Trump’s Top Issues

Tags

Trump

Last week I mentioned the updated WhiteHouse.gov page and this week I’m going to walk through it in a bit more detail for you.  As the week has progressed, we continue to see the Administration focus on alternative facts: how 45’s crowds were the hugest, that he won the  popular vote if you take out all those illegal votes.  Keep in mind these alternative facts have been used in the past…

Below are the Trump Administration’s Top Issues and how they plan to address them.

1. America First Energy Plan
   • “(Eliminate) harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule.”  The Climate Action Plan (CAP) has gotten a bad rap by Republicans from the beginning.  I’m guessing this is mostly because, you know, Obama.  The CAP calls for cutting pollution, preparing for climate change, and leading international efforts on the same. It promotes the reduction of carbon pollution, making America a leader in renewable energy, and other actions to prepare the country to mitigate the effects of climate change.  Oh, and it recommends using “sound science” to manage the impacts.  I know, science again. That darn Obama.  Here’s the 21-page overview.  https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf  Dismantling it will be the equivalent of Reagan’s removal of the solar panels from the White House back in the 80’s… A HUGE and ignorant step backwards.  The Waters of the U.S. rule basically just clarifies which bodies of water fall under the jurisdiction of the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.  Opposition forces claim that this is a power grab by the Feds and they fear it will “crush jobs”.   Opponents mainly consist of large corporations and agribusiness – groups that have never been keen on regulation but have a history of making business decisions that provide increases in income while sometimes also endangering water supplies for everyday citizens.  Think Love Canal, Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, you know – Superfund Sites.  Here’s a list of Minnesota Sites in case you’re interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_Minnesota  If the Republicans eliminate this rule, big business can avoid the planned lawsuits to avoid being beholden to the rule.  http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/epa-waterways-wetlands-rule-118319
   • Revive the coal industry with “clean coal technology”.  Even though we have yet to prove “clean coal technology” is a possibility, let alone commercially viable, Trump is already on board to implement it.  Three links for your further edification on the current state of our clean coal technology development. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/clean-coal.htm   https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-10-10/-clean-coal-is-far-from-real    http://www.snopes.com/can-clean-coal-actually-reduce-carbon-emissions/
   • “Refocus the EPA on its essential mission of protecting our air and water” ~ what this means is not really made clear.  But it is clear that you’re not going to hear anything about it from the EPA side as the Department’s employees have been forbidden to communicate.  This way 45 can be sure his reality is the only one you will hear about.
2. America First Foreign Policy
   • Defeating ISIS, cutting funding to terrorists, expanding intelligence sharing.  Most of the plans sound like more of what we’ve already been doing.  He does mention that our Navy has reduced from “more than 500  ships in 1991 to 275 in 2016” but how many ships do we really need?  We don’t really ask that but it appears that “more” is the answer for US “military dominance (to be) unquestioned”.  He also claims he will “embrace diplomacy” but I’m thinking that might be a stretch for 45 with his propensity to tweet before he’s actually engaged his brain.
   • Note 1: There is also a section here which is a glitch as it’s a preview of the final bullet point.  Is this a sign of a lack of tech saavy or good proof-readers in Trumpland?
   • Note 2: This is maybe the least scary of the Top Issues (maybe because it’s also 45’s weakest area of expertise).
3. Bringing Back Jobs And Growth
   • 45’s “plan starts with pro-growth tax reform to help American workers and businesses keep more of their hard-earned dollars. The President’s plan will lower rates for Americans in every tax bracket, simplify the tax code, and reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the world.” This will “(create) millions of new jobs and (boost) economic growth”.  As we have seen in the past, most of the Republican tax strategies favor the wealthiest Americans and leave those at the bottom of the economic spectrum paying a higher share of their income in taxes.  Trump’s previously stated plans included elimination of personal exemptions and head of household status which would disproportionately hurt those single “mothers… trapped in poverty” he voiced concern for in his inaugural address.  Of course, there’s likely to be a continued focus on removing the estate tax which will only benefit those at the very, very top.  The trick will be eliminating taxes and not bankrupting the government, especially if you want to build up the military (already the largest in the world) and create a giant wall along the south border of your country (that’s just under 2000 miles of wall to build). See the next Top Issue for more on the military spending.
