A World of Progress TeamZine » Progressive Living - 5 new articles

If I answer the phone and it’s a telemarketer, or someone taking surveys or raising money for the Fraternal Order of Police, I always allow them to complete their first statement without interrupting, before I explicitly state that I’m not interested in contributing to whatever it is that they’re trying to get me to contribute to. I do this, number 1, because I’ve got what’s known in certain vernacular as “good home training”; and, number 2 and mostly, because I empathize: I’ve worked as a tele- all those things and I know firsthand how demoralizing it can be to get hang up after hang up in one ear while bells go off in the other celebrating coworkers who rack up sales instead of hang ups; and number 3, how can you NOT listen and donate to an organization raising money for families of police officers killed in the line of duty?!

I’m glad to hear that inflection in the caller’s voice, the surprise, the aural equivalent of their face lighting up, when I answer ‘Yes’ or whatever response they least expected, that invites them to continue with their spiel. If you’ve never done this work, trust me, rejection wears on you. Even if I ultimately reject, I feel good that I handle it civilly, not cussing anybody out, or slamming down the phone. If I’m not helping somebody make their quota; that’s unfortunate enough, no need to add insult to injury by being nasty.

Lately, I’ve noticed another motivation: I’m helping somebody keep a job. Kudos to any organization for hiring people to do the work, rather than some robocaller gadgetry. Tonight I talked to two people on one call, seemingly in the same room, given the short time that I elapsed before Scott spoke. I’m helping two people keep a job!

It’s the least I can do. There, or worse, but for the grace of God, go any of us.

Unemployment for middle-aged workers like Mr. Blattman is the highest it’s been since data was first collected 60 years ago. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, joblessness is worse for men over 45 (7.7 percent in July) than women the same age (6.9 percent). And while the middle-aged are still more likely to have jobs than younger workers, once people Mr. Blattman’s age are laid off, finding a new job is harder. In 2008, laid-off people over 45 were out of work 22.2 weeks, versus 16.2 weeks for younger workers.

Mr. Blattman used to make over $200k a year. Now? Nada. Zilch. He’s fortunate to have resources that have kept him going so far; not many people do. In Frontline’s Close to Home , a filmmaker spends a day in a hair salon on the Upper East Side listening to tales of woe that include a woman who had to sell a Porsche to pay for her health insurance, (too bad she couldn’t pawn her cheek implants). Still, no matter how far you fall, all outgo and no income is persistently, despressingly stressful. Unemployment benefits are bound to get extended again, but then what? I think there’s got to be some stimulus program to individuals similar to the dole the big banks have been subsisting on. THAT — and all companies who have outsourced Call Center jobs to India should be forced to bring them back stateside or pay some exorbitant amount of money. If you elect to buy a foreign car, rather than one made here, you should have to pay a special tax. Protectionist? Yeah, and? If there are other alternatives to stem the tide of skilled, eager to work, unemployed, homeless American citizens while corporate honchos continue to grow the middle class of developing countries by employing the cheap labor there, I’m eager to hear them.

Some may say I’m a sucker originally appeared on A World of Progress TeamZine on November 9, 2009.

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What would Jesus do if he were the President of the United States?

Would he feed the hungry? Would he clothe the naked? House the poor? Would he heal the sick? Would he invest in the stock market? Would he pick and choose who we should help and who should be refused aid?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but a big part of being a Christian involves the acceptance and earnest practice of the principles taught by the movement’s founder, Jesus of Nazareth; those ideals being love, charity, healing, and forgiveness. The whole divinity, Son of God, salvation aspect of Christianity, while accepted by most Christians, is irrelevant to this essay. This is about what Jesus taught regarding how we should live together compared with what most of his modern disciples preach.
Among the thousands of people railing against every progressive idea coming out of the White House and Congress are a large percentage of self-described Christians. I meet people every day who label themselves Christians and who are worried sick that the Obama administration is conspiring to turn the United States into a socialist nation. If these issues weren’t of such great importance to our collective future it would almost be comical.

Full disclosure: I no longer identify myself as a Christian, primarily because I disagree with what mainstream Christianity has become today – a childish, disingenuous cult of self perpetuating ignorance reflecting little of the core values taught by Jesus Christ. My family attended a Methodist Church when I was a young child, I voluntarily joined a Southern Baptist church as a teenager, and in my late twenties I spent time as a full member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). I am not just another un-churched heretic spewing blasphemy out of ignorance, though some may interpret my views as such. My opinions have evolved over a lifetime of exposure and active searching for Truth.

