Simpler Living Weekly Nudge
Posted on: November 22, 2019
11/22/19
In This Issue — Latest Podcast Episodes // Free Trade vs. Fair Trade // Collapse of Capitalism or Change of Business Model? // Getting Ready Early for an Alternative Christmas Festival/Workshop // FREE Daily NUDGE // Much More!
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Simpler OneEarth Living Podcast Episode 11/19: Lee Van Ham–The Liberating Birth of Jesus: A Birth Story Able to Reverse Our Planet’s Peril // Media Release
Simpler OneEarth Living Podcast Episode 10/19: Margaret Bullitt-Jonas–Are Faith Communities Mobilizing for the Climate Emergency?
Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis
Rooted and Rising is for everyone who worries about the climate crisis and seeks spiritual practices and perspectives to renew their capacity for compassionate, purposeful, and joyful action.
Leah Schade and Margaret Bullitt-Jonas gather 21 faith leaders, scientists, community organizers, theologians, and grassroots climate activists to offer wisdom for fellow pilgrims grappling with the weight of climate change. Acknowledging the unprecedented nature of our predicament—the fact that climate disruption is unraveling the web of life and threatening the end of human civilization—the authors share their stories of grief and hope, fear and faith. Together, the essays, introductory sections, and discussion questions reveal that our present crisis can elicit a depth of wisdom, insight, and motivation with power to guide us toward a more peaceful, just, and Earth-honoring future.
With a foreword by Mary Evelyn Tucker and a special introduction by Bill McKibben, the book presents an interfaith perspective that welcomes and challenges readers of all backgrounds.
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Free Trade vs. Fair Trade
Reflections from US Director and Founder Diane Nesselhuf, Sharing the Dream in Guatemala
Free trade and fair trade. They sound alike, but they are two different things. What does each of them mean?
Free trade has to do with the commercial activity across countries. Free trade focuses on the reduction of barriers and policies that favor certain countries or industries. This can be good in many ways but can be destructive because global companies may bring more jobs, but many of these jobs are outsourced because international workers can be cheaper to hire and are willing to work with fewer safety protections. There are many pros and cons to free trade. It can be beneficial, but there may be long-term consequences.
Fair trade is quite different. Fair trade’s focus is on the wages and working conditions of the people doing the labor. When we work with people in Guatemala we work with them on the price of an article. How much is the material, how long does it take to make it, how complicated is the pattern, what is the living wage for people in the community? This process can take a long time and must be done for each craft item. Sharing the Dream has an Artisan Development Team that works with the groups and individuals to make sure they are getting a fair price, learning skills, and have good working conditions. We make sure that the people doing the work do not outsource it to other families or people who are not paid a fair price. When you buy an article from Sharing the Dream it is not only fair trade, but we have spent hours with the groups helping them advance their techniques, their marketing, and their knowledge of working in a group. Fair trade for us is a way to keep people in their homes (where they want to be) and to help them sustain their families.
If you want to learn more about fair trade, join us on one of our trips.
Learning Trip to Guatemala with Director Diane Nesselhuf, 2/2-11/20
This people-centric trip takes you off the beaten path to experience the sights and sounds of Guatemala and leaves you with an understanding of the struggles that Guatemalans face and an appreciation for their vibrant culture. Throughout the trip, you will have the opportunity to listen to the hopes and dreams of the Guatemalan people that we meet with, and be invited into their homes to learn how they make their traditional handicrafts.
If you are interested in this trip, please contact Diane at info@sharingthedream.org.
Artisan Wares and Gastronomy trip to Guatemala, 6/15-24/20
Experience for yourself the delight of the Guatemalan cuisine, which has evolved from Maya, Latin American, and western traditions. As part of this remarkable ten-day trip, the participants will learn about and participate in workshops on backstrap weaving, ceramics, basketry, and beading, techniques that the artisans have learned from past generations.
For more information about this trip, please email Lauren at director@sharingthedream.org
You can also learn more about our trips by visiting our website: https://www.sharingthedream.org/trips.html
Personal Note from editor Jerry Iversen: Rita and I visited Guatemala with Diane over ten years ago and were so touched that we became volunteers for Sharing the Dream. We conducted numerous fair trade shows in churches and the profits were returned to the cooperatives of indigenous women. Fair Trade items make excellent gifts. They are both beautiful and educational. They reinforce the Life Standards of Living More with Less, especially, “Learn from the World Community.”
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Recently Discovered Worthwhile Podcast: Jesus for Everyone, notably the recent 10-part series on self-affirming non-violence
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Collapse of Capitalism or Change of Business Model?
We took a stroll though our local mall recently. It’s changed a lot since it was built and we lived nearby 30+ years ago. Sears is closed, many businesses replaced by tattoo, massage and nail salons. Also in this medium-sized midwestern town, K-Mart is gone, as are the regional chains of Younkers and ShopKo.
Elsewhere, Bed, Bath & Beyond’s are closing. You probably have your own local examples.
At the same time Amazon grows wildly, pays no taxes and is now competing with UPS and FedEx as a major delivery service. Most restaurants provide delivery and many grocery stores offer shopping service. Is such convenience a problem or a relief? A sign of efficiency or privilege? Expedience or laziness? A time-saver or. . . ?
