Volume VIII No.7 $1.50 No Advertising
Page 2 RAIN May 1982 IMAGINE PEACE In our January issue (RAIN VIII:4) Joel Schatz described the new peace poster he and his wife Diane are working on. They are attempting to answer the question "If peace broke out, what would it look like?" and are inviting people from all over the country to submit their own visions for possible inclusion in the poster. Below are some ideas submitted by RAIN readers. (Frank L. Moreland, an architect from Fort Worth, TX, sent in a large folder of earth covered structure plans and designs with the message: "Enclosed is an idea for a peaceful community, in response to Joel and Diane's request in the January issue. Good luck in your search. I'm looking forward to the results.") I envision a peaceful society as one which encourages role playing from the earliest age . .. role playing helps people learn to understand other people's points of view. Another part of peaceful society would be that children are taught mutual aid rather than competition—all win, all together reach a goal or solve a problem. . .. moderate consumption and labor-intensive rather than machinery . .. put control of resources and money in the hands of grass-roots local governments. To have grass-roots local governments, means to develop strong communities. This means fostering neighborliness, community self-help and community projects, etc., and using legislative power as well. It means towns and neighborhoods where people care for each other, work for the good of all. In a peaceful society it will be each neighborhood which decides what a simplified, nonconsumptive lifestyle is for that community, including the use of renewable energy rather than fossil fuel hard technology. —Tom Robinsen Missoula, MT I've seen peace. We have friends in Northern Ireland who are putting their lives on the line working for peace. There it's called 'reconciliation.' A few months back there was real fear of a crisis— Rev. Ian Paisley was going to call a general strike, and open civil war was a possible outcome. Also, the prayer group that our friends lead was threatened: the chapel where they had met had been bombed, and the alternative of holding the meetings at their house was potentially quite dangerous. So they felt the need to hold an all-night vigil of prayer, asking for direction. It works out that through-the-night in Northern Ireland is late afternoon to early night here. Many of us kept them in our prayers in those hours, and that was when Peace showed herself. Our friends were together in prayer in the late night, in fear, in a dark city. I was taking a shower, playing with my babies, talking with my husband at dinner, and tucking children into their beds. I have all that they are working for—a chance to get on with my life, a chance to be ordinary, and to enjoy all of those plain things. Peace is not sitting around eating cloud ice cream. It is as full of difficult times as any. Difficulties are useful and good when they can be embraced. And, of course, there can be peace in a person even in the midst of war. But the Peace that I saw was just that chance to work on my own life, dance my own dance and embrace my own difficulties, to flourish in my special variety of ordinariness. I see it much more clearly now, and it's obverse, war, has become all the more horrible. What is truly petty are the issues that wars are fought over, when seen next to the bone- marrow importance of all these details of getting on with our lives. Peace be with you. Eliza Gouvemeur New Castle, DE Your project of visualizing peace is a beautiful idea. You might want to seriously consider using Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language as a basis—especially much from the first 100 patterns. Read them—it's peace! —Elias Velonis Washington, MA Vol. VIII No. 7 RAIN May 1982 Journal of Appropriate Technology RAIN Magazine publishes information which can lead people to more simple and satisfying lifestyles, help communities and regions become economically self-reliant, and build a society that is durable, just, and ecologically sound. RAIN STAFF: John Ferrell, Mark Roseland, Carlotta Collette, Laura Stuchinsky, Steve Rudman, Nancy Cosper, Steve Johnson, Ann Borquist, Bruce Borquist. Linnea Gilson, Graphic Design. CONTRIBUTORS: Gail Katz, Tanya Kucak, Norman Solomon, Patrick Mazza. RAIN, Journal of Appropriate Technology, is published 10 times yearly by the Rain Umbrella, Inc., a non-profit corporation located at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Oregon 97210, telephone 503/227-5110. Copyright © 1982 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover photograph: David Brown
May 1982 RAIN Page 3 Readers Respond If peace broke out, we wouldn't have to run harder and harder just to stay in the same place The pace of change would ease and things would slowly become less complicated we would no longer feel driven to pursue things ,we do not really believe in we would not judge prosperity by, nor expect, escalating material wealth The decisions of the money managers would directly involve'the values of the people whose money they manage, not only $'s The money managers would take responsibility for their collective influences as well as their individual effects we would all judge our success by our ability to compliment each other's work rather than to compete with it. —Phil Henshaw Brooklyn, NY A picture of peace would have small groups of men and women obtaining locally and noncompetitively almost all their material support from noneconomic, though mutually beneficial, relationships where snobs would be the first to pick up a shovel or clean out the barn because that would be the most dignified thing for them to do. It would be more valuable to care well for a small piece of land, using hand tools or relatively simple technology than to teach in the schools. Anyone seeking more than their meals or a pittance for doing public service work would be automatically disqualified from serving the public. (Now that would decentralize things!) Should anyone desire to teach, that would have to be as a gift to the community; a gift that the community could refuse. If all sounds outrageous to me, but I wonder if anyone thinks it would be easier for nations to disarm than for the professional lions to