Lessons from the Amish

Part of having a little office/studio space in an old squat means that I have to clock working hours on the actual building. Thankfully hammering, scraping, or painting are all tasks that allow me the mental freedom to listen to my favorite podcasts all day long.. stopping for the occasional watermelon break.

Today’s audio gem which I strongly recommend comes from On Point, with Tom Ashbrooke. Always a great program, the most recent episode focuses on the Amish population of the United States. It features an author who spent many years living next door to Amish, getting to know them and becoming good friends. He did extensive research about different Amish communities and provides some really eye opening information about them… what I would label as both positive and negative details.

One particular detail that opened my eyes was the fact that Amish communities, especially some of the most conservative ones, have seen population BOOMS in the last decade… more than doubling their numbers!
– Imagine that… living in the US, while all these non-amishpeople, media, objects, not too far from your home.. and yet.. a whole community not only staying out of much of it.. but actually growing!

Beyond that he presents important lessons that the amish could offer the rest of the world.. including: buying and selling local. He talks about their tremendous skill and capacity for farming, and the great tradition of selling locally, to communities down the street. Now of course he talks about issues of education and patriarchy which present some troubling realities… but overall I was very impressed with what he learned about the Amish.

Recovery Work in Wisconsin

After posting yesterday’s podcast, I sent Rob a thank you email. He responded and proceeded to tell me of another disaster going on right now that Rainbow Rapid Response is going to tackle: the catastrophic flooding of farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Record rainfalls have led to terrible flooding in that part of the US. A few people have died, and a tremendous amount of organic farm land has been ruined. The last number I saw estimated 8 million$ in crops were lost. It has also been reported that alot of farmers who had crop insurance will not receive anything for this type of damage. (familiar story)

The great thing, if anything positive can be found in all this, it is the spirit of the Rainbow Rapid Response people. Not waiting for the notoriously slow and incompetent emergency response from the white house or congress, they’re already on their way to feed and shelter people who’ve lost everything. They’ve already put out the call for industrial kitchen equipment, large tents, communications equipment, and response vehicles. The least I can do besides write about it, is echo that call and provide links for where you can get informed and involved.

bm218 Remembering Search and Rescue in New Orleans

I recently gave a talk at the Chaos Communication Camp on the subject of New Orleans and the Federal Flood; a mix of my observations and research combined with all that I’ve learned from the many excellent NOLA bloggers. After the talk Rob Savoye walked up to me with lots of kind words, and explained that he was there in the days following the storm, working to give people medical care, food, and shelter. This podcast features his story. (recorded as the CCC was being dismantled around us)

Rob’s site
Rising Tide Conference

We discuss:
– His work as a search and rescue volunteer
– When Katrina hit, the decision to go
– First contact with victims and authorities
– Intimidation versus encouragement from different authorities
– Day to day tasks
– The importance of communication and art
– Keeping America interested
– How Rainbow families works
– The mainstream media
– Future disaster relief preparation

 

Disc Around the World

A friend of mine, the man who introduced me to ulimate frisbee, started the first ever league in Liberia. Years later he would introduce the sport in Trinidad and last I heard he was in Madagascar surely throwing disc with the local population.

Over the weekend I’m sitting down to dinner after the first day of an exhausting tournament here in Amsterdam, and one of the more recent arrivals to our league started talking about his own experience. Having recently moved to the Netherlands from Colorado, he spoke about how confident he was that he wouldn’t feel alone or lacking in things to do since there would surely be ultimate in the Netherlands. Indeed I’ve noticed, just as he said, the fact that in a very short time, he has become a beloved member of the Amsterdam frisbee family.

And that’s the magic that made me want to write today… the global tradition that welcomes you no matter where you are. The social sport that transcends language and culture, giving you that sense of belonging even in a place where maybe you otherwise don’t belong.

Then there’s the typical statement you hear for all team sports… the bringing together of different people from different walks of life.. for a social meetup and sporting competition. Where conflicts are resolved peacefully on the field, and differences are embraced as something to be cherished and shared. Classic explanation of a sport, but as far I’m concerned, the world could use less talk of going to war and preparing to fight allegedly insane and dangerous “enemies” that are – of course – so different from us. If they only designated more parks and fields, and made more funds available for these kinds of activities.. then you’d see real conflict resolution and cross cultural understanding.

But of course, compared to the military business that helps make certain politicians and corporations unfathomably wealthy – encouraging a nonprofit peace enhancing sport is apparently bad business.

Ultimate Recovery

Slight delay as Ive been playing intense ultimate frisbee all weekend. Lots of topics and programs coming up though..

Mid August Listening

Busy work and social life welcomes me back to Amsterdam. Plus frisbee all weekend. Therefore, two recommendations is what I leave you with.

1 – Naomi Klein, one of my journalistic idols and someone I learn alot from.. speaking at some conference recently, aired on democracynow. She gets into globalization, the business of war, and looking back to how we got here.

2 – On Point episode focusing on the American Prison population. Ever growing and out of control, they get into not only who is in prison but why and what is happening to cities like Newark. An issue that deserves much more media attention then it gets.