SOLSTICIAL GREETINGS
Solstices have great meaning to those of us living in the Northland, especially the Winter Solstice, as it means now that our short days will be getting minutes longer every day, and our low mid-day sun, creeping back higher, giving us a little more warmth. At least here in the Anchorage area, we get a minimum sun angle of five degrees above the horizon, low, but still just enough to slightly add a few degrees of warmth to the day.
We here at A.P.R. like to imagine what our distant ancestors in pre-Roman and pre-Christian Europe did to observe these significant times, since they were even more important to them, tied so strongly to the rhythm of the seasons, as they were. These people who raised Stonehenge (and it is still unknown how, 4-5000 years ago!), and left all manner of strange stone monuments and structures tied to geographical and seasonal patterns throughout Europe.
It is also the time to reflect on the previous year's events. Rather than focus on the sad, dangerous, or unhealthy ones, let's at least see what we can be thankful for. Sarah Van Gelder in this article, gives us ten hopeful stories:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/12/23-310 Most Hopeful Stories of 2010
There was plenty of disappointment and hardship this year. But the year also brought opportunities for transformation.
It was a tough year. The economy continued its so-called jobless recovery with Wall Street anticipating another year of record bonuses while most Americans struggle to get work and hold on to their homes. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continued, and spilled over into Pakistan and Yemen, and more American soldiers died by suicide than fighting in Afghanistan. And it was a year of big disasters, some of them indicators of the growing climate crisis.
World leaders, under the sway of powerful corporations and banks, have been unable to confront our most pressing challenges, and one crisis follows another.
Nonetheless, events from 2010 also contain the seeds of transformation. None of the following stories is enough on its own to change the momentum. But if we the people build and strengthen social movements, each of of these stories points to a piece of the solution.
1. Climate Crisis Response Takes a New Direction. After the failure of Copenhagen, Bolivia hosted a gathering of indigenous people, climate activists, and grassroots leaders from the global South—those left out of the UN-sponsored talks. Their solution to the climate crisis is based on a new recognition of the rights of Mother Earth. Gone are notions of trading the right to pollute (which gives a whole new meaning to the term "toxic assets"). Instead, life has rights, and we can learn ways to live a good life that doesn’t require degrading our home.
The official climate agreement that came out of Cancún was weak and disappointing, although it did represent a continued commitment to work to address the challenge. But the peoples' mobilizations, and the solutions born in Cochabamba, continue to energize thousands.
Meanwhile, Californians voted to uphold their ambitious climate law, despite millions spent by oil companies to rescind the measure in November's election. And cities—Seattle, for one—are moving ahead with their own plans to reduce, and even zero-out, their climate emissions.
2. Wikileaks Lifts the Veil. The release of secret documents by Wikileaks has lifted the veil on U.S. government actions around the world. While the insights themselves don't change anything, they do offer grist for a national dialogue on our role in the world—especially at a time when our federal budget crisis may require scaling back on our hundreds of foreign military bases, our protracted overseas wars, and our budget-busting weapons programs. Likewise, the traumas inflicted on civilian populations and on our own military are spurring fresh thinking. We now have data points for a bracing, reality-based conversation on the future of war—the kind of conversation that makes democracy a living reality.
3. Momentum is Building for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. The ratification of the START Treaty is an important step in the right direction. And the National Council of Churches, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and others from across the political spectrum have joined UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in calling for an even more ambitious goal: the end of nuclear weapons.
4. Resilience is the New Watchword. As familiar sources of security erode, people are rebuilding their communities to be green and resilient. Detroit, a city abandoned by industry and many of its former residents, now has over 1,000 community gardens, a six-block-long public market with some 250 independent vendors, and a growing support network among small businesses. Around the country, faith groups and others are forming Common Security Clubs to help members weather the recession and consider more life-sustaining economic models. Communities are becoming Transition Towns as a means to prepare for breakdowns in society that may result from any combination of the triple crises of climate change, an end to cheap fossil fuels, and an economy on the skids.
5. Health Care—Still in Play. The passage of the Obama health care package seemed to lock us into a reform package that maintains the expensive and bureaucratic role of private insurance and props up the mega-profits of the pharmaceuticals industry. But the story is not over. The decision by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson to strike down the individual mandate in the health care reform may begin unraveling the new health care system. As insurance premiums continue their steep climb, some are advocating expansion of Medicare to cover more people—or everyone. Thom Hartmann points out this could be done with a simple majority vote in Congress—expanding Medicare to everyone was what its founders had in mind in the first place, he says.
