Making a Better World: Looking for (Lots) of Good (People)

While doing the morning chores, still inevitable even if Occupy has become a full-time second job, I was musing on why the world still seems to be going to hell in handbasket despite the efforts of many good people. This got me thinking about people and different kinds of them and what they're doing with their short time on this planet. With respect to what it takes to make life on this earth fulfill it's wonderful potential, I think we can categorize people on a four-dimensional framework along these four dimensions: ability to work hard, education/intelligence, empathy and the desire for power or self-aggrandizement. We can dispense for now with talking about the vast majority of the world's people, because, thankfully, most of them are pretty much in the middle on all these scales. These are the Good-enoughs, and if there were no bad people in the world, this would be fine. In fact, everything those of us who desire a better world do, we do so the Good-enoughs can just be themselves. Damage to society (but also it's repair) is caused by a small percentage who fall to extremes of these scales. One type is easy to recognize. These are the psychopathic killers who totally lack empathy, fulfilling their own desires with no feeling of connection to other beings.They may be more or less intelligent and not much interested in power on a societal scale. Other humans are as easily destroyed by these individuals as many might destroy a spider just because they don't like spiders. Fortunately there are a very few of such people. Those who also desire power become sociopathic leaders of movements. The harm they do can be tremendous. People may be taken in by this type but eventually the damage they cause becomes apparent and their badness recognized. There is a third type that most people are able to recognize as bad (but here we get into a gray area where people get a little unsure and sometimes may even admire this type). These people are very hard working, highly intelligent, have empathy only for close friends or family, and have a great desire for power. They mostly come from circumstances which, due to poverty or discrimination, make it impossible for them to succeed in the legal world. These are the world's mafia leaders and gang leaders and successful purveyors of all sorts of illegal things that are damaging to society. They differ very little in personality from the next type, which is very widespread, not generally recognized as bad, and because they operate legally and often have the support and admiration of others, are probably the most damaging type of all. These individuals, like the mafia or gang leader, are hard working, highly intelligent, have empathy only for those close to themselves and have a great desire for power. People of this type come from circumstances which allow them to succeed in the legal world and to rise to positions of wealth, power and prestige. They don't operate against the law, they operate around it, even changing laws to favor themselves. Their intelligence allows them to hoodwink the vast bulk of