Washington State Budget Protest Update!

More updates on my flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/ and OlyBlog, http://olyblog.net/blog/berd.

The following is from a couple emails I sent, one to the Fair Budget Coalition and Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace listserves, and another to my Washington State legislators:

Hey everyone, congratulations on the week so far. Tuesday was awesome, and then Wednesday was even more awesome!

The Backbone Campaign [http://backbonecampaign.org] is encouraging people to contact their legislators. I think it makes sense to communicate with them about the reasons we are demonstrating too. more information at http://backbonecampaign.org

Here's a note I sent to Gov. Gregoire:

Dear Governor Gregoire, I support the people who are occupying the Capitol Building, and I want to join in saying, "no excuses." There is no excuse for anti-social budget cuts at a time when there has never been more wealth in society. Wealth must be taxed. Wealth must give back to society from which it was garnered!

No Excuses!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/5596842492/

I also posted photos from Wednesday here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/sets/72157626445019320/

and a hastily edited video (which might disappear if I re-do it) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZnX66zEV20

berd

Dear Senator Fraser and Representatives Hunt and Reykdal,

I am writing to express my support for protests against the budget this week. I am sure that
you're all similarly inclined toward more progressive taxation. So the purpose of my letter may
be less to persuade, than to make sure you know that there are many people amongst your
constituency whom are interested in basic changes to the state revenue system. I have heard of
polls that indicate nearly 70% support taxing wealth in order to fund social services.

The demonstrations this week illustrate the urgency of this problem. For example, people are
losing their homes at a time when the economic elite control a massive proportion of society's
wealth, and at a time when there are not enough jobs, much less dignified jobs with living
wages.

You have my support in vigorous and assertive approach to this problem. Wealth that is
garnered from society, must be taxed and returned to society, in order to maintain the
commonwealth. People need fairness and equity.

There is class warfare, and I want government to protect the poor against avarice and predation
in the marketplace.

Thank you!

Berd Whitlock
[address
Olympia, WA]

Poverty is not caused by personal defect, it is not an individual problem. Poverty is a social problem.

Tear Down This Wall!

Part One:
I saw a film today, END:CIV by Franklin Lopez. It talks about some of Derrick Jensen's ideas.

One part of the film mentioned the definition of fascism as the merger of state and corporate power.

What a relevant message in today's U.S.A., where state and corporate power have merged to a remarkably extreme degree.

Here's what I think: I think the wall of fascism, the merger of state and corporate power, ought to be torn down. That would be good for people and planet.

People and planet deserve to be liberated from policies and practices of dominance and conquest. Conquest of human populations and planetary minerals for profit does not serve life.

We need policies that reflect the best nature of humanity, the nature of lovingkindness, tolerance, and respect for life.

No war! No corporatism!

Yes to stability. Yes to sustainable life-serving society.

Part Two:

Practice democracy: abolish the C.I.A..

This is from the weekly Friday evening peace vigil at Percival Landing in Olympia, Washington.

People Need to Be Able to Distinguish Between Right and Wrong

I found the following quote in the front pages of a book called Nonviolence. The book is by Mark Kurlansky:

"To kill one man is to be guilty of a capital crime, to kill ten men is to increase the guilt ten-fold, to kill a hundred men is to increase it a hundred-fold. This the rulers of the earth all recognize and yet when it comes to the greatest crime—waging war on another state—they praise it!"

"It is clear they do not know it is wrong, for they record such deeds to be handed down to posterity; if they knew they were wrong, why should they wish to record them and have them handed down to posterity?

"If a man on seeing a little black were to say it is black, but on seeing a lot of black were to say it is white, it would be clear that such a man could not distinguish black and white. Or if he were to taste a few bitter things and were to pronounce them sweet, clearly he would be incapable of distinguishing between sweetness and bitterness. So those who recognize a small crime as such, but do not recognize the wickedness of the greatest crime of all—the waging of war on another state—but actually praise it—cannot distinguish between right and wrong. So as to right or wrong, the rulers of the world are in confusion."
—Mozi, China, Circa 470-391 B.C.


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SO: Why do we have rulers in this world whom are either unable to distinguish between right and wrong, or uncaring about perpetrating wrongful (i.e. harmful) acts?

