers initiate Olympic games as a way of making money off tax dollars. Even before Vancouver was selected as the 2010 host city thousands of public funds were used for the local bid committees and the bid process. The amount of public money used for a two week party that does nothing to boost the local economy after the games (even if money is made there is no profit when accounting for the debt) but just makes a few rich people richer could be used for so much more. For example it could be used to fulfill the former Vancouver mayor's promise to build affordable housing. It could be used to focus on residents of a city that has been said to contain the poorest zip code in Canada.

Civil liberties are currently under attack during the Olympics. Vancouver residents with anti-Olympic posters in their windows can be fined up to $10,000 a day and even jail time. The law also allows authorities to enter a person's home with short notice to obtain such anti-Olympic signs. Journalists covering anti-Olympic news have also been detained, questioned, and in one such recent case denied access to enter the country.

Such Olympic corruption is nothing new or simply characteristic of Vancouver. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has a terrible history of ignoring and promoting corruption. IOC Presidents have included Nazi supporter Avery Brundage as well a fascist, Franco sympathizer Juan Antonio Samaranch. During Berlin's 1936 Games hundreds of swastikas were on display alongside the Olympic rings. Almost 500 student protesters were massacred by the Mexican government in the days before the 1986 Mexico City games, but of course this was ignored by the IOC. The 1986 games also saw the suspension of Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the US Team for raising black power fists from the podium. The IOC also ignored the South African apartheid and the fact that they had an all white Olympic team despite the country being predominately black. More current is the Bejing Olympics that ignored the human rights record of China, as well as the bribery scandal of Salt Lake City.

Basically the Olympics are not about sports and not initiated by athletes, sports are just the product being sold. It is not just a few scandals and bad apples mixed into a good thing but the institution of the Olympics itself is crooked. The IOC is simply a corrupt organization of rich individuals that pretend to promote international brotherhood in the same way Coca Cola pretends to be health conscious with their Olympic cans stating “Proud sponsor of an Active Lifestyle.” The Olympics should be abolished and athletes should create their own organized Games. Vancouver does not deserve its resources used up for a two week event that does not benefit the local community.

Tithe and Community

To individuals familiar with the evangelical church environment the practice of tithing is commonly viewed as giving one tenth of your income to the church. This revenue is then used to pay things such as church rent, pastors’ salaries, and missionaries in far away countries. As a child I knew it as money that was given to God, whatever that means. To me it has always seemed vague and detached, but expected and necessary. Lately I have thought about it more and what it would mean in a more intimate way. The other day I read the following verses: “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘S/He who gathered much did not have too much, and s/he who gathered little did not have too little’” (2 Cor. 8:13-15). Now I have not done exegesis on this verse and I am no expert on 2 Corinthians but this verse started me thinking. The passage first made me think of politics and how it seemed to have a left leaning slant that I could use as a defense of liberal, domestic policies to conservative Christians I encounter. Then I realized that is just ridiculous, being that it is not about a political ideology, although it is political in a sense, but by limiting it to such a narrow biased thinking I would be cheating myself. What I see though is a deeper meaning of the use of one’s finances in the context of the church and how your local Christian community should and can be a tool for creating an egalitarian culture. But this is different than any type of state sponsored welfare program or socialist society in that it is a voluntary thing, a heart thing, a response to the needs of an organic community. A culture in which each individual is valued as not being under or above, but at your side, defined as a human created in the image of God.
I see an example of this type of sharing within the early Christian community. The book of Acts says, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as s/he had need” (Acts 2:44-45). It also states, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of her/his possessions was her/his own, but they shared everything they had…There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as s/he had need” (Acts 4:32, 34-35). In this I see a community in which members were involved and relationally close to the point that they knew each others’ needs. While giving to distant missionaries is not bad, it may come at the expense of people within your own immediate community that are in some way struggling.
Of course the idea of a tithe or sharing of resources is no new idea. At my current church we were able to take an offering for a member who needed money to pay for the airfare to attend his son’s wedding. I know of people who often will give money directly to friends in need as one form of their tithe. The New Monastic movement has an idea of shared economic resources in their intentional communities throughout the United States. The members of the community in San Francisco put a large chunk of their income into a church fund that is then used for needs that arise. The Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin wrote on what he called mutual aid. Looking at Darwin’s idea of survival of the fittest he believed that besides individual competition, nature shows cooperation to be a way for species to continue existence. Kropotkin believed in the voluntary exchange of resources in which people would gain a strong sense of solidarity. This kind of mutual aid he believed would cause a community to flourish.
I believe that we are responsible to share our resources with care and consideration which is why I believe the role of tithing should be examined. The Church should represent the most pure form of human community. Part of that involves the spending and distribution of wealth in which church members are taken care of. The heart of the matter is really about relationships; creating an intertwined community that is close and reliant on each other. I think a common thing that relationally detaches people today is the pursuit of professionalism, churches looking to add to their numbers through theatrical performances. By striving for perfection they lose sight of each other. Of course I am not trying to say all large churches are bad, in many cases they probably financially contribute a lot to those in need, however I do want to attack a general vibe I see in them that I see as potentially damaging to the idea of community.
Kropotkin says it best: “Today we live too isolated. Private property has led us to an egoistic individualism in all our mutual relations. We know one another only slightly; our points of contact are too rare. But we have seen in history examples of communal life which is more intimately bound together, -the ‘composite family’ in China, the agrarian communes, (I would add the early Christian church) for example. These people really know one another. By force of circumstances they must aid one another materially and morally.”

here you go.

so much for my high hopes for an epic blog. looks like i will ease into it, if at all. so here is a song that is one of the best songs i have heard in awhile. it is originally a leonard cohen song.

i gave in.

so i have finally surrendered a little bit to the high-tech, web crazed culture of modern society. i never really felt the need or saw the real purpose of a blog, at least for myself. i have a diary that i use as a therapeutic way of reflecting on life as well as documenting my own personal history, experiences, and feelings. it is in a notebook because i do not want people reading it; it is for me and if i want to share my feelings it will be with a close friend or mentor and not the world wide web. in the past i viewed blogs as a bit narcissistic; a way for people to get attention. now i can understand that this is not always true and people use blogs in many different ways and for many different purposes. for me i am at a time in my life in which college is over and in some sense i am no longer forced to think critically. i also am geographically separated from my close friends and a lot of the intellectual stimulation i was formerly surrounded by. that said, the purpose of my blog is to be an outlet to express my frustrations and opinions in life and hopefully be challenged by those who read this. so please, disagree with what i say. this will help me strengthen my opinions on issues. so this blog will not tell you who i kissed last night or how i spent my summer vacation, i will still keep a personal journal for my deep dark existential angst, but it will bring up issues relating to such things as politics, theology, and maybe even music. i also hope that anyone who actually cares to read this may also be able to learn from me. so basically, please argue with me about things and we can learn from each other. this blog is also a way for me to confront issues that are very important to me in a way that i am more comfortable with. i think slow and i am more coherent and accurate in expressing myself through words. there are things i would like to say at times but i am not always prepared to orally express myself. so now that i feel awkward, vulnerable, and slightly hypocritical for having a blog, stay tuned for my first real post.