   • Step two of the plan is to eliminate regulations.  If job creation is your only concern, then this plan might do the trick.  But beware the effects on the environment and public health and safety. http://www.epi.org/publication/regulation_employment_and_the_economy_fears_of_job_loss_are_overblown/  Economic woes could also be a concern.  If you recall, it was deregulation and a belief in the self-regulation of the markets that led to the Great Recession.  Says the 2008 Director of the SEC (a former Republican member of Congress), “Voluntary regulation does not work.”  We’re about due for another economic recession so, buckle your seat belts, boys and girls.
   • There’s also a second mention of trade deals here.
4. Making Our Military Strong Again
   • One statement on the agenda here is that “We cannot allow other nations to surpass our military capability.”  And he wants to end the “defense sequester”, “develop a state-of-the-art missile defense system” (think Star Wars, Reagan’s strategic defense initiative which was eventually set aside), and “recruit the best and brightest” for cyber capabilities.  Since we have 10 aircraft carriers, an equal number to the rest of the world’s aircraft carriers combined (with some smaller than ours), I think we are in good shape there.  “The U.S. spends close to what the entire rest of the world spends in defense. $711 billion. Per year. The next closest is China at $143 billion.”  https://www.military1.com/all/article/402211-how-much-stronger-is-the-us-military-compared-with-the-next-strongest-power/  Since many of the other nations are our allies, we can pretty much do nothing or even cut our military spending significantly and still outgun any potential enemy.  We’d probably even be okay if it was the US against the rest of the world… which could become a possibility if things keep going in the direction they seem to be going.   It seems we’d be best served by not buying a lot of new equipment but focusing instead on the cyber front.  But no one is asking me.
   • 45 also speaks to ensuring we provide the “best medical care, education and support for our military service members and their families – both when they serve, and when they return to civilian life.”  Now if he can do something here, that would be a real improvement.  Again, this agenda item is relatively vague stating that they will “(fire) the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, (modernize) the bureaucracy, and (empower) the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care” which differs from Obama’s plan which focused on “increasing staffing, expanding space and facilities, improving productivity, and accelerating use of care in the community”. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/11/fact-sheet-honoring-service-our-nations-veterans  But Trump’s plan might work too.  Although the Head of the VA recently stated that they have over 45,000 open jobs to fill…  How will this be remedied now that 45 has ordered a federal hiring freeze?  45 may be shooting himself in the foot.
5. Standing Up For Our Law Enforcement Community
   • Trump will “end” the “dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America”, is “committed to reducing violent crime”, will “uphold Americans’ Second Amendment rights at every level of our judicial system”, will build “a border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities” (because apparently all this stuff only comes from Mexico), “(end) sanctuary cities”, and “(deport) illegal aliens with violent criminal records”.  I’m not sure what half this stuff even means for him.  While there are no specifics on exactly HOW he will get all this done, that’s his plan.  I guess I should just be happy he doesn’t seem to be focused on simply locking up all the African Americans and Muslims.  Though some of his supporters seem to think that he’d like to, thus making it OK for them to talk about how much they’d like to.  [Oh, speaking of “shitty, white people”, I think you should check out this guy.  He has brought my life to a whole new level of happy. https://youtu.be/nM5eiunbDzQ OMG, is he funny.]
   • It may surprise 45 to find that that Mexicans are not the source of all our gang and drug issues.  Or that males account for an inordinate amount of the crime compared to their proportions in the population.  Perhaps we should just look at fixing men. Nah!  https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/latest-crime-statistics-released
   • My biggest concern is that he will bring in a police state.  He is sometimes just a bit too reminiscent of that old German Fascist.
6. Trade Deals Working For All Americans
   • With regard to Trade, there will be no TPP and NAFTA will be renegotiated.  If the NAFTA partners disagree to renegotiation, we will notify of our intent to withdraw.  Oh, and trade agreement violations will be punished.  Since it sounds like he’s pretty much eliminating trade agreements, that should be a no-brainer.  Already Canada loves him for bringing back plans to fast-track Keystone XL and the DAPL.  Who wouldn’t be excited about getting someone else (America) to push the Canadian tar sludge across their pristine waters (yep, the stuff we all need to live) and avoid having to fight their own indigenous tribes to export that stuff?  Though it remains to be seen whether 45 will allow any of that Evraz steel from Canada to be used for building of said pipelines.