lie dovym with the lambs or whether physical disarmament would not cry out for some sort of social disarmament as well? —Frank Hubeny Dexter, ME Did your greenhouse tomatoes collapse and die last January? Did the melons never make it? White flies take over? Slugs decimate the seedlings? Have you got the Solar Greenhouse Blues? Wonder what's happening to your investment? No one ever said it would be easy once you got the glazing on and the vents operable, but is there even hope? Take heart! Here in Portland, a couple dozen greenhouse owners have been sharing their trials and tribulations (and successes) in what we jokingly call "solar support groups," more formally "The Solar Greenhouse Society." It was all the brainchild of Nancy Benner, greenhouse designer and gardener. She'd been walking her clients through the period of adjustment when nothing seems to be growing right, when it occurred to her that they all have some good ideas of their own. All that was needed was an opportunity to share them. So she sent out invitations to owners she knew, and the group was up and going. At the first meeting they began to exchange not only ideas, but seeds, catalogues and genuine expertise. Local horticulturists came to the meeting and classes were arranged for "members" to learn planting techniques, varieties to grow, and ongoing maintenance. At a recent meeting. Bill Head, author offish Farming in Your Solar Greenhouse (RAIN VI:3:5) made a presentation on his hydroponics and aquaculture experiments. Bill is working on a new book on yearround gardening under cover. The "solar support group" was a great source of information for him and vice versa. The latest project of the group is the testing of several seed varieties for Territorial Seed Company, here in Oregon. The goal is to determine which seeds will produce most predictably in solar enclosures in the Maritime Northwest. This specific information is essential to getting the most from your system in any particular climate. Perhaps you should form such an organization in your area. Just think of the possibilities. . . . Portland's group is beginning to buy their supplies together. Shade cloth, window insulators, storage devices and plant mediums are all cheaper in large quantities. You could explore working with your local energy extension (or agricultural extension) to provide them with your information. If all of this seems too good to resist, and you do form a group, please let us know, so we can share your work with other RAIN readers and other greenhouse groups. Write RAIN, to my attention, and I'll pass the word on to Nancy and the "solar supporters.". —Carlotta Collette
Page 4 RAIN May 1982 It is difficult to organize against seeming abstractions-— even those as profound as the current balance- of-terror of nuclear weapons systems. by Norman Solomon Visible Alternatives To Invisible Threats As we brought this issue to our typesetter, I heard on the radio that the powers-that-be behind the recently defunct WPPSS nuclear plants (see RAIN V1II:5) are trying one last crazy scheme to pull their nuclectr monstrosity from its well-deserved grave before the tombstone is engraved. They apparently want to revive at least one of the plants to become a weapons-grade plutonium processing plant. While the technical feasibility of converting a partially built commercial reactor into a high-class military installation is slim, the twisted, desperate mentality that produces such sick ideas is cause for genuine alarm. We are fortunate to be able to offer a more refreshing perspective on the whole nuclear/military picture from Norman Solomon, co-author of the recently published Killing Our Own fsee review). His article and the accompanying access information are your tools for a saner world. —Mark Roseland For all of their imminence, nuclear weapons remain something of an abstraction in our society. Unlike nuclear power plants with their conspicuous cooling towers, stacks of industrial pollution, auto-clogged freeways and the like, the massively financed thermonuclear arsenals rarely become visible. It is difficult to organize effectively against seeming abstractions—even those as profound as the current balance-of-terror of nuclear weapons systems. In contrast, we are much more apt to focus protracted efforts along the lines of moving our local utility company into renewable resources, demonstrating the benefits of energy-efficiency, putting up windmills, popularizing passive solar technologies, struggling lor a humanistic urban environment posited in harmony with nature rather than in opposition to it, and developing community-based food cooperatives. Such actions are vital. Yet, no matter how successful, they will become meaningless within an hour if nuclear warfare takes place. Much of the verbiage surrounding alternative technology seems to have stressed being positively upbeat and bypassing the negative—a credo for which anti-nuclear work has sometimes been depicted as unsuitable. Unfortunately, no matter how much we may wish it were not true, the real possibility remains that the finest flowerings of ecologically respectful, decentralized, democratically oriented and creative communities will be destroyed—along with less advanced counterparts—by the sudden and devastating uses of nuclear weaponry for the purposes for which it has always been intended. Even with the “worst case" scenario of nuclear war held in abeyance, nuclear arms production is already fundamentally altering the Earth's ecosystem by purveying long-lived radioactive carcinogens and mutagens. Strong epidemiological evidence, like the well-documented studies by Dr. Carl Johnson correlating the highest cancer rates in the Denver area with proximity to the nearby Rocky Flats plutonium production facility, verifies that we are being insidiously and brutally "nuked" on a day-to-day basis. With uncontainable . nuclear wastes mounting and federal interests gearing up the nuclear fuel cycle more than ever, normality is synonymous with long-term eco-suicide. There are hopeful signs that resistance to nuclear weapons is gaining momentum in the U.S. (European opposition has shown itself to be farther along.) Significantly, the most tenacious and concerted efforts have tended to be deeply-rooted in local communities. For years, organizers in Colorado have underscored the slogan "Rocky Flats—Local Hazard, Global Threat." Independent research, mass rallies, civil disobedience, pressure campaigns aimed at noncommittal state politicians, and methodical, increasingly broad-
