We Call the Question

Everyone in this country knows the right answer, if we ask the right question.

Back to Hierarchies OR Forward to Liberty and Justice for All?

Think Big Picture and Keep It Simple.

The pivotal year of 2012 is here. Our future hangs on having an indisputable unified message:

1. Big Picture: With 250 years of momentum toward equality and fairness, let's finish this march toward the vision of our founders.

2. Simplicity: Our persistent slogan is, "Are we going backward to hierarchies OR moving forward to liberty and justice for all?"

3. Transparency: Clear and simple, the opposition is building hierarchies as they channel resources to the top.

We ask the right question, we'll get the answer we want.

As the united 99%, we will prevail.

Health Coverage - Painfully State by State

Last night here in Oregon, we heard two women speak from the campaign that brought single-payer medical coverage to Vermont. A group of people from Vermont are traveling to educate and encourage other states to start campaigns to pass legislation that defines health care a basic right, and therefore available equitably to all.

We are looking forward to the campaign in Oregon, but at the same time, are feeling overwhelmed with the huge effort and expense it is going to take to mobilize these campaigns state by state.

The people from Vermont described that even now that their legislation is passed mandating a single-payer system, insurance companies with huge amounts of money are still putting their profits before the people, pumping massive amounts of resources into turning back the legislation.

Looking ahead at what it will take to implement single payer health insurance state by state, we can clearly see just how expensive hierarchies are, not only in money but in human effort. Our health care is a typical hierarchy. The people at the bottom have to scramble to make it work for them, since the priority of the US Congress is to support sending resources to the top - the insurance companies - while not taking care of the bottom – the people of the United States.

Gayly Moving Forward

We learn hierarchical behaviors in any hierarchy, it doesn't matter which one. If we want to end hierarchies, we can't discriminate against any hierarchy as far as taking a stand.

The hierarchy of sexual orientation is our current 'hierarchy-du-jour." While we're in the middle of learning about it, it's difficult to see the same hierarchical attitudes and behaviors that are obvious in previously fought equality battles, such as gender or race.

There are those who find it difficult to support Hillary Clinton's message that the U.S. is going to use the tools of U.S. diplomacy to promote gay rights around the world. Decades from now, however, our grandchildren will understand that this declaration is as important as sanctions on South Africa years ago.

Charlotte lives in Springfield, Oregon. She is proud of her City Council for recently giving quick and unanimous approval to an ordinance that protects lesbians and gays against discrimination. Even thought the amendment is just "housekeeping," (the State of Oregon passed a anti-discrimination law in 2007), the Springfield act is especially sweet due to the city's history.

Springfield drew national attention in 1992 for becoming the first city in the U.S. to add anti-gay/lesbian rights language to its code. That year, 55% of Springfield voters approved a ballot measure that barred the city from taking any step to protect homosexuals from discrimination and stated that the city could not "promote, encourage or facilitate" homosexuality, pedophilia, sadism or masochism.

The current mayor of Springfield said that this recent charter addition was an important step toward ridding the city of some of the "stigma" it had earned through the 1992 vote. She said that the memory of the 1992 vote had lived on for many years, particularly in the minds of people outside the community.

When we weaken the sexual orientation hierarchy, we go a long ways to weaken all hierarchies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/world/united-states-to-use-aid-to-promote-gay-rights-abroad.html

http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27279492-41/springfield-discrimination-charter-1992-addition.html.csp

True Colors

When we encounter a typical top-of-a-hierarchy attitude, we want to expose their true motives to the right audience. For example, passive resistance works because, given enough rope, people who are vehement about conserving hierarchies will expose themselves in unacceptable ways.

Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, recently wrote an article entitled, "Authorities play into the hands of occupiers," that describes how the Occupy protests might have died in infancy if a senior police official have not pepper-sprayed young women on video. Kristof describes how harsh police measures built popular support.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/kristof-occupy-the-agenda.html

Back to Whose Roots?

Here in Oregon, we are having heated debates about removal of dams on our rivers. Recently it was ranchers (anti-removal) vs. indigenous tribes (pro-removal). A Klamath Tribe member said in a recent article that a rancher told him that,"All of us Indians needed to be rounded up and put on a train and shipped back to Oklahoma again."

Let's use a role reversal to hone in on how ridiculous such a statement is.

"All of those white people needed to be rounded up and put on a boat and shipped back to Europe again." Of course since the Klamath tribe has always been here, they really have no where to be shipped.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27128647-41/klamath-dam-removal-river-tribes.html.csp

Hierarchies Hurt Everybody

Why do good people act badly?

Many people have asked, “How could a revered person like Joe Paterno participate in such a horrible cover-up?” Thirty years ago, an identical quandary led us to decades of research on dismantling harmful hierarchies:

Why do good people do such bad things?

Paterno showed recognizable outward signs of a patriarch – a person in the sacred role of a father with unquestionable authority. The hierarchy that he ruled showed the same thirty-two consistent and predictable characteristics that we find in any hierarchy, no matter if based on race, religion, and yes, in sports. Here’s four examples:

1. Maintaining the hierarchy is the highest priority and the primary responsibility of those at the top. To the administrators and coaches at Penn State, it was important to preserve the wealth and prestige of the football program by avoiding a scandal.

2. People at the top are not held accountable for the effects on lower groups. Penn State administrators and coaches did not stop Sandusky from continuing to abuse children.

3. We live with constant lies, deceptions, and secrecy. Penn State kept the cover-up going for years.

4. People at the top become so isolated that they lose their vision of the realities of the world outside their fiefdom. When Paterno announced his retirement at the end of the season, he appeared clueless that his power base had collapsed underneath him.

The Penn State situation shows us that we have more reasons to work to eliminate hierarchical attitudes and behaviors than to lessen inequality and discrimination – even though that’s important too. When we are following the rules and roles of hierarchies, there are winners, sure, but there are many, many losers, and often they are just as innocent and victimized as the young boys that were ignored by the administrators and coaches at Penn State.

Pet Project

As animal lovers, we are happy that almost daily, we see news articles that show we are constantly break down the human/other animals hierarchy. This week, we read that the majority of people in the United States who have pets will buy them presents this holiday season, and they will spend an average of $46 on toys, treats, bedding, clothing, leashes, collars, or grooming products.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/many-pets-can-expect-holiday-gifts-from-owners-toys-and-treats-lead-list-of-favorites/2011/11/08/gIQAtWg5yM_story.html

Then we read that West Hollywood, California has just approved an ordinance that bans the sale of fur clothing made from skin or pelt of animals with hair, wool, or fur.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/10/us-fur-ban-california-idUSTRE7A909T20111110