Tent Cities
Now I must admit, I don't really pay much attention to pagan blogs, nor do I participate in many pagan forums. I read The Wild Hunt about once a week or so, and most of the time, that's about it. I used to read blogs run by people I think had good things to say, like Chas Clifton, and Alison Shaffer, but I have to admit that with too many other things going on in my non-internet life, I just fell out of the habit.
So, perhaps a few of you can tell me if any pagan bloggers have had much to say about the various tent cities sprouting up in large and small American cities, populated with people who lost their homes in the economic crash of 2008?
As many of you already know, there was a 63% rise in mortgage foreclosures in the United States in 2008: more than a million homes were lost, and the foreclosure process was initiated on two million more. Homeowners across America put their house keys into their mail-slots and simply walked away, often leaving behind big-ticket consumer products like computers, cars, and plasma televisions. 3.6 million American jobs were lost from December 2007 until the end of 2008. In June of 2009, just as most economic indicators were beginning to recover, another 467,000 Americans lost their jobs. In Canada, with one-tenth of the population of America, 363,000 people lost their jobs over a six-month period. As I write these words, all the signs of economic recovery I have seen so far have been superficial, and few.
America saw a huge surge in shanty towns in its largest and wealthiest cities in the middle of 2008 or so. Some, like Obamaville, in Colorado, are rather large, and have annoyed the authorities with the signs they post at major entrances, signs whose purpose is to shame civic authorities into providing some infrastructure for the people.
At least one that I was able to find got some city recognition and thus has slightly better sanitation, cooking facilities, and a political voice: it's called Dignity Village, and is located in Portland, Oregon. But this seems to be the exception, not the rule.
The value of self reliance, an admirable value in many ways which Americans seem to have made distinctly their own, has a kind of dark side. It also encourages people to view those who are down on their luck as the designers of their own situation, and victims of their own ineptitude, and thus deserving of their situation, even if that situation is homelessness and starvation. Hence city authorities often refuse to provide toilet facilities or basic security surveillance. And most ordinary people simply turn their backs.
But I think that pagans can do better than that. Self-reliance might be a virtue: but poor-bashing is not. And the model of self-reliance must never be used to justify indifference, and must never be used to dismiss the importance of humanitarian feelings like empathy and respect. Were it to do so, self-reliance would serve only as a thin disguise for pride, apathy, and willful arrogance.
Friends, what should the pagan point of view about this situation be? Other religious communities have long traditions of providing support, charity, disaster relief, and humanitarian aid to the poor and the homeless. Even militant Islamic terrorist groups like Hammas provide food, housing, education, and medical care to their members and their families. Do we? Are there pagan charities around? We talk a good talk about how important it is to be practical. But the emphasis on the practical rings hollow to me, when that practicality is directed only on one's own "personal development": aligning one's chakras, or finding one's spirit guide, or meditating with crystals, "working with the gods" or "being open to the change". Nor is it good enough to look upon such situations and say, as an acquaintance recently wrote to me in response to a similar question: "Remember this..we are what we experience, we experience what we express, we express what we have to express..we have what we grant ourselves… ALL of it is necessary for us to experience life as we know it.. are you smiling yet?" Well, no, I'm not smiling. This kind of response to the injustice and the suffering of people is a superficial pop-culture witticism and not a real solution to a serious problem. I'm sure that the three and a half million American families who lost their jobs and homes in the economic crisis of 2008 are not much helped by the thought that "this is the ebb and flow of life... some of us refer it as the yin and yang...", as my acquaintance also wrote. Well it looks like the ebb and flow of life when all you see are economic indicators. But behind those indicators were real human beings making various business decisions, and other real human beings losing their livelihoods and homes because of those decisions. The answer I was rather hoping for was something like this: "I'm fund-raising for cots and blankets and food and heating oil for the people in my local tent city."
Do such initiatives exist in the pagan movement? I ask out of genuine interest, because I actually don't know. I know of one group, which is called Avalon Cares, which I'm told did a lot of charity work in New Orleans after the hurricane. I also know that some large pagan festivals, like Kaleidoscope Gathering, hosts a charity auction as part of the festival. Some Pagan Pride Day events also have charity drives. The fact that I haven't seen many other examples of this doesn't mean they're not there.
But I do see this:
and this:
and this:
These photos were not taken in Brazil, or India, or Africa. All of these locations are in America, the richest and most powerful country in the world.
Pagan values like hospitality, generosity, and loyalty once applied only to the members of one's tribe, one's family, or to a guest who visits your home. But it is also a contemporary pagan value that all living things are connected to each other, each part affecting the whole, each part affected by the whole. We live on one shared earth, and we are part of the earth. Thus, when I think of social injustice, and poverty, and oppression, I think that I must regard my whole nation as my tribe, the whole human race as my extended family, and anyone in trouble as a guest in my home. For the days of tribal and feudal rivalries are over. And the days of looking only within are also gone. The days of a more enlightened kind of heroic society must begin.