I’ve got no problem with Jesus or what he taught about how we should treat each other. My disagreement is with the majority of churches claiming to represent Jesus Christ while NOT supporting the ideals the man advocated. Nearly every Christian denomination I’ve ever seen fails miserably, usually in their preaching or acceptance of intolerance, divisiveness, or exclusion on some level.Hypocrisy is unacceptable. Period.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any true Christians left in the  world. To the contrary, there are plenty of them around and I’m fortunate enough to know one or two. True Christians not only understand the meaning of “do unto others” and being their brother’s keeper, but put those ideals into practice in their daily life. They are the light of the world.

What did Jesus say?

No one really knows what Jesus Christ said, we weren’t there so we’ve got to rely on ancient texts, translated, edited, translated again, and edited some more over hundreds of years by men who may or may not have been inspired by the loftiest ideals.

Jesus never forced anyone to give away or sell their belongings, the choice was left to the individual, but he made it clear that the endless pursuit of monetary gain and material possessions was antithetical to his philosophy.

From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10: 21-25, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus taught that his followers should strive only to attain enough wealth to meet their basic human needs and he strongly advised that all excess resources be used to help those less fortunate. He never said a rich man couldn’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he did say it would be extremely difficult. The rich worship and serve money; and the love of money is the root of all evil. One cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 4:23 – Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus can be found healing the sick and lame, the rich and the poor, asking nothing in return and often breaking local laws in the process. By example he made it clear that the act of healing should not be incumbent upon one’s ability to pay or their station in life.
Regarding what he taught about caring for the poor – what we would today call public welfare and social services – Jesus said give to the poor but he made no distinction about which poor should be helped and which left to suffer. The parable of the sheep and the goats, found in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, makes it quite clear. Jesus meant that all who have the means should contribute toward the care of the less fortunate among us.

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Whenever I read this parable, I can’t help thinking about all the people I’ve known who go into purple fits about how this country is supposed to be a Christian nation, yet the second anyone tries to pass a law that would put into practice what Jesus commanded, these same people start yelling about socialism or being taxed to support “lazy bums.” These same people, given half a chance, would be first in line to establish a theocracy in the United States, as long as it fit their own narrow definition of “righteousness.”

Jesus told us to love God and love each other. When you get down to elemental level of truth, those who call themselves Christians are just common liars if they fail to live up to the simple admonition to love one another or fail to support any policy, public or private, that moves our society closer to the more equitable, peaceful, civilized way of living that Jesus sought.
Jesus Christ was a socialist. He advocated compassion toward all people and he was crystal clear about his position on excessive wealth. Do not strive to lay up treasure on Earth, he said, yet capitalism is the economic model most opposed to the principles he advocated. It is the most effective system of wealth hoarding in history, and it rewards greed, selfishness, and deception with unimaginable wealth and power. Those who demand unregulated, unrestricted, unfettered capitalism cannot in good conscience claim to be disciples of Christ.

What Jesus taught and his early followers tried to practice amounted to what we now call socialism. Not only was Jesus a socialist, the entire modern progressive agenda begins with the Sermon on the Mount.
Those who refuse to accept the fact that Jesus Christ was a progressive, a liberal, and a socialist are either in denial of what the Gospels say, or they are hopelessly ignorant; content to be misled by the charlatans whom their tithes support. Study the Gospels and you will have no honest choice except to conclude that Jesus Christ was a radical liberal in his deeds and ideas.

Blind faith in the global capitalist economy, actively working against civil rights for all, and support for wars of aggression can only be called anti-Christ by any rational observer. If Jesus Christ showed up here today I suspect he’d have some pretty strong words and even tougher love for those who’ve co-opted his message of peace, unity, and brotherly love, especially those living like royalty at the top of mega-church franchises and televangelist “ministries.” The money changers back in biblical times got off easy.

Jesus was a socialist, and if you call yourself a Christian, you’d best accept it.

Thurman’s Notebook

Jesus was a Socialist originally appeared on A World of Progress TeamZine on November 1, 2009.

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What would Jesus do if he were the President of the United States?