May 1982 RAIN Page 5 based public education drives, have succeeded in catalyzing tremendous regional pressure against continued operation of Rocky Flats, which produces plutonium "triggers" for U.S. nuclear warheads. The longstanding work against Rocky Flats has served as a model for scores of newer efforts in communities around the country. Often, even locally, the role of a particular nuclear or military facility is unknown to the general public, so thorough, ongoing research is essential for developing long range strategies. As the sophistication of anti-nuclear organizing grows, there has been increasing attention to jobs issues. Along with demanding conversion of nuclear facilities to non-nuclear and non-military purposes {or establishment of employment at other area sites if the original location is hopelessly contaminated with radioactivity), local organizers are developing in-depth analyses of just how conversion could be practically implemented. In some areas, proposals are being put forward in terms of establishing "nuclear-free zones." The nuclear weapons assembly line is strewn across the United States, and though sometimes low-profile, nuclear facilities have a presence in hundreds of communities (see map), ominously comprising both a "local hazard" and a "global threat." They must be The nuclear weapons assembly line is strewn across the United States , . . it must be challenged in the communities which host it. challenged in the communities which host them. The military means business; so must we. All segments of the population are potential allies in the arduous tasks of shutting down these facilities. National policies must be oriented toward closing nuclear sites or converting them to other purposes. At the federal level, we need to force the government into a comprehensive test ban (the U.S. currently explodes full-fledged nuclear warheads underground in southern Nevada at an average rate of once every three weeks); a freeze on new weapons production; dismantling of first-strike- oriented new weapons systems already produced, like Trident subs and cruise missiles; removal of nuclear weaponry from European bases; and a steady diplomatic push for disarmament in all countries. The Reagan administration is moving in all the wrong directions, including a large boost in plutonium production that amounts to an attack on local ecologies all over the U.S. The need to change the course of federal policies is critical. And time is precariously short. A statewide ballot measure calling for a bilateral nuclear arms freeze (currently in progress in California) must be seen as one of many possible small steps in a long, difficult and multifaceted groundswell; electoral campaigns are unlikely to provide the basis for a strong movement. Systems sanctioned by the state are prone to deflect us away from strengthening true community-based movements with independent power that cannot be co-opted, sidestepped or betrayed by politicians and administrators. Our best hopes are to be found in developing movements that will continue to gain momentum no matter who is in politicial office and no matter what ballot measures win or lose at the polls. □□ The H-Bomb Inc. General Electric I*— Ul m. —•! From: Makers of the Nuclear Holocaust by Howard Morland Some of America's best-known corporations put their stamp on the hydrogen bomb. General Electric ("Progress for People") builds the neutron generator at its Pinellas plant near St. Petersburg, Florida. Monsanto ("Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible") manufactures explosive detonators at its Mound Laboratory near Miamisburg, Ohio. Du Pont ("The leading edge") supplies tritium gas from its Savannah River, South Carolina, plant. Rockwell International ("Where science gets down to business") fabricates plutonium and beryllium components at the Rocky Flats plant near Denver, Colorado. Union Carbide ("Today, something we do will touch your life") contributes uranium, deuterium, and lithium parts made in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The paper honeycomb shield and polystyrene foam which help focus radiation pressure on the H-bomb's fusion tamper are made by Bendix ("We speak technology") at Kansas City, Missouri. Not so well known is Mason & Hanger—Silas Mason, the firm that shapes the chemical explosive charges and supervises final assembly at a plant near Amarillo, Texas. Western Electric, a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph ("The system is the solution") does general engineering for the H-bomb at its laboratory at Albuquerque, New Mexico, in cooperation with two laboratories which conduct research at Livermore, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, under auspices of the University of California ("Let there be light").
Page 6 RAIN May 1982 PEACE & WAR "The Case Against Nuclear Energy," special cartoon issue of the New Internationalist, August 1981, $1.75 per copy, $25.00 for orders of 25 copies, from: New Internationalist 113 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11201 Have you ever been disgusted by contact with one of those "friendly atom" comic books so generously distributed by your local utility in the interest of public education? Here is an effective counter-attack from our side! The attractive format and clearly presented facts (drawn from such sources as Amory Lovins' Soft Energy Paths and Anna Gyorgy's No Nukes) make this an excellent introduction to the implications of a nuclear society for adult readers as well as children. It is also an excellent introduction to the New Internationalist, which regularly provides some of the most provocative and stimulating information available anywhere on such world development topics as resource exploitation in Third World countries, arms control, food distribution, the changing roles of women and the skewed relationships between rich nations and poor. —John Ferrell Makers of the Nuclear Holocaust: A Guide to the Nuclear Weapons Complex ^ and Citizen Action, by the Nuclear Weapons Facilities Task Force, American