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June 2010—Somewhere on I-80 near the continental divide in Wyoming, while heading West in a 1975 converted Crown Coach school bus (with 25 other people on the return leg of a round-trip from Eugene and Portland, OR, and Olympia and Seattle, WA to Detroit, MI.)

Members of the Cascadia Freedom Caravan are planning to do two reportbacks on the weekend of August 28/29. Saturday the 28th of August we'll be in Portland at Sisters of the Road cafe from 7-10 pm.

And Sunday the 29th, we'll be in Olympia (at Fertile Ground Guesthouse, 7pm, it's a potluck, and there will be some pizza from the cob oven too.)

more information! http://olyblog.net/cascadia-freedom-caravan-report-back-us-social-forum

Beautiful Flowers on a Gorgeous Summer Evening

Wednesday 28 July 2010
Fertile Ground, Olympia, Cascadia—These are some of the beautiful flowers in the garden at Fertile Ground where POWER (Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights) held a panel discussion report-back on the US Social Forum. It was a lively evening with a great discussion. Thank you to POWER!

More on the Social Forum

I was impressed and I am still struck with the spirit, or theme, of caring that was evinced during the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit. I believe that properly caring for myself includes caring for the well-being of all other people. I understand that all people are interconnected, and interdependent upon each other. So when I hurt another person, I am also hurting myself. I believe this is true for everyone, whether they are aware of it or not.

So it was great to see so many dedicated caring people committed to making the world a better place—all in one place, in Detroit, a city which has seen its fair share of suffering as a result of the consequences of a boom and bust economic system, as well as other unfavorable social trends and pressures (violence in the media, corruption in government...a generally abusive socio-economic-political system...)

It was also great to see so much resilience in the face of such unfavorable trends and pressures.

I have been uploading more photos to my flickr pages, here. I also posted a blog article about being back in Olympia on OlyBlog, here.

Be well, and I hope you survive the warzone this weekend. It's July 3rd and it already sounds like Armageddeon in my neighborhood. Though I do remember a time when I was very enthusiastic about the fireworks...

I guess the fireworks wouldn't bother me if they weren't a celebration of war. If they were instead a celebration of life, and of a stable society, and the mutual health and prosperity of all people.

For now, I don't think fireworks make sense, because there is so much that is wrong with the world. It would make more sense to spend resources on fixing the problems in the world, on fixing the problem of inequality in distribution of wealth and resources.

Peace!
Berd

Happiness does not equal having or controlling more than others. Happiness = serving the mutual well-being of all people. Liberation from economic instability!

Liberation from economic instability and liberation from economic violence—for all!

That includes all people everywhere, without regard to age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, nor any other defining characteristic! (that includes hairstyles)

CFC Return to Cascadia

Day 17 Aboard the CFC Blue-Green Machine

June 30, 2010

Somewhere in Eastern Oregon—This is one of the many beautiful scenes that I was able to imperfectly photograph along the route of our journey. As usual, the best ones (images, scenes...) got away...

The Cascadia Freedom Caravan returned to the Cascadia Pacific Northwest region today (June 30/July1). Though many were tired, the travelers were in mostly good spirits. And while most were glad to be home, I think there is also some pain of loss and separation in seeing the end of an amazing journey, and as friends new and old go separate ways.

For me, the trip was somewhat of a pilgrimage. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with so many amazing people. I made good connections and had some awesome conversations. For me, it was an educational and transformative experience.

Both the Allied Media Conference and the US Social Forum were worthwhile. I learned a lot at both. I learned about myself, and about the world. I learned about the work of making the world a better place for all people.

Detroit is an amazing place, full of contrasts, and a past of conflict. In the midst of the chaos of economic instability, there exists an amazing spirit of resilience, opportunity, and even beauty as communities learn to adapt and grow despite the presence of unfavorable social trends and pressures.

I have nearly 3,000 photographs from the trip. I hope to compile a few sets to tell the story, including a set of the best ones. That is after I get some much needed rest!

Peace,
Berd

Social Forum Day 3

Hey,

Interesting day today, lots to talk about. I did some laundry, and had an interesting bike ride a couple miles North from the WSU campus on Woodward. Laundromat was huge, and the machines worked well. The neighborhood was pretty depressed. Woodward was being repaved with some serious concrete slabs. I have to wonder what people are thinking by investing in this infrastructure when we know that our current societal addiction to fossil fuels is harmful and unsustainable and the cause of so much economic and environmental instability and injustice...

I went to an interesting workshop this morning. It was by an organization called Resource Generation (http://www.resourcegeneration.org/home.html), and I have some mixed emotions and (what I think are) deep thoughts about the workshop and some of the ideas that were presented. The workshop was titled, "Class Privilege and Activism." I think the crux of my discomfort related to the lack of analysis about the intrinsic harmful nature of the majority (if not all) of wealth generating activities... Basically, I think it makes the most sense to have a society that is economically egalitarian, because the real ways to happiness are less material than they are spiritual. Real happiness results from health, belonging, community, being part of a meaningful society.

So I was kind of distressed by how these young wealthy people were seemingly justifying or rationalizing their wealth based on fact that they're interested in being philanthropic. Like holding financial power over others, making the decision over who is going to get money and when?

I have more to write about this topic, I took some notes, hopefully I will have more energy to write on it tomorrow.

I saw Climbing PoeTree (http://www.climbingpoetree.com/) perform tonight, and enjoyed their performance. It's really electrifying. I encourage you to check out these talented performers.


Peace,
Berd

Day Two USSF Update from Detroit

I just posted an update about happenings in Detroit on OlyBlog, here.