We stopped in Mt. Hope, Ohio a couple days ago. And yesterday the campaign had us intersect with Gene Enz of Mt. Joy, Ohio. (Notice the ‘optomistic’ tenor, hope, joy… [sorry]) Anyway, Enz is a farmer who told me he would like to see less government programs to help the disadvantaged, and more “people helping people” programs at a grassroots, local level. We then went to Peebles, Ohio where we learned there is an organization here in Adam’s County (as there is in other parts of the country) called: “Love Inc.” This is a non-profit that networks those in need with local churches, and individuals, who can help. As an example, Joanne Brockhoeft, who participates in the program here, said someone might have an unexpected medical emergency, and need funds; or a family might have had another child, and needs a bed; and so on… I couldn’t help but think this is the kind of program Gene Enz would like to see more of. Note: This part of the campaign swing has taken us through a lot of rural farm land with a lot of “hokey moo cows.” Meant to be pronounced: “horsey moo cows.” That’s our two-year-old Jonathan’s name for: horses. (Don’t ask me how he came up with this apparent cross breeding idea. But we think it’s kind of cute.)
6/3/05
We have launched on our next tour, first stop: Mt. Hope, Ohio (pop. 2,000). Author Gene Logsdon has called Mt. Hope the best town in Ohio. Why? Mt. Hope is Amish, and for the most part: sustainable. That is, the main modes of transportation are buggies and bicycles. Because of limited (and non-polluting) mobility, local people have to rely on local people for the “stuff of life.” Farmers grow for the local people. A diversified group of small “Mom & Pop” shops downtown provide: clothing, shoes, hardware, food… again, all the basic stuff of life. With everyone reliant on everyone else, common sense would say the people here are quite close. And they are, according to Daniel Troyer. Daniel is an Amish woodworker with Homestead Furniture, who grew up in Mt. Hope and lives in a home with his family, right next to his parents. The Amish place a tremendous premium on family, as they do on community — as opposed to unbridled upward mobility. Dan expalined, for instance, the Amish here have an insurance group with a rather unique fund. People in the group put one day’s wages into the fund, every month. Daniel said this is an expression of care for one’s neighbors, and a way to ‘insure’ that no one goes without help.
5/30/05
Memorial Day: In Memorial Days past, our family has gone out to local cemeteries to honor those who have fought for our country. Yesterday, we met with a group of Catholic Workers on Cleveland’s near west side who, quite regularly, “fight for peace.” They are non-violent, opposed to war, and quite vocal about it. What’s more, they work stridently for more social justice, worldwide, to help diffuse some of the tension that leads to war. For instance, yesterday I interviewed Sr. Catherine Walsh who is with the Catholic Workers in Akron, and who had come out to Cleveland for the day. She supervises an Hispanic Catholic Worker House in Akron and said several years ago she had taken in a woman who had come here from the Honduras. A natural disaster had destroyed this woman’s home. A single mother, she left her three chidren with a sister, traveled north through five countries, and entered the U.S. illegally (with the help of “Coyotes”) to earn money so her children could eat and have another home. Sr. Catherine said the woman worked at a back breaking job for meager wages in a tire company (her arms often black and blue from all the lifting), all to take care of her children…. And we’re worried about these people being here? We should be looking at this as a tremendous spiritual opportunity, to help.
5/27/05
My wife Liz met with Beth Mancuso on Cleveland’s near west side. She is the “Queen of Recycling.” For her organic garden, she obtained a mixture of aged sawdust and manure from the Cleveland Mounted Police Stables. She noted that if she grows her own vegetables (for a family of four), there is less impact on the environment because tractors don’t have to plow and trucks don’t have to transport the produce. Beth also uses recycled coat hangers for cucumber vines and recycled computer boxes are used for cold frames in her backyard greenhouse. Recycled plastic jugs, filled with water dyed black, are used for solar heating within the greenhouse. (I couldn’t help but think how much saner it would be environmentally, if there were more Beth Mancusos out there.)
