12
Street roots
Nov. 21, 2014
Don’t be helpless. Exercise your free speech and give
BY A N D Y KO
struggle. While we have one of the m ost
scientifically advanced m edical system s in
utum n has always affected m e th e
th e world, we still have millions of
sam e way. T his tim e of year and its
A m ericans w ith no health care coverage.
fading light draw m e into a reflective
While business g enerates enorm ous wealth
m ood — let’s say an even m ore reflective for som e, we p erm it corporations to break
mood. I think quite a lot about my family,
faith w ith retired em ployees whom they .
my friends, w hat has b e en good in th e year
prom ised to su p p o rt in old age. T here are
and w hat I could have w ished d iffere n t I
m any o th er exam ples, bu t they always seem
don’t becom e m orose, quite th e opposite.
to be traceable back to th e gap betw een
T his is a tim e of anticipation and hope for
who has control of th e money.
m e. I think about th e holidays, followed by a
M ost people are aware, on som e level,
fresh new year, projects, to begin both at
th a t this is a problem . B ut people re a c t in
hom e and a t w o r k ... fishing th e w inter
different ways. Som e of us w rap ourselves
steelhead run. But, m y thinking does
in our; w ealth like a security blanket (it
inevitably settle on th e contradictions in
doesn’t take m uch) and go to sleep. O thers
life. I’ll give you an example'.
of us build a fortress out of o u r prosperity,
O ur country endures as th e w ealthiest
investing in political m ovem ents and
and m ost powerful nation in th e world. And
ideologies th a t fu rth e r prom ote thie idea of
Am ericans, for all o ur m istakes, are
personal w ealth as a virtue: th e outcom e of
fundam entally honest, caring, generous
o ur hard work and good judgm ent, o r the
people. I truly believe that. But, w hat a
hard w ork of o ur parents, grandparents or
contradiction.we have
great-grandparents. Both of th e se reactions,
created! While m o st of
I imagine, m ake it easie r to accept (o r
us have m ore (at least
support) attacks on poor undocum ented
m aterially) than o ur
w orkers, elim ination of safety n e t program s
ancestors, an alarm ing .
for underem ployed A m ericans, or
num ber o f A m erican
crim inalization of m any of th e things th a t
m en, w om en and
p oor people have always done, to survive.
children te e te r on th e
M aybe it also m akes it easier to accept th a t
brink o f hom elessness,
m onum ent to A m erican inequality; th e
m alnourishm ent,
system that, on any given day, holds roughly
violence, a rre s t and im prisonm ent, health
2.2 million of u s in prisons and jails.
crisis, addiction, family disintegration and
We all know som ething is wrong, but
political disenfranchisem ent. O thers of us
th e re are precious few ideas w hat to do
have m ore than we could need in 10
about i t I don’t have a lot of suggestions
lifetimes. We have created a society th a t
myself, b u t I do have one. How about
tolerates, and often celebrates, th e
accepting, ju st for a m o m e n t th a t m oney is
enorm ous gap in th e way rich people and
o ur power? No one, who I have heard, h a s
poor people live ~ and for no good reason.
said th a t m oney is love o r th a t billionaires
T his contradiction of lasting (and possibly
should get extra votes on E lection Day — not
growing) poverty w ithin o ur w ealthy nation
is a t th e cen ter of Am erica’s internal
y e t B ut th e Suprem e C ourt of t h e U n ite d
C O N TR IB UTIN G C O LU M N IS T
»
Andy Ko is the
executive director at
Partnership fo r Safety
an d Justice. PSJ is a
statewide, nonprofit
advocacy
organization
dedicated to m aking
Oregon’s approach to
crime a nd public
safety more effective
an d just.
ac
flu
flu
SAFETY and
■JUSTICE
S tates has said th a t m oney sp e n t to express
o ur individual will is constitutionally
p rotected speech. S ta rt by “talking small.
T h ere are an endless n um ber of ways to use
your m oney — ju st a little of it — to help
build th e community, state, nation — w orld
th a t you w a n t
And th e re are easy ways to do i t If you
live in th e Portland m etropolitan a re a (and
even if you don’t), you could get on th e
In te rn e t to m ake a contribution to o n e of
th e nonprofits in th e W illam ette W eek
GiyelGuide. www.giveguide.org [Full
disclosure: My organization, P artn ersh ip for
Safety and Justice, is in th e re this year - b u t
th e re are 135 o th e r organizations doing
im portant work, so give to one o r m ore of
them !] Or, if you’re a little m ore am bitious
and w ant to expand your search outside of
Oregon, you could get on a philanthropy
w ebsite, like Philanthropedia, www.
m yphilanthropedia.org. You also could go
th e direct ro u te and ju st p u t a $10 bill into
th e hand of som eone w ho seem s to need it.
T here are a lot of g re at nonprofit groups
doing im portant work, b u t you don’t n eed to
m ake it complicated.
Som e people reading this m ight think,
“W hose life is $10 going to change?” I have
an answ er for that, too. I t is going to change
yours. T he sim ple act of moving th e w ealth
th a t som e of us have been blessed w ith — by
God, luck, h a rd work, w hatever you believe
in — to th e “have nots” is proof th a t we are
n o t helpless. S ta rt small, b u t m ake sure it is
meaningful to you. Breaking down th e
contradiction betw een w hat w e feel is
im portant and o u r seem ing inability to affect
change is th e first step toward finding
answ ers to o ur problem s as a nation. I
believe that. And, even if I’m wrong, it’s
o n ly 10 b u c k s .
A hike through time
by Allison Strange
Kristina Wright | Real Estate Agent
Bellmoore Realty
503/4795764
Kristina^Portla ndHomeGal.com
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H
Ai! wrapped into one
I s ta rte d m y hike 29 years ago
Oh, w hat a long hike it’s been
I ’ve m et som e wonderful people ©n th e road of life
Have been shown som e exciting m iracles
I sit h e re on a break in m y hike of life
And I think of all th e people I have m et
I know som e have h u rt m e
B ut both kind have helped m e along m y hike
I se e kindness in strangers,
R udeness in som e th a t are close to m e,
And som e th a t take m e by surprise,
B ut they all push m e along on m y path
I know th a t som eday w hen m y hike is over,
I’ll be rew arded
By seeing th e ones again th a t have com pleted th e ir hike before m e.
"BRIAN LINDSTROM’S AUEN BOY PACKS A HORRIFYING PUNCH:
RITM ATE, TERRIBLE, & TRUE."
-SHAW N LE V Y , THE OREGONIAN
“AUEN BOY IS A TRIUMPH - AND AN EMOTIONAL BULLDOZER.“
- JOHN CHANDLER, PORTLAND MONTHLY
GetConnected. Get Answers.