Would he feed the hungry? Would he clothe the naked? House the poor? Would he heal the sick? Would he invest in the stock market? Would he pick and choose who we should help and who should be refused aid?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but a big part of being a Christian involves the acceptance and earnest practice of the principles taught by the movement’s founder, Jesus of Nazareth; those ideals being love, charity, healing, and forgiveness. The whole divinity, Son of God, salvation aspect of Christianity, while accepted by most Christians, is irrelevant to this essay. This is about what Jesus taught regarding how we should live together compared with what most of his modern disciples preach.

Among the thousands of people railing against every progressive idea coming out of the White House and Congress are a large percentage of self-described Christians. I meet people every day who label themselves Christians and who are worried sick that the Obama administration is conspiring to turn the United States into a socialist nation. If these issues weren’t of such great importance to our collective future it would almost be comical.

Full disclosure: I no longer identify myself as a Christian, primarily because I disagree with what mainstream Christianity has become today – a childish, disingenuous cult of self perpetuating ignorance reflecting little of the core values taught by Jesus Christ. My family attended a Methodist Church when I was a young child, I voluntarily joined a Southern Baptist church as a teenager, and in my late twenties I spent time as a full member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). I am not just another un-churched heretic spewing blasphemy out of ignorance, though some may interpret my views as such. My opinions have evolved over a lifetime of exposure and active searching for Truth.

I’ve got no problem with Jesus or what he taught about how we should treat each other. My disagreement is with the majority of churches claiming to represent Jesus Christ while NOT supporting the ideals the man advocated. Nearly every Christian denomination I’ve ever seen fails miserably, usually in their preaching or acceptance of intolerance, divisiveness, or exclusion on some level. Hypocrisy is unacceptable. Period.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any true Christians left in the world. To the contrary, there are plenty of them around and I’m fortunate enough to know one or two. True Christians not only understand the meaning of “do unto others” and being their brother’s keeper, but put those ideals into practice in their daily life. They are the light of the world.

What did Jesus say?

No one really knows what Jesus Christ said, we weren’t there so we’ve got to rely on ancient texts, translated, edited, translated again, and edited some more over hundreds of years by men who may or may not have been inspired by the loftiest ideals.

Jesus never forced anyone to give away or sell their belongings, the choice was left to the individual, but he made it clear that the endless pursuit of monetary gain and material possessions was antithetical to his philosophy.

From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10: 21-25, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus taught that his followers should strive only to attain enough wealth to meet their basic human needs and he strongly advised that all excess resources be used to help those less fortunate. He never said a rich man couldn’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he did say it would be extremely difficult. The rich worship and serve money; and the love of money is the root of all evil. One cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 4:23 – Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus can be found healing the sick and lame, the rich and the poor, asking nothing in return and often breaking local laws in the process. By example he made it clear that the act of healing should not be incumbent upon one’s ability to pay or their station in life.

Regarding what he taught about caring for the poor – what we would today call public welfare and social services – Jesus said give to the poor but he made no distinction about which poor should be helped and which left to suffer. The parable of the sheep and the goats, found in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, makes it quite clear. Jesus meant that all who have the means should contribute toward the care of the less fortunate among us.

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Whenever I read this parable, I can’t help thinking about all the people I’ve known who go into purple fits about how this country is supposed to be a Christian nation, yet the second anyone tries to pass a law that would put into practice what Jesus commanded, these same people start yelling about socialism or being taxed to support “lazy bums.” These same people, given half a chance, would be first in line to establish a theocracy in the United States, as long as it fit their own narrow definition of “righteousness.”

Jesus told us to love God and love each other. When you get down to elemental level of truth, those who call themselves Christians are just common liars if they fail to live up to the simple admonition to love one another or fail to support any policy, public or private, that moves our society closer to the more equitable, peaceful, civilized way of living that Jesus sought.

Jesus Christ was a socialist. He advocated compassion toward all people and he was crystal clear about his position on excessive wealth. Do not strive to lay up treasure on Earth, he said, yet capitalism is the economic model most opposed to the principles he advocated. It is the most effective system of wealth hoarding in history, and it rewards greed, selfishness, and deception with unimaginable wealth and power. Those who demand unregulated, unrestricted, unfettered capitalism cannot in good conscience claim to be disciples of Christ.

What Jesus taught and his early followers tried to practice amounted to what we now call socialism. Not only was Jesus a socialist, the entire modern progressive agenda begins with the Sermon on the Mount.