Here’s a comparison of Obama and Trump Issues from the WhiteHouse.gov sites (old and new):

While it’s not one of his Top Issues, it’s kind of my Top Issue, so if you want to read a summary on what Trump will mean for the Environment, this is a good read.  Well, not really “good”… it’s more like scary but thorough.  http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/14/13582562/trump-gop-climate-environmental-policy

I guess Trump’s probably got a good plan keeping his To Do List short.  It may be good for the rest of us too.

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The Women’s March… Too Soon?

Tags

Trump, Women

An historical weekend in the US of A.  I don’t have a TV so didn’t see any of it, but I kept informed listening to NPR.  I listened all morning and, yes, even to the inaugural address.  http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/index.html [Of course, this is CNN so, they might be lying.]   I did see some FB posts of photos comparing the attendance of this year’s inauguration (right) to that of 2009 (left).

No surprise there.  After all, 45 comes in with historically low ratings.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/12/donald-trumps-approval-rating-lowest-president-elect-two-decades/

I continue to try to hold to a wait-and-see approach to the new administration.  I didn’t think his inaugural address was as bad as I expected (though I had expected it to be pretty bad).  I thought that was a good sign.  Sure there were some things to arouse concern… but we have to give him a chance, right?

Which is part of the complaint about the Women’s March on Washington (WMW)… It was premature, disrespectful even.  Apparently this was a minority opinion as some of the largest turnouts in some time were seen.  In fact, the turnout today was considerably larger than the inaugural turnout just a day before (and some of those people were Hillary fans who just couldn’t stand to not use their tickets).  Here are a couple shots from Vox http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/21/14336068/photos-womens-march-vs-trump-inauguration  Here’s the Inauguration at 12:09 (about the moment of swearing in):

And here’s the same area about an hour before the Women’s March began:

And there were literally hundreds of related marches around the world.  Whether you heard about this may well depend on which channel you watch for news.  Apparently, Fox Noise didn’t seem to think this was a very newsworthy… http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/jan/21/how-fox-msnbc-and-cnn-are-covering-womens-march/

What was the point of the WMW?

The point was to voice support for the protection of rights, safety, health, and families for all women and to send a message to the new administration, and to the world, that women’s rights are human rights.  https://www.womensmarch.com/mission/

But even among the Women, there was discord.  Imagine that, eh?  NPR did a really good piece on All Things Considered about the racial tension. http://www.npr.org/2017/01/21/510986874/intersectional-feminism-representation-in-saturdays-womens-marches  White feminists need to listen to the voices of color to truly address the issues that women face.  These women of color are still struggling with some of the things on which white women have seen some relief.  But until we ALL have equality, our work is not done.  [Golden nugget: I learned a new term, a bit of Chicano slang… Chingona, which basically means badass.  Someone who is smart and gets things done.]

As I saw images from friends and heard some of the early reports, I worried that many of the Marchers were more about putting down Donald Trump and less about standing for women’s issues.  I have two thoughts on this.

1. Why give him ANY attention at all?  Why give any of our energy to being negative towards him?  Isn’t that what we complained about for the last eight years while Republicans protested against Obama?  We need to ignore Trump as much as possible because he thrives on attention.  And he’s really not going to listen anyway, so it seems like a waste of time and energy, regardless of the laughs it might generate.  I do see that a little humor makes for stress relief but I want us to be bigger people.
2. Our strength comes when we stand FOR something, not when we fight AGAINST something.  I have a concern that there is so much outrage and fear that we will not think clearly, will not be united in standing FOR the things we believe are important and instead, will waste time and energy on the fight.  Violence is not the answer.  Ever.

Clear, consistent focus on speaking up for our beliefs is where we will have power.

Keeping in the attitude of “wait-and-see”, my initial reaction, when I saw later in the day what seemed too ridiculous to be true [http://usuncut.com/news/trump-national-parks-service-stop-tweeting-after-retweeting-inauguration-crowd-photos/] was, “This has to be fake news.”  The story was that the National Park Service (NPS) was told Friday evening by their “Washington Support Office” to “stand down” on all tweeting “until further notice”.  Department wide.  Like, No Tweeting from any of the Parks.  Why?  Well, apparently the NPS twitter account was used to re-tweet two things: 1) the above photos on the inaugurations and 2) an notice of the scrubbing of the WhiteHouse.gov site.

So why is this a big deal?  Why might this be a bit over-the-top as a response?  Well, let’s just read part of the memo from DC:

“parks that use Twitter as part of their crisis communications plans need to alter their contingency plans to accommodate this requirement. Please ensure all scheduled posts are deleted and automated cross-platform social media connections to your twitter accounts are severed. The expectation is that there will be absolutely no posts to Twitter.”  ~ https://gizmodo.com/national-park-service-banned-from-tweeting-after-anti-t-1791449526

Again, FB is my news source… but it’s verified!  http://www.snopes.com/nps-twitter-account-shut-down/  Apparently, accounts have been restored already and it doesn’t appear that there were any resulting crises that had to be dealt with in the interim.

With the glory of social media, as with all over-the-top responses, the effect was likely the opposite of expectation.  I’m thinking they wanted to shut down whoever was communicating “bad things” about Trump. You know, quell the uprising.  But it’s now in the interwebs for everz. And, my curiosity about the scrubbing of www.whitehouse.gov, led me to head right there to check it out!

If you go to www.whitehouse.gov, here’s what you get…

And then once you enter the website, indeed, you see nothing about civil rights, climate change or health care.  What you do see is the new Trumpland White House website.  They present a brief page on each of the top issues with pretty much no detail on specifics.  Half of them feature the words “For too long” to explain why things have been way screwed up forever.  What are the Top Issues?  And what are they gonna do about each?  We’ll go into that next week.  [Meanwhile, go ahead, you know you want to check it out.]

For now, I may have to re-visit this idea for a wait-and-see approach.  It’s getting pretty scary pretty fast.  At this point, I’m wondering if the Women’s Marches may actually have been about six months too late.

Danny’s Birthday at the Harn and a Trip to Big Town

Tags

fun

The cold continues at the Harn.  I recently read another blog which asked what LIVABLE means.  His questions were about size of the space needed and whether electricity or off-grid was required.  A comfortable place to lay your head, a source of water, someplace to pee, and something to eat.  These are the basics but the one foremost on my mind of late is the requirement for WARMTH.  I awoke in early January to the third day in a row of below zero weather (with about 20-30 below zero nights) and found a pretty stiff wind coming from under the refrigerator.  I had, a few weeks earlier, stuffed towels around one side of the fridge and under the adjacent sink area to stop off the cold.  But a check the week before found no real cold on the other side of the fridge so I didn’t think much more about it.  Well, I should have!  On feeling the frigid breeze, I pulled the microwave (atop the fridge), drug out the little fridge, and began to search for the source.  Aha!  The corner joint between the east and south wall showed infiltration.  I stuffed paper into the cracks as a little black spider moved slowly from his web near the floor to a spot a bit higher.  I never disturbed him, unless he was upset by the “hello, little spider” and “how you doin’, buddy?” as I tried to encourage him I meant no harm.  The wall simply radiated cold – there was actually frost on the wall and the bottom hinge of the door.  But stuffing paper was about all I could do to help for now.  Feeling like I’d done well, I moved everything back into place and then felt the hinge on the door and, yep!  Slight breeze coming in there so I nailed up a blanket to block the lion’s share.  We’ll have to put a new seal on that door come spring.

The latest dilemma I have is whether to open thecovering over the south windows for solar gain or leave them closed to keep out the cold.  On sunny days, I open up it wide and on gloomy ones, I only pull up enough of the covering to watch the birds at the feeders.

So the big happening in early January is birthdays.  We got Mom roses that she just loved and a kind of funny gag gift that she maybe liked even more???  And Papaw Ed got some Gooseberry Jam and Syrup, that made his day, and a copy of the Magnificent Seven remake.  (I told Fran she can watch this one with him.  It’s safe.  Years ago Ed took her to see a Western at the theatre ~ Django Unchained ~ and I think it scarred her for life…)  And I felt so bad for not doing anything much for Christmas that I decided his Birthday had better get a bit more attention.

We’d been talking for some time about updating our collection of So It Goes, the literary journal published by the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library with editors Julia & JT Whithead.  http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/literary-journal/ We hadn’t gotten one since leaving Indiana so I got Issues 3 Creativity, 4 Social Justice & 5 Indiana Bicentennial Issue.  JT’s intro to Issue #3 was amazing.  I love JT Whitehead’s way with words and was happy to see his book of poetry The Table of the Elements got him nominated for the 2015 National Book Award!  http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/as-is-for-arsenic-an-interview-with-national-book-award-nominee-j-t-whitehead/

Just as cool, I lucked into another part of Dan’s birthday loot.  I happened to be at Rail River Folk School (http://railriverfolkschool.org/) and, in addition to the books, they had some albums going up for sale.  I grabbed a few more than a dozen and felt like this birthday was going to be pretty good.  These are all used albums and I’m hoping they are all in good shape but, regardless, the money was going to a good cause. And the eclectic mix was enough to make it worth the money spent.  We listened first to Cher’s Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves and then a Robert Redford narrated album on Wolves.  But yet to hear are Trucker’s Songs (hey, it had Convoy!) and Waylon Jennings, Honeysuckle Rose and Anne Murray, Asia and Patsy Cline.  See what I mean?  A real romp through the past.  I even got a couple Disco albums – Far Out!

Dan brought me an electric blanket! (Yeah, maybe a birthday present to himself!)  Now it’s cozy sleeping, even if the Harn is cold.  But he also has on order a construction heater which has enough BTUs to assure I won’t freeze, even if we don’t have as much wood in our stash. It scheduled to show up in Alex the same day I do.

We went to Becida Bar for Birthday Dinner and also a celebration of our Land Purchase Anniversary.  It’s been 10 years to the day that we bought the Harn Property.  So, big time at Becida Bar ~ best food in town!!  Only place in town.  Really.  Nothing else there.  No Church, no other buildings, just Becida Bar.  Here it is in summer:

The Plumber (I call him VDBD) came by to start installation for the indoor plumbing.  We, of course, found things we needed to change since his last visit but no show stoppers.  Dan and I were able to get the plumbing work we needed to do completed so we’re ready for phase 2 of the install.  We built stands for the pump and pressure tank.  We also had to relocate the wiring since our original idea of putting the water heater in the closet had to be scratched as it is just too cold in there.  The cistern room maintains temp better so we are installing all the components in there.  The water lines will run through the closer but the heater will be in the cistern room which should help keep the area warmer.  If the temp drops too low in the closet, we may have to put a heat lamp in there, but for now, we’ve stayed above 40°F.  I did make a new foam door for the closet that seals it pretty well from the rest of the Harn and is easier to put in place than the foam we had in place before.

With January came my commitment to Alexandria Community Ed where I presented the Foreign Film – The Tale of Princess Kaguya and my U-Group met two days later so I stayed in town.  Dan & I were happy to fit in a potluck night with friends Rita, Jon, Joe & Sylvia in between.  And it was nice to be able to take Mom and Tom to the shuttle for their big trip Down Under.  This meant 2 and a half days away from the Harn.  Leaving the space heaters running kept Lucky warm enough and the bowls of food and water kept him fed.  On arriving home, however, I found him fit to be tied.  There was food left in the bowls, there was plenty of water in the dishes, and it was over 50°, but he was yowling incessantly on my arrival.  He bitched and bitched the whole time I was bringing things in from the truck.  He kept it up even while I refilled his water dish and gave him some yummy soft food.  And while I put fresh sheets on the bed and turned on the electric blanket.  I finally climbed into bed and he immediately climbed under the covers and became silent.  Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur… on my chest.  Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr. Indeed.  [Thanks, Edith Newlin.]  Dude was so happy I was back he didn’t even beg for breakfast, just curled up on the bed and then, later, on Clay (the Rocket Mass Heater).

Since I also committed to working Saturday for Cherry Street Books, the week included two trips to Alex in a week.  I was able to head back Friday afternoon and hit the resale shops, in Park Rapids and Alex, finding some needed supplies for cheap.  I got some hardware and outlet plugs, a tin for ashes, a stereo, and some more rugs to cover the cold concrete floors.  That evening, we attended Lakes Area Radio Theatre show (which starred a friend Sue Justice – super fun!). [You can hear the show here: http://www.lakesareatheatre.com/ ]  And while there, we ran into the Bergers and Jim and Linda and, of course, Ted.  I’d seen Sue Gooch earlier in the day and it was great to see so many friends while I was in town.

The effect on me, being in town after so many weeks of solitude at the Harn, was kind of weird.  Up north I pretty much stick to home and spend time alone.  And even when I go to town, I don’t know a lot of people yet so it’s just a quick trip and head home.  I found myself a bit overwhelmed by all the talking but it was enjoyable.  I am finding that it’s hard to explain how I’m “doing at the Harn”.  It is just something I can’t really put into words.  It’s nice.  I’m happy with it.  But it’s still something I’m figuring out too.  It’s still new.  Maybe someday I can explain it better.  We’ll see.

Though I still don’t have running water, the plumber was back this week while I was home to get me closer to ready.  Dan and I hope to get the wiring and such in place soon so we can turn on the water.  Now that the kitchen sink has a faucet, it’s natural to think I can turn it on for a quick hand rinse but, no.  I can’t.   Yet.

Oh, and if you want to keep up to date on Harn Happenings, I have started a YouTube Channel called Harn Theory (ya’ know, like String Theory, only not so physic-y).  It will have video updates hopefully regularly and, if you subscribe, you’ll get notices when I post new stuff.  Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZcwdxIbsSbKuDKyAQuuG6g

Can Urban & Rural Minnesota Get Together?

Tags

communication, sustainability

Kerri Miller had an excellent program this past month on the election and how the urban/rural divide was possibly a key to understanding the results.  http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/29/growing-urban-rural-divide  She wanted to hear from urban and rural voters to get their input and she asked where we think we can find the common ground to get to solutions.  I moved to Minnesota from Indiana 2 years ago hoping for more progressive politics. Indiana seemed to be regressing with regard to education, tolerance of difference, and worker’s rights.  Minnesota was doing well – good employment (my husband had multiple job offers in Alexandria when we planned our move here), gay marriage had been voted in (indicating a place of acceptance of all people), and rural fiber optic internet was being implemented (the Harn would have faster internet than we’d ever had, even in an Indianapolis suburb!).  Alexandria turned out to be way more evangelical and conservative than I imagined.  But I now live up north in truly rural Clearwater county and it’s another interesting change because it’s actually more Democratic than I expected.  I think Kerri’s idea that we need to find the common ground is on target so I was very interested in this discussion.

Did angry, white, rural voters out-vote their more diverse urban voters?  Are political and cultural perceptions between rural and urban all that different?  Where are there similarities that can bring us all together?

Dante Chinni (Head of the American Communities Project at American University and writer for the Politics Counts blog) and Jeff Guo (Economics Reporter for the Washington Post) joined Kerri Miller for the discussion.  Jeff began with a reference to the work by Thomas Frank What’s the Matter with Kansas?, which contended that rural voters vote against their own interests after being convinced to focus solely on cultural issues like abortion and gay marriage, ignoring issues like jobs and government services.  But he then rebutted that concept as off-target with more recent work by Kathy Cramer from the University of WI Madison who says this is an insult to rural people.  She found that the rural thinking on politics is rooted in values but also a suspicion of urban people.  Rural Wisconsin voters think the decisions are made in Madison or Milwaukee without input from the rural viewpoint and then rural areas simply have to live with these decisions, which often don’t mete out to them a fair share of the resources. This has led to a feeling of not being heard and respected.  (An interview done by Guo explains this in more detail  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/08/a-new-theory-for-why-trump-voters-are-so-angry-that-actually-makes-sense/?utm_term=.58996cccf753) This sounds a lot like the rural Minnesota argument.  All the decisions are made in St. Paul and all the money goes to The Cities!