Friends Service Committee and Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1981,25 pp., $1.25 (inquire for bulk prices) from: Fellowship of Reconciliation Box 271 Nyack, NY 10960 or American Friends Service Committee 1660 Lafayette Denver, CO 80218 Compiled by over 40 citizen groups across the country. Makers of the Nuclear Holocaust brings reality to an element of American life made abstract by political jargon and largely veiled from public view. Informative descriptions on every conceivable dimension of the nuclear arms program are given, from design to deployment. Organizing tips for investigating the presence of nuclear stockpiles, flow charts on weapon production systems, and graphs depicting world military and social expenditures add texture and depth to this important, fact-filled booklet. Moving beyond the usual arguments for ACCESS global peace and stressing the increasing health risks of nuclear weapons plants, the authors underline the need for local economic conversion planning as part of the campaign to halve production of nuclear weapons. A study by the California Department of Labor found that almost all nuclear weapons manufacturing jobs examined could be shifted to peaceful applications. More studies on the conversion potential of nuclear weapons facilities to non-nuclear uses are needed, however. William Winpisinger of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers emphasizes the point: "Until the fears of the nation's 2.5 million defense production workers in private industry can be constructively alleviated and their employment security assured, it may well be impossible to consider arms and military control measures and the defense budget on their merits." This essential and practical handbook closes with a listing of active weapons facilities conversion groups across the country. Information on the Nuclear Weapons Facilities Task Force, a network of organizations and individuals working locally and nationally on disarmament, is available from the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the American Friends Service Committee. —Laura Stuchinsky "Conversion Organizing," WIN Special Issue/Reprint, July 1,1981, $1.00 each, $.50 for 10 or more (add 20% for p&h), from: WIN Magazine 326 Livingston St. Brooklyn, NY 11217 If you know in your heart that the Administration's military build-up threatens economic (as well as national) security, but you still find yourself sucked into buttered gun arguments because you don't have a peaceful, prosperous alternative to propose, send for a stack of this special issue on conversion organizing. Converting the workplaces and communities that depend upon sometimes lucrative but often unstable military contracts to economically resilient, sustainable, non-military production is an essential element of any effort to free us from the roller coaster of destruction. The highlight of this publication is a listing of resources for organizers compiled by Dave McFadden of the Mid-Peninsula Conversion Project [seeRAIN VI:6). Along with articles on working with labor (an obvious key to successful conversion strategies) and national conversion organizing, there are stories of local conversion work in Missouri, Massachusetts, Colorado, California, Washington and the United Kingdom. Conversion organizing is some of the most important work that needs doing these days. If you're interested in helping out in your community, also get in touch with the Conversion Information Center, Council on Economic Priorities, 84 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011, 212/691-8550. Californians should contact: Democrats for Peace Conversion, 372 W. Bay Ave., Suite A-201, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, 714/642-7721. —Mark Roseland Fear Into Action Interhelp 330 Ellis Street, Rm. 505 San Francisco, CA 94102 415/673-5433 The psychological impact of nuclear issues has been put on the agenda. A network of activists, spanning the country and extending abroad, is actively conducting workshops, offering guest speakers, and publishing literature. Th^e basic premise rests on the idea that the constant barrage of disaster-impending news and daily violence in our lives immobilizes people. By acknowledging and expressing the depths of those feelings— fear, despair, rage, and pain—people can begin to move beyond feelings of powerlessness and numbness into action. Organized two years ago. Interhelp uses nuclear issues to reach out to a broad spectrum of the population: school children, religious leaders, organized labor, low-income organizations, and universities. Without advocating a specific political approach. Interhelp leaders support the formation of affinity groups, train leaders, and help individuals move from hopelessness to helpfulness. The national office is in the midst of launching a new newsletter (its name as yet undetermined) to serve as a vehicle for internal debate, information sharing on techniques and exercises, and updates on the nuclear movement at-large. The first issue will be free and can be obtained through Myra Levy at the national office. A regional journal, entitled Evolutionary Blues, is also in the making. The first issue of the fledgling /'quarterly," 60 pages long, was published in the fall of 1981. The second installment is due sometime this spring. Individual copies of both issues are available for $4.00 each from Evolutionary Blues, do David Hoffman, 1027 De Haro, San Francisco, CA 94107. —Laura Stuchinsky
