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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR BY MARY O’BRIEN now-infamous 180 on PERS. You film he considers to Hulk Good. know, the one that has elicited from be such a danger. Hulk LOve Children. I’ve always been him an escalating gamut of emo- tion — from being “hurt” at the pretty sure that accusations leveled against him the underlying intent of Stan by his “friends” (EW, a couple of Lee and Jack months ago), to “insulted” (the Kirby’s creation latest issue of Local Focus, the was to decry the UO’s SEIU publication), and now dangers of re- to sarcasm, as suggested in his July pressed emotion, and 10 EW column, wherein he states that surely Ang Lee, a film- he must be right because “splinters from maker who has used swal- both sides” are against him. lowed passion as a motif in many of his An interesting argument; ironically, it’s similar to that which the R-G uses to defend films, can point to the father-and-child rela- tionships in his film as partial evidence that its alleged “moderation.” Well, Tony, if I may: You might not have he, in fact, has some of the same concerns that Mr. Ellis does. been so widely reviled by public sector labor had you been a little more straightfor- Make no mistake; our society and its media are far too violent. But I suggest that ward and open, and given us some hint, at least, about your planned “sellout vote” one must do more than watch a Mountain Dew commercial before attempting to lead (what a “friend” would have done); instead, we had to find out about it in, of all places, the crusade against it. Durden Kent the R-G. Talk about “hurt” and “insulted.” And keep this in mind, too: The unions Eugene that now question your integrity represent hundreds of thousands of state, county and SENATOR SELLOUT municipal employees — hardly a “splinter.” One has to marvel at the course Tony And — we vote. Corcoran’s political career has taken recently. Bill Smee It all seemed to start with the glowing full- Eugene page write-up the R-G did on him several months ago. Imagine: a labor activist getting positive treatment from this notoriously anti- LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows. Please limit union rag! length to 250 words, keep submissions to once a But one can only wonder if it was a har- month, and include your address and phone number binger, for it was not long after that testimo- for our files. E-mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com (please put “letters” in the subject line), fax to nial saw print that the good senator did his 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. SUSAN KLeiN’s Huge Garage Sale AND OPEN STUDIO July 19 • 8:00-3:00pm ART & JEWELRY SUPPLIES • BEADS • DISPLAY ITEMS • TOOLS • MISC. JUNK • ART 50% OFF (JEWELRY SAMPLES) • 484-1040 1395 CROSS ST. (OFF RAILROAD BLVD. NEAR RIVER RD.) bambini BUY•SELL •TRADE Eclectic Children’s Clothing H U G E SA LE T HR E E D A YS ON L Y Moral Bankruptcy Economic priorities take their toll. A ll my life, I have pondered what it must be like to live within a particular society that is undergoing a par- ticular moral bankruptcy. As a child, I contemplated what it was like for southern U.S. people of good will to try to protest their communities’ brutality toward African- American residents. I wondered what it had been like to be a German who knew all people deserve kindness and watch one’s community cheer the head of state and allow neighbors to be taken away. I have often thought about aware women liv- ing in a country that forces them to cloak their bodies and chokes their civil participation. And in each case, I have been moved to learn of the power and courage of particular people who have refused to cooperate with such bankruptcy. A book I am reading, Lest Innocent Blood be Shed, by Philip Hallie, tells of one French village, Chambon, which or- ganized during the Nazi regime to save thousands of Jewish children and adults. Certain Chambonnais, particularly a Protestant minister, Andre Trocmé and his wife, Magda Trocmé, played key roles in encouraging their community to maintain a sea level of de- cency. These two acted out of different perspectives — Andre moved particularly by his church’s teachings, Magda simply believing that something is evil if it hurts people. I have to recognize that my own society is undergoing an immense moral bankruptcy regarding money. Private ownership, profit, and economic growth rather than collective compassion, community health, or environmental reciprocity, are regarded as the filter through which every public policy, every proposal, must run. Will it garner the support of the “business community”? Will it provide new jobs? Will it avoid new taxes? Will it keep company costs down? Will it allow “private” landowners to do as they wish? Will it insure economic growth? More growth? More growth? If it won’t, it is pronounced dead on ar- rival. O ne-third of U.S. meat packing workers are being maimed or killed every year amid horrifying stench and inhumane conditions, but we get good deals on beef at Safeway. The U.S. consumes 30 percent of the world’s resources (including oil), but we have the allegedly blessed-by-God freedom to build and run SUVs everywhere we want. Thirty thousand children starve to death every day worldwide, but we till under crops to keep the market price down. Salmon, those ancient residents who once powered throughout the Northwest, hang on by a thread, but by God, no urban developer should be required to provide a buffer for them. Children’s school days are being pinched and eliminated, but that just shows private schools can probably do better. Health care, whether preventive or after-illness, is utterly lacking for millions of my country’s working poor, but pooling our money for universal health care wouldn’t “work.” The oceans have been stripped, aquifers drained, and species booted off Earth, but, hey, question eco- nomic growth? Not on your life. T he Wildlife Society, a national association of wildlife professionals, recently re- leased a technical review, called “The Relationship of Economic Growth to Wildlife Conservation.” Its conclusion? “Our findings are that economic growth and wildlife conservation are conflicting societal goals and that economic growth is a primary goal in the United States.” In other words, you can’t simultaneously have wildlife in your country and worship economic growth, which depends on either continuous population growth or growth of per-person consumption of products. From a global perspective, the report notes, “if everyone on Earth lived a typical North American lifestyle, three more Earth-like planets would be needed to do so sustainably.” Is this a decent way to live? My country’s particular moral bankruptcy is its elevation of money — whether on Iraqi oil fields, in Mexican border factories, or within local politics — far, far above decency to fellow residents (human and other species), others in the world, and future generations. The villagers of Chambon operated on a different moral plane than their Vichy gov- ernment and nearby division of the Nazi SS. We can operate on a different moral plane than economic growth, with policies built around a steady state economy. Three words might be its hallmarks: modesty, sharing, and .... enough. For all. Mary O’Brien has worked as a public interest scientist for the past 22 years. She can be reached at mob@efn.org Thurs., Fri. & Sat. - July 17, 18, 19 5 0 % O F F ALL RESALE CLOTHING 10-5:30 PM 205 W. 5th •Eugene 485-1222 e Th Flying dogs Café A blend of homemade café food, east & west coast comfort food, fresh and exciting salads and a warm and friendly atmosphere 2 for 1 Breakfast Deal 344-1960 • 1249 Alder Street • Daily 9 AM -10 PM Buy Any Breakfast Entrée Before 11:30AM and Receive Another Free Not valid with any other offers • Expires 8/31/03 • Dine-In Only • Free Entrée of equal or lesser value JULY 17, 2003 7
