Spent

I have heard the wealthy talk about how hard they worked for their wealth and how much of an individual accomplishment it is for them. I even read an opinion article last winter in the Aspen Times about how the minimum wage should not be raised because the only people who earned minimum wage were high school students who were supported by their parents and the money was simply spending money. The opinion piece went on to talk about how if a person was earning minimum wage who wasn't a high school student, it was their own fault because anyone with ambition who worked hard and had some education could earn more than minimum wage.

That opinion piece infuriated me.

As Elizabeth Warren so eloquently stated this week: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there-- good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea-- God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

When I was growing up, my mother was waitress. I started working by picking blueberries in the summer for 75 cents a bucket. I could pick 6 buckets in a day. The money I earned during blueberry season was how I bought school clothes. My blue jeans came from a warehouse outlet and anything else came from K-mart or was a gift from grandma. When I was in seventh grade I began working at my uncle's restaurant washing dishes. I made $2 an hour. My mother's house was bought by paying my uncle who took out the loan because as a divorcee she couldn't get a mortgage. My mother always drove used cars. We had a Valiant at one point that had been a delivery car and had a hole in the roof where a sign had been bolted on. You could stick a finger through it to the outside air. Typically in our house we had canned soup, some eggs, mayonnaise, peanut butter, and white bread. Occasionally my mother would make soup or applesauce. The cupboards were often bare. My mother went to college for music and math. When I was in high school she went to a skilled training center and learned to become a payroll clerk. That skilled training center was subsidized by the government. She couldn't have gone on to become a payroll clerk without that training.

When I went to the University of Michigan for my bachelors degree in English language and literature, the entire cost of my undergraduate education was paid for by grants, scholarships, and a small number of national direct student loans that were government subsidized and at the rate of 2%. I had one year where my paperwork was lost for several months and I worked a patchwork of hours in 3 jobs to get by. But I doubt I could have gotten my undergraduate degree without financial aid and I am grateful I was able to get that degree. I now have a masters degree in education that I worked hard to get with a combination of multiple jobs and financial aid. Today most people that I know working towards a bachelors degree who don't have their tuition paid for by their parents are working a job and going part time. Little aid outside of loans is available and the cost of a college education is astronomical.

There is a myth that poor people are poor simply because they made bad choices. But right now the number of people in poverty is increasing and the number of unemployed is staggeringly high and has been. Did all these people make bad choices? I don't think so.

At the same time, the ultra-wealthy of this country are getting wealthier with a little help from a tax structure that benefits them the most. It isn't class warfare to ask them to help pay a larger percentage of taxes-- taxes that go for things like roads, fire departments, police, teachers to educate future employees, etc. Why should they be the only ones getting subsidized? Perhaps we should have a jobs plan that includes hiring unemployed architects, teachers, engineers, IT specialists and others to refurbish the United States infrastructure? New public works, a better grid system with more alternative energy, new water treatment centers, retraining centers, the clean-up of toxic sites-- all of this could be worked on. Imagine if we had used the $860 billion dollars per year going to the war in Iraq for this. Imagine if we had used the money from the bailout of the financial industry for this.

I would suggest to anyone who says that a person should pull themselves up by their "bootstraps" that they actually walk a mile in the boots of that person-- a poor person before they judge. What would you do to get by paycheck to paycheck or aid check to aid check? Would you turn the heat down to 50 degrees fahrenheit and hope the pipes didn't freeze? Would you turn down medical insurance because the premium through your employer would cost a third of your take home pay? Would you go and stand in line for food at the community food pantry? Could you come up with enough creative recipes to use 20 lbs. of sweet potatoes before they went bad? Do you know what to do with dried beans and several cans of cream style corn? What job would you be willing to take to make ends meet? Could you buy enough food to feed yourself and a family on $50 per week? What would you buy? Where would you live?

Jenny Nicholson who works with Urban Ministries created a game called "Spent" to raise money for the group. She grew up poor. Al Lewis writing for "Market Watch" in article titled "Poverty Isn't Just a Game" quoted her as saying about her upbringing “My mom always went through the grocery store with a calculator, We didn’t have a checking account. She had $50 in her pocket, and if the food was $51 we were screwed. Sometimes my mom wouldn’t calculate the tax right and … we’d have to decide what we were going to put back.” Her mother couldn't afford a monthly gas bill so they went without heat and hot water. Her mother died at 46 from a heart attack because she couldn't afford health care and had been denied medicaid coverage.

