An Open Letter to Family and Friends

(It's that time of year again.  Although I'm taking some time to remember Christmas Carols on the autoharp and looking forward to spending some time with family and friends, I also want to make it perfectly clear that I believe this season's celebration is fundamentally flawed by the pervasive Mammon worship that increasingly characterizes our society today.   So, once again, I'm sharing this open letter to family and friends to announce my non-compliance with the ritual of gift giving. -- Brother Lefty} 

"Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service."

---Mahatma Gandhi

It is my firm opinion that Europe today represents not the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan. And Satan’s successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips. Europe is today only nominally Christian. It is really worshipping Mammon. `It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom.’ Thus really spoke Jesus Christ.

---Mahatma Gandhi

I was appalled -- but not all that surprised -- to see that Christmas decorations had become part of the Halloween displays at CVS this year.  Early birds and worms come to mind.  "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out" quickly follows. (But, I digress...sort of....)

The Mad Dash really begins on Black Friday as crowds of people stream into stores.  Sometimes pushing and shoving, sometimes actually punching each other out, people race to grab the very latest toys that the gears of Rapacious Capitalism have ground out -- almost invariably through the outright exploitation of other human beings and the destruction of the delicate biosphere that sustains Life on this planet.  What in the world does this all have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ, with His gospel of Love, Compassion, and Service to the "least among us?"  What do our family rituals of wrapping, then ripping paper and ribbons and bows off more stuff, creating more landfill material in the process, have to do with Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Humankind?
(CONTINUED)

Two Old Coots Telling It Like It Is: Wendell Berry on Moyers and Co.

It’s an article of my faith and belief, that all creatures live by breathing God’s breath and participating in his spirit. And this means that the whole thing is holy.  The whole shooting match. 

There are no sacred and un-sacred places, there are only sacred and desecrated places. 

So finally I see those gouges in the surface mine country 

as desecrations, not just as land abuse,  but as desecration. As blasphemy."

--- Wendell Berry on Moyers and Co., November 29, 2013

There are some years that just seem to be special. 

1969 was one of those years.  From the Left Coast to Woodstock (and throughout Europe) young people like myself were brazenly dancing ahead, bringing on the Revolution.  The stars were aligned just right or something.  We thought it was a done deal.  We were home free.  

Obviously, we thought wrong. 

Well, today I found out that 1934 must have been one of those special years, too.  Both Wendell Berry and Bill Moyers were born that year.  As this episode of Moyers and Co. shows, the Revolution is still on.  

In it for the long haul, Berry and Moyers show us exactly what the Revolution takes.  79 years and counting, each of these two treasures is still bringing it.

A Seditious Middle Temple Lawyer Posing as a Fakir.....? *

With nothing but Truth, Love, and Non-violent Collective Action as "weapons". Mahatma Gandhi sent the British Empire packing.  For those of you who may not know, Mahatma wasn't Gandhi's first name. It was an honorific, given to Mohandas K. Gandhi by those he touched with his heart--and actions. It means Great Soul.

He used the term Satyagraha to describe the Spiritual/ Political Practice of his Movement. In his own words:

"Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase “passive resistance.”

I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In the application of satyagraha, I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and compassion."

Sounds about right to me.

* From a quote by Winston Churchill.  
"It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer of the type well-known in the East, now posing as a fakir, striding half naked up the steps of the Viceregal palace to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor. " -- Churchills' comment on a 1931 meeting between Gandhi and the Viceroy of India.

Sigh.  

I'm sure Bull Connor had similar things to say about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these guys obviously needed to be "weaned from error" -- to say it politely.  I'm going to Sit and try to cultivate some patience and compassion now before I say something stupid. LOL -- Brother Lefty

#Occupy Wall Street!: It's So Not Over!

Happy Birthday #2

 (A year ago, on the eve of the First Birthday of #Occupy Wall Street!, I fiddled and futzed with my old Dell Laptop; hooked up an $8 microphone; dusted off the guitar, harmonica and vocal chords and created a music video of a revised version of  "The Flame of Liberty Park" as a birthday present to the courageous souls who put their hearts on the line at Zuccotti Park! It seems it's that time again! Happy Birthday #OWS! And now you are two!)




