Somali Aide - Beyond Paralysis

The dire situation in Somali is confounded by groups within that country who are blocking the entry of aide; while "donor fatigue," "will full neglect," "lack luster effort," (Amy Goodman on "Democracy Now") and the confusion of where your donation might go if you sent it paralyse the potential donors. What to do? The UN has described the situation as the most dire drought/famine for many years in Africa (60) and issued a "famine alert" for 11 million people. Meanwhile the press, radio and TV media are muddled by the impasses.

Paralysis is so common today, as to make personal action practically impossible it seems. There is no doubt that we need changing strategies to make aide function better, to replace charity with systems which actually repair the damage suffered by the people to be aided. Huge order, and one taken on by the landmark book by Rebecca Solnit, "A Paradise Built in Hell; The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster," Penguin Books, c2009. She describes how communities as wide ranging as San Francisco (1906), Halifax (1917), Mexico City (1985), New York City (2001), and New Orleans (2005), and some of the changes brought about in response to them give us hope and models for the future.

I'm going to look up the Red Cross and Care on Google, see if they have any suggestions about what is next for Somali. Meanwhile let's all look in the directions suggested by Sonit's book and see how things might be different in all of this. As of 7/27 it looks like a way has been found to bring in aide successfully, the UN announced the arrival of planes with aide today.

"luxury"

In the midst of this midwest (national) heat wave, this semi-retired vegetable grower has the "luxury" of sitting by a fan and drinking cold water. And because of circumstances I am able (as a possibly "endangered elder") to be out of the work awaiting me out there, the chores are done. So we are not talking about air conditioning or other luxurious here, it is a bit more basic than that.

My thoughts and hopes at this moment are with the homeless who must exit shelters so those facilities can be cleaned, and make their way to public libraries and other public places if they can through blistering streets. And with migrant workers and other such laborers who are either in or preparing to enter the fields, yards, work sites and such, with no or utterly few resources to comfort them.

The silent minorities who are either living out the legacy of poverty and homelessness in shelters, abandoned buildings, under bridges and other locations,* or are working in substandard conditions (doing work which other people do not have the stamina or desire to do, or need to do it) are most often forgotten in times like this. Why? Because it is too hard to look at them, they are denied by the denial of consciousness, a basic shift of focus.

How long has it been since you have been on the street or on a work site without water, without the access to a bathroom or finding shelter? Have you ever been obligated to go to work day after day with no or little amenities available, live in a home where the water and electricity has been shut off? "But someone has to do it.." I can hear the refrain out there somewhere.

How can our humanity enable us to limit the number of endangered people as much as can be, and help those who are "out there" as much as we can? Not with charity (although that is better than nothing) but with mutual aid, as Frederick Franck reminds us in his book on humanness. Working, active compassion is part of who we are and should. Denial hasn't and will not work.

* I am talking about substandard facilities for the elderly too, of course, people sitting in wheelchairs, on benches and chairs in hot. uncomfortable hallways, waiting for the next move.

Self indulgence

Having been raised in the thirties, within the depression and in thus much more stoic times, I must admit to a sense of shock about what people's expectations and life styles are now-a- days. It seems "the skies the limit" in so many ways, the top 1 or 2 percent of people who spend money in this country live in such opulence as to be downright beyond belief. To hear a muckraker like Jim Hightower describe some of this is to go way beyond any sense of credibility. How could Michael Moore satirize it, even it he had the chance? The seeming lack of self consciousness within these opulent lifestyles is instructive in itself.

Thorstein Veblen's classic "Theory of the Leisure Class" Chronicles how all of this filters its way down to the middle class and lower working class, in the past, of course. Eg. the tastes in liquors, beer and wine, food and entertainment. I remember his classic comment about the lawns of the very rich becoming the models for the millions of yards that are mowed today (?) ... "keep up with the Joneses" ... (?).

I've just finished a book that won Patti Smith a National Book Award, "Just Kids," a fascinating study of the creative process and the unbelievable amount of self indulgence and preoccupation that artists like Patti and Robert Mapplethorpe soldier through to become successful. The so-called "ladder" they ascended is described by Patti in a way that is utterly beyond any parallel in the lives of the artists I have known, including support by wealthy patrons, the relationship of the Gay community, etc. I highly recommend this book.

Meanwhile, I find myself winding down further at 80, trying to enjoy what I can, and sort of looking forward to an elderly existence wherein more of our population is going to have to live more stoic lives and try to help those who have less live better. Vamos a ver.

"Like"

Like is at present the most overused word in the English language. Somewhat as its' predecessor, "you know," the word has swept the language, often used two or three times in a sentence. I find it disturbing enough to write about here, and once in a great while to mention, especially to younger people.