I would encourage anyone to play the game "Spent" and donate to Urban Ministries here is the link: http://playspent.org/

I did pretty well. I got through the month even though I lost my job in the game and the rent was due the next day, but I grew up poor and have worked in retail or been an early childhood teacher most of my adult life. I have had some practice making decisions that will allow me to go from paycheck to paycheck. See how you do.

The Passages are There

Thoughts are tumbling through my mind tonight. I have decided I hate the sound in my mind of doors slamming shut. Always have. I like possibilities open and can feel possibilities as one feels water, wood, warmth, or wind. I am struggling with the feeling of lost momentum and opportunities slipping away. Fighting inertia, I keep telling myself it is all just belief. Supposedly whenever a door slams shut a window opens. But sometimes, doors slam shut and you are locked out or locked in. By thoughts as solid as doors. And effort and cleverness are needed.

We all have a type of magic within us. Very powerful magic. But very few of us ever realize it and fewer still use this magic. There is such power in thought.

Mostly, we look around at our situation and nestle into it. We can not envision beyond the obvious. We dare not take any risks. We are burdened by what is and give up on what is possible.

Imagine if each of us believed for one moment at the same hour and day that we could build towards a world where economic inequities were a bad thing. Or simply that the stranger was a potential friend.

Would you give up comfort for your heart's desire? Would you give up surety to achieve a lifetime dream?

The doors are always slamming shut. I am trying to find ways to slip through keyholes, walk through walls, and rise up through the roof. I know the passages are there.

The Matter of Food

Today I went to the grocery store for the second time this weekend because I forgot paper towels and muffin papers.

Really.

Big deep breath. After my post from yesterday, I began thinking about ways to help the whole of humanity by being one person leaning towards the solution side of things. It is one thing to get pumped up on sentiment and another to make everyday changes that will be a small contribution towards a solution. Paper towels are such a trivial luxury. They use resources. They aren't recycled. I have had times in my life where I was so poor that I stole toilet paper from the library. Paper towels are an oddly big deal to me. But are they really? It is easy to switch to dish clothes and not use paper towels. Muffin papers are also an unnecessary luxury. And I used gasoline to go get these items. Ugh.

Today, I made food for the week for my household because I like to turn the oven on as little as possible and conserve energy. I made a pot of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter cookies, pumpkin bread, a couple of strombolis to cut into portions for lunches, and corn chowder. I try very hard to use fresh vegetables that are in season. I am always more than a little horrified at the number of perfectly good jack-o-lanterns that are left to rot and not cooked down to be made into pies and bread. There is an apple tree on one of the paths and I will collect the apples and cook what I can down to can applesauce. Sundays are a day of abundance, good smells in the house, and work to prepare for the week because I do not like to use prepackaged foods and I try to incorporate as many plant-based foods as I can into my diet for the week. I am increasing my efforts more and more to consciously choose what foods I eat, buy locally, eat seasonally, eat a plant based diet, and conserve energy in as many ways as possible.

There is a wonderful book titled "What the World Eats" by Faith D'Aluisio and includes photographs by Peter Menzel. I highly recommend buying this book or at least checking it out from the library. It is fascinating and eye opening. For instance at the time that the book was written a family in eastern Chad at the Breidjing Refugee Camp spent approximately $24.37 on food for a week for six people. A typical day might include 3 meals of porridge made from millet and water with a little oil to coat the pot. Here is one of Peter Menzel's photographs from the book that shows what the family has to eat for the week:


A week's worth of food for a family in California cost approximately $159.18. The menu for the week was varied and included such processed foods as frozen pizza, corn dogs, boxed cookies and cereal, canned spaghetti sauce, pre-made tortillas, and canned soup. Their groceries for the week also included packages of red meat, eggs, milk, and fresh fruits and vegetables such as bananas, grapes, tangerines, and apples. According to the book the family from United States ingests 1047 calories from animal products daily. Contrast this photograph of the family from California with the photograph of the family from Chad:


In the United States the free market system and the free market economy is almost a religion, but the free market economy has strength to shape what ends up on the market if enough people consciously at the grass roots level work together to influence what is to be sold. Production practices and labor issues have been influenced by consumers consciously choosing what they will or won't buy. The Grape Boycott of the 1980's was lead by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers to protest the use of toxic pesticides on grapes. The organizers predicted at the time that a 15% drop in market sales would reduce the profit margin enough to influence the use of pesticides and sway practice. It did.

Currently not only is the over use of animal products, meat, eggs, and dairy products, contributing to the rise of diseases like cancer and heart disease in western countries such as the United States, but because of the demand for meat, milk, and eggs swaths of the Amazon rainforest have been leveled to make grazing land, chickens are packed into factory farms where the farmers are forced into buying specific antibiotics to keep production up and maintain contracts with well known distributors, and grain that could feed the third of the planet that subsists on $2 per day goes to feed cattle that never evolved to eat grain in the first place. It is estimated that raising cattle has a greater impact on global warming than any other human activity-- more than home heating or the use of automobiles.

Imagine the impact on the world if every family in the United States halved their consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products.

Prior to World War II the supermarket really did not exist and pre-packaged foods were almost non-existent. People ate more seasonally and their food sources were more local. They shopped at a local butcher, bought milk from a local dairy, and went to a local grocer who probably bought from local farmers. It was a very different world. In this time before, pre-packaged convenience foods were rare. I once met the chemical engineer who invented Captain Crunch. Not only do pre-packaged convenience foods make food preparation faster they bring a higher calorie meal with less phytonutrients to the table. We as an animal that has evolved to survive are wired for two things: food and sex. We have built in physical sensors that tell us when we are full and to stop eating. However, if what we are eating is calorie dense, we keep eating to get the appropriate full sensation. So if a person is eating the high sugar processed breakfast cereals, they keep eating until they feel full eating way more than they need. They also get a high dose of sugar that makes their blood sugar levels go roller-coastering. The scenario is no better for greasy chips or frozen pizza. Obesity is the world's greatest health epidemic at the moment. It contributes to many other diseases and is causing a health crisis in many parts of the world. On top of the obesity problem, many people are lacking in the nutrients that they need to be healthy. They are literally eating and eating but malnourished and their bodies cannot repair themselves

Imagine the impact on the world if every family in the United States chose to forego pre-packaged convenience foods or gave up anything made with corn syrup and corn oil.

In many parts of the world farmers grow their product for a pittance and the product is bought by a distributor/factory who then sells it to a company that packages it and sells it in the super market. The other scenario is that the farmers are driven out of business entirely and end up working as low paid employees on land that was once their own but has become part of a large agribusiness farm. Indigenous crops and the ability for people to feed themselves is lost. In addition, the use of petrochemical fertilizers is introduced and the soil eventually needs more and more fertilizers. The soil experiences a type of collapse as the pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers make it neutral to grow hybrids selected for traits desired in western markets but not necessarily hardy on their own. Indigenous crops are simply lost because the seeds are lost or become cross pollinated with the hybrids.

There are efforts to make sure that farmers get their fare share for what they grow and bring to the market place. This has multiple effects such as allowing farmers to maintain the ownership of their farms, make enough to feed their families and prosper, improve soil if organic products are requested, and maintain the diversity of seeds and plants.

Imagine the impact on the world if every family in the United States chose to buy such fair trade items as coffee, chocolate, and tea.

This is only a little bit of my thoughts on individual ways to lean towards being part of a global solution and nothing that I am writing here is particularly new. If anyone reading this blog wants to view some good documentaries for further information/inspiration try the following: Foodmatters, Forks Over Knives, and All In This Tea. These are just a few of the many documentaries available!

One in Either Direction Makes a Difference

Sometimes the shear power of numbers overwhelms me. For instance this blog has had over 11,000 hits. The human population upon the earth according to World Bank will exceed 7 billion before the end of 2011. According to the United Nations more than 2.5 billion people live in poverty and subsist on less than $2 per day. Preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV which afflict a larger portion of the peoples of the developing world than the industrialized nations receive a fraction of the research funding of such maladies as heart disease and cancer. Heart disease and cancer have been linked to lifestyles of consumption which require vast energy resources that contribute to global warming.

