| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| July 5, 2006 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 10 Number 4 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| The Day Robin Hood Kidnapped John Wayne |
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On April 12, 2006, the man Rajkumar, whom some have dubbed the John Wayne of South Indian cinema, passed away. Considered one of the most versatile actors in Indian
cinema and with over 200 films to his credit, he depicted characters that ran the gamut from drama to action to comedy to romance. He had a penchant for choosing films that address societal evils.
Less than ten years ago, Rajkumar decided he wanted to live the remainder of his life with his fellow villagers in Gajanur. Lauded not only for his superstar status but also for a personality given to simplicity, generosity, kind-heartedness, and peace-loving ways, he received a happy welcome. On arrival, he was paid an uninvited visit by the man many of the villagers in the area praise as a modern-day Robin Hood. Veerapan, known for sandalwood smuggling and poaching and hailing from the same village as Rajkumar, reportedly said to Rajkumar's wife, "Please do not worry. We assure you we will never harm Rajkumar but we have some serious demands (of the government). We are compelled to use these means to make ourselves heard." Veerapan then kidnapped Rajkumar. When the state police chief was asked about the Robin Hood image of Veerapan and if the locals see him as a criminal, he retorted candidly, "He is seen as a do-gooder. He helps the locals by paying for their marriages, renovating temples, helping poor people, getting a poor widow a square meal, and so on." Veerapan has supposedly killed a number of police and other officials in his pursuit of justice. In addition to his motives on behalf of the poor, Veerapan may be motivated by personal experience: His brother and sister both died in police custody. So the day that Robin Hood kidnapped John Wayne, all of South India came to a standstill. After 108 days in captivity, Rajkumar was released when negotiations assured that atrocities committed by police and Special Task Forces would be pursued and that efforts would be made to release innocents detained under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act. One of the negotiators opined, "What we want first is action against all those who have committed atrocities on the poor villagers." Detailing the evidence of 90 people in jail without access to trial, 60 women subjected to sexual assault, and more than 300 men handicapped by police torture, he called for action against those responsible in the government and concluded, "Action against Veerapan can be taken after that." For his part, Rajkumar, on his release, when referring to Veerapan's point of view, with which he agreed in many ways, said, "There is actually much that we have to learn from them. Having lived with them like an elder brother to younger brothers, I have had a lot of opportunities to understand them well. It's my fate that I was abducted by Veerapan." And so it was that Robin Hood and John Wayne became brothers. Two men from the same village with very different life paths shared a devotion to the local poor who protected them. Like John Wayne, Robin Hood is no longer with us: Veerapan was eventually found dead with a bullet in his head. Are we committed to a world where a rich actor can meet a poor bandit and see his brother? If so, perhaps Robin Hood and John Wayne together can topple the King. Source: Poor Magazine |
| Citizens Demand Moratorium on Eminent Domain |
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On the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London, June 23, citizens gathered outside City Hall in Asbury Park for one of many rallies that happened throughout New Jersey and the nation that day. In Asbury Park they called for a moratorium.
Two City councilmen, Ed Johnson and Jim Keady, are outspoken critics of the use of eminent domain and refuse to vote to take property unless the owners request it. Both of the local representatives believe that redevelopment can occur without eminent domain. "Redevelopment should help the homeowners and the businesses that are in an area that’s considered blighted," said Keady. "It shouldn’t run them out of that area." Angie Hampilos, 91, is close to being dispossessed. A Greek immigrant and a longtime Asbury Park resident, she said, "I came to the United States a displaced person and now, after 56 years, I will be again a displaced person." Her beachfront bungalow will be taken to make way for a new phase of the Wesley Grove project. Rich DePetro, a small-scale developer who renovated the historic Britwood Apartments, said he was dumbfounded when the City refused to include the adjacent Jersey Apartments in the redevelopment plan and instead designated the building as a future parking lot for luxury condominiums. "The use of eminent domain was once a mechanism to create public projects for the common good," said DePetro. "It has now been violated to the point where it now fills a trough for politically connected developers to feed at." State lawmakers are trying to correct the problems with eminent domain. The day before the rally, members of the Assembly passed reform legislation that will require more notification and stronger just compensation provisions, but it will not affect homeowners and business owners already in the process of losing their properties. Critics say the legislation should include clear language addressing blight and strong pay-to-play language to stop abuses. Seton Hall Law Professors Paula Franzese and Marc Poirier wrote, "Too often 'blight' targets the working poor and people of color." Source: Uncredited press release |
| Where Tree Plantings and People Power Meet |
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A typical vision of the tropics includes lush vegetation, flowering trees, curling vines, and exotic wildlife. Would that were true of one of the poorest countries in the world, Haiti, which suffers from pervasive and disastrous
deforestation. The absence of forest cover aggravates chronic erosion of the valuable topsoil, shrinks the supply of timber for home-building, and amplifies the severity of
natural disasters.