May 1982 RAIN Page 7 National Peace Academy Campaign 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Washington, DC 20002 202/546-9500 In November of 1978, President Carter approved legislation creating the Commission on Proposals for the National Academy of Peace and Conflict Resolution. To go about its work. Congress gave the commission $500,000—roughly equivalent to two minutes of the Defense Department budget. Yet the trickle was well spent. Legislation to establish the National Peace Academy has been introduced in both the Senate (S. 1889) and the House (HR 5088). Both bills are now in committee and should reach the floor of Congress in the next month or two. It may finally be recognized that disputes can be resolved without resorting to violence, and conflict resolution legitimated as a course of study. According to Milton Mapes, a key organizer of the campaign, "For an annual budget of less than one-fifth of one day's Pentagon budget, the Peace Academy could turn out experts who would help hold down the costs of everything from military defense to criminal justice." You get back what you put out. When nations prepare for war, they get war. Presently we are paying for four military academies and five war colleges. If you think the Peace Academy sounds like a more appropriate use of your tax dollars, contact the Peace Academy campaign and your Congresspeo- ple and let them know. —Mark Roseland "Fate of the Earth," by Jonathan Schell, The New Yorker, Feb. 1,8, and 15,1982, $1.25/each from: The New Yorker 25 West 43 St. New York, NY 10036 For The New Yorker to dispel, in so clear and complete a fashion, the myths of survivability and "win-ability" of a nuclear war, is pretty significant. I heard someone on the radio the other day remark that the real threat to world peace is Ronald Reagan and his cowboy mentality. It's a case where too much destructive power is concentrated in the hands of a very unwise leader; a case where the notion of democratic action by an informed electorate had better have an effect if we're to stop this excitable man and his crew. It's still too easy for us to ignore the implications of the D.C. swagger of Al Haig and Ronnie. A little background on devastation—stories from Hiroshima for example— helps to clarify the issue. And what of the consequences of withdrawal and deterrents? No one says it'll be easy to back down from the brink, but Schell explores several options. As bright a hope as the new National Peace Academy for nonviolent conflict resolution may be (see Access), the responsibility is still with all of us. Read this series. You may decide to try to save your life. —Carlotta Collette Killing Our Own: The Disaster ofAmerica's Experience with Atomic Radiation, by Harvey Wasserman and Norman Solomon, 400 pp., 1982, $11.95 from: Delacorte/Delta 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza New York, NY 10017 When Albert Einstein, in 1947, compared the discovery of nuclear fission to the discovery of fire, he did not note how long it took primitive society to learn to keep that fire from destroying it, or what kinds of conscious changes were required of the species. Nor did-he calculate how long it would take, or what changes in consciousness would be necessary for modern society to survive the splitting of the atom. He clearly suspected the time allowed for this second job would be short, and that the human race was at stake. But he also believed that given an informed populace, it could be done. Keep in mind Einstein's optimism when reading Killing Our Own. The rage, pain, Cont. on next page © 1982 by Harvey Wasserman and Norman Solomon Representational map: symbols do not denote precise locations or quantities
Page 8 RAIN May 1982 and despair it evokes kept me awake many a night. Based on government documents, personal interviews and published research, Wasserman and Solomon have written a penetrating analysis of atomic radiation and its impact on the health of Americans. Their investigation encompasses a wide range of incidents involving radiation exposure indicating disproportionate levels of cancer, respiratory illnesses, progressive muscle deterioration, and birth defects. Their research chronicles, among other things, the exposure of thousands of Americans to harmful levels of radiation in their workplace; radioactive emissions from nuclear waste dumps, bomb factories and processing plants; and the misuse of medical x-rays exposing patients to unsafe levels of radiation. Military experiments with radiation are also uncovered. Nearly 300,000 U.S. military personnel were deliberately exposed to radiation during the nuclear testing program (1945-1962). Equally alarming, U.S. Marine clean-up teams were ordered into Nagasaki less than 60 days after the bomb fell. The government has adamantly refused to admit that the illnesses of vets involved in these maneuvers are in any way radiation related, despite volumes of personal testimony indicating otherwise. As disturbing as it is to read about the needless and preventable human suffering caused by radiation exposure, the duplicity of government, utilities and the nuclear industry is even more appalling. A blind commitment to nuclear weapons and nuclear energy has prevented victims of radiation poisoning from getting access to speedy treatment and legal recourse, ensured continued risk to countless more lives, and denied millions of Americans the right to make informed decisions on national nuclear policy. The first comprehensive investigation of its kind, Ki7/ing Our Own's appendices alone are worth the price of the book. Not easy reading, but its message can't help but catapult readers into action armed with the facts. Be sure your library has several copies. — Laura Stuchinsky ver the years, he ___ reflected more and more on the relationship between violence and the hunger he was observing. . V/-' Mark Anderson A PARABLE OF PEACE Living on the World Equity Budget by John Ferrell If, then, you have not proved trustworthy with the wealth of this world, who will trust you with the wealth that is real? And if you have proved untrustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No servant can be the slave of two masters. . . You cannot serve God and Money.—Luke 16:11-13 (The New English Bible) "Everything we own you see in this room," Charles Gray tells his guests. "That is, except for the bike and bike trailer on the porch. Those are our most valuable possessions, 1 guess." Gray chuckles and looks around at the sparse furnishings with obvious satisfaction. He compares the "luxury" of the life he now shares with Dorothy Granada in this rundown, cooperative house in Eugene, Oregon with the relative austerity of the life he led a few years ago when he was alone in Portland, sleeping in his office and spending less than $30 a month. Today, Charles, a former sociologist who, together with his former wife, once gave away half a million dollars, and Dorothy, a Chicana who grew up poor in East Los Angeles and made it into middle class society as a well-paid nursing administrator, are living contentedly on a monthly budget of $110 each.