I was ashamed to learn this week that countrymen of mine, members of the Tea Party, enthusiastically answered yes to the question of whether or not a man who was dying should be left to die if he did not have the required health insurance to gain hospital admittance. Considering according to the US Census Bureau the number of people in poverty and without health insurance in the United States has continued to rise and is somewhere around 50 million this is a possible human tragedy hinging on the fanatical politics of an ultra-conservative few who have gained a toe hold of popularity by preying on the fears generated during a time of national crisis.

Not to diminish the appalling lack of compassion and blatant inhumane ethic of the Tea Party proponents who would let a man die for lack of insurance, but is this any different than turning a blind eye away from the global tragedies occurring across the planet?

In Somalia foreign aid workers have been banned to go into parts of the country to provide famine relief because of threat of kidnapping.

In Dadaab, Kenya a half million people are starving in a refugee camp where rape and other forms of violence are rampant. The rains did not come last October and November to Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The rains did not come in April or May. The soil blows in the winds.

In July in Malawi the government killed 20 protesters in a crackdown on protests in part due to energy shortages and poverty. Britain and the US have both frozen aid to the country. Forty percent of the total economy of Malawi is made up of foreign aid. The country is an agricultural country. New protests are scheduled for this week as President Bingu wa Mutharika appeals to the IMF and World Bank to unfreeze the aid. His government has been criticized for appointing family members to his cabinet and activists have been asking for an accounting of his wealth.

Much like Hosni Mubarek in Egypt? How many people suffered in the revolutions of last winter?

Three hundred and fifty four Libyan people were reported killed in Sirte yesterday. The Libyan interim government was unable to gain control of Bani Walid. The fighting goes on.

In Syria a purported 2600 people have been killed in pro-democracy protests. The UN five days ago named a three member panel of international experts to investigate Syrian crimes against humanity. Rights groups this week called for the Arab League to suspend Syria's membership.

This is only a sampling of the suffering and violence occurring throughout the world. In 2000 at a United Nations Summit 189 countries adopted the Millennium Development Goals which include: halving the number of people who live without clean water and adequate sanitation, increasing the number of boys and girls who complete their education, decrease the rate of green house emissions, reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, and halve the number of people who suffer from hunger.

These may seem like lofty goals, but as compassionate human beings can we allow ourselves to aim for anything less?

From my own reading one of the things that indicates a better outcome and higher standard of living for a population is the mean level of education in the area. Life expectancies, the rate of violence, the rate of disease-- all the numbers go in directions indicating a better life for the people involved if a higher level of education can be achieved.

One person amongst our soon to be 7 billion who offers some hope is Sugata Mitra. He talks about the hope of education, how children will educate themselves, and how people together in simple acts can improve situations. His 200 British grandmothers, the Granny Cloud, are volunteering an hour a week across the world via broadband to make a difference by spreading love. He talks about bringing hope to areas where people do not want to go. Here is a TED talk in which he talks about his ideas: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html

In this time of global crisis will the cruel and callous few be allowed to bring poverty, violence, and spreading darkness? What number of people can we call upon to pitch in and create solutions and hope? One in either direction makes a difference.

Music: Todd Rundgren's Just One Victory

A friend posted this song by Todd Rundgren on Facebook. It is titled "Just One Victory." It is from his 1973 album titled "A Wizard, A True Star."

Here is a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3b4f_I6oM

Just One Victory

We've been waiting so long,
we've been waiting for the sun to rise and shine
Shining still to give us the will
Can you hear me, the sound of my voice?
I am here to tell you I have made my choice
I've been listening to what's been going down
There's just too much talk and gossip going 'round
You may think that I'm a fool, but I know the answer
Words become a tool, anyone can use them
Take the golden rule, as the best example
Eyes that have seen will know what I mean


The time has come to take the bull by the horns
We've been so downhearted, we've been so forlorn
We get weak and we want to give in
But we still need each other if we want to win


Hold that line, baby hold that line
Get up boys and hit 'em one more time
We may be losing now but we can't stop trying
So hold that line, baby hold that line

If you don't know what to do about a world of trouble
You can pull it through if you need to and if
You believe it's true, it will surely happen
Shining still, to give us the will
Bright as the day, to show us the way
Somehow, someday,
we need just one victory and we're on our way
Prayin' for it all day and fightin' for it all night
Give us just one victory, it will be all right
We may feel about to fall but we go down fighting
You will hear the call if you only listen
Underneath it all we are here together shining still

New Issue of Schlock Magazine is out!

