Breaking the silence
02/22/2010

As all five of my faithful readers know, I've made it a practice to stand on a downtown street corner at noon every Friday to protest the war in Afghanistan in particular and American militarism in general.  My protests have been silent, partly because I didn't trust myself to engage in discussion that wouldn't deteriorate into diatribe; partly because I wanted to spend the hour meditatively, "being" the change I wished to see in the world. Last Friday, I changed my strategy.

The change was prompted in part because I also changed my signs.  Responding to a critic who suggested that I should obey the "law of attraction" that says what you focus on increases, I decided to state my goals positively.  I created one sign that said, "Support Obama in BEING the president you voted for," and another that said, "Be a citizen, not just a consumer!  Create the world you believe in: sustainable, peaceful, just."  My sister accompanied me on this occasion, so I was also able to hold a third sign, which informs passersby of just how MUCH the U.S. spends on so-called "defense": 40% of our entire budget; more than the rest of the world combined (by $123 billion); and SIX TIMES more than #2 defense-spender, China. 

Something about my new signs put me in a more light-hearted mood than when I'm communicating that "The war in Afghanistan is WRONG--morally, financially, and strategically."  Most folks have agreed with me, but it's not a happy form of shared knowledge.

I also felt as if I was ready to engage in conversation.  Experience had shown me that most of the people who stop to talk -- except for those who would probably be on anti-psychotic medication if this country had decent healthcare -- seem genuinely concerned and want to know, or do, more.  On this day, those who stopped asked variations of a single question: "But what can we do?  How can we get through to him (our President)?" 

It's not as if I have the answer to this question; it's one that stumps me too.  Obviously, my standing on a streetcorner once a week has yet to turn the country's foreign policy around.  But how to create the world we believe in is a conversation worth having.  At Tikkun's Strategizing Conference last Monday, Riane Eisler, author of "The Real Wealth of Nations," said that change agents "have to keep a constant drumbeat."  Those weekly emails and phone calls?  Keep at 'em.  Make copies of your letters and mail them to the President and your Congressional delegation every week.  Every day, if you can afford the postage.  CC them to your newspaper.  Post them on Facebook. 

Also at Monday's Strategizing Conference, Rabbi Michael Lerner circulated a petition outlining a five-point progressive agenda calling for a Global and Domestic Marshall Plan to end poverty, hunger, and homelessness; an Environmental and Ethical Responsibility Amendment to the Constitution that states unequivocally that corporations are not persons; an end to the war on terror, redefining terror as a police issue and terrorists as well-armed criminals; single-payer "Medicare for Everyone"; and educational reform that teaches a New Bottom Line based on caring for each other and our planet.  He deputized each of us to disseminate it.  You can print and circulate your own copies by clicking on this link.  http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/525/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2347

Since I was willing to converse with people last Friday, I now have the contact information for five individuals who signed the petition and want to do more.  Adding them to the list of local folks who have previously joined Rabbi Lerner's Network of Spiritual Progressives, I now have a cadre of more than 100 Santa Barbarans whom I know are committed to progressive change.  In a community the size of ours, that's a force capable

I'm calling our first gathering (over cocktails, of course; who wants to go to a meeting?) the first weekend in March.   Location to be determined.  If you've got a suggestion, let me know.  of starting something.

I also enjoyed getting to interact with my neighbors--why had I been afraid of that before?  (Don't answer; I know why.  See last week's blog.)  They were earnest, troubled, sweet, and sometimes funny.  One homeless man read my list of qualities our new world should include and said, "Sustainable?  How about rational?"  Good suggestion.

Another man, seeing my sister with me, smiled as he passed and said, "The movement's growing!" 

Yep.  Two today; tomorrow, everyone.