So, where is the difference between urban and rural? 

Is race a factor?  Yes.  When you live in a place where there is little diversity, it’s hard to comprehend people different from you.  Dante referenced the homogeneity of the rural communities which are often also more religious. But the difference is more than this; it’s about world views which are widely divergent between urban and rural voters.

There was some humor in the program’s discussion of REAL America.  I remember that there was a lot of focus in the election post-game about how rural people feel like they are REAL America… that even though the coasts and the cities have LOTS of people, REAL America was represented as rural voters helped elect Donald Trump.  Seriously???  We are all REAL PEOPLE.  Yes.  We are all REAL, People!  And we need to stop discounting the fact that we all have value.  And each of us can have good ideas and real perspectives on our life… our REALITY.

A caller from Fosston noted the following: Small town people are affected by changes more quickly and visibly than people in urban areas.  Rural DFLers are focused on vocational jobs, hard work, and gaining the fruits of their labor without giving it to others.  MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN to these people meant going back to times before these recent “bad” changes affected their lives.  They don’t like the cultural shifts being made as they are against some of their values.

But values of rural people are no more pristine than the values of urban people.  We all have morals and just because we may differ in our values doesn’t mean we’re immoral. I believe it’s partly about perspective. Abortion is wrong from the perspective of ending a life of a child.  But when viewed from the perspective of a woman’s right to own her body and determine its destiny, a right to choose becomes prominent.

And I think it’s also about pace and information flow.  Urban folks move at a faster pace and process a huge amount of social information while rural folks move more at the pace of nature and often don’t even own a computer.  Most urban people have known someone who is gay for decades so gay marriage seems long overdue to them.  But rural folks can be more conservative in their communications, after all, things are more homogeneous and constant so, don’t rock the boat with some big pronouncement! While gay people may live among them, it is often just not addressed… it’s downplayed, denied, or simply ignored. Gay marriage seems at best, unnecessary, and at worst, a damnation.

In the country, things staying the same brings comfort.  Yes, the seasons change but this is gradual and a cycle that occurs every year.  Fast change usually means trouble – big winds blow down trees, big rain means we can’t pull in the harvest, a weasel wiping out the chicken coop means no eggs for breakfast for a while.  But also there is a focus on community that makes these changes bearable.  There is an understanding that we’re out here in the country and we need to stick together to make things work.  So when change happens, we come together to cut the trees into firewood, band together to harvest quickly when the weather turns good again, and gift some eggs to the neighbor because, when our flock takes a hit, they’ll be gifting some to us.

For Urbanites, change is fast, constant and often means good things – a new store so they can access goods more easily, the pothole fixed, new neighbors from Thailand bring a welcome food diversity to the annual block party.  But there is more frequently a tendency to take care on your own for personal stuff.  A/C broken?  Call the repairman as you likely don’t have a friend close by who knows how to fix it.  Need a cup of sugar?  The store is just down the block so you run out for a new bag.

While voter turnout was down, the rural vote percentage increased even while populations dropped. In large part, it seems to be a result of a real disappointment in our economic situations in rural areas.  There was a real belief that we needed to “drain the swamp” as D.C. is NOT WORKING.  Trump convinced voters that he was the Working Class Candidate.  But even people who know he can’t truly fix what is wrong, they like that Trump talks directly to them.  He is an outsider of the non-working system in D.C. and that gives them hope.  Some of these rural people voted Obama! They had hope for change but over the last 8 years, there has been not a lot of change that is helping their lives.  Jobs continue to flounder in rural areas and while health care is available, it’s not affordable.  And people are angry.  And Trump expresses their frustration in a way that is familiar.

An interesting aspect that I didn’t hear much about in the campaigns but see in the work of Kathy Cramer is that the big crash of 2008 was seen very differently from rural and urban perspectives.  Urbanites were hit hard by the crushing job losses and rampant foreclosures while rural people have been dealing with economic hardship for some time.  They’ve been tightening the belt since the mid-70s, so while the crash has taken a hit, the difference to normal life was not so shocking.  And while some seem to think that everyone rural is against “Obamacare”, many rural voters actually LIKE Obamacare.  They see the benefits of kids being on your insurance until 26 and not being able to be rejected for pre-existing conditions.  However, they also see how they cannot afford the coverage with the current system that still gives the power of pricing to insurance companies and not individuals. So as much as they like it, they can’t afford to access it.  Some urban elites CAN afford coverage with higher incomes, though many of them too find it unaffordable as costs continue to increase dramatically each year.  Dan’s company had a 70% increase in health care costs in December.

So where can we find similarities? Where is our common ground for finding solutions?

Dante brought up an interesting point that today we all create our own reality based not only on our day-to-day lives but also on the virtual world where we live much of our lives today.  “Everybody lives in a bubble”, he says.  When everyone is living in a unique reality, how do we govern?

In Permaculture, the Problem is the Solution.  I heard the other day, the problem is that your eyes are so heavy you can’t stay awake.  The solution is going to sleep! The problem is the solution!

America is becoming more diverse.  This has been happening for some time in our cities and is now increasing in rural areas as well.  It means we need to move toward inclusiveness.  And I think, with many viewpoints ~ native, long-term immigrant and new immigrant ~ we can find the best solutions; our differences are what can help us find solutions. Knowing each other and our relevant dilemmas and concerns, refusing to discount our differences but taking all the information into account, this is where we might find a common path forward.

I found this in working in Quality for the Steel Mills – and many in marriages see this occasionally with their spouses – everyone thinks they do the most work and get the least benefit.  Rural people don’t comprehend the difficulties faced in urban areas and vice versa.  And often, the stories of the other place are embellished and changed in ways that prevent us from seeing the reality.  In the steel mill, by sharing with each area the hardships in other areas, both downstream and upstream, we could come to solutions that benefited everyone the most and cost the least in new activity or investment.  Sometimes people simply didn’t realize how little things they did affected the next person down the line and, knowing it, they made changes to improve the process for the next guy.  This was made more effective when they knew the system was being addressed and they too would get help from changes made up and downstream to them.

How can urban and rural work together?  The cities can support lots of people and we need to support things like light rail to reduce the fossil fuel usage and increase efficiency. This helps rural people when they come to the city by having more open roadways and/or transportation systems that they can use once they get to the city.   What’s good for the metro is good for out-state, or so they say.  And in this case, I believe it’s true.  Is the reverse true?  I believe it is.  If we have good programs to support small and organic farms, there is more abundant superior local food which can also support people in the cities.  If we have good education programs in rural areas, we create more vibrant economies which provide more jobs and tax dollars, again supporting the state as a whole.

Rural people comprehend self-sufficiency in a better way so we need to listen to their ideas about working together as well.  And that needs to mean working together as urban and rural, not just for one group above the other.

What I didn’t hear about was what was TRUE about tax spending.  Rural gets a lot of money in roads and bridges.  My suspicion was that, per capita spending was higher in rural counties than urban and that tax income was higher in these counties that actually get less. And so it is. http://www.startribune.com/metro-vs-outstate-which-counties-pay-most-taxes-and-which-get-most-aid/289629981/  We have a lot of infrastructure to support for a smaller number of people in “out-state” ~ another irritant to rural folks in MN is hearing themselves described as “out-state” as if they are not a part of the state but some kind of foreign area.  Perhaps the funding going rural is put more into infrastructure and not as much in social services.  I think our roads are pretty good up here in “Out-State”. From the calls made by rural folks to the program, and what you hear from rural people, what they want is government support, not smaller government.  It seems to me that part of the issue is we have representatives that want to cut taxes (reducing the State’s income) while their constituents want more services, improved educational options, better roads, expanded internet.  You can’t have both.

With jobs being a major concern, we need to not denigrate vocational work or manufacturing jobs.  We need both.  Dante focused on the fact that many of the lost jobs are not being taken by people in other countries but by machines.  Think about the farms of the past where you milked the goat by hand.  Now one farmer can milk 10 or more cows at a time with automated milking stations.  In Detroit, the number of auto workers needed to build a car has been cut in half and, as robotics and mechanization continue, this number will continue to decrease.  This is a new economy and we need to find new ways to make money.  Any manufacturing that does develop in the US will largely be located in the rural South where wages are lower so the North needs to find a new way.  Manufacturing work is attractive and, as Jeff notes, “it sounds good to be able to say you do a job where you actually physically make things” and Dante notes that even the hipsters in Brooklyn are proud to say they make their own candles.  We all need to understand that the future is not bringing more of the jobs we know and love (do we love them?).  Dante noted that we had the Tech bubble, the Real Estate bubble, and then collapse.  We are now seeing that 1-2% growth may be the new norm.