May 1982 RAIN Page 9 The "how" of their lifestyle is surprisingly easy to explain. The rent for their room is low ($85 a month) and they have learned to live well on the wastes of an incredibly wasteful society. They glean discarded foods behind supermarkets, pick fruit which would otherwise go uneaten, and find clothing in thrift store free boxes. They have learned all the usual tricks of dedicated "simple livers" and added some of their own. The "why" is a more complex matter. Charles and Dorothy are living on what they call the "World Equity Budget." The idea for the budget had its roots in Charles' long involvement in the peace movement (he was a conscientious objector in World War II) and in his extensive travels in Third World countries where he witnessed a kind of involuntary poverty which left a profound impression on him. "I've had some fairly vivid experiences in terms of hunger," he says quietly. "Images just burned into my memory." Over the years, he reflected more and more on the relationship between violence and the hunger he was observing. He saw the explosive potential of a world economic system which allowed the richest five percent of humanity to control more than 200 times the wealth of the poorest five percent. He also reflected increasingly on how global resource consumption was exceeding sustainable levels. It became a very personal concern about how the rich (including himself) were denying not only today's poor, but future generations as well, their fair share of the world's wealth. In 1975, Charles and his wife, Leslie Brockelbank, also a longtime peace activist, gave the bulk of their extensive assets to establish the Mackenzie River Gathering, an alternative foundation dedicated to assisting peace and social justice concerns. Charles remained active in administering the foundation for a time, but soon grew dissatisfied with his involvement in the donor-donee relationship. He believed his developing concern with finding a "non-violent economics" required him to make more radical changes in his way of living. He and Leslie, who was sympathetic to his goals, were ultimately unable to reconcile their differing approaches to lifestyle change. They decided on separation (they have since divorced) and Charles embarked alone on his odyssey into poverty. "I figured that the average income in the world was somewhat under a hundred dollars a month," he recalls, "so my first goal was to just get under that figure." He reached his target in late 1977, then, as he proceeded to discover more and more ways to cut back his spending (like living without refrigeration and sleeping where he worked), his cost of living plummeted still further. "I took it on as a kind of game," he says. It was obviously a game for which he had a natural talent; in 1979 his average monthly expenditure dropped to an incredible $27! During his three years alone on the World Equity Budget (Dorothy did not join him until December, 1980) Charles managed to save $1200—the difference between what it actually cost him to live and what he calculated to be his fair share of the world's wealth. It amuses him that he has been able to sustain himself well on a budget which middle class Americans would deem impossible and has actually saved more then many of them. From the start, he has worked at refining the budget formula to better determine what a "fair share" really is. He laughs about his social scientist obsession with charts and graphs: "You want to simplify your life, and all you do is complicate it!" An early modification was the adoption of 1960 as a "steady state base year." That is, instead of dividing the current year's world product by world population to establish an equitable per capita income level, he decided to use a year which he figured was close to the time when global resource use began to exceed sustainable levels. After Dorothy joined him, they worked out the concept of the "Eco-dollar," which has allowed them to increase the budget substantially by indexing purchases in terms of such social and ecological criteria as durability, packaging, energy use, location of production and form of production unit. A load of firewood purchased from a local fuel co-op, for example, automatically justifies a larger dollar expenditure than an equivalent number of b.t.u.'s provided by fossil fuel imported from abroad and processed by a large corporation. But Charles and Dorothy do not spend the bulk of their lives plotting charts and perfecting their pursuit of austerity. Each labors one day a week, Dorothy as a nurse and Charles as a janitor and gardener, to provide for their economic needs. The rest of their time is devoted to their work for world peace (they are active in an organization called the Nonviolent Tactics Development Project) and to enjoying their life together. A good time for them may consist of a bicycle ride or a single shared ice cream cone. ("Really, all you want is a taste," Charles observes. "It's just as much of a celebration because what's important is the idea of celebration!"). Recently, they borrowed a rubber raft from Dorothy's son and floated down the Willamette River from Eugene to Corvallis, a distance of 49 river miles. The four-day outing was made at a total cost of 25 cents—the amount needed for a pay phone call in Corvallis. "It's both a cost and a pleasure to have fewer options," Charles concludes, "and the effects of living poor on your personal relationships can be very profound." He misses the opportunity to visit his two grown children, who have both settled in New Zealand, and he sometimes must contend with the reactions of more conventional people who feel compelled to defend their consumerism to him— whether or not he cares to bring the subject up. There are the very real insecurities (he and Dorothy each contribute $5.00 a month to a community emergency insurance fund called F.I.N.—Friend in Need) and the ever-present danger of lapsing into feelings of self- righteousness. But balancing all that is a beri'efit afforded to relatively few peooday, Charles and Dorothy are living contentedly on a monthly budget of $110 each. T pie: Charles and Dorothy are able to devote ample time and energy to the single thing which matters most in their lives. Their work with the Nonviolent Tactics Development Project currently centers around "political fasting," a tactic designed to draw public and governmental attention to the connection between world hunger and the arms race. They will soon be joining people from churches and peace groups around the country in a series of fasts focused on influencing the deliberations of the Second United Nations Special Session on Disarmament which will be convening in New York City this summer. "I guess I'm land of pessimistic about our chances of this world surviving," says Charles. "I view the political fasting as a thing that Dorothy and I might give our lives to some time in the next year or two as a kind of final expression of the need to stop the arms race. But my feeling is the chance that it would make a difference are one in ten thousand." As I listen to Charles speak, I try to reconcile the idea of pessimism with such a profound level of commitment, and to understand how this man can be at the same time so deeply troubled about the state of the world and so seemingly serene and in love with life. I venture the thought that for someone to live as he does must require, at base, a very real kind of optimism. He smiles and thinks about that for a time. Finally he replies. "I always have hope in our potential. If not now, perhaps in the future, we'll come closer to attaining that potential." I am reassured to hear him speak hopefully about the future. Meeting him has already made me more optimistic about our chances for realizing our potential.
