Those who saw the last post about The View and Barbara Walters might be interested in giving some feedback on this one.
All posts by ariah
My response concerning high gas prices
This was my response to my friend Gustave’s letter about high gas prices:
Goose,
my dear and wonderful friend. Let me start by saying I am quite naive to the large ramifications you’ve talked about here. I completely agree with you on everything you shared here.Just so we get some clarifications on all this here is the basic jist of what happened:
I wrote off-handedly once about enjoying the fact that High gas prices has created a much greater interest and demand for fuel efficient cars, more people out biking to work, and more efforts in mass transit. In other words, I said I see a lot of benefits in the gas prices being high. I also feel like high gas prices reflect the actual cost of the use of that gas (as in damage to the environment, etc). I didn’t in any way imply that I like high gas prices, I like big powerful countries getting rich, I don’t care about the effects on the poor.Again, I completely agree with everything that you said about the negative effects of high gas prices. I realize it hurts the poor and I think that sucks too. I also feel like really low gas prices aren’t going to help solve many problems either, they seem to create a slew of other problems. By the way, weren’t we in Micro-Econ together? Lower gas prices just means more people buying it, which means those companies and countries are still making a lot. I say we take out the CEO’s and others and we could offer some dirt cheap gas that way.
Seriously though, what are some solutions and problems solving techniques? Let’s commission city council to get public transit started in our area. How do we organize car pooling groups in the poor areas we live in? Could the government ration gas some those dimwits with their Hummers can’t drive them more then two blocks, but the neighbor can make it to and from work? How about promoting scooters more in poorer neighborhoods, those should solve the problem big time. This is the way I think; I like the big picture but I’m all about the practical.
I’ve filled up more then my fair share of guys gas cans and tanks in the past couple months (sure hope they were actually for their car).
Could churches offer free fill ups, gas cards, etc. in the neighborhoods they are a part of? Shouldn’t we be preaching all the stuff you shared from the pulpit?
Mostly what I’m saying is I hear you loud and clear, now what are we going to do about it?!Let’s get a move on!
ariah.
Abortion is indeed on the decline
A statistic I’ve heard thrown around, and I’ve hesitated to mention, regarding abortion was that the number of abortions had risen under Republican presidents and gone down under Democratic presidents.
I finally remembered it and thought to look it up, and found the oh so reliable FactCheck.org had put together a clear answer for me:
A number of politicians and organizations have been circulating an interesting and surprising idea: that abortions have gone up under George W. Bush’s watch. The claim is repeated by supporters of abortion rights as evidence that Bush’s anti-abortion policies have backfired, or at least been ineffective.
But the claim is untrue. In fact, according to the respected Alan Guttmacher Institute, a 20-year decline in abortion rates continued after Bush took office, as shown in this graph
Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Trends in Abortion in the United States “
My essay for MinusCar…
Wanted to point you to an essay I wrote for MinusCar.blogspot.com, a site dedicated to the idea of reducing our car use and trying alternative forms of transportation.
From
The MinusCar Project
In an age of massive consumerism, bigger is better, the person with the most toys wins mentality, some folks are starting to see that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. For some they caught a glimpse of the recent movie concerning global warming, others it was their empty pocket book at the pump, others still have been riding their bikes around town all along.
And slowly, some people are getting it. Some of us are realizing it’s okay to slow down. Two car garages don’t necessitate two cars. Bike lanes aren’t a waste of space. Rush hour and traffic jams really are stealing away our lives. Suddenly people realize using your muscles and breaking a sweat isn’t just something you do at the gym or on the toilet.
Look the book publishing begin
So I got bored and decided it was time to start publishing books. I found some great resources for self-publishing and I think with blogs and the vastness of the internet, we can probably see some success without trying to connect with a major publisher.
The book project I’ve been gathering interested folks together for recently has been concerning Social Justice. Then just for fun I thought I’d try to do another one collecting challenging sermon-like essays that might not be what you hear most Sunday mornings.
It’s all starting at Fine Print Publishing. I’m looking for folks to submit essays (I’m not writing this on my own) and I’m looking for folks to help me edit. The goal is to have the finished product by August 21st. Think we can do it? I think so.
Check it out and spread the word.
A response concerning high gas prices
I little while back I made a tiny off-hand reference to liking high gas prices, the comment was mentioned by my pastor, I then mentioned it to Mel, who then mentioned it to Gustave, and this was his response:
Dear Ariah,
I was talking to Melissa and she mentioned something offhand to me. She said you think high gas prices are good in that they will help change patterns of American consumption. I am not sure what your whole position is. It was something about a conversation with your pastor.
However, I get riled about gas and energy prices. Perhaps 3 dollar gas will make people get out of their SUV. More likely though, it hurts people without much money. I live in Wheaton. Most people eat the higher cost of gas. However, the refugees I work for have to often choose between gas and clothes or healthier food or the doctor bill. There is no public transit here and commutes often take 30 to 40 minutes. There is no lifestyle change that will help them. Not everyone can just up and move to the city or live closer to work. Not everyone can drive less. Some people can. Many cannot and have to pay the price of high gasoline very dearly.
