Earth Day and Modern Environmentalism

For those of you who don’t know, today is Earth Day. I remember, as a child, schools would take this opportunity to talk about things like not letting the water run when you brush your teeth, turning off the lights when you leave the room, and, oddly enough, why we should walk or bike to get around (how else did kids get around when their moms did not want to drive!?).

But, as both I and Earth Day get older, I see the value in what those tree-hugging hippies were trying to pound into our head – it is not so much that we change our quality of life, it is that we are aware of our impact and hope that we choose to do the environmentally friendly thing.

So, we flash-forward to today. I drive a fuel efficient scooter to work and I want my next car to be more environmentally friendly than 35 miles per gallon. The computer I am typing on took advantage of recycled plastic, a fact that entered into my purchasing of the product. My breakfast in a few weeks will come from the farmers market so that there is a smaller carbon footprint to ship the food. And, naturally, I turn off the lights and don’t let the water run at home.

Now, I do not feel that I have any lower a quality of life than my parents did at my age. What I do feel is that my lifestyle is dramatically different than theirs. For better or for worse, my generation is keenly aware of the issues facing our Earth.

In the end, I know that much of the damage will be done. But what I also know is that we are on the right course to at least mitigate the problem. I feel that, thanks to the progress made over the past 30 years, we are entering a new area of practical environmentalism that will have as big of an impact on our lives as the industrial revolution.

And some food for thought.

On the topic of tea-bagging and historical accuracy: A rant

OK, so I'll come right out with it: I thought the tea parties on Wednesday were hilarious. I laughed, even as they added time to my commute, snarled traffic, and oh yeah, even though the majority of the protesters were targeting a president that I did everything short of offering up a blood sacrifice to get elected. Why? Oh, so many reasons.

Here's the thing. I like I good protest, no matter what side it's on. I love that we listen, that the protests make the news and that for a bit, at least, we talk about the issue. But that was the thing about the tea parties on April 15. Everybody seemed to be protesting something different, and some seemed to be protesting for the sake of protesting. Newt Gingrich, I'm looking at you. No, Wednesday was about...uhh...taxes. And...uh...government spending, too. And...uh...government in general. And stimulus. And bailouts. And...and...socialism. And there were all sorts of signs about mortgaging our children and Chairman Obama, and they were clever. But it didn't make any sense.

This April 15 tax bonanza was born of an unholy alliance between two parties that could not be stranger bedfellows if they tried. The idea of having a tea party was Libertarian in origin, one of Ron Paul's campaign stunts that caught fire with his followers. They are protesting taxation, as enumerated in Mr. Paul's campaign promise which is, best as I can tell, to do away with the IRS in favor of a tariff system. Then the Republicans jumped on the boat, which brought in the media attention. FOX News fanned the flames, and the talking heads on CNN and MSNBC, simply by virtue of their befuddled amusement - Rachel Maddow literally giggled through a segment on it - brought it to the attention of a wider audience. But the Republicans weren't protesting taxes, they were banging the fiscal responsibility drum, complaining about deficit spending and stimulus money, and conveniently ignoring, as usual, that their president ran up the deficit in the first place, and that the original bailout package, the mismanaged one that allowed AIG employees to make out like bandits, came in the waning days of his presidency.

Doing away with the tax code and reigning in government spending are not the same issue, and are barely even congruent. And then toss in turf wars among protesters, political and television personalities soapboxing about all manner of things, and Rick Perry threatening the succession of Texas, and the result was a muddled mess of soggy tea bags, security scares, and accusations that the liberal media elite was, yet again, chuckling at the expense of the working man. Oh, and at convention today, I listened as Naz attempted to delicately explain the meaning of the phrase "tea-bagging" to an elderly woman entering our prize drawing. You know. The original meaning. Awkward. But hilarious.

Adding another layer of sublime amusement is the history factor. You see, as any fifth grader can tell you, the Boston Tea Party wasn't about reforming a tax code or deficit spending, or even the size of government, really. It was about being egregiously taxed by a government in which we had no say. It was about asking why, exactly, England felt it could continuously screw the colonies by levying ridiculously high taxes and using the revenue to make sure colonial leaders were kept away from the influence of their constituents, and it was a fundamental question of liberty. Were the colonies "grown up" enough to govern themselves, or did they still require the stifling support of Mother England? Oh yeah, and it was in response to a tariff. That's some irony for you right there, Mr. Paul.

And yes, I'm certain that the Libertarian elements of the protest would say that the situation has not changed, and we've only ex hanged one system of repression for another. But come on. Every state has two senators, and a handful of representatives. We have popular elections for two of the three branches of government. The only citizens who have a right to complain about taxation without full representation are the residents of D.C., and the state of Minnesota.

