12 Months of Anti-Capitalist Resolutions
New Year's Resolutions- some people love them, some people hate them, some people start them and then quit. If you're looking for resolutions beyond fitness or learning a new language, here are twelve months of changes you can choose from to fight back against capitalism and make a more positive impact on workers and the environment.
Break Up With Slave Labor Treats, Starting With Nestle: If you boycott *any* company for *any* reason, you really need to be boycotting Nestle as well. Nestle has a long and sordid history of using child slave labor , water theft , and violating international baby food marketing regulations. It's easier than ever to find affordable fair trade substitutes for products like Tollhouse Chips. Start by avoiding products clearly labeled as Nestle; when you're ready to take it up a notch, download the Buycott app to help you avoid their subsidieries.
February: Break up with your bank, join a credit union. If for no other reason, the fact that major banks such as Chase buried studies about climate change to protect their profits is a good enough reason to make the switch. Plus, your local credit union benefits the community, not shareholders.
March: Join a Buy Nothing group. Buy Nothing groups give you the ability to get items free (and they are not always used- this year I got a locking laptop bag with new with tags!) It also allows you to pass on items you no longer need, keeping those items out of the waste stream and perhaps blessing someone who couldn't have afforded to buy that item.
April: Grow at least one thing you can eat. Yes, I'm the last person in the world to suggest this. But I do grow my own sage and parsley. It's not much, but it's something. Even a potted basil plant from the grocery store is something!
May: Break up with Amazon and start a bookshop.org wishlist. Some people don't have a lot of good options for food or medication outside of Amazon, and that's understandable. Even then, we can buy fewer things overall, and order books digitally instead of physically.
June: Host a Clothing and Household Goods Swap: Another way to keep things out of the waste stream and money out of retailer and manufacturer hands.
July: Paradigm Shift: Gifts can be Second Hand: Shifting our thinking this way not only cuts down on the manufacture of new products, it opens us up to gifting vintage or out of print items.
August: Make a “No Brand New Clothes for One Year” Pledge : Fast fashion is extremely damaging to the environment and exploits workers . One way to avoid being part of this is to to take a year (choose your starting point) where you buy NO new clothing. (Yes, I'd totally buy socks and underwear first!). When the year is up, reassess your relationship to buying new clothing. NPR has some great tips on avoiding fast fashion.
September: Establish a One In, One Out (or one in, two out) Policy: This can be for anything-shoes, shirts, mugs, dice, candles- anything you tend to impulse buy or buy more than you need. Impulse buying can be cut down if you slow down and ask yourself: what item am I willing to get rid of to buy this item? Is the tradeoff worth it?
October: Join a CSA: Of course, you have to eat. And even if you grow one or more things you eat, you probably won't grow it all. Joining a CSA allows food to (usually) be conveniently delivered to your doorstep, reduces your carbon footprint by using food that travels fewer miles, and keeps your money out of big box grocery stores.
November: Give the Gift of Experiences: Before you shop the Black Friday sales, think of experiences you can gift such as an online class, a zoo membership, restaurant gift cards, or concert tickets. (Please keep pandemic safety in mind when making such purchases.)
December: Homemade for the Holidays: Whether you make it yourself or purchase through Etsy or a local craft fair, homemade gifts are meaningful, keep money out if big retailers, and support small businesses or individuals. Just remember- if your gift contains chocolate, make sure it's fair trade!
Labels: anti-capitalism, Boycott Nestle, Buy Nothing Day, fair trade, homemade, minimalism, New Year's Resoluations
Ready for Preschool? 6 things more important than numbers and letters.
It's the time of year when teachers are going through their back to school lists, planning our lessons, our classroom set up, and contemplating how we're going to do it all. Parents of first time preschool students are working to get their little ones ready for school, and I've learnt over the past few years that that usually involves drilling them in the alphabet, colours, and numbers. Most children are naturally curious about how we label the world around us, and it should be a topic on conversation with our little ones. Too often, that's the main focus, leaving some important skills unaddressed. Here are four skills to work on before preschool starts:
Eating at the table: This may seem basic to some and unnecessary to others, but if your child goes to school, they will probably eat there. Snack time at preschool is not just important to maintain blood sugar levels, but to teach children social graces. Many small children are used to grazing at home. While small, frequent snacks are healthy, walking around with a baggie of crackers is both a choking hazard and a hygiene issue. Your child's teacher will thank you if she doesn't have to spend three months reminding him that we eat at the table.