Do such signify the Collapse of Capitalism or Change of Business Model?
PeaceMakers and EarthLovers would hope that these indicate a shift toward No-Growth Economics—the way to live sustainably on a finite planet. Don’t count on it. The super wealthy and large corporations will do all they can to make sure that doesn’t happen. They strive that the growth line always goes up and to the right.
We cannot stop them legally. We can NOT comply, NOT co-operate, NOT concede. We can possibly slow the growth. Most of all we can be ready when the ecological implosion happens 2040-2050, both for ourselves, our families and our communities, AND for those elsewhere who choose to share instead of hoard, those who choose compassion over greed.
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“Jubilee Circles” is now available also as an audiobook, at iTunes, Nook Audiobooks, Google Play, and Audiobooks.com, which offers a free sample. It includes 20 actions to take to help keep our planet livable.
https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/jubilee-circles/381421 THAT’S THE LINK to the audio version of the little book “Jubilee Circles: Help Save Life on the Planet.” Please share this audio version with all who’d like to listen while jogging, walking, etc.
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Month 11/19 of the Simpler Living Daily Nudge
- Month 11* // Week 1: More Celebrating || Week 2: Preparations || Week 3: Unplug the Christmas Machine || Week 4: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?
Send “Nudge” to SimpleLivingWorks@yahoo.com to receive a free, brief daily email.
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Getting Ready Early for an Alternative Christmas Festival/Workshop
Refuse to be sucked into the fall hectics. Begin planning a less-consumer holiday season a little at a time. Use SLW! free online resources.
- Submit an item for the new edition of “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?”
- Read a Festival Guide
- Read a Workshop Guide
- Peruse SLW! Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Article Index
- Unplug the Christmas Machine Workshop Leader’s Guide
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Free Subscription: Today’s Simpler Living Nudge
Receive a brief daily nudge toward Simpler Living, such as the ones here, at no charge. Simply reply to SimpleLivingWorks@yahoo.com with NUDGE at the top. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying Unsubscribe Nudge.
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- SLW! Blog Index | SLW! Podcast Index
- SUBSCRIBE to SLW! Podcast for free through your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to SLW! weekly Blog. Click “+Follow” at lower right of blog post, enter a name and email address. Welcome!
- Non-Conform-Freely Celebrations: Months 9-12*
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What’s Happened
Solving the Climate Crisis with No-Growth Economics
To get a worldview very different from the greed and profit-oriented politicians and corporatists, visit these solution-oriented resources:
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Offsetting the CO2 We Release in Our Lives by Planting Trees
Here’s an Earth-Day-Everyday action OneEarth Jubilee recommends we all take to offset the CO2 we put into the air.
Some of us may be able to arrange life so that we use less energy produced by fossil fuels. Certainly, whatever way we can use less of that energy source is the way to go. But all of us have to travel some, heat or cool our homes, etc. Whatever amount we use, we can off-set the CO2 that fossil fuel puts into the atmosphere by planting trees to take CO2 out of the atmosphere. It’s not a perfect equation by any means. Trees take time to grow, and when they die they release CO2. But every day that trees grow they photosynthesize and remove CO2 from the air.
Here’s how it works. We use an internet calculator like http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm to calculate our monthly or annual emissions. By the way, that site will calculate our emissions from other sources in our lives, not only travel. It’s an Australian site that is dedicated to helping us find best choices in this era of rapid climate change. We know that without massive mobilization, the disasters we’re now experiencing only multiply.
The calculator will tell us how much to donate to off-set our fossil fuel use. We invite you to donate that amount to Jubilee OneEarth Economics Tree Fund. Where you donate is important. Truth is, not all entities receiving these off-set donations are trustworthy. Every cent donated to the Jubilee Tree Fund will go to tree planting projects in one of three regions—San Diego (CA), San Mateo (MX), San Cristobal (MX). You see, the Jubilee Circles in these areas are all committed as deeply as possible to OneEarth ways. Each one is connected to at least one tree-planting or reforestation project.
We need lots of actions to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere. In 2019, CO2 levels globally are at 415ppm (parts per million), well above the 350 ppm which is where we need to be to keep our planet stable. The last time CO2 in the air was as high as it is today was 3,000,000 years ago. It was a time when oceans were also 50 to 80 feet higher than today. Hard to imagine the flooding that such levels would bring to the world’s coasts today.
OneEarth Jubilee looks forward to partnering with you to value creation in this way.
For more information, contact Lee@Jubilee-Economics.org.
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We will protect ourselves from Climate Crisis deniers, through such series as:
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- Why We Podcast–We truly believe in the missions of SLW! and Jubilee OneEarth Economics! The mainstream corporate media — left, right or center — exist to sell us more stuff. Though we are only the tiniest whisper, we cannot stop offering an honest alternative to that MultiEarth message. There is no Planet B. Here’s a list of worthwhile media. And even more.
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*We choose to use month numbers rather than the traditional names because the names are inaccurate (September means “7” but is the ninth month?!) and they honor gods and emperors from warring ancient Roman culture. For more, see Weekly Nudge, 8/8/18.
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