Anarchoblogs in English

Letter to Dan La Botz – Socialist Candidate for Senate in Ohio
07/24/2010


Dan,

Good idea to try to build solidarity among neighborhoods. Being a Veteran of Eugene politics, I know that is easier said than done. It is an insidious control that the Business People exhibit over the governments. In Eugene, they have an organization, Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI is the Latin word for God?), I call them what they are Downtown Economic Imperialists and their tentacles spread along the arteries to the malls and strip malls of this unsustainable, inequitable, hedonistic sprawled mess. They make a mockery out of City Council and work directly with City Management to further their Capitalist "growth" agenda. They (landlords are well represented) dominate the Neighborhood Associations. Workers and potential workers are apathetic, partially because they are viewed and treated and act like consumers of alcohol, tobacco, and festivities, and partially because anyone who is legitimately concerned with the welfare of their Neighborhood residents learns quickly that they are a tiny, virtually non-existent, minority to be ignored.

It is a large, sometimes seemingly insurmountable education and organizing task. If we could get the neighborhood residents to understand that there is a vision beyond the Capitalist trickle-down and we could appeal to all peoples' concern for the progeny, then perhaps with great solidarity we could change the ways and means by which resources are allocated to and within communities (and within and among economic sectors). That is our calling. If we can be true to that and work diligently then it is not impossible for us to succeed. Two large assumptions are in play here. One, that people still have legitimate hopes for the youth and children, and secondly that people want to work and they want to work hard, given the potential to realize a living wage, equity, and a quality of life including bona fide prospects for their offspring.

It's a tall order.


In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,

Mike Morin

Looked up Carmichael in my Atlas. Suburb to the East of Sacramento?

I've been to Sacramento, it is a very physically attractive city, especially the old town/Lavender District.

IF ONE CAN AFFORD IT, California, with all its rich agricultural resources and clement weather, is probably the best place on earth.

My ideas center around the post-peak oil and other resources reality. It will be necessary to rebuild or renovate all neighborhoods with village centers, and to reallocate resources directly, to make necessities available within walking distance for almost all, thereby reducing personal automotive vehicle use by 80% in the next 20 to 40 years.

I envision the complete overhaul of the economy to a "plan and implement" ecological economic redevelopment One, where community/worker hybrid cooperatives will be the mechanism of equity sharing and evolution to such relocalization.

The huge obstacle that we face all over the country and Western world is the outrageous inflation in the price of real and capital assets. Unless we can find some way to collectively write off or down the "market values", we will face an increasingly paralyzed linear trajectory to resource and economic oblivion and ruin. The situation will continue to crumble and collapse and only those with total equity in their economic holdings will be able to carry out even the most primitive commerce.

I am not optimistic as there is an extremely overwhelming (understatement) gap between the conceptual and the realization.

We need desperately, to be organizing around unifying mission and principles, but the people seem oblivious and locked into the deadly momentum of the fluke automobile culture that is only about 100 years old (compare that to all of human history).

"Car" Michael, how ironic.


In Peace, Friendwalkin', Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,

"Carless" Michael
(Mike Morin)
Eugene, OR

Green Jobs, Equity, and CarbonFriends of the Earth (FOE?) of which I am one, I am also a Friend of the People (FOP?)??no, no.I am equally Friend, equally Socialist (that’s why I go by the names Mohandos Mao and Mohandos Lenino).These Friends have it ha…

Continue reading at Peoples' Equity Union …

We can only hope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce fossil fuels usage by 50 to 80% over a period of many years.

Although some say that it is already too late to try to radically reduce, and others say it is immediately urgent, it does not take an abundance of common sense to comprehend that we are not going to change personal and collective behaviors overnight, not even to a great extent within the next 2 to 5 years.

But if we can hope that we have time to change things significantly over the next generation, then we can proceed as if what we write, say, and do, CAN make a difference.

I believe that one area (not the only one) where we can make a substantial difference is in the use of the personal automobile.

I have not had an automobile for ten years, and previously drove seldom. I rented a car for one day in that ten year period, rode with friends in trips to go exploring and/or hiking about ten or 15 times during that period. I mostly walk, sometimes ride a bus, and occasionally ride my bicycle.

My ecological behavior is a product of many years of comprehension, lifestyle learning, and much carefulness in my personal decisions. HOWEVER, I also understand that I am in a fortunate position in that my time is my own and the location that I have chosen to reside is relatively unusual, especially for the sprawl city in which I live, (Eugene, Oregon, USA)- which would be more appropriately named Roadmania... relatively unusual in that I can get almost everything that I need within walking distance of my abode (it does help some that my needs/wants are relatively scant).

However, recognizing what a super-novatic fluke the automobile is in human history (100 mere years with the acceleration of its absurd domination in the last 60 years)could open tremendous opportunity to lower greenhouse gases and free up the use of fossil fuels for more priority (and reduced within those priorities)purposes .

We need to set as a goal in the USA to reduce the use of the personal automobile by 80% in the next 20 to 40 years.

This can be done by explicitly fully committing to a plan and implement modus operandi of Private (Quasi-public) and Public allocation of resources to reorganize the people, reallocate goods and services production and distribution, and rebuild neighborhoods so that all citizens can get what they need and reasonably want within walking distance of their homes.

Not only will such ecological economic redevelopment help serve the twin crises of post-peak oil/gas and climate change, but it will go a long way towards improving the quality of life for all, allowing us to re-establish true community in our neighborhoods. If done correctly, it can also help greatly to rectify the equity and humanity problems that we now suffer from in modern life.

In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,

Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA