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  • From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Politics
  • Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:44:13 -0600

I do agree that people--Americans in particular and those unfortunate countries now trying to emulate our unsustainable lifestyle--have a bad habit of looking at the here and now with a total disconnect from the results of their actions. Our neighbor doesn't want to install solar panels because he's too old to see the financial return in his lifetime...another homeowner doesn't put in fruit trees because they know they'll be moving in a couple years...or people wonder why they are obese when they live a sedentary lifestyle and eat fast food, why their kids are hyper and play video games for hours...

As Barbara Kingsolver said "I want my child to know a potato has a plant part". I think part of homesteading is seeing the connections between everything in our lives, the results of our actions, as many of you have eloquently shown in your stories and advice on this list.

Still, I want a government (and a community) with compassion and a better ability to distinguish who truly needs assistance. The pulp mill folks had some choices. No one forsees or chooses having a disability. I wonder what life choices you or I, or any of the homesteaders, would make if we suddenly found ourselves or our spouses disabled?

The reality is that as long as our government leadership only looks at the here and now (how can we continue to sustain our basically unsustainable lifestyle?) without looking at the results and without making changes--the people will follow.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas



On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:11:40 -0800
"Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net> wrote:
One makes choices and some of them are tough. Social Security can NOT continue as it is! So, do folks make adjustments now inorder to continue receiving benefits and having benefits in the future for themselves and others or do they wait for not that many more years when there is NO money and no one gets anything? Lynda's presidency will give folks something instead of nothing but platitudes and false promises!

This kinda reminds me of the folks at the Lousiana-Pacific pulp mill. They were offered three choices: 1) Take a cut in pay and reduced benefits and the plant would remain in operation and they would remain full-time workers; 2) Some of the workers would have to be laid off and the company would have to reduce the hours of operation; or 3) they would sell the plant.

Well, the Union went into pissy mode and called for a strike. Everyone walked off the job and went on strike for 3 months.

Net result: 1) They lost 3 months wages; 2) Within 12 months the company laid off 1/3 of the workers and reduced the hours for everyone else; AND 3) within 2 years they sold the plant to the only buyer they could find. Well, they did have another buyer but that company planned to take the plant to Mexico. Not that the employees thanked them for saving the jobs.

End result: 1) The new buyer, as a conditional of sale, let all the old employees go with the condition that they would be given first option at the new jobs at new wages; 2) refused to negotiate with the union to rehire at the old wages; and 3) sold the company town which resulted in the reduced rent ($150/mo for 2 bedroom; $200/mo for 3 bedrooms, $250/mo for 4 bedrooms, utilities paid) for employees also going out the window.

Net result for the new company was they are now operating at a profit and they paid off all the debt with the sale of the company town!

So, for example, instead of dropping their wages from $16/hr for pushing sawdust around with a cat to $11.95/hr, 50% of the workers ended up unemployed and the 50% that were rehired make $9.50/hr and have to pay for their benefits!

Moral of the story is that humans have a nasty habit of looking at the here and now and not looking at what results their lack of foresight is going to have.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- From: <eureka AT hctc.net>


In our small town of 49 people, we socialize with two
delightful couples our age. We are all middle class,
getting the squeeze from the economy. In both cases the
husbands are disabled; one, a former draftsman, has
glaucoma and epilepsy (and more recently, cancer) so bad
he cannot drive and the other, a former social worker,
Parkinson's and a stroke where he cannot drive (or
sometimes even walk). These men do as much as they are
capable of doing around their homsteads and manage to keep
their spirits up. Both wives (a former flight attendant
and an early childhood specialist) are capable of working
but have had to seek part-time local employment (minimum
wage) in order to have the time to drive their spouses to
numerous out of town doctor's visits. Like many of us,
their kids live in other states. These women also have to
take care of ailing parents or in-laws (physically and
financially) and most of the homestead chores. They are
just "getting by" and the women are exhausted.

All of us moved here for a better quality of life, can no
longer afford big city real estate, or the gasoline to
commute us to higher paying jobs (many that prefer a
younger or more technically savvy workforce). I am
fortunate enough to be able to do my work through an
Internet connection and that my husband is not disabled.
I'm not sure what would become of our friends under
Lynda's presidency.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas
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