Queuing: When I homeschooled my own children, the emphasis brick and mortar schools placed on standing on line was often decried as part of making our children into mindless drones. But knowing how to stand on line is an important part of living in society. As tempting as it is to keep your little one strapped in the cart or run errands when they aren't with you, gently teaching them how to line up to pay for things will make them better citizens. We all know those people who never learnt the lesson, and who wants to raise THAT person?
Fine motor strength: Before your child is physically and intellectually able to write, her little hands need to be strong enough. Cutting playdough (with real scissors!), using tongs,eating applesauce and yoghurt with a spoon (rather than from a pouch) and these
squeezing activities will make sure than when your child's brain is ready to write, her hands will be too.
Sitting through a story, in a group: Hopefully, your local library has preschool story time. If so, taking your child is one of the best things you can do for them: perhaps one of the most important. Sit with them and gently redirect them when they start to move all over. Aim for sitting through one story, at first.
How to use watercolours- or at least, don't teach them how not to: Quite simply- please don't give your kids those "magic paint" books where they swipe water over the page and the pigment magically appears. It can take the teacher MONTHS to break the bad motor habits this teaches so the child can...actually paint.
Wean off full time pacifier and bottle: When to pull the plug (pun intended) on your child using a pacifier or bottle at all is a personal decision. But it's highly unlikely your child will be able to use one at school. Child, parents, and teacher will have a much easier time if the child starts the school year used to not having either of those items during school hours. Believe me, nobody is happy when they parent brings the child in for drop off with a pacifier in their mouth, yanking it out only after asking the teacher to confirm the child can't have it. If your child isn't emotionally ready to start school without a pacifier, they may need more time before starting school.
Bonus: Teacher's Coffee Order: Just joking. Maybe. Depends on your child's energy level.
5 Teacher Gifts (that aren't scented candles)
Teacher Appreciation Day is coming up, with the end of the school year not far behind, so it's time for a little real talk about teacher gifts. Now some people like my husband will say a teacher should never write a post about good teacher gifts. It's unseemly. So I'll tell you why I was so inspired.
Posts about scented candles on sale and how they make great teacher gifts.
Now it seems to me that everyone should know this basic rule by now NEVER get ANYONE a scented ANYTHING gift unless you know beyond a doubt they will love and use it. But given how many gifts I stash in my closet for my kids to take to white elephant exchanges, not everyone does. So here are 5 great ideas to give your kids' teachers that WILL get used.
Coffee Shop Cards: Even if the teacher doesn't drink coffee there WILL be a day when that drive through bagel saves their day. Bonus points for a card to that great local shop.
Amazon or Dollar Store Gift Cards: Your child's teacher is spending out of pocket for school supplies. Without knowing your child's teacher I know that to be true. Lighten the load!
Vitamin C and cough drops: Maybe not so much for middle and high school teachers but younger children are germ factories. Help a teacher's immune system!
UNscented hand cream and chapstick: See above
Your time: If you can spare an hour of your time offer to help your child's teacher with cleaning or arranging their classroom. They will be SO grateful
What I Mean When I Say I'm Not A Sports Fan
I live in the Seattle area, so I'm surrounded by rabid Seahawks fans, literally everywhere I go. I LITERALLY cannot escape it.
As I was relating to a couple of friends my struggle to find a place to eat that would NOT be showing today's game, I was asked why. Was I just not a Seahawks fan? Did I not like the noise? When I said I am not a sports fan, I was asked to elaborate further, and the analogy I used was, "When I say I'm not a sports fan, it's like Richard Dawkins saying he's "not really a religious man", and for many of the same reasons".
Now, I do try to keep my mouth shut about how I feel about Sportsianity. I like to treat other people's religions with the same respect I'd like my own to be treated with. But for these past couple of years, living where I do during football season makes it hard not to let it out.