Vermont is exploring instituting a statewide single-payer healthcare system. The United States may wind up following Canada’s path to universal coverage, which began when the province of Saskatchewan made the switch to single-payer health care, and the rest of Canada, seeing the many benefits, followed suit.
6. Corporate Power Challenged. Small businesses are distancing themselves from the Chamber of Commerce, which promotes the interests of mega-corporations over Main Street businesses. And there are more direct confrontations to corporate power. The citizens of Pittsburgh, Penn., passed a law prohibiting natural gas “fracking,” and declaring that the rights of people and nature supersede the rights of corporations. Other towns and cities are adopting similar laws. The biggest challenge will be undoing the damage of the Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates to wealthy special interests to spend what they like on elections. Groups around the country are gearing up to take on the issue, with a constitutional amendment just one of the potential fixes.
7. A local economy movement is taking off as it becomes clear that the corporate economy is a net drain on our well-being, the environment, communities, and even jobs. A “Move Your Money” campaign inspired thousands to close their accounts with predatory big banks, and instead, to open accounts at credit unions and locally owned banks. Schools, hospitals, local retailers, and families are increasingly demanding local food. Farmers markets are spreading. Independent, local stores have huge cachet as people look local for a sense of community. And the experience of one state with a budget surplus and very low unemployment is capturing the imagination of other states—North Dakota’s state bank is creating a buzz.
8. Cooperatives Make a Comeback. A new model for local, just, and green job creation is gaining national attention. Leaders in Cleveland, Ohio, created worker-owned cooperatives with some of the strongest, local institutions (a hospital and university) promising to be their customers. The result: formerly low-income workers now own shares in their workplace and earn family-supporting wages. They can plan for their families’ futures, knowing that their jobs can be counted on not to flee the country. The model is spreading, and people now talk about how to bring "the Cleveland model" to their cities.
9. A Turn Away from Homophobia. The revoking of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is just the most dramatic sign that the country has turned away from homophobia. A widespread anti-bullying campaign sparked by the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi led to an “It Gets Better” campaign with videos created by celebrities and others.
10. Social Movements Still Our Best Hope. Thousands gathered in Detroit in June for the second US Social Forum, an event that galvanized grassroots social movements from across the United States. In Toronto, the meeting of the G20 was greeted by thousands of protesters, many of whom were subjected to police beatings and gassing. The Cancún climate talks brought caravans of farmer/activists and global justice activists as well as greens to press for a meaningful response to the climate crisis. Social movements are alive and well, even though they are disparaged or ignored by the corporate media, which choose to instead shower attention on the well-funded Tea Party. And movement leaders are connecting the dots between Wall Street’s plunder, growing poverty, and the climate crisis, and setting priorities instead for people and the planet.
The turbulence of our lives is increasing, spurred by the crises in the economy and the environment, growing inequality and debt, military overreach, deferred peacetime investments, and species extinctions. Turbulent times are also times when rigid belief systems and institutions are shaken, and change is more possible. Not automatic, and definitely not easy, but possible. The question of our time is how we use these openings to work for a better world for all life.
Sarah van Gelder is co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine, a national, independent media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions for a just and sustainable world. Sarah is executive editor of YES!
It is so easy to get caught up in all the bad and dangerous events and situations in today's socio-political and environmental scene. So it's all the more vital to step back occasionally, and see what has gone right, in the past, and what is currently happening, that is hopeful. Not just in the World at large, but in our own lives too. So look back on your accomplishments and happy times this past year, there were many, and there will be many more!
Let's take a quick look at how some things have changed in the last 50 years, for the better, here in the United States. In 1960, if you were a person of colour, that is, black, hispanic, indigenous, or asian, your prospects for employment, were much lower. You would have faced much greater harrassment in general, from law enforcement, for no specific reason. If any white person were to claim you were bothering them, the police would side with them, not you, and if you were assaulted or harrassed because of your ethnicity, you would have had no recourse. And of course, you had no real voting rights, or recourse if denied housing or loans because of your ethnicity.
In 1960, if you were a young single woman, you would have faced significant societal disapproval, if you were to remain unmarried beyond your late 20s. Forget about birth control, or pre-marital sex, those things were not encouraged, or approved (though they were still widely engaged in) of in 1960.