The latest issue of Schlock Magazine is available and can be found at: http://schlockmagazine.net/2011/09/11/the-gothic-issue-september-2011/

This issue is a Gothic themed issue and includes one of my poems titled "Rosemary for Remembrance." Please check it out.

Artist: Tiffany Lamb

There is an artist named Tiffany Lamb who is one of the most creative and joyful spirits that I know. She brings joy to those around her and joy comes through in her art. I asked her if I could interview her for my blog and she graciously agreed.

1. When you are creating a new painting, what is your process? Do you visualize it? Do you make planning sketches? What do you do to get the emotion into the painting that you wish to have be present?

Each piece of work starts differently; I might dream an idea, doodle or get an idea from my old drawings. Often I get ideas from stories-an image will begin to form in my mind as I'm reading. But often something I see will strike a cord with me. For instance I was driving along a pretty busy road and just found myself contemplating trees and the wind going through the leaves. Suddenly POP the image for my painting "the conductor" was there, all formed and just waiting for me to put it down on paper.

My process for the work is to just start sketching it out, looking for references as I go. Once I've got it mostly done, I transfer it to watercolor paper and start working away. Since I've been mostly working in watercolor recently so this process works pretty well. I have found that if a piece is going REALLY well I almost have to keep working on it, like if I take a break the rhythm will not be there when I come back to it.

If I feel its missing emotion, I will break from that piece to rework some sketches or work on another piece then after giving it some time, I will go back and tweak or rework the piece.

2. Do you like to show your work to others immediately? Or do you like to wait to reveal your work?

I always think I will wait to revel my work, but really I always get so excited about a piece that I love sharing. Mostly if someone asks I will happily show the work. Now there are some pieces that I don't show to people without permission: the pinups, if I'm doing a surprise piece, and often wedding images. I have lots of clients who believe that if the wedding dress is on the invitation the groom to be shouldn't see it.

3. When working with someone to create something for them what questions or considerations do you ask?

Questions vary a bunch based on what type of project I'm doing for them.
Tell me about your project.

People will often have an idea of what they like, though they might not realize that.


4. What inspired you to become an artist?

I have always wanted to be an artist, I used to copy images in medieval story books, and I remember going through my mom's magazines and drawing the fairy tale princess dolls that were in them. I became very good at drapery for a while after that.

5. Some artists pursue a particularly topic or explore a particular question or theme in their work. Have you found that there is such a question or theme that you keep returning to? What is your philosophy about your art?

I never really thought about having a particular topic or theme. As I create more and more I find that a lot of my work focuses on the beauty of feminine, a little magic, and some mystery.

6. No one pursues art without it being their passion. What drives you to be an artist?

I love i! I love the way that an image will sometimes just appear on the paper. The way different materials create different emotions in people. I love the ability that art has to bring to life the magic of the imagination, to be something that can get people talking or feeling different things.

7. One of the forms of paintings you create frequently would be called "pin-ups", what draws you to make pin-ups?

I LOVE pinups! To me these are wonderful sexy images, the women are gorgeous and have both an innocence and confidence about them. When creating a pinup, it is wonderful to see woman come alive. Its easy to let yourself relax but still feel sexy when you put on a pair of high heels.

8. You are a woman creating pin-ups. What are your thoughts in relation to this in regards to views of women and their bodies?

I have always loved pinups. These are images of women who are gorgeous everyday women. There is confidence, joy, and a great appreciation of beauty in these pictures. Every woman has a bit of their body they don't like and these are great a marvelous way to ignore those parts and focus on the wonderful gorgeous playful woman who is the subject.

The statement I most hear from women is: "I would love to have a pinup done, but I want to lose a few pounds first." My reply to that is; "In my mind's eye you look marvelous!"
The first statement I get from men is: "Can you make her hair longer?"

9. What would you like your body of work to be remembered for?

I would love my artwork to be remembered for being joyful and magical.



10. What would you like to achieve as an artist?

I would love to have a research paper on my artwork. Or be in a museum... both would be better of course.

Tiffany Lamb's work can be found at:
Epiphanies
custom invitations, pinups, illustration, graphic design
www.epiphaniesdesign.com