Class Action
December 2007 E-news:
Class and Simplicity
 
In this Issue
 
1. Class and Simplicity
2. Articles
3. Book Review
4. Take our Survey
5. Resources on Class and Simplicity

6. Action of the Month
7. Class Action Published on tompaine.com
8. Zine - Call for Submissions
9. Get Involved with Class Action: Internships and Volunteer 
      Opportunities
10. Benefit Concert- Advertisers and Sponsors Sought!
   
1. Class and Simplicity

Bookstore shelves are filled with how-to guides and narrative descriptions of voluntary simplicity or simple living. This attention to simplicity has encouraged increasing numbers of people to “downshift” to a lifestyle minimizing consumption and the pursuit of wealth. 

The motivations behind these shifts vary, but many of the published materials on simplicity focus on improving individual quality of life or reducing stress.  Increased attention to global warming and lessening our individual carbon footprint inspire many others to make the shift.

But at least as important is the desire for equality and social justice.  As Vicki Robin notes in Jim Merkel’s Radical Simplicity, “You, I … along with perhaps 6.1 billion other humans and hundreds of billions of other creatures, live together on one planet.  The “have-nots” can be out of sight and even out of mind, but they breathe the same air, drink from the same scant supply of fresh water, and birth children who will grow up to work with our children to finish the job we’ve barely started; they will have to find a way for all of us to live well with the Earth’s means.”

Simplicity is, however, a voluntary choice.  With more and more people finding themselves laid off or unable to get a job with a living wage, lacking housing and a means of getting other basic needs met, many are forced into "involuntary simplicity" … better known as poverty, in all its un-glorified reality. 

And poverty cannot be addressed solely through individual actions and the “simple life”  … the isolated individual search to free ourselves from over-consumption and to create a lifestyle richer in non-material dimensions is not enough.  Change may start internally, but ultimately will only be meaningful if we advocate for “simple” social and economic policies that permit the needs of individuals in every socio-economic class to be adequately met.

As Mohandas Gandhi said:  “Live simply so that others may simply live.”

2. Related Articles of Interest on Simplicity

I Will Simply Survive: While the wealthy may strive for "simple living," the poor try simply surviving 

By Elizabeth Chin

In the early 1990s, I knew a 10-year-old boy named Davy who had never been to Toys "R" Us. When I told his story, people would often respond to this part of his life with a sort of sentimental longing. "How wonderful that he has never been to that awful place," they'd say. Davy's lack of experience, however, was a marker not of his protected status, but of his deprivation. Read More...

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Can We Have Social Justice In A Commercial Culture?

by Betsy Taylor 

Justice. The dictionary defines it this way: moral rightness; equity; fairness; right handling; due reward or treatment. These words are so hackneyed that they lack real meaning, and normative judgments are always viewed with skepticism. But there is something morally amiss in a culture that shows so much callousness towards the millions who cannot demonstrate their personal worth through material possessions. Read More...

3. Book Review

Graceful Simplicity: Towards a Philosophy & Politics of Simple Living by Jerome Segal

The Simple Living Network notes that Jerome Segal’s 2003 book Graceful Simplicity: Towards a Philosophy & Politics of Simple Living offers a new vision in which the central social objective is to make simple living feasible for all. Going beyond the well-known but more individually-focused simplicity guide, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Segal argues for institutional and societal change.

In the magazine YES!, John de Graaf, independent television producer and coproducer of the TV special “Affluenza” and co-writer of the book Affluenza, reviewed the book in this excerpt.  Read More...

4. Take our Survey

As the holidays approach, ads, websites and other media abound with suggestions on simplifying our celebrations.  What does your religious, spiritual or philosophical tradition say to you about simplicity and poverty, especially related to holidays?

Submit a response here. Read other survey responses here.

 
5. Resources on Class and Simplicity

Simple Living

New Dream

Simplicity Forum

Open Directory Project

Affluenza

Great River Earth Institute

Blogs:

Mindful Mission

WiseBread

Money Changes Things

6. Action of the Month

Living simply that others may live involves both individual lifestyle choices and advocacy.  For this month, think about how your purchases reflect your values … who and what are you supporting, and who is not being empowered with your choices?  Take a few minutes to share your reflections with a friend or family member.

Go to our Action page for a list of helpful websites concerning consumption and the everyday choices we make.

7. Class Action published on tompaine.com

"Wanna Talk Values?" an article by Rhonda Soto, Class Action’s Race/Class Intersections Coordinator, was published by tompaine.com recently.  The article offers a fresh commentary on recent Pew reports on a values gap between poor and middle-class blacks. Read More....
 

8. Class Action Zine - Call for Submissions

Class Action is publishing our second Zine and we need your help! Do you have thoughts, drawings, cartoons, poetry or any other kind of creative output concerning class?  Send it to us!  Email us submissions or call us with questions at 413.585.9709, ext. 201

9. Get Involved with Class Action:

Internships and Volunteer opportunities
Winter is here. If you are in the area for January, now’s a great time to get involved with Class Action. We’re looking for interns to help with marketing, communications, administration and program work. Click here for details. If you’d like to volunteer, please fill out a volunteer form, or just come by the office and fill one out. We’d like to meet you and find ways for you to get involved!

10. Class Action Benefit Concert on January 18th

It's hard to believe that January is right around the corner!  Please join us for our first Benefit Concert featuring Charlie King, Karen Brandow, Claudia Schmidt, and Sally Rogers at the All Souls UU Church in Greenfield, MA.

You can purchase tickets at our online store (or call 413.585.9709 x201).

To join our Concert Committee, email Tim.

To sponsor the concert or to advertise in our adbook, email Sarah.

We expect 300+ people at the concert and will be doing a lot of advance promotion, so get in early and we'll start mentioning you right away!