Page 10 RAIN May 1982 DUCKS From: How to Read Donald Duck How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic, 1975 (original Chilean edition, 1971), 112 pp., $5.00 ppd. from: International General P.O. Box 350 New York, NY 10013 Many of us have fond childhood memories of our visits to Duckburg. Just ten cents got us 52 pages worth of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and kept us up to date on the latest adventures of Donald, his three nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, his apparently platonic lifetime girlfriend Daisy, his lucky cousin Gladstone Gander, and his skinflint Uncle Scrooge. Looking back past Watergate, Vietnam and the assorted unpleasantnesses of the past two decades, the denizens of Duckburg seem to stand out in a pleasant wholesome glow. But wait. Can it be that in our childhood innocence we were missing something sinister? Stop and think: do you recall anyone in Duckburg ever producing anything useful? (No. Virtually every character was somehow involved in the service economy and caught up in endless consumption of goods which no one seemed to be producing). Can you remember any Duckburg citizens (other than criminal elements like the Beagle Boys) who suffered from economic hardship? Did it occur to you that nearly everyone in Donald's circle of friends was either clearly powerful or clearly submissive, and no one crossed the line? And was your childhood sense of social justice ever offended by the fact that Donald ACCESS and his nephews were forever embarking on expeditions to exotic countries to lift gold or other treasures from under the noses of the simple-minded natives? During the Allende regime in Chile, Marxist scholars Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart not only noticed such things, but wrote a very serious and very angry analysis of how they believed Disney comics influenced the world view of youth in the developing countries. Apparently they touched a nerve: How to Read Donald Duck was a bestseller in Chile and other Latin American countries. After Allende's downfall, copies of it were burned by his right-wing successors. The book is a fascinating study, but it would have benefited from a more sparing use of political jargon and a considerably lighter touch. Its grim tone has more than a little in common (ironically) with Moral Majority attacks on the "secular humanists" who supposedly work overtime to corrupt America's youth. Nonetheless, Dorfman and Mattelart are frequently perceptive in their analysis of the underlying American attitudes toward power, wealth, class and race which inevitably surface in that quintessen- tially American product, the Disney comic. The authors have an important point to make about the impacts of our talking ducks on Third World children. It's interesting to reflect on how those same ducks may have influenced us. —John Ferrell RESOURCES Human Economy: A Bibliography, Vol. I—Books, compiled and edited by John Applegath, 1981, 77 pp., inquire for price from: The Human Economy Center P.O. Box 551 Amherst, MA 01004 This is one of the best economic bibliographies I've seen, alternative or straight, largely because many of the writers represented in the collection are not professional economists. The subject areas range from Advertising to Education to Housing to Work, and the listings, although few are annotated, make an unusually comprehensive set. In actual usage I encountered only two minor problems. The listings under Science, for some reason, are not up to snuff with the listings in other categories. And a few of the "annotated" listings offer somewhat sterile descriptions. The majority, however, are crisp, perceptive, concise and current, making this a most useful reference tool for researchers, writers, teachers and students. —Mark Roseland POPULATION World Population: Toward the Next Century, by Elaine M. Murphy, 1981,18 pp. $1.00 each, $.75 for two or more copies, from: Population Reference Bureau 1337 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20036 Books and articles on world population growth frequently bombard our minds with undigestible statistics and our emotions with visions of starving children. As readers, we can be left with little more than a vague sense that population is growing rapidly, that growth is directly equated with increased human misery, and that some drastic remedies must be found. In sharp contrast, this excellent booklet from the Population Reference Bureau cuts to the heart of world population issues and makes the basic facts and figures involved easy to digest and remember. Designed as a teaching module and particularly appropriate for use in high school classes, it describes in clear, concise, question and answer format what world population means in terms of resource use, housing, health care and food supply. It notes various family planning options, emphasizes the population implications of improving the status of women, and briefly describes the widely varying population experiences of China, India, Kenya and Mexico. A series of exercises at the end of the booklet encourages the reader to work through the implications of population growth and to begin thinking about possible strategies for nations to adopt in dealing with population issues. World Population: Toward the Next Century packs more potential value in its 18 pages than most books do in several hundred. —John Ferrell
May 1982 RAIN Page 11 CONSERVATION The Tighter House, by Charlie Wing, with John Lyons and the Staff of Cornerstones, 1981, 92 pp., $5.95, from: Rodale Press 33 E. Minor St. Emmaus, PA 18049 As energy costs rise and consciousness about energy conservation increases, more books on insulating appear on the shelves (see RAIN VI:8,21 for a review of The Complete Book of Insulating, ed. Larry Gay). The latest contribution is from Charles Wing, who has written a clear, concise guide to saving energy in the home from the ground up. He includes all the “standard" information, installation procedures, weather-stripping, hot water, and furnace efficiency improvement. In addition to the basics, he has a good section on spotting places in your house where heat leaks bypass the insulation. He completes the book with recommendations on establishing priorities for your conservation “game plan." —Gail Katz Superhouse, by Don Metz, 1981,150 pp., $12.95 from: Garden Way Publishing Charlotte, VT 05445 Dazzled by the plethora of energy-efficient housing strategies ? Swayed more by common sense than by computer print-outs? In this intelligently written introduction, you'll learn about earth-sheltered, super insulated, and double envelope houses. Earth-sheltered buildings get the best coverage, including good information on waterproofing. Double envelope houses are treated fairly—the evidence presented here convinces us that they work, but that superinsulated houses can probably achieve the same level of thermal comfort for less money. Metz writes clearly, with a minimum of jargon, and dispenses a good deal of Yankee horse sense: The Solar Age has proposed exciting, challenging, and essential changes to the ways in which we interact with our natural resources and environment. Our computers and high- tech industries may provide easy access to the new, appropriate technologies, but