I believe we will need a large cultural shift to find solutions. One caller (Marie) noted the difference between Obama and Trump with regard to energy jobs. Obama focused on clean energy, which is forward thinking and leading edge so maybe hard to imagine, while Trump argues for coal, which is nostalgic (and focused in rural areas) but unsustainable.  I think we can move forward in both urban and rural areas with clean energy.  There are opportunities for jobs as you see with RREAL (http://www.rreal.org/) and CEEM (http://www.cleanenergyeconomymn.org/).  It looks like MN is doing a good job on growing renewable energy: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/03/03/renewable-energy-fuels-21-percent-minnesota-electricity

While the future is unclear, I think we need all our brains working on it.  I am glad to be doing my little part of trying to live more sustainably.  It’s a work in progress and I’m not sure how it will grow and change as I figure it out but I definitely like not spoiling pristine water with my own waste products, using less energy with LEDs, driving and eating less than I used to, and learning more about supporting my local community.  I heard a really good podcast on sustainability from Ethan at the Possibility Alliance that has become a new challenge to me.  I’ll keep you posted as I figure out more.  http://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2015/episode-1523-ethan-hughes/

In the end…

From the interview with Jeff Guo, Kathy Cramer says this about her work with the rural people of WI:

And then I would go back for a second visit, a third visit, a fourth, fifth and sixth. And we liked each other. Even at the end of my first visit, they would say, “You know, you’re the first professor from Madison I’ve ever met, and you’re actually kind of normal.” And we’d laugh. We got to know each other as human beings.

I think this is the key.  We need to recognize each other as human beings.  We all have some things in common.  We want to love and be loved, we want a better world for our children, and we want to be safe, comfortable and fed.  We need to see the anger and fear as a result of not getting these things and, rather than criticizing it, find the solutions to eradicate the anger and fear.  If we stay in the fear and anger, fighting each other, we won’t get very far.  But if we work together, we can find a good way forward.  Here’s hoping the Minnesota legislators can do this in a way that helps us all.

Photo credit: http://www.difference.site/rural-vs-urban/

Blessing in Disguise

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Dealing with Life, fun

I have been thinking about all the wonderful blessings that have come into my life though it is not clear that they were blessings on arrival.

Here are a few:

• The friend who decided I had violated her trust and ended our friendship.  I had done something to be helpful to a mutual friend that ended up hurting her.  I hadn’t thought my actions all the way through.  I felt the friend I helped needed me more.  But she was right and it was hard losing her friendship, though years later we were able to mend our relationship. [She is a gracious and loving soul.] In talking it through with her, I gained valuable insight into the complexity of relationships and understanding of how, even when you are doing what seems right, sometimes people still get hurt.  These days, in putting myself on the side of the violator for my own hurtful situations, I find that trying to see from the perspective of the person I feel has harmed me can be quite enlightening.
• A guy I liked who wasn’t ready for a relationship which caused me some consternation as I tried to let it go and move on while also fearing I would be alone for some time.  The very day that this major struggle came to a head and I was finally able to let him go was the day I met my husband Dan.  In letting go, I was able to gain what was truly the best thing for me. [And that guy? He ended up happy as well with a wonderful woman.]
• The time I was given a horrible review by the Tech Service Manager, my boss, just after being in a meeting with our customer who had given me excellent marks.  In his opinion, I had over-rated my skills and abilities on my self-evaluation.  I tried to explain that I thought I’d rated myself accurately and that the customer seemed to think I was doing a fine job but it was as if he hadn’t heard a thing in the customer evaluation meeting we’d just exited.  He even went so far as to exclaim that the “no one” at the steel plant liked working with me.  I had been frustrated in the job for some time with its 70-90 hour weeks, extensive travel and high stress (we were ranked #4 of 4 in Quality and #1 of 4 in Tech Service by the main customer I managed).  I had planned to hand him the keys to the company car if my employee review didn’t go well but I was in such a state of shock I couldn’t process.  I simply bid him goodbye and headed to the next customer visit.  When I called the lab the next day, the engineer there sounded so happy to talk with me so I asked if everyone didn’t dislike working with me.  He assured me that I was a delight.  I soon tendered my resignation and, after a month off for travel and rest, moved into a position that kept me home every night and from which I retired 8 years later with a large retirement account.  If I hadn’t been pushed from a job that was truly devastating, I likely would have stayed and been miserable.  So that Manager did me a big favor in the long run!
• The guy I met who was briefly my boyfriend and sired my child, though he left early in the pregnancy.  I am sure he didn’t know what a blessing Tom would be, not only to me, but to his own mother and father who became the primary grandparents in Tom’s life.  No doubt the best thing that has ever happened in my life, though in the beginning, I wasn’t so sure it would be.

But isn’t that how it often is, the thing we wish wasn’t happening can often turn out to be a huge blessing?

I remember driving to work one day long ago and getting stopped by a train.  I was frustrated at being held up.  Ten minutes later, as I drove in slow traffic up Cline Avenue to the plant, I saw the accident scene.  There was a body lying on the ground, almost completely covered, but with one hand visible from under the edge of the tarp.  I realized that, had I not been delayed by the train, it could have been me.  That was a turning point in my life.  To realize that something that seems bad can actually be good.

There’s a good story on this lesson (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/jokes/read/1004069/):

A little bird was flying south for the Winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.
The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!

I encourage you to find the blessings in every day.  And to remember that even when things don’t look so great, they could also truly be a blessing.

Image credit: http://www.whats-thesayinganswers.com/blessing-in-disguise/