The Bohemian Grove, Politics, Power, and Violence

Recently, a friend of mine notified me that my name and home address had been posted on a website called websleuths.com in connection with a story I have been working on. The story is about Lindsey Baum, who is a missing 10 or 11 year old child, and the Cremation of Care initiation ceremony at the Bohemian Grove's Summer Encampment.

The Bohemian Grove is a retreat place for some of the world's most powerful men. It's located near Monte Rio, Forestville, and Santa Rosa, California, about 70 miles north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Anyway, I am grateful to my friend for asking that my address be removed from the website, and that it was then subsequently removed.

I am in no way involved with the abduction of Lindsey Baum, and I only wish the best for Lindsey and Lindsey's family.

The website also listed some articles that I had written about Lindsey and the Grove, and one of those articles, that I wrote for OlyBlog, has since become at least temporarily unavailable (due to the technical issues.)

Fortunately I have a copy of that article saved on my computer and I uploaded it here, so it is still available.

The People Must Believe That They Are Not Being Manipulated In Order For Them To Be Manipulated Effectively

The People must believe that they are not manipulated — in order for them to be manipulated effectively. — Winston Smith, main character in George Orwell's 1984

Our Greatest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

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Bohemian Grove

While travelling recently in California, I had the opportunity to stop by the Bohemian Grove. It's a place I have long been curious about. It was an uninvited visit, so I wasn't able to enter the private property of the Grove. But just seeing the entrance was quite an experience in itself.

The Bohemian Club hosts an annual summertime encampment at the Grove. It's an event where a couple thousand or so of some of the world's most powerful men gather to supposedly, and among other things, banish their cares about the world. This banishment of care is exemplified in the encampment yearly initiation ceremony, which is descriptively titled the "Cremation of Care." In the ceremony, the effigy of a young child named "Dull Care" is sacrificed and cremated upon an altar.

Here are some photos from the entrance, and more of my thoughts about the "cremation of care."



Caring is a virtue. To care ought NOT to be thought of as onerous or burdensome.

We are all of one human family.

We are, each of us, complete, within and of, our own selves.

That's truth.

There is also truth in power. But it is not a full or complete truth. The full truth, a holistic truth, takes into account the effects of our actions on others. When another, or others, are hurt by my activities (or even perhaps lack thereof,) whether the activities be personal, recreational, professional and/or business, then a balance has been broken - a harmony disrupted. We are all one human family, and no one is left undamaged when we hurt one another. No one is left unscathed. Not the aggressor (or oppressor), nor, certainly, the target (of oppression - or any type of hurt.)

Human beings are to be respected. Not exploited. Not commodified. Not treated as a market for the peddling of wares. Human beings are sacred, and very worthy of being cared for.

Humans are here on Earth to be stewards, gardners, protectors - guiding perhaps, and improving, and beautifying - but not ruling. I believe that humans are not meant to rule over each other, nor to rule over the Earth.

Here's a link to an article by Alex Shoumatoff published in the May 2009 Vanity Fair magazine: www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/05/bohemian-grove200905

More information about the Bohemian Grove from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove

More photos:


Bohemian Grove "Timber Harvest" Paperwork


Bohemian Grove County Line


Entrance to Bohemian Grove

Howard Zinn: Against Discouragement

I just listened to an interview of Howard Zinn by David Barsamian, on Alternative Radio. I recommend it. Informative about politics, economics, and power. Here's a short description, which barely begins to capture the substance and depth of the program, and also a link to the program web-page at alternativeradio.org:

Howard Zinn: Against Discouragement

"It wasn't that long ago when the United States labeled the African National Congress as a terrorist organization. Its leader, Nelson Mandela languished for years in prison. Then because of massive grassroots movement and international support through boycott and divestment, Mandela is released and South Africa frees itself from its apartheid regime. Throughout history people have overcome tremendous odds to advance the cause of justice. Take the civil rights movement. What were African Americans up against? The entire apparatus of power from the courthouse to the statehouse was controlled by segregationists. And the federal government? Asleep at the wheel. Nevertheless, blacks organized and fought back against tremendous odds. The key to the struggle was collective action. There's an African proverb that captures that spirit, "If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.""

Really, great interview. Worth the cost of purchase.

Ignorance About the Ways of Others: a Privilege of the Powerful

I saw this great quote on another site, Patrick Sullivan, Every Bit is Fiction, yesterday, and I want to share it with you:

“Thoroughgoing ignorance about the ways of others is largely a privilege of the powerful.”

– Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah