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Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
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JULY-AUGUST 2008. This issue will cover two months to help our new editors, David Nelson and David Breeden, transition to regular duty. Beginning in September, we hope to resume the monthly publication of Your Turn. We hope that readers will realize that to construct a grass roots online newsletter of Great Turning activities in our congregations and in our personal lives, we need articles from the grass- roots. Please consider writing and submitting an article about what you and/or your congregation is doing to pro- mote the Great Turning. Email it to your-turn-editor@ lycos.com for publication. We can benefit from and be inspired by the activities of other UU activists in their own con- gregations! The issue includes a feature article by Contributing Editor Mike Ignatowski on the inspiring Ware Lecture by Van Jones which ignited the Ft. Lauderdale General Assembly in June. It also includes a short article about buying food locally to combat the problems caused by industrial farming by Managing Editor David Breeden and some energy and water-saving comments gleaned during a trip to the GA by auto by UUJEC Board members Dave Nelson (your Managing Co-Editor) and Carl McCargo. We hope that these articles will inspire you to send us some of your own epiphanies experienced in your own and your con- gregation's activities! FEATURED ARTICLE: "Van Jones' Memorable Speech at the General Assembly" by Mike Ignatowski. At the UUA General Assembly this past June, activist Van Jones gave a very memorable speech at the Ware Lecture that was an exceptional fit with the themes of The Great Turning. The Ware Lecture is annually billed the premier speech at the General Assembly and is usually given by someone of note. Previous Ware Lecture speakers included Norman Lear, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Jesse Jackson, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Van Jones is an African American graduate of Yale Law School and works as a civil rights and environmental advocate in Oakland, California. At this critical turning point in our nation's history, he more than rose to the occasion and gave a moving call for us to accept a new role in moving America forward. When contemplating the current situation in America, Van Jones started with a very upbeat note. For his opening message, he exclaimed "It's exciting, it looks like change is about to break out!" UUs have held up the banner for human rights and truth during some dark times in our country. But the people who said we could bomb and torture our way to peace have had their turn. It's our turn now, he said. It's not like we had a whole lot of practice winning, but we are about to. We had good practice at protesting; now we have to learn to govern instead. We're not ready but we have to get ready. Then Van Jones gave a more somber assessment of what we're facing. On the environmental front, the scariest channel on TV is now the weather channel. We have problems with peak oil that we can't drill our way out of. Van Jones compared the push to open up more areas offshore and in Alaska for oil drilling to a crack addict licking the crack pipe in order to get every last bit of remaining powder. On the economic front, the rise of "stagflation" may determine the fate of our country and possibly the world in the coming years. Normally inflation is thought of as something that accompanies a rapidly growing economy. Stagflation is the unpleasant economic situation in which inflation and economic stagnation occur simultaneously. It will be caused by energy prices going up, driving the cost of everything else up, and driving jobs down. This is the worst possible economic situation outside of a full depression. The last time we had this was with Jimmy Car- ter. If we are faced with unchecked stagflation, whoever wins the presidency in 2008 may not be able to win a second term in 2012. We may have two failed presidencies in a row, which is something that America and the world can ill afford. Van Jones cautioned that the coming work required of us now will be more than we've done in the last 8 years. "We're responsible for the success of the next president," he said. He warned us not to be stuck in the David and Goliath story. It requires an enemy, and we can't run around looking to see who we're going to be against next. In one of his more memorable lines, Van Jones pointed out that Martin Luther King didn't get famous for giving a speech stating "I have a Complaint! . . . I have a very long list of issues about which I am thoroughly pissed off and want to talk about. . ." The country is in the mood for a movement that can inspire it now. What is an example of such a movement? As was mentioned earlier, we can't drill our way out of our energy problems, but we can invest and invent our way out of it. The steps in this plan, the key to our future are 1) cut our energy demand, and 2) diversify the supply. Van Jones is promoting a "green New Deal." There could be millions of jobs created weatherizing buildings and building new energy sources. Van Jones closed with the call to action, "It's our turn now . . . Let's not take America back, for the first time in 40 years let's take America Forward." The audience gave him a standing ovation, but it was inspiring to see the youth section as they sprang to their feet, waved their arms, and shouted and cheered louder than anyone else in the auditorium. A copy of the Ware Lecture and many other events at the General Assembly can be viewed online at http://www. uua.org/events/generalassembly/2008/112314.shtml. Your Turn, Vol.1, Issue 11 On the web at http://www.uujec.org /vol1issue11.html Copyright 2008 UUJEC Email your-turn-editor@lycos.com. NEWS AND VIEWS: "Summer Food Problems and the Importance of Buying Food Locally by David Breeden. What is it that's making us sick this summer? First it was the beef; then the tomatoes; now it's cilantro, or maybe jalapenos. What is it that's making us sick? I'm spending the summer in Ann Arbor, Michigan which is a breath of fresh air, in both meanings of the term. As someone who grew up on a farm at the confluence of the Ohio, Wabash, and Mississippi Rivers, I'm accustomed to . . . shall we say . . . a bit of humidity. The Michigan breeze is unbelieveably refreshing. Also refreshing is the grassroots activism for food justice here. There is a strong local food market. There are active locavore groups - people who attempt to get most of their calories from the local "food shed." There are CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). There is an active Slow Food Group. Even a local brew pub has gotten in on the action. I'm saddened that where I come from, down in the humid country, the word still hasn't gotten around. But it's to the rural areas, where most people still make a living from the land, that the message most needs to get. There's something deeply wrong when the US, a nation with some of the best agricultural land in the world, drenches its food in fossil fuel, which we don't have a lot of. Why does the average bit of US food travel 1,500 miles from field to plate? Why does the FDA issue constant recalls, while self- reporting that it inspects less than one percent of imported food? Why are most of the family farms gone? In this case, the grassroots is really where it's at. The best resistance is sitting down to a good plate of local food. Something I'm doing a lot this summer! Your Turn, Vol. 1, Issue 11 On the web at http://www.uujec.org /vol1issue11.html Copywright 2008 UUJEC Email your- turn-editor@lycos.com. STORIES: The following is a brief account of an automobile trip taken by UUJEC Board members Carl McCargo and David Nelson to the GA in Ft. Lauderdale, during which they learned of some energy saving practices which they want to share. We left Springfield, MA and Mansfield, CT for the three day, 1,400 mile trip to Ft. Lauderdale in Carl's brand new Mercury sedan with comfortable leather seats and a four cylinder engine. It was a great adventure for us! The first thing we learned (or confirmed) was that driving steadily at a lower speed than usual gave the best gas mileage. We drove at 62.5 miles per hour on cruise control. Cars and trucks passed us at 70 or 75 mph while we averaged, on the whole 2,800 mile trip, 33 mpg. Driving was fun and relaxing. You can try this with your own car to experience better mileage! Our second revelation (!) occurred when we made our first stop at Bo Chagnon's home in Raleigh, NC. Bo, former UUJEC Co-Chair, owns three houses in his neighborhood, uses less water and energy than practically anyone else, and is creating a community garden for his tenants. The revelation was one of Bo's techniques for water conservation. He showed us how he pulls the drain pipe from his washer out of its discharge tube to save the rinse water in a large bucket. Each bathroom had a bucket of water to be used in flushing the toilet, etc. This is water that would normally be wasted. My guess is that Bo's water bill is mighty small! Of course he dries his laundry on a line in his backyard. I am hoping I can persuade Bo to write an article on conservation for this journal before winter. I know that his electric bill for heating is miniscule. Your Turn, Vol. 1, Issue 11 On the web at http://www.uujec.org /vol1issue11.html Copywright 2008 UUJEC Email your- turn-editor@lycos.com. |