5/25/05
*We are preparing for our second tour of Campaign 2008 and need some help. On June 14, my family and I will launch on a 7,000 mile cross country tour. Our travels will take us through some 12 states and we are trying to raise donations now for the tour. We are quite affective at spreading a message on the road; but we need help. We can be reached by mail at: 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113 until May 31; then we will be back in our old hometown (Bluffton) until June 14, doing final preparations for the tour. We can be reached by mail there between June 1 and 14: Joe Schriner, c/o the Basingers, 9745 N. Phillips Rd., Bluffton, Ohio 45817. Thank you. Note: An investment in us is a ‘vote’ for more help to hungry children in the Third World; cleaner skies over America; more quality health care for the poor; more Life options for women in crisis pregnancy… (Checks can be made payable to the: Schriner Presidential Election Committee.)
5/24/05
I talked with Peter Seelig at Calvary Reformed Church on Cleveland’s near west side this past weekend. Mr. Seelig, 66, retired from a job with the city of Cleveland 11 years ago. He has waved ‘Easy Street,’ so to speak, in his retirement. He has become a deacon at Calvary and regularly works with the children at the church. Mr. Seelig said he believed it was ‘God’s retirement plan’ that he remain as active as possible, for “the kingdom.” And his committment is such that, even though he lives 35 minutes from the church, Mr. Seelig comes in regularly — on a bus.
5/21/05
I interviewed Antonoitte Bosco this week. She has authored 14 books, including Choosing Mercy. The latter won a Pax Christi Award and is about her advocacy against the death penalty — even though her son and daughter-in-law were shot to death. Some 12 years after the killings, the convicted murderer wrote Ms. Bosco a letter asking for forgiveness. If he had been executed prior to this, Ms. Bosco told me whe wondered what his eternal, spiritual consequence would have been. Only God has a “right to take a life,” she said. And she added: “I don’t believe we should rob thieves, rape rapists, burn an arsonist, or kill a killer…” Our platform is in line with this as well. And we believe, strongly, in the concept of “Restorative Justice.” That is, there should be much more rehabilitative help for all those who are incarcerated.
Interviewed Kathleen Newsome over the weekend. She had the number “25,251” marked in black on her arm. It was for: the 25,251 st death toll victim (military, civilian, humanitarian aid worker…) in the Iraq War. Ms. Newsome is a member of “Code Pink for Peace,” which was helping sponsor a nationwide push to get people to pominently display “one of the casualty numbers” somewhere on their person. Ms. Newsome said that some of the figures she’s seen places the casualties in Iraq at: over 100,000 now. “No matter how smart a bomb is, they’re not that smart,” she lamented.
5/15/05
Met with Francesca Peterson, who is the co-executive director for INTO (Illuminating Nations Through Offering an Opportunity). A “fair trade” organizaiton, INTO purchases crafts artisans make in their homes in rural Ecuador. Ms. Peterson said the crafts are then marketed here. Besides selling the crafts, INTO puts on education seminars to inform people in the U.S. about “economic social justice.” INTO works to live the words of Proverbs 31:9 that say: “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Translated: Instead of trying to get the cheapest prices possible on foreign goods in, say, Wal Mart; the spirit of this Biblical passage would have us buying these kinds of items at “fair trade” prices, so little children don’t have to go hungry in Ecuador.) Note: Last week was Yogi (of baseball fame) Bera’s birthday. He once said: “If you see a fork in the road: take it.”
5/14/05
Went to a talk on “globalization” by Oberlin College professor Steve Crowley last night. Professor Crowley said that after WWII, the U.S. had a tremendous glut of manufactured items and needed wider markets. Consequently, American media started beaming into other countries with all kinds of advertising. And the rich (read: U.S.) got richer with increased free trade — and the poor got poorer. Professor Crowley said this form of globalization was driven by: “selfishness.” Several audience members said an “alternative vision” to globalization, is the establishment of communities that revolve around “local production for local consumption” — as, for instance, the Amish have maintained over the years. Ithaca, New York has taken a big step in this direction with the printing of “Ithica Dollars” that only circulate locally, as another example. And as we move toward more sustainable communities, a sane international response would be to help Third World communities also move in the same sustainable direction. Instead of ‘selfishness,’ this would be a lot more about the: common good.