I wrote the first version of "The Flame of Liberty Park" the night that Mayor Bloomberg first drew a line in the sand, threatening to clear Zuccotti Park at daybreak.  If you remember, MoveOn.org had then rapidly collected and delivered 250, 000 signatures to City Hall demanding that the Mayor back off and thousands of NYC union members had showed up to bolster the Occupiers.  It was a tense time.  (I was tuned that night from MA via Livestream)  As dawn approached the word came in.   Mayor Bloomberg had backed off.  A whoop went up!  Folks were ecstatic!

Well, as we all know, time rolled on and a couple of months later, under the cover of darkness, the  mayor's militarized minions swept the park.   Yet, as many of us know, the Occupy Spirit rolls on, alive and well, in many forms--in NYC (see Occupy Sandy) and throughout the world. 

Although the Top Dogs of Canine Capitalism continue to beat the drums of war, violence, avarice, and greed, a whole bunch of us continue to march to the beat of a different drummer.  In our heart of hearts we know a better world is possible. It's only a matter of time.

(CONTINUED)

Mother's Day: Then and Now

Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 — October 17, 1910)
Mother of Mother's Day

Although I plan to honor the various mothers who have graced my life today, I'm beginning to recognize that one of my pet peeves is seeing how often our holidays have morphed into highly commercialized social events that seem to be completely divorced from their historical roots as powerful celebrations of the human spirit.

I've already Rambled On about Labor Day here.  At some point I'm probably going to rant about Martin Luther King's Birthday and the pervasive whitewashing of his views on war and economic justice in a capitalist society by the mainstream media each year.  And don't even get me started about the Birthday of the Prince of Peace and the Annual Blue-Gray All Star Classic college football game with Blue Angel fly-overs.  (I'm gonna take some long, slow breaths and sit still for a few moments before I continue. LOL)......

So, here's the deal on Mother's Day:
(Continued)

May 4, 1970: Four Dead in Ohio

I wrote this piece last year on the Anniversary of the Kent State Shootings--but it never made it to the Rambling On Blog.  It's hard to believe that a year has passed, let alone 43 of them since I walked into the teacher's lounge at Wauconda Middle School as a first year teacher to hear a colleague proclaim, "those kids got exactly what they deserved. " 

As the pundits search for answers to the Boston Marathon tragedy, the shootings in Newtown or Aurora, how often to do they address the glorification of violence that lies deep in the fabric of our own cultural values? A society that continues to support capital punishment and the use of drones against distant villagers; a society that entertains itself with violent video games and countless media heroes with blazing guns, need not look any further for the answers. -----Brother Lefty  

Lest we forget--or never knew--on this day in 1970 four students at Kent State University were killed when national guard troops called into "maintain order" opened fire on the unarmed protestors.

I hadn't realized the anniversary was today until Jenny, my friend and Yoga Mentor mentioned it this evening after class.  She was amazed that when she had mentioned to a 40 something year old friend earlier, she had never heard about Kent State--or Crosby Stills Nash and Young for that matter!! The true history of the quest for peace and justice--and the violent reaction to it--is so often lost in the noise and distractions of daily life in this hyper-capitalistic society today.  It's easy to forget.  I did today--twice.

International Workers Day 2013: Lest we forget!

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent 

 about things that matter."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

As well as being a splendid Spring Day here in Western MA, it is also International Worker's Day throughout the world.

Lest we forget, many of the privileges we enjoy only came about by the sacrifices and hard work of organized labor, progressives, and socialists of all stripes who were willing to put their bodies on the line--usually peacefully--to bring about a fairer and more just democracy.

So, amidst the splendor of the season, take a few moments of silence to thank those noble women, men, and children--who were just like you and I--and, perhaps, contemplate how you and I can be more like them at this point in history.  

Then, after those moments of silent contemplation, find your voice--and speak out!  Find others who you can work with and take action--however, wherever and whenever you can.  Follow the example of Martin Luther King, Jr.: stand, march, sit down with courage and commitment--in peace and good will.  At a time when capitalism preaches "me first", folks willing to roll up their sleeves for the common good are sorely needed. Our voices, again must be heard.


WORKERS OF THE WORLD (and that includes all of those who sit at desks, work the fast food counters, and run our own small businesses, etc.) --UNITE!!!
 
The only thing we have to lose is the Kleptocracy created by the 1% !!!