Community Living

I have a feeling that Hubby may not agree with me on the opinions I'm going to express in this post, but I feel the need to get my thoughts out into the universe.

I would love to live in a small community that focuses on love, personal spiritual enlightenment, peace, and simplicity.  I would enjoy having community meals, having our own conflict resolution system, living simple lives that focus on attaining nirvana while learning to be at peace with ourselves as well as the outside world.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't want to be part of a cult.  I'm not looking to be brainwashed and then coerced to commit mass suicide, no thanks.

On the other hand, I would very much be interested in forming a small, intimate community based on the same principles our founding fathers valued.  If you have been following my blog, you know my political views tend toward Libertarian.  I am slowly but surely losing my faith in the American system as it stands at present.  Why?  Well, because it's not working.  And I think I know why:  this system works on a small-scale.  When you live in a small community with an elected group of leaders, you tend to know the people you're voting for personally.  However, in a large-scale society like the US, you don't know the people you're voting for and you only "know" what they say they stand for.  The other downfall of a large-scale society is that the majority of people out there are rather stupid.  I apologize if that sounds at all elitist, cynical, negative, etc., but there really are a lot of pretty dumb people out there, and most of them vote. Oh dear.

I may actually detail what I see as possibly successful regulations as far as local government/conflict resolution/community involvement/etc. in an upcoming blog post, but right now I'm terribly distracted by Hubby's video games and my concentration is proving scarce.

Food Inc.

If you haven't watched this documentary and you have a conscience, I suggest you watch Food, Inc.  A co-worker suggested this documentary to me months ago and I finally came across it on Netflix the other night, so I decided to sit through it.  It's only been a few days, but I can tell you this film has already radically changed the way I view the economy, food, politics, and many other things.


I think part of this change in view has at least a little to do with my relatively recent changes in spirituality.  Paganism is an earth-centered religion that values all life.  Some Pagans take this to mean that they shouldn't consume meat, however I believe there is a natural life-cycle and a natural food chain, and humans are omnivores, meant to eat both meat and greens.  I eat meat, and I like the taste of meat, but I am also thankful to the animal who died so I can take in its nutrients.

For a long time I was ignorant to the food industry and it's horrifying practices, and part of me wanted to be.  I watched the documentary Supersize Me when it came out and I swore off all fast food except Subway for a month, but I quickly returned.  I heard about PETA when I was in middle school or high school and I was one of those kids that changed it to People Eating Tasty Animals.  I grew up with a grandfather who was a full-time farmer, and I never heard anything nasty about his career or his farm, so I just figured the mistreatment of animals was all a myth created by vegetarian activists fighting for their own gains.  I was wrong.

Not only are the animals being mistreated, but the farmers, factory workers, and butchers are all being abused as well.  These people can't afford to fight these large corporations so they end up getting the shaft and they're stuck either working in unsanitary conditions, in piles of debt, or against their own ethics just to make a small living.

The good news is that there is an alternative.  Buy local, cook more at home, and buy organic.  If this really gets under your skin like it does mine, write to your congressmen and women and tell them this is a subject that you're passionate about and you want change.

A Political Oxymoron

I usually don't write political blogs and I try to stay out of the political scene for the most part because of all the useless arguments that result from political rivalry.  The following post is actually a "note" I wrote a couple years ago and posted on facebook.  I've updated it a little bit, but the message should be the same.  I wrote the piece based on a group I found and an experience I'd had the summer before.
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I recently found a group on facebook known as the Libertarian Socialists.

If you don't immediately understand why this is an oxymoron, let me quickly explain: Libertarianism and the ideology behind it has everything to do with both economic and personal (social) freedom. Libertarians see a perfect government as one that exists, but is small and stays out of most things. Libertarians believe in self-responsibility, conservative management of funds, and that you should not punish many for what a few may do. We Libertarians also believe in keeping many organizations private and lowering taxes. I may be mis-wording some of this, but I hope you get what I'm saying.

On the contrary, Socialists welcome government intervention and support for many organizations; health care is an example. Socialists suffer from higher taxes in an effort to take from the rich to support the poor. I support helping the needy, however I do not see the point of the government taking my hard-earned money so Joe Shmoe who has no initiative and decided not to go to college can sell crack cocaine and make more money than me under the table, can own a 60" LED TV and a brand new Escalade while still reeping the benefits of government housing and assistance.

In this way, a party calling itself Libertarian Socialist is an oxymoron.
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Also, while I'm on the subject, I'd like to share something my dad shared with me a few summers ago when I asked him for advice concerning money.  That particular summer I got a taste of what it's like to provide for myself, and learned that it's much harder when you don't have a degree.

I asked him about food stamps and government aid to help those in low-income situations. I worked and lived with people on a regular basis who were in these types of situations and I began to sympathize with them, despite the unwavering political views that I'd adopted. I was also finding it hard to live on what I was making. Then my dad asked me a few questions about the people I was around a lot.

He asked:
"Do they own a TV?" Yes.
"Do they have cable?" Yes.
"Do they own any sort of gaming device such as an Xbox, a PS2, etc?" Yes, or most likely.

He then asked me if I saw owning a TV, receiving cable, and owning a game console as luxuries. My answer was undoubtedly a yes. He then explained to me that he and my mom have never applied for any government assistance, even when they would have qualified. Instead, they cut back on luxuries.

He also explained that many low-income families that receive government assistance also own a TV, receive cable or satellite of some kind, and indulge in other luxuries. He asked me if I thought it was fair that they received our hard-earned money from paying taxes in the form of welfare or food stamps, but did not feel the need to cut back on luxuries when they obviously couldn't afford them. My answer was that I didn't think it was fair at all.

As a result, I feel a sense of pride that I have not had to ask the government to help me out because I can't provide for myself, and in the future if I'm in that situation again, I'll sell my TV, cancel my cable subscription, and cut back on other luxuries before turning to "Big Brother."
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Oddly enough, I have found myself in that situation again.  With my husband in his last semester at college and in an internship, he had to quit his job to get everything done.  For the semester we could rely on his student loans to help pay our bills, but after graduation, when we decided he would enter another internship, we only had my income and our savings to keep us afloat.

We went through quite a rough patch, draining our savings down to only $50.  My husband and I were both stressed out and we would've qualified for government aid had we applied.  Instead, we don't have cable.  My husband sold his motorcycle so that we would have one less payment each month.  We ate in more, and I made my lunch instead of ordering out with my co-workers.  We didn't have to sell our TV or gaming system, but those are paid for and weren't costing us any money to keep.  My husband even started driving my little compact car when I wasn't using it to save money on gas.

We got through it.  And now my husband has a job and is contributing a fair amount to bills again.  We'll build our savings back up and we never asked for government assistance.  Self-responsibility and financial conservatism does still exist in the world, I promise!