More than Words

I've haven't been posting much because I have been truly consumed with reading this spring. My last book was "Green Gone Wrong" by Heather Rogers and I am currently reading "Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor" by Paul Farmer, M.D., which has lots of truly moving poetry interspersed among essays on the plight of the poor. One poem called "The Nobodies" by Eduardo Galeano, I found truly moving. Here I will share some lines with you:

...The nobodies: nobody's children, owners of nothing. The nobodies: the no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life, screwed every which way.
Who are not, but could be.
Who don't speak languages, but dialets.
Who don't have religions, but superstitions.
Who don't create art, but handicrafts.
Who don't have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources...

Wow! That just about says it all.

Japan catches up to U.S.

But not in a good way. Very interesting article in the April 22nd NYT's regarding Japan's growing poverty problem. Their poverty rate has doubled (now 15.7%) since Japan experienced the collapse of their real estate and stock markets in the 1990's. (Yikes, then what's in store for the U.S.) Plus, they too have experienced the challenges of competing with China for jobs, which places downward pressure on wages. These changes have brought Japan's poverty rate just under the Organization for Economic and Cooperation and Development's (OECD) rate of 17.1% for the U.S - quite a surprise. To read this very interesting article in it's entirety, click here.

Awesome Website Alert!

If you are interested in finding out information on the ecological, social, and health impacts of everyday items we purchase - including anything from toothpaste to laundry detergent, check out the GoodGuide. It's like a footprint calculator for all the things we buy. How cool is that?

Quote of the Day

I just can't resist. I think I found the best definition of sustainability - EVER! Astrophysicist and writer Robert Gilman says, sustainability is equity over time. (Leonard, Annie. (2010) The Story of Stuff. New York, NY: Free Press.) Wow, equity over time. I think that is the most beautiful definition I've read - well - all day.

Words of Wisdom

I can't say I'm usually in agreement with NYT Op-Ed Columnist, Roger Cohen, nor do I read his columns very often. But today, he chose to write his column on Poland and I must say I found parts of his essay very moving:

Poland should shame every nation that believes peace and reconciliation are impossible, every state that believes the sacrifice of new generations is needed to avenge the grievances of history. The thing about competitive victimhood, a favorite Middle Eastern pastime, is that it condemns the children of today to join the long list of the dead.

Definitely, something to think about. For those who are interested in reading the column in its entirety, click here.

Facts from the Firing Line

While I will admit that for health insurance industry insider Lex Tinker-Sackett's book, Single Payer Solution: America's Health Care Cure, is not the most exciting read, there are some very interesting tidbits to be found inside this very slim, fast-moving book. First and foremost I am pleased that Tinker-Sackett correctly names the bill recently signed into law by the Obama Administration as insurance regulation reform because that is essentially what we're getting. Attempts at true health care reform died early on in the heated congressional battles. Secondly, Tinker-Sackett goes on to describe the administrative waste that goes into maintaining the great American Health Care System, waste that takes place whether claims are accepted OR denied. Anyway, again not the most thrilling read, but definitely interesting insight from one who has worked inside the health insurance industry.

Awesome Alert

For all you treehuggers out there, there is a new book in town. It's called Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy is Undermining the Environmental Revolution written by Heather Rogers. There is a review of the book at the New York Times website. There is also an essay that appears in this month's International Socialist Review magazine written by Rogers: The Greening of Capitalism? that's worth a read too!

Prisoner Justice

"Mass incarceration is a sympton of a society at war with itself," so says Naomi Jaffee of the New York state Prisoner Justice Conference.

Having never been a prisoner justice advocate, I can honestly say some changes are afoot -- in me! After watching Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarcerations in an Age of Colorblindness, on Bill Moyers last weekend, I am beginning to see the American prison system and American prisoners in a new light. Not long ago my position concerning criminals & the criminal justice system was " you did the crime, now do the time." But now I am beginning to see it may not be so simple and the impact of imprisonment of American citizens has a very long arm, indeed.

There is a blog (there is always a blog) titled: The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog that has an interesting article about how the hard-earned efforts of the Easthampton, MA Prison Policy Initiative pushed to change when the U.S. Census releases data on inmate populations and how this small change will likely have a big impact on the communities these inmates will once again call home. Take a read at this link.

Did you Know?

In March 2009, the Pew Center of the States published a report titled: "One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections." One surprising tidbit drawn from this report is that although today one in 31 adults in America is in prison, jail or parole, twenty-five years ago it was one in 77. I dunno about you, but that doesn't seem like progress to me. See where your state stands.

Quote of the Day

I will try not to simply fill this blog with quotes from books that I am currently reading, but some things are just too rich to pass up. Read this:

With better medical technology, increased average income and more billionaires than ever before in America, more women are dying in childbirth, with African American woman experiencing rates almost five times higher than white people. If the African American population in the United States were a separate country, they'd be ranked below Uzbekistan, which as a maternal mortality rate of 24 per 100,000 and where the average income per person is $840 per year.

Patel, Raj. The Value of Nothing. 2010. pp. 114

I don't know about you, but as an African American that quote speaks volumes.

A Newbie

I decided to begin a blog to help push the promotion of democracy. For quite some time I felt that I really wasn't qualified to speak on issues of importance to me because I was not a radio or television host, an author or a professor. But now I realize that as a planetary citizen I, too, need to speak up and voice my concerns. So, I have begun this blog to share books I've read, quotes I've come across, conferences I've heard about that speak to important issues of social justice. I hope that I can become a important resource for those among us who seek to change things for the better. Won't you join me?