In 1960, the air pollution in Los Angeles and New York, was much worse than it is today (though it's still not good!). In 1960, not much thought was given to environmental protections, and large industrial areas on the East Coast were blighted with air, water, and land pollution.
So those are just a few things where significant progress has been made in our society in the past 50 years. And how did they come about? Through direct action, by supporting movements for peace and justice, racial equality, and environmental respect and protection, that were out protesting and demonstrating. Only then did the politicians respond.
DOWN AT THE BEACH
We are truly blessed in Anchorage to have not just the Chugach Mountains, to our east, to recreate in, but semi-protected coastal areas as well. The Anchorage Coastal Trail runs through much of this, from downtown, then around the peninsula that is Anchorage, separating the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet, from the Turnagain Arm.
The Alaska Progressive Review staff love to spend time here as well as in the mountains. We even have a real beach, Point Woronzof, which is about a 2 km expanse of sand and gravel beneath the bluffs on which Anchorage International Airport is perched. And which offers beautiful views across Cook Inlet, to the wild and undeveloped Alaska wilderness. In summer, we can swim here and have a nice bonfire, while in winter, skiing on the Coastal Trail, on the bluff above, is a treat.
Although your lead editor had to work on the actual day of the solstice, this past 21st, I had yesterday off. I had wanted to celebrate the Solstice, and the fact that here in Cook Inlet, we have the northernmost winter semi-open water in North America, by plunging in to the icy waters, at least for a few seconds.
But it was not to be. As you can see here, at the Point Woronzof beach, although there is plentiful open water further out the Inlet, due to the high tidal ranges (8 metres!), a shorefast ice ledge drops 1-2 metres to the water, which is an undetermined depth. Unless I were to be roped up with my climbing harness on, with someone onshore to pull me out, to drop in here, would be to stay in!
So, the best I could do under the circumstances, was just a roll in the snow. But it was invigourating, and a good way to start out the new year. Since it was a cool -18C (-1F), with a light breeze, I wasn't bare for very long.
Today continued sunny and cool, under the northerly flow of dry, cold air from the interior. Although on days like this, it may be -40C north of the Alaska Range, here, where the wind is blowing, it was much warmer, only -12C (14F). Of course, the wind was blowing, in the exposed areas like Point Woronzof, as high as 30-60 KPH, but it still is better than having to deal with -40C!
So we decided to skate ski the entire Coastal Trail, which runs from downtown Anchorage, to Kincaid Park, south of the airport. We started at the Earthquake Park trailhead (this is the park which used to be a subdivision that slid into Cook Inlet during the 1964 quake, with many fatalities there...), and first skied north up to downtown, stopping at Westchester Lagoon. This is a small lake, fed by Chester Creek, that freezes solid, and then is maintained for ice skating.
When we got to the lagoon, and went out on it for a bit, Homer got a little uneasy. His footing on the ice is not as solid as Mattie's, since he has a little arthritis in his back legs. Much of the snow was scoured off the lake, by the north winds, in the part of it not maintained for ice skating.
So we then went back south to Earthquake Park, with the wind at our backs. About 2 KM south of Earthquake Park though, we got into a strange area. The snow turned brown, and I lost my glide completely. I was skiing on sand! I stopped immediately. I didn't want to lose my glide wax, but more importantly, did not want to destroy the gliding surface of my skate ski. On classic skis, we often sand the kick zone to roughen it up. Holds the grip wax on better, and when you do lose it, the sanded zone can still give you some grip on the snow. Just what you do not want on your skate skis!
So, I quickly soft-stepped back to where the snow was uncontaminated, and skated back out of there. What was happening, was that sand/dirt was blowing up the bluff in the strong north winds, and depositing there. So we had to go back to Earthquake Park, then drive past the dirty area, to the Point Woronzof parking area, the site of our Solstice Roll yesterday. We got back on the trail here, and had a beautiful time skiing/running down to Kincaid Park, then back.
Here is a little of what we saw:
Our tremendous tidal ranges in Cook Inlet move alot of water, in very short times. So massive ice chunks like these can be seen, stranded at low tide. These must easily be three metres thick!
We love just seeing the interesting textures and patterns in the shorefast and moving packs of ice, in the waters flowing in the outgoing tide.
All in all, we just did about 30 KM today, on our back-and-forth outing on the Coastal Trail. But it sure was beautiful, and not bad skating conditions, considering the gusty north winds. How fortunate we are to live in such an interesting and diverse environment. Cheers, and Happy Solstice!