Another aspect of high gas prices is that it benefits countries who are oil rich. THose are fun places like Sundan, Iran, Venezuela and Russia. None of them are very nice. High oil prices help Putin consolidate autocratic power, help the President of Iran pursue nukes, fuel conflict in SUdan, and let Chavez talk about being the next Castro. The global effects of high gas prices have horrible effects on the freedoms of millions of people as leaders that are not very nice are flush with cash.
High gas prices in the US also act as a tax. They limit economic growth. Money spent on other things now goes to gas. That means less vacations, fewer purcheses, less charitible giving. All these things affect the job market and can cause economic downswings. Who gets laid off when the economy suffers, not the rich guys. Prices for all goods go up as well because transporting them costs more. So everyone pays more for potatoes and milk. High energy prices also lead to infliation and inflation always hurts the poorest the most.
I see little good in high gas prices. Sure it means some people will consume less…maybe. Sure it spurs on R and D for renewable and clean energy (something I support completely). However, the drawbacks in my mind far outweigh the benefits. Anyone who says otherwise has failed to see the human cost and geopolitical nightmare that high gas prices and high oil prices cause. I am not sure what you think about all this, but high oil really gets me going.
Gustave
I thought everything Goose shared was excellent. I’ll post my response in a little bit, but I figured I should keep them seperate since what he said was worth sitting and thinking on.
Lebanon-Israel Conflict: a conversation
Joel directed me to this series of articles regarding the Lebanon-Israel Conflict:
David Gushee’s Original article The first article to be posted
A Lebanese Perspective on the Conflict and a disappointed response to David Gushee
An Open Letter to Martin Accad in response to his article
Further Reflections by Martin Accad
Here is a paragraph from the last one I found extremely intriguing (but not specifically about the conflict in any way):
“And who is my neighbor?” an expert of the law asks in fury, annoyed with Jesus’ message and behavior that frustrates every notion of conventional “righteousness” (Luke 10:29). Jesus embarks on one of his breathtaking stories about a man, a “righteous” man, apparently the hero of the narrative, suddenly transformed into the “enemy,” replaced by a new hero, a Samaritan, an “unrighteous” man. New Testament scholars have pointed out that in this story, the man called to love his enemy is not the Samaritan, but actually the man who lay wounded, stripped of his clothes, half dead. For he, rather than the Samaritan, is the character in the story with whom Jesus’ audience would have been able to identify. By inviting the wounded to accept to be helped by his conventional enemy, Jesus calls every one of us to accept to be helped by God, the “outcast,” whom we have rejected.
Statistical break down of Abortions by age and race (sort of) (1995)
In a recent discussion about abortion, the issue came up of knowing what groups of women are having abortions and the role that plays in how we talk about it and how we address it.
I found this chart that breaks down Abortions by age and race (when I said sort of, it’s because it’s split into white and “black/other”–But there is also a chart dividing Hispanic and non-Hispanic).
There is also this long article that does a good job articulating statistics concerning Teenagers and abortion and pregnancy, but it’s also ten years old.
The best and most recent statistics I could find are in this document (Download the pdf file).
Without getting too much into to the discussion of abortion, whether it’s right or wrong and all of that, I just felt it was valuable to put these links up so that we can read and learn and attempt to understand to a small degree the people about whom we discuss when we discuss abortion.
Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on, I believe it is hugely important for us to be addressing the needs of mothers in our society.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
If there is anything I take from that, it is a need to toss aside our abortion debates and come along side the mothers and children in our society and provide and meet their needs.
What are you doing to look after the orphans? What can I be doing?
A passport clone copy: For you travelling folk
I read this little tip about making a copy of your passport that I thought I’d share with you all since I have a few friends that will be doing some serious traveling in the not too distant future.
From
Cool Tool: Passport proxy
Make a good color copy of your passport, including the covers. Align the inside sheet of your passport data with the outside passport cover sheet. Glue together. Laminate. Score and fold. You now have a fairly official looking travel document.
I have found that for most purposes — changing money at a bank, rentals, hotel front desks, and even police — this passport clone is sufficient. You hide or store your real one and use this one for everything else except crossing borders.
Further thoughts on Moderation (From Mel)
Mel recently went to the dentist, where during the course of conversation about her going to do Peace-Corps, the dentist offered to do a small cosmetic procedure on her teeth for free, because he was touched by the work she was doing. She agreed to it, then had these thoughts to share in reference to a post I had written earlier about moderation.
From
Mel’s Xanga
Even though I didn’t pay for it, and it was really nice, now I am playing into our culture of consumption and perfection and cosmetic appeal. Now I’m one of those women who can say “I’ve had some work done…” Ick. Did I really need to have that done? Absolutely not–I’m happy with my teeth! At least now there’s no risk of them continuing to split up the notches until my tooth cracks, so that’s good. And going back, I would probably let him do it all over again, just because it was a nice thing that he wanted to do for me.
Still feels funny, though. And makes you think, what should our limits be? Joel and I are going to Africa soon, so we know our lifestyle will be forced to drastically change. In the meantime, we probably won’t stop eating out with my parents when they want to take us, because it’s a way we connect with them. But at the same time, that is contributing to our society’s need to have new things and big things all the time. And just because something is free, doesn’t mean we should take it.
So what are your thoughts?