In response to continuing injustice, what should the pagan movement do?
So, perhaps a few of you can tell me if any pagan bloggers have had much to say about the various tent cities sprouting up in large and small American cities, populated with people who lost their homes in the economic crash of 2008?
As many of you already know, there was a 63% rise in mortgage foreclosures in the United States in 2008: more than a million homes were lost, and the foreclosure process was initiated on two million more. Homeowners across America put their house keys into their mail-slots and simply walked away, often leaving behind big-ticket consumer products like computers, cars, and plasma televisions. 3.6 million American jobs were lost from December 2007 until the end of 2008. In June of 2009, just as most economic indicators were beginning to recover, another 467,000 Americans lost their jobs. In Canada, with one-tenth of the population of America, 363,000 people lost their jobs over a six-month period. As I write these words, all the signs of economic recovery I have seen so far have been superficial, and few.
America saw a huge surge in shanty towns in its largest and wealthiest cities in the middle of 2008 or so. Some, like Obamaville, in Colorado, are rather large, and have annoyed the authorities with the signs they post at major entrances, signs whose purpose is to shame civic authorities into providing some infrastructure for the people.
At least one that I was able to find got some city recognition and thus has slightly better sanitation, cooking facilities, and a political voice: it's called Dignity Village, and is located in Portland, Oregon. But this seems to be the exception, not the rule.
The value of self reliance, an admirable value in many ways which Americans seem to have made distinctly their own, has a kind of dark side. It also encourages people to view those who are down on their luck as the designers of their own situation, and victims of their own ineptitude, and thus deserving of their situation, even if that situation is homelessness and starvation. Hence city authorities often refuse to provide toilet facilities or basic security surveillance. And most ordinary people simply turn their backs.
But I think that pagans can do better than that. Self-reliance might be a virtue: but poor-bashing is not. And the model of self-reliance must never be used to justify indifference, and must never be used to dismiss the importance of humanitarian feelings like empathy and respect. Were it to do so, self-reliance would serve only as a thin disguise for pride, apathy, and willful arrogance.
Friends, what should the pagan point of view about this situation be? Other religious communities have long traditions of providing support, charity, disaster relief, and humanitarian aid to the poor and the homeless. Even militant Islamic terrorist groups like Hammas provide food, housing, education, and medical care to their members and their families. Do we? Are there pagan charities around? We talk a good talk about how important it is to be practical. But the emphasis on the practical rings hollow to me, when that practicality is directed only on one's own "personal development": aligning one's chakras, or finding one's spirit guide, or meditating with crystals, "working with the gods" or "being open to the change". Nor is it good enough to look upon such situations and say, as an acquaintance recently wrote to me in response to a similar question: "Remember this..we are what we experience, we experience what we express, we express what we have to express..we have what we grant ourselves… ALL of it is necessary for us to experience life as we know it.. are you smiling yet?" Well, no, I'm not smiling. This kind of response to the injustice and the suffering of people is a superficial pop-culture witticism and not a real solution to a serious problem. I'm sure that the three and a half million American families who lost their jobs and homes in the economic crisis of 2008 are not much helped by the thought that "this is the ebb and flow of life... some of us refer it as the yin and yang...", as my acquaintance also wrote. Well it looks like the ebb and flow of life when all you see are economic indicators. But behind those indicators were real human beings making various business decisions, and other real human beings losing their livelihoods and homes because of those decisions. The answer I was rather hoping for was something like this: "I'm fund-raising for cots and blankets and food and heating oil for the people in my local tent city."
Do such initiatives exist in the pagan movement? I ask out of genuine interest, because I actually don't know. I know of one group, which is called Avalon Cares, which I'm told did a lot of charity work in New Orleans after the hurricane. I also know that some large pagan festivals, like Kaleidoscope Gathering, hosts a charity auction as part of the festival. Some Pagan Pride Day events also have charity drives. The fact that I haven't seen many other examples of this doesn't mean they're not there.
But I do see this:
and this:
and this:
These photos were not taken in Brazil, or India, or Africa. All of these locations are in America, the richest and most powerful country in the world.
Pagan values like hospitality, generosity, and loyalty once applied only to the members of one's tribe, one's family, or to a guest who visits your home. But it is also a contemporary pagan value that all living things are connected to each other, each part affecting the whole, each part affected by the whole. We live on one shared earth, and we are part of the earth. Thus, when I think of social injustice, and poverty, and oppression, I think that I must regard my whole nation as my tribe, the whole human race as my extended family, and anyone in trouble as a guest in my home. For the days of tribal and feudal rivalries are over. And the days of looking only within are also gone. The days of a more enlightened kind of heroic society must begin.
In response to continuing injustice, what should the pagan movement do?