in the end we must count on our common sense and basic physical evidence—and remember that no matter what it's called, smoke goes up, water goes down. This book makes all the new energy-con- serving innovations look normal and conservative . It'd be a good gift for people who scoff at flashy solar houses and say "I'd never live in one of those." —Tanya Kucak Solar Energy, Conservation, and Rental Housing, by A. Levine, et.al., 1981,59 pp., $9 (printed copy order #A04), SERI/ RR-744-901, from: National Technology Information Service U.S. Dept, of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Rd. Springfield, VA 22161 The Solar Energy Research Institute has compiled data from previous studies on rental housing and energy to produce this policy paper for use by state and local officials who influence energy policy. The existing stock of rental housing in this country is older and less energy efficient than owner-occupied housing. Renters as a group have lower incomes than owners but are forced to pay a larger fraction of their gross income for energy, either directly or as part of the rent. Energy conservation measures are rarely implemented for rental housing. Owners won't spend the money if they don't see an immediate return and tenants don't have an interest in long term improvements. Legal barriers also stop landlords and tenants from taking action. The study recommends a mixture of incentive programs based on local considerations. For tenants, the emphasis is on low cost, short payback conservation measures. To stimulate the major changes that must come from property owners, tax credits and attractive financing are useful measures. Solar systems could even be leased to owners to decrease potential liability. Their last recommendation is that rent control laws should be changed to permit owners to pass on the cost of energy conservation improvement. The study does not deal with grass-roots organizing, but in the face of Reaganomics and recession, its recommendations may be the best option for creating energy-efficient rental housing. —Gail Katz WORK Expanding the Opportunity to Produce: Revitalizing the American Economy Through New Enterprise Development, edited by Robert Friedman and William Schweke, 1981,550 pp., $19.95 from: The Corporation for Enterprise Development 2420 K Street N.W. Washington, DC 20037 This book was published as a primer for the second national conference on “Expanding the Opportunity to Produce." Its primary value is in its balance rather than its all-inclusiveness. There are a few gaps, and the “Reality Checks" of the venture schemes they discuss are still to be discovered, but as an overview, a “reader," this is the best source of information on small business development I've seen. The contributors range from very conservative to fairly radical and the beauty is that they almost arrive at a consensus over what are the problems and what are some solutions. A coalesced effort that could include, say, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Community Economic Development, has some real potential for success. There's clearly more likelihood for achieving certain goals together than there is at each other's throats. This book describes finance mechanisms, model cities and projects, and some projections of “what could happen if. ..." It's a good one to clip ideas from, to put into the hands of city commissioners and business leaders, and to use as a basis for dialogue in your own community. —Carlotta Collette
Page 12 RAIN May 1982 FAITH INT A Revival Of Christian Stewardship coy BRprhep^, whxc use IS ir poR cnxN tro sxy he hxs pxirb wheN he t>0€S NorhiN<5 ro show ir?... ip ITT t>oes MOt: Levb ro xcttion, it: is fN irseLp K UpeLess chiNq. James 2:14-17 (The New English Bible) by John Ferrell In 1979, Protestant evangelist Billy Graham, once a strong proponent of American military strength, announced on the CBS Evening News that he had experienced a change of heart. “I'm in favor of disarmament and I'm in favor of trust," he said. “As I look back . . . I think Mr. Truman made a mistake ... in dropping the first atomic bomb." In May, 1981, Spencer Kimball, president of the Mormon Church, came out strongly in opposition to the MX missile system as a gross extension of “the terrifying arms race in which the nations of the earth are now engaged." The following month, Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle counseled his flock to consider withholding half of their tax payments to protest the huge amounts being spent on nuclear arms. These events point up an important shift within segments of the Christian Church which have long been identified with conventional, even conservative, lifestyles and political perceptions. It is a shift which extends well beyond church leadership circles and is much broader in scope than the peace activism which has recently brought such dramatic headlines. “Mainline" and conservative church people are increasingly involving themselves in issues of economic justice, corporate responsibility, community renewal, and environmental awareness. In some cases, this involvement is already a matter of church policy; in others, it is still the work of relatively small numbers of concerned members within denominations. What follows is a representative sampling of these church responses to peace and social justice issues. It is meant to serve as evidence of what Mark Carlson, in "Churches and the Public Interest Movement" (see review below) has called an “underappreciated source of human energy" which needs to be much better understood by secular activists concerned with broadening their own impact and finding new sources of support. ACCESS: Christian Stewardship "Churches and the Public Interest Movement," by Mark Carlson, NRAG Papers, Vol, 3, No. 1,1979,30 pp., $3.00 from: The Northern Rockies Action Group 9 Placer Street Helena, MT 59601 "Many members of churches have internalized a genuine ethic of responsible service to society," this study reminds us. "They are used to giving of themselves, their time and their money." Author Mark Carlson, an environmentalist and active church member, believes that churches and the public interest movement have many present and potential interests in common which are not always fully recognized on either side of the pew. He gives examples of innovative social and environmental programs already taking place among "mainline" Protestant and Roman Catholic organizations, examines attitudes in the churches which have thus far tended to limit such activities, and explores means for public interest groups to better work with the religious community on issues of mutual interest. This is a good manual, both for public interest group members concerned with coalition building and for already politically active church members concerned with increasing their effectiveness among fellow parishioners. l I Rich Christians in an Age ofHunger, by Ronald Sider, 1977,249 pp., $4.95 plus $1.00 postage & handling from: The Other Side Book Service 2423 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL 60614 This book is representative of a growing body of religious literature which examines the gross inequities of world resource distriCont. on page 14
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