So why am I not a sports fan?
Opiate of the Masses: Karl Marx referred to religion as the opiate of the people (
"Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" ). There can be little doubt that pro sports serves the same purpose in American society. Racial injustice? Environmental degradation? Rape culture? Who cares, there's a playoff!
Domestic Abuse: The past year has seen serious questions about how the NFL deals with domestic and child abuse among it's players. The questions remain. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising from a game where men violently slam into each other. Like other high profile, lower level sports cases sch as Penn State and Steubanville, one can easily feel that a player or coach can have a blind eye turned on them or get a mere slap on the wrist if the teams' performance is at stake.
Brain Damage : Again with the slamming together. Football players of all levels have a high level of concussion risk: the NFL last year paid out $765 million to settle cases against former players who suffered lasting effects from these concussions. This is such an issue, that the question has been repeatedly raised about the ethics of watching a sport so detrimental to the health of it's players. (Christians, read this also.)
Disrespect of Indigenous Culture: That team from the other Washington. Enough said.
Disproportionate Pay: IN 4/5 of our states, the highest paid employee is a coach. This makes coaches the mega church, gleaming mega pastors of our country.
This doesn't seem quite right to me.
Hints the parenting books won't tell you
Any new or expectant parent has probably read a plethora of books. Sometimes you feel so saturated with information that making a decision can be paralyzing, especially when you're sleep deprived and covered in spit up. Believe it or not, there will still be things that many books seem to miss. I don't want to give unsolicited advice that raises one parenting style over another, but here are a few things I've learned over the years ( and can be used whatever your parenting style)
The Best Parking Spot is not the one closest to the store, but the one closest to the cart corral. If you don't trust me on this now, you will after the first time you try to wrangle your shopping bags, a toddler, and a baby bucket while not sending the cart careening into someone's Mustang.
Small item lodged in nose Hold down the unplugged nostril- tightly! Form a seal over the child's mouth with your own, and blow hard. It will pop right out. (Via my friend Tami)
Potty train in summer Naked children potty train faster.
Turn your clock to the wall I'm not going to go looking for studies on this, but I'm convinced that you feel better rested in the morning f you don;t know how little you've slept.
You don't have to keep everything anymore, thanks to digital cameras Preschool at projects overrunning your house, but afraid your kid will be upset if she finds out you tossed her masterpiece? Gently explain that while you don't have room to keep it all, you value her work and are therefore going to take a picture of it.
The First Birthday Cake I believe there's a law that you can't be a parent in N America without owning a copy of What To Expect The First Year. It's been a long time since that book applied to me, but I seem to remember it- and every other "first year" book I read-telling parents to make their child's first birthday came from whole grains, sweetened with fruit juice, low fat, and of course NO SUGAR. I have three kids and yeah, I did that once. Now, I am about to offend both the truly crunchy moms and the convenience food moms, but I truly believe one of the TRUE things about parenting is that you should make your kid a real birthday cake, every single year. Make it with sugar, butter, flour ( whatever kind you use), eggs and if you want to raise your kids right, chocolate. Don't give in to the urge to go to the grocery store bakery. Really. Even if you don't worry about preservatives, dyes, and HFCS the other days of the year, birthdays, all birthdays, are special and our loved ones deserve both the effort and the deliciousness that a home baked cake provides. And for the love of whatever gods you believe in*, don't make one of those healthy monstrosities.
(*If you're atheist/agnostic, please imagine Julia Child playing the role of God)
Why religion and organised sports are essentially the same thing
Today, I was going through hand me down bags in my youngest's closet, and found a few things that had missed the first round of hand me down cuts. Most of these were sports oriented, and like most sports related things, go to the clothing bank unworn by my kids. I couple of times the people handing stuff down to us express surprise at this. Aside from the fact that nothing screams "POOR" like putting your kid in a shirt for a school or sports team they have no connection to, my kids are as likely to wear a soccer shirt and the kids of my militant atheist friends are to sport crucifixes, and for pretty much the same reasons.
Why? It's simple. It's become clear to me over the years that in more ways than not, organised religion and sports fill the same niche in our society. I'm sure to upset people by saying this, but let's look at the similarities:
Both have a regular meeting time. Sunday morning? Monday night? If it's your things, you block out that time slot.
Allegiance to a particular group: Many religious groups stay with the same denomination or congregation all their lives. Sports fans have similar loyalties, often remaining fans of a team after they move across the country
Willing to demonize "the others" : How many times have you heard members of one denomination refer to those with different beliefs as "heretics", or say they're going to Hell or worse? And what about sports fans? I once heard a Husky's fan say he'd like to nuke Eastern Washington just to get rid of the Cougars.
At their best, they provide camaraderie, something to look forward to, and inspire people to make the world a better place. If you're volunteering or giving to charity, does it matter if you do it for reasons related to what your church or sports organization is doing? No.
At their worst, they can hide the most egregious abuses. The Catholic and Penn State sex abuse tragedies were entirely the same: organizations that let children be abused in an attempt to shield the greater organization.
The takeaway? Humans all have certain needs, and we will meet them: camaraderie, purpose, short term events to look forward to, and a unifying purpose. We will meet then in a variety of ways: sports, religion, fraternal organizations, comic book conventions, (or some combination thereof!) and unless someone tries to push their own on us (a football team jacket we once had to forcibly refuse comes to mind), we should pretty mush leave others alone to enjoy their thing.
Deconstructing an Image, Building and destroying
I was originally was going to title this blog post "If you really believe this crap, you should probably unfriend me." I saw this image, not for the first time, on the feed of someone I considered a friend.
I was told, also not for the first time, not to take it so seriously. I'd like to deconstruct this image and explain just why the image and the sharing of it are offensive to people you know.
I'd like to start out by saying, (because I see this EVERY.TIME someone mentions that a certain turn of phrase is offensive), that I'm certainly not saying you "can't" post this or say all you want against religion.Of course you can. I strongly support free speech, and I have no power to stop you anyway. Aside from that, I'd rather know if you're an ignoramus who thinks that I'm going to teach your kids young Earth creationism, at best, and bomb you to Hell , at worst, because I'm a religious person, I'd like to know that. Just as you have the right to say it, I have the right to point out that you're being intolerant.
On to the image. The first thing it does is fuel the inaccurate stereotype that religion and science are necessarily at odds. Like most religious people I know, I fully accept evolution. Don't presume you can know a person's stance on science because they happen to belong to an organised religion.
The second, and perhaps worst thing it does, is paint all religious people with the same crazy hate brush. It doesn't say "religious extremists". It doesn't say " some religious people". It doesn't even say "Muslims". The wording of the image does NOTHING to tell me the creator makes any distinction between an extreme jihadist and the Catholic Worker who chains herself to a missile.
Lastly, it pays no attention to the role of people, whether religious or not, played in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. From the first responders to the people who rebuilt, it was PEOPLE. People of strong religious faith, people with strong faith that humans were their own agency, and everything in between. Those PEOPLE are the ones who did the rebuilding and they come from all paths of belief.
Now, I get that if you've had bad experiences with religious people, you may very well get a chuckle or nod your head in agreement when you see such comments. Hey, I laugh at ALL kinds of things I know are too offensive to share.But think before you post such things. Who will you be offending? Why would you even be friends with them if you feel that way about "people like them"? If it helps, mentally replace the word "religious", or a specific religion, with an ethnicity, or gay, or disabled. Would you still say it?
See also:
Crazy Hate Brush
Addendum:
I wanted to edit this in light of a comment a friend made in regard to this post. The friend stated that "Religious people should be ashamed of the atrocities committed in the name of their religion" This is my response:
I think it would be more useful to say religious people should be mindful of those atrocities, and that all abuses of power, whether by religious or secular authorities, should be condemned by people whether religious or secular.(And brought to light, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and if needed, see the hierarchy changed to prevent further abuse.) While I feel horror and disgust at abuses of power, to suggest I ought to feel "shame" would be like me suggesting scientists should feel shame at how everyone from slaveowners to the Nazi party twisted science to claim some people are less human than others (while many of those people risking or losing their lives to save and liberate happened to be Christians) . I would sound silly I f I said that, wouldn't I?
