A tinder box is growing among Arabs, and others, in the Middle East. According to a recent Time Magazine article (9/13/04), “hosilities toward the West, in particular the U.S., appears to be on the rise.” The factors, according to the article, include the U.S.’s continued support of Israel’s policies toward Palestine and contempt for the U.S. occupation of Iraq. What’s more, Western popular culture is starting to tremendously impact the Middle East as well. What a lot of this modern popular culture panders is: rampant materialism; sexual imagery; lewd forms of art (modern American music, cinema…) Oh, many in this country don’t see anything wrong with this. It’s just, well, free-market capitalism, or, freedom of expression, or… Is it that some in these other countries: ‘hate our freedom?’ Or, do they hate the byproducts of how we’re expressing our freedom. Example: I interviewed a woman from India last year who said the youth in her country for generations expressed the utmost respect for elders in that society, demonstrated a love for simplicity and spiritual principle, believed in modesty of dress… Then within one generation of being exposed to ‘Western popular culture,’ many of the youth in India, she said, now have lost much of the respect for elders, dress immodestly, and are inordinately caught up in material pursuit… Sure, there’s extreme political oppression in some of these countries that needs to be addressed by the international community. But, this is by no means black & white, but rather a set of complex issues — in which we (the U.S.) needs to be looking on “our side of the street as well.”
11/11/04
Veteran’s Day: The Toledo Blade ran a story today explaining that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans is not getting the attention it needs. And as a result, veterans are falling through the mental health cracks. Like “Paul” (not his real name). We met Paul in a small town in southern Washington several years ago while doing some cross-country research. He was a Vietnam Vet who was living by himself on a houseboat. He’d been a medic, and for three days he had ferried injured soldiers off “Hamburger Hill,” the site of a battle that claimed the second most American casulties during that war. When the intense fighting was over, Paul covered himself with a tarp and curled into a fetal position on the ground. Since, he has battled extreme Post Traumatic Stress that had him all but housebound. I vividly remember him describing the only time he really felt comfortable was getting in a small skiff and heading up river to an island by a railroad bridge — that reminded him of a particular spot in Vietnam. He would spend weeks in a tent on this small island in southern Washington just, well, surviving. While the VA was providing some things like Valium for Paul’s nerves, and a bit of counseling, what he really needed to be well again, is some long term, indepth psychotherapy and an extensive support network. To draw from some recent campaign rhetoric: This is like sending people off to win the war, without having a plan to win the peace — of mind. Perhaps today, part of “honoring” these soldiers could be to, not only look into our hearts, but our wallets… and voluntarily send a significant amount of money to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, so these veterans, like Paul, can get all the help they need. I mean, they risked their lives. It’s the least we can do.
11/10/04
Yesterday an extensive report was released saying that more than 40 scientific studies all show global warming is having a widespread effect — from dramatic polar ice-cap melting, to all kinds of animal species’ habitats being changed, to… Now, we can sit back and lament about how not much is being done about this , or: we can take matters into our own hands. For instance, even though the current administration isn’t currently participate in the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, our family has decided to participate. That is, we walk or bicycle 90% of wherever we travel in Bluffton, Ohio. We’ve cut the thermostat back, close off part of our place during the winter, and wear sweaters. We don’t use air conditioning (there was a time when no one used air conditioning). We often share the same bath water — I just try and make sure I get in before the 18 month old has had his bath. And on… What’s more, we put up a yard sign that said we were a “Kyoto Protocol Home Zone.” And we tell everyone who asks, and even some who don’t ask, what that means. It just takes “one candle” in every town to start to shift this. Not to mention, we’ve been using candles, instead of electric lights, sometimes at night too. Note: Liz and I frequently tell reporters we are running as “concerned parents.” And one of the things we’re concerned about is leaving our children a “world of global warming.” I mean, what caring parent would do that, huh?