England's response to the Boston Tea Party - the legit one - was, by the way, was to blockade Boston's port until the East India Company was paid for all the tea that was destroyed. The other colonies had to send emergency relief because the port was the only shipping artery for supplies into the Massachusetts colony. President Obama's reaction to this year's Tea Party? He acknowledged the tax code was outdated, and pledged to work on it. So, you know, that's the same.

As for everyone carrying a sign or wearing a t-shirt accusing Obama of promoting socialism or communism? China routinely jails activists and protesters without a trial or a term limit. People are taken, and never heard from again. Cuba tortures dissidents, and bans individual ownership of computers. In Russia, a democracy teetering, prominent oppositional voices are assassinated, and resulting trials are a joke. Some of the countries that include references to socialism in their constitutions include Syria, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Libya. So, protester friends, be very, very careful which terms you throw around, because you are allowed to gather freely, state your oppositional views, and nobody kills your family. The fact that you wore that shirt, marched with that sign, or marched at all without ending up in a detention cell for an indefinite term is a pretty surefire indication you live in a democracy.

Now, to those Republicans concerned about deficit spending. Well, you should be. It's bad. But what's worse is a prolonged depression that keeps people out of work and stashing money under mattresses. Two words, friends: Herbert Hoover. His administration tried several tactics to pull the country out of the depression, including protectionist measures (Buy American, anyone?) that backfired as foreign countries taxed American products to offset the resulting costs, favored "volunteer" based solutions that pieced together agreements by willing business and state interests over legislative action, and pre-Depression tax cuts that caused deficits and resulted in an actual tax increase in 1932. In the waning days of his presidency, in desperation, he put forth infrastructure investment packages and public works programs. These were adopted and expanded upon by FDR as part of his New Deal, which is widely credited for finally pulling the US out of the Great Depression. There are some parallels to be had here, and pay no mind to the glaring obviousness of it all. Hoover's action items are largely the same as those proposed or amended to bills by the GOP now. Protectionist measures, tax cuts, and an unwillingness to spend. And there's a reason Obama's stimulus package was called the New New Deal. It has been proven successful in the only testing ground that even remotely approaches what we're facing now.

We should all learn from our mistakes and our history.

Also? Probably a good idea to run key phrases through the Urban Dictionary. Just in case their vernacular meaning is to suck on someone's testicles.

If you think everything was fine at the legislature...

Last week, my Mother lost her job. Why should you, most likely a young reader, care? Well, don’t worry about me or my family; we’ll be fine. What you should worry about are your children. You see, after my mother retired from 20+ years of teaching kindergarten, she went to work as a mentor. She helps teachers who are in their first three years of the profession adapt to the difficulties of starting up. Davis County School District’s mentoring program was a model program; legislators cited it again and again as what the rest of the state should be doing.

In case you haven’t heard, Utah has a big problem with teachers. Some (Republican legislators) would try and tell you that it’s because they are lazy and overpaid. In reality, it’s because they’re overstressed with large class sizes, under-funded, and under-paid. Therefore, according to a 2006 Utah State Office of Education study, one-third new teachers left the profession in three years, and one half in five years. Well, some (Republican legislators) would tell you that just because all teachers are women and they like to have babies. There’s some truth in that; my mother took some time off teaching when me two sisters and I were born, not going back until I was five. But, if you’re like me, that sounds inherently sexist, and unfair to children too.

So what’s the solution? Well, some (Republican legislators) would try and tell you that we should just let anyone teach. It’s easy! No need to use proven mentoring programs, provide alternative routes to licensure, or maybe (just maybe) pay teachers a living wage, reduce class sizes, and simply build more schools.

No, no need to do that. It’s just our children.

Don’t worry about me, and my Mother doesn’t want you to worry about her either. She will keep working until the end of the school year. That’s when Davis County School District, and every school district across the state, loses their quality teaching funds. For some school districts, that just meant that they wouldn’t have to cut classroom days, though that still may happen. For Davis School District, the legislature’s cuts meant that the Mentoring Program is gone.

Unfortunately, my mother knows of some teachers who really needed her help, and were depending on it for the next two years. She knows that at least one may quit or move to a better paying, better funding state. That’s what makes my mother sad; it makes me angry.

So, next time you hear about how great this past legislative session was, how easy it was, how they actually adjourned before midnight, look deeper. I hope we hear more of about the problems that will come from a legislature and a governor who decided that a boom-and-bust economy is more important than one that sustained by an educated citizenry. But I guess that’s why they do it; couldn’t get re-elected if it were any other way.