us and our surroundings is lessened. Demanding lc:ss (and having to work less to satisfy those demands) also means avoiding unnecessary production and consumption of resources that we share with our surroundings and our grandchildren. The "job" relationship that is so common in industrial society putS us in a real double-bind. We're suppo ed to be efficient, productive, and work for the interests of our employer for a certain period, then abruptly turn around and be profligate consumers, buying for whim, vanity, luxury and prestige. At the same time we're trapped into an effective divide and conquer strategy by commercial interests. By dividing us into working and consuming modes-neither of which we control or can bargain as equal partners-we get milked coming and going. As consumers we can only judge price, not what costs of production were externalized in forms of pollution, tax avoidance, workers exploitation, etc., that we have to pay the consequences of elsewhere. As workers can usually only bargain for dollars- a logger or coal miner can't usually act against stripmining our forests, soils and minerals. Thinking more broadly than jobs, and avoiding jobs both _ personally and through governmental policies that encourage I alternative means of satisfying our needs can be a positive approach to a better quality of life, with substantial social Having jobs can be as much a basic cause of social and ec nomic problems as a solution to them. and economic benefit. Self-confidence grows with self-reliance. The more we are responsible for satisfying our own needs, the less we're trapped in the frustrations, anger and distrust that fills the marketplace and workplace. Unnecessary production is avoided when we don't buy. Make-work jobs like CETA no longer can be looked at as "creating employment." Selfreliance minimizes taxes. Real needs are more effectively met by the person having those needs. " Having a job" I oks at providing for our needs solely through the means of institutionalized work- working for someone elsl!. There are alternatives. Among them, working for one d f (self-employment), providing for our own needs (self-reliance), or not working (self-restraint). All have very different social consequence which are usually ignored when we look at employment in the narrow, institutional way. Self-employme.n t means that division of interests between worker and management is avoided along with the attendant and real accusations of featherbedding, irresponsibility, profiteering off the workers, etc. Self-reliance means that the producer/consumer split is avoided along with the resulting inability to know how things work, if they're well-made, price-gouging, etc. Self-restramt means that the division of interest between present and future generations and between A self-reliant economy, by all appearances, is both more effective economically for the people involved and more resistant to exploitation by outside interests than an exchangebased economy. Small-scale, employment-intensive technologies are valuable in the specific trade-offs against centralized, energy and capitalintensive technologies, but they also allow these basic and important changes in the patterns of work and need to be more thoroughly considered in dealing with employment problems. - TB BAD GUYS CIA's Covert Operations vs. Human Rights, 10q from: Center for National Security Studies 122 Maryland Avenue N.E. Washington, DC 20002 We refer from time to time to the immoral and illegal and gcnerally appalling activities of the FBI, CIA and other U.S. Government agencies, but without detailed reference. These folks have pulled together a concise overview of CIA training of terrorists, their setting up of secret police activities in other countrie . their u e of the church, labor unions and academic institutions as cover for illegal domestic and foreign activities ... the list goes on and on. Suggests what you can do, and gives resnurces and helpful organizations. This should remove any lingering doubts you may have that some big changes are needed. - TB Nuclear America, 75q from: War Resisters League 339 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10012 At last there's a graphic presentation of the nuclear industry in the United States that gives full recognition to the immensity and pervasiveness of this menace. Nuclear America is a 17"x22" poster detailing the location of nuclear power plants, uranium mining, milling and processing facilities, reprocessing and waste storage sites, nuclear weapons development, testing and deployment sites, as well as areas subject to direct nuclear attack in the event of war. The total effect is staggering-we are fast becoming an armed camp for the 20th century's most oppressive technology. War Resisters League has done us a great service by underlining the inseparable link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The back of the poster is a well-researched legend containing the names and descriptions of all facilities, as well as a succinct discussion of the problem and what you can do to change it. -SA Report on Torture, Amnesty International, 1975, $3.45 from: Noonday Press 19 Union Square West New York, NY 10003 This is a heavy book. I don't recommend it for recreational reading. What it reveals is so sickening that I have been unable myself to read more than fragments, but it is important to know about and to have available if you need the documentation. It presents the evidence of massive and brutal use of torture against citizens by governments today and every day in more than 60 countries. Bad enough by itself, but worsened by the complicity of our own government in much of it. Action needs to be taken, and needs to start with cleaning up our own house and activities. -TB
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