11/9/04
Today I talked with author Lynn Miller who is an expert on “Socially Responsible Investing.” Before investing in a company, Miller looks at a company’s track record when it comes to things like: fair wage, social justice outreach, environmental stewardship… Miller said he was recently talking to a top CEO whose company has stridently undertaken recycling paper. They have been so successful, in fact, they are actually starting to make money from their recycling efforts. Last summer during a campaign tour of Minnesota, I met with a representative from a highly creative Sanitation Department in Duluth. They have developed a number of cutting-edge programs around recycling (glass, plastic, paper, compost…). What’s more, and maybe even more importantly, they regularly educate about ways to reduce consumption of these materials as well. Trying to stay in step, our family for instance, shares a newspaper with one of our neighbors. (What’s more, our neighbor often writes comments in the margins of the paper… and later we will discuss various subjects we’ve mutually read about. It’s proving to be a good ‘community builder.’ (However, the crossword puzzle has been a sticking point.)
11/8/04
Today I met with a family who moved to a small farm in the village of Maria Stein, Ohio a couple years ago. They are from California, and felt compelled to get “back to the land.” They eat their produce primarily from a series of well designed raised bed gardens. Dan Souter told me they grow everything organically and he takes great care to make sure the soil is as mineral rich as possible. Why? Because he said as “head of the household,” it is his spiritual responsibility to make sure his family is eating as healthy as possible. What’s more, he said having his family on the farm puts them way more in touch with “God’s natural creation.” He said with his children, for example, they have become fascinated with this creation (seasons, plants, animals…); as opposed to being fascinated with “dead material things that come from factories (sofas, TVs, cars…).”
11/6/04
Letters of support continue to come in… The president of Catholic University of America’s Right to Life Group in D.C. wrote that she, and some of the other students on campus there, had Vote Joe signs in their dorm windows. “Keep fighting the good fight, and I will vote for you again in 2008,” she added.
11/5/04
A question: If a presidential candidate has the best platform in regard to where the country needs to go, but he/she loses the election; did the candidate lose, or did the electorate lose?
11/4/04
Election postscript: I conceded Election night, even before the polls closed in Alaska. (We have young kids, and I wanted to get to bed.) Yesterday I declared my candidacy for president for Election 2008. (See “Declaration Speech” on home page.) After posting the speech, I walked up town in Bluffton here. Painted onto a side street next to the high school (yearly BHS ritual for seniors) is a bunch of stuff like: “John & Suzy 04”; Go Pirates!; The Everlasting Gaube Stopper (I don’t have a clue)… Anyway, amidst this colorful high school revelry of art, one student painted the following: “You must be the change that you want for the world.” –Ghandi. And that, pretty much, sums up what our campaign is all about inspiring… one town at a time.
11/3/04
Our platform calls for, not only making more tangible amends to the Native Americans for the absolutely unconscionable genocide and theft of land committed by our forefathers — but it also calls for much more strident attempts to build bridges, and learn from the Native American culture… I talked with Bruce Thumm in Findlay, Ohio today. He married a Seneca Indian woman and has two sons who have dual citizenship, as card carrying Senecas and citizens of the U.S. Mr. Thumm told me: “Our ancestors killed more than 10 million Natives… and of the 800 treaties that were created — not one was honored.” [Talk about a ‘terrorist nation,’ huh.] One of Mr. Thumm’s sons is an artist. He painted an American flag as he interpreted it would be seen through the eyes of a Native. His painting had the red stripes bleeding into the white, representing the attrocities at: Wounded Knee, Bull Run, Little Big Horn, Trail of Tears… The flag was featured in the Governor’s Art Show… Mr. Thumm said through his marriage he started “to learn of their (Seneca’s) ways and spirituality.” He was deeply impressed. For instance, he said the Natives didn’t believe in owning land, “the land owned them, and they were functioning in harmony with the land and nature.” Question: If we were doing that, do you think we’d have all the environmental problems (global warming, vanishing species, acid rain…) we have now? I don’t.
11/2/04
I was talking with Pastor Steve Yoder of Bluffton’s First Mennonite Church early this morning. I said since voting is so important in our society, I believe this should be considered a National Holiday that everybody gets off. “Yeah,” Pastor Yoder said. “We could call it: Democratic Day.” I liked that… I then went to vote myself (pen in hand) with my son Joseph, 7, and daughter Sarah, 9. They excitedly stood in line with me. A fellow Blufftonite happened by, saw the kids and smiled: “Aren’t they too young to vote?” I said they were, but this was a not too veiled attempt to “stuff the ballot box.” I said my only concern was they’d write in “Daddy,” instead of my “proper name.” Sarah, who just turned 9, looked up and said: “I’d write Dad, not Daddy!” Oh, how quick they grow up.