In the Grand 'Anse region of western Haiti, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) includes self-reliance and reforestation efforts as a major part of their integrated development project. Community groups are trained to raise seedlings and taught transplanting techniques. Fruit trees are among the varieties planted in the Grand 'Anse. The produce bolsters the nutrition of the families involved; the surplus harvest gives people something to sell in local markets. Increasing income is crucial in areas where AFSC works, as a more stable economy produces a more stable population with fewer migrants. One woman participant from Dame-Marie, Haiti, notes, "The AFSC reforestation project ... allowed us to sell the saplings and get money to plant cabbages that we sell in the market and then we can feed our children." "The project is good as we now work together as a group," says another woman who lives in Deremont, Haiti. "I also started to plant cacao that will help me and my family improve our lives." The community-based women’s group, Fanm Tet Ansanm (Women in Unity) from Dame-Marie profited from their participation. The group opened a satellite nursery, sold saplings, and used the funds to buy farm tools and cabbage seeds. They then sold the cabbages at local markets and plan to use the profits to plant two more gardens. "Participants learn to cooperate and make decisions in a democratic framework," explains Denise Davis, a program coordinator of AFSC’s Latin America/Caribbean programs. "That reinforces their responsibilities as citizens of an emerging democracy." Davis notes that AFSC’s methods help address a wide range of fundamental issues. "What AFSC brings is the human dynamic of peaceful cooperation and the goal of attaining basic human rights. That means the right to live in dignity with enough income for food and shelter, and access to education and good health. It also means the right to vote and ... have a voice in one’s own destiny." Source: American Friends Service Committee |
| The Basic Income Guarantee |
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The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is just what it sounds like: a guaranteed basic level of income. Most proposals suggest that it be distributed to every adult citizen without regard to income or wealth. BIG would replace all of the current anti-poverty programs with a monthly payment
sufficient to lift an individual out of poverty.
Leftists have long supported versions of this proposal, and voices from the right have joined the chorus. By eliminating the need to monitor for fraud and abuse of the system, BIG would actually be cheaper than our current system of multiple benefits and eligibility criteria. BIG would also get rid of the disincentive to work built into the welfare system: Working for pay often leads to a decrease in benefits, making work a less attractive option. And, by allowing people to decide on their own what to use the money for, BIG would increase efficiency. BIG frees people from dependence on employers and gives them more bargaining power to demand good working conditions and better pay. Opposition does exist. Some cite a "Malibu surfer" problem: If you give everybody a basic level of income for nothing, some might choose to do nothing. BIG takes income from the rich and gives it to the poor (economists call this income redistribution), which some disapprove of. BIG might cause the wages of those doing menial but necessary work to rise, which opponents say will be bad for the economy. As far as "Malibu surfers" are concerned, if BIG is less costly to implement than our current system, who cares? Everybody pays less; nobody loses out. If, on the other hand, you don’t like income redistribution, you won’t like BIG any better than our current system. But redistributing income may be a bonanza for the economy: The poor tend to spend a large part of their income, so giving them more to spend increases the demand for goods and services. Source: Center for Popular Economics |
| The Fictitious Palestinians |
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Adapted from a piece by humorist Larry Miller:
A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. Here we go: The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians. It's a made-up word. Israel was called Palestine for 2,000 years. Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won the land in the 1967 war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians." As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation". So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs Who Can't Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death." I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters." Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing: No, they don't. They could've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to figure out some way to make a living. That's no fun. No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course -- that's where the real fun is -- but mostly they want Israel. Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel -- or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it -- for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's Earth. It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great history and culture of the Muslim Mideast. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since algebra. Source: The Daily Standard |
| It's Time to Break One of the Last Taboos: Money |
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The fact that people can't talk openly about their finances is causing serious trouble. Even in supportive religious communities, the taboo is so strong that money matters are rarely discussed.
A family near Orlando FL had gone bankrupt thanks to nearly $100,000 of credit card debt. They were too ashamed to tell friends or family about their distress. Even worse, they felt they couldn't confide in their pastor or any of the other couples in their close-knit weekly Bible study group. "We don't want to be viewed differently," said the wife. Their self-imposed isolation made the experience worse than it had to be. The family was sure they were the only ones in their community that had gotten into unmanageable debt and gone bankrupt. That only compounded their shame and loneliness. The reality is that for every two couples who've divorced in the past year, three families have gone bankrupt. Yet we can't identify the latter. We're too secretive about anything to do with money -- not just debt and difficulties, but also wealth. Psychologists call money "the last taboo" because it is so rarely discussed even in therapy. Yet as one psychologist put it, "The money taboo is a serious psychological problem because, though we do not talk freely about money, it is of major concern to almost everybody in America." Spiritual advisers don't get closer to money issues than psychologists do. They hear many details of people's private lives, but congregants are usually silent about their money concerns. Yet the Bible itself has plenty to say about wealth, poverty, making money, giving it away, what is virtuous about having money, and also how love of it can be our downfall. We have a mental or social block against talking about our money, while on the other hand we have an intense curiosity about how others around us are managing. When we have only clues and guesses to go on, we work ourselves into psychological pretzels over money and how we're fitting in with those around us. It has become common for us to believe that we are the only ones we know struggling financially. In fact, we are miscalculating. Those who appear so much better-off than us often aren't, and since we don't talk and don't know this, some of us use debt to try to keep up with their apparent prosperity. More honesty and openness would help prevent this. Changing how we manage money is only part of the solution. Don't be afraid to talk. When you have a concern, go ahead and make honest comments, ask questions, start a discussion. And if you're in a position of leadership, speak up about money and encourage others to do the same. Source: Religion News Service |
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| Universal Living Wage: The Misbeliefs |
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