Having no meaning in itself, it seemingly is either a bridge to something else, or a pause for reflection (?) or continuing a thought. Sometimes it seems to be an attempt to keep the listener tied up, for whatever reason, and then there is a kind of stylistic twist, especially for younger conversationalists and/or those influenced by them. Thus it is almost colloquial in a sense.

While studying and attempting to speak Spanish years ago I noticed a similar use of the word "pues," which means well in the sense described above, thus as a kind of semantic stopgap, and I found myself using it as kind of a language crutch. At the same time, I noticed very quickly that using it in class or in serious conversation was frowned upon.

In checking in my dictionary I found that the word is not to be used as a conjunction, in proper usage; and this book was published first in the late sixties. It might be instructive to see what a present day dictionary would advise. Whatever that may be it will probably not anticipate the next overused or misused word to enter and dominate the English language, like .....

How do you leave things for the next person?

These reflections will focus on work, but if you extrapolate slightly they can function for everything from toilet paper rolls to butter dishes. I've mentioned obligations earlier on in this Blog, and so this diatribe will be an extension of those in a sense. If you were raised in a certain way and especially within work processes, you were trained with obligations toward the person or persons who would either work beside you or follow you in. (I'm not sure how common that is today.)

Which meant that you cleaned and put tools back where they could be found, you did not leave tools and other objects in the way of work passages, you were aware that what was done in the environment might affect the work others (eg. excessive noise from a boom box), etc. This does not take a high degree of intelligence, but does require a sensitivity to the needs of others. Yes?

Part of this has been "inspired" by the sounds coming from a work site boom box quite a distance from where I hear it. Also, I've had a few experiences with some workers who are new around here, and thus haven't run up against my expectations before (!). It would seem that signage might be called for in some instances, at least temporarily. My hope is that brief mentions to people will do the trick, I am unhappy with redundancy in this area. Undoubtedly part of the problem is what I describe as "self-preoccupation," which makes memory about the needs of others seem to pale. With age I need to be more and more mindful of this myself.

Weather Prediction

Weather news over television and the Internet seems to be more and more unpredictable as we move into the extremes of radical weather change. In an "industry" dominated by weathermen and their male designed gadgets (eg. Dopler radar) it may be time for a paradigm shift, especially for those who work "outside" and are more dependent upon the predictions to be productive.

For example, we have been preparing for our annual garlic harvest for awhile, set the stage not only by contacting friends and relatives to be here with us to help, but with doing the basic things which will make this work flow and be successful as a yearly event. Watching the weather reports very carefully we were warned about a heat wave (not good) but not about excessive moisture. Now, on the eve of the work we find ourselves inundated with rain and the wind is howling mercilessly. Within an hour or so we will make our way out there to see if the whole thing must be called off.

Perhaps it is time to turn weather prediction and broadcasts over to women, especially those who are not unduly influenced by the traditional approaches which have dominated both the air and video waves, plus digital networks. What if we had more intuition applied and less scientific gadgetry? I'm not suggesting the equivalent of dousing rods here (nor the wholesale scrapping of the technology in place), but perhaps those might be as appropriate for job as have the technologies of the past decades.

The Modern Library and literacy

When I was sailing in the Navy I decided to continue my education at sea by reading my way through the Modern Library. This collection was widely available both at bookstores and through some of the so-called libraries at my disposal. I found many of these books to be down right unreadable, but struggled with them because I was convinced that it was the thing to do.

I went in a bookstore down on Market Street, not far from where we were tied up. A nice looking young woman asked if she could help me and I asked for the Modern Library collection. Her response was to asked what I was reading now. My answer "Galsworthy," and she laughed out loud and said "why?" My answer was that I was reading my way through the Modern Library and she laughed again.

Well, I was in for an "educational experience" that day, she informed me that I didn't have to read books that were not really intended for me, that there were things more suitable, and she sent me back to the ship with a couple novels: one by Saul Bellow, and another by a man named Robbie McCauley (I think that was his name). They were both terrific reads and I found myself going back to that bookshop for more help and titles.

Librarians can provide this kind of help too, of course, and it may be that my choice to become a librarian later was exactly so I could be of help to others in their reading choices, and in choosing learning materials in other formats as well. Today there are so many avenues into learning, often not going beyond those that have been digitalized and thus available via computers. My analog learning past has been updated a little, although I still enjoy reading books immensely, playing LP records and audiocassettes, CDs and DVDs. Perhaps the odyssey might be called "beyond the Modern Library collection."