Those who refuse to accept the fact that Jesus Christ was a progressive, a liberal, and a socialist are either in denial of what the Gospels say, or they are hopelessly ignorant; content to be misled by the charlatans whom their tithes support. Study the Gospels and you will have no honest choice except to conclude that Jesus Christ was a radical liberal in his deeds and ideas.

Blind faith in the global capitalist economy, actively working against civil rights for all, and support for wars of aggression can only be called anti-Christ by any rational observer. If Jesus Christ showed up here today I suspect he’d have some pretty strong words and even tougher love for those who’ve co-opted his message of peace, unity, and brotherly love, especially those living like royalty at the top of mega-church franchises and televangelist “ministries.” The money changers back in biblical times got off easy.

Jesus was a socialist, and if you call yourself a Christian, you’d best accept it.

Thurman’s Notebook

Jesus was a Socialist originally appeared on A World of Progress TeamZine on October 31, 2009.

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We Are The Revolution

To salvage the environment and reform our economy we must first break the stranglehold that the money mongers have on our government. The first priority for those of us concerned with any kind of economic or environmental reform must be congressional and election reforms. In order accomplish these things we must infiltrate our Congress with representatives who are not beholden to corporate campaign financiers. Then and only then can we move forward with the electoral reforms which would allow all other changes to begin.

School children in the US are taught that we live in a democracy, but not until we reach adulthood do most of us realize the ugly truth: our representative democracy doesn’t represent very many of us at all. Our election process doesn’t allow us to elect people who represent our values and needs. Instead, we are presented with a handful of carefully vetted candidates willing to maintain the status quo of the corporate oligarchy that controls our government and enables their election. The true will of the people, those of us who work to produce the real wealth of this nation has virtually no representation in our government.

In earlier posts I’ve pointed out how a corporate elite controls our government and I’ve made the case for mandatory public financing of all elections before any real reform can take place. I briefly touched on the idea that a diverse non-partisan coalition, raised outside the official two-party machine may be our best and last hope of ever gaining control of our government without another violent, bloody revolution.
If such a coalition could be held together long enough to penetrate both houses of the Congress, lasting reform could be accomplished even if the sitting president refused to play ball. For any such peaceful revolution to make a lasting difference, its prime directive must be the total, unequivocal reform of our congress, both the way it is elected and its composition. All other issues, though of great importance, are secondary to electoral reform.

Read the rest of this fine essay at Thurman James

We Are The Revolution originally appeared on A World of Progress TeamZine on October 23, 2009.

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A dispatch from the Evil Reporter Chick….

85,000.

That’s how many Iraqis died in the war between 2004 and 2008. Iraq’s human
rights ministry released that grim number a week ago.

We keep an exact count of the number of Americans who were killed in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Or the number of British troops and other coalition
members. But no one really counts the civilians. The children. The mothers.
The grandmothers. They remain nameless, numbing numbers in headlines. “42
died in suicide bombing.”

“Outlawed groups through terrorist attacks like explosions, assassinations,
kidnappings or forced displacements created these terrible figures, which
represent a huge challenge for the rule of law and for the Iraqi people,”
the ministry said.

“These figures draw a picture about the impact of terrorism and the
violation of natural life in Iraq,” the ministry said in a draft report on
deaths in Iraq.

But no one really knows how many Iraqis died.

The Iraqi government report was compiled with death certificates issued by
the health ministry. What about all those people who never saw home again.
Or whose families never reported a death out of sheer fear.

I know people who have lost loved ones and kept silent. One death in the
family was enough.

Some Iraqis were killed by AK-47 fire, rockets, mortars, and bombs,
otherwise known as improvised explosive devices. Some were abducted, stabbed
or beheaded. In places like Ramadi, such gruesome acts were carried out in
public places and in broad daylight.

The capital of al-Anbar province was once al-Qaida’s haven and an Iraqi
citizen’s hell on Earth — the neighborhood of Melaab was known as “the
heart of darkness.”

I asked Ramadi residents what life was like before the insurgency was
quelled. They glided their right index finger across their throats. The
insurgents brazenly beheaded people in public and distributed videos of the
executions. Think of what kind of fear an ordinary Iraqi lived through. And
still does.

The headlines these days report fewer incidents of violence.

But one bullet, one bomb — is all it takes.

85,000. originally appeared on A World of Progress TeamZine on October 20, 2009.

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