Hi Friends, Gandhi asked us to be the change we want to see.. He developed this concept into something he called satyagraha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha
Most of his actions were about being the change, spinning cotton, making salt, wearing homespun. How do we be the change and how does this relate to protest?
A close and respected friend tells me that recycling pop cans, changing light bulbs etc diverts us from real action that could save the planet. It makes us think we have done what we should and its just not enough. I think protest is often like that. When I invited one of the vets who was protesting the failure of the VAMC WLA to house the homeless on the 388 acres to come and help me develop an already available building on the acreage into housing for the homeless, he basically said that he does not have time to do it, but he can spare an hour a week to protest. By standing on the street for an hour a week or by marching down the street three times a year we think we have done the deed! Its not so in my opinion.
Lifestyle decisions are where we really do claim our power. Think of it, the corporations and corporate media depend on you to watch tv, so quit! Listen to NPR and Pacifica where there are no corporate sponsors. The oil companies depend on you to drive your car, so sell your car and get a bicycle and you will connect to people, not the car’s interior, and maybe get involved in a bike kitchen http://www..bicicentro.org/ or community. The fat food industry depends on you to go buy your food so grow a garden, trade with neighbors and become part of yet another www.sbfoodnotlawns.org community. Get a bus schedule and a library card (or many if you are in the greater LA area) and read the books you always wanted to while you transport yourself in style in a half million dollar bus. I owe credit for half the books I’ve read to the bus companies and the VA, which has taken care of me for more than thirty years!
There are aspects of our society in the USA that most people from all over the world find perverse and strange. Probably our obsession with private cars is most unusual. People in other countries use mass transit while they visit with people, read or write. I learn a lot about new harbors from bus drivers. Another perverse habit is the consumption of large pieces of meat, a substance used more like a condiment in most societies.
My journey is something of an investigation of lifestyle. My income in total is about $1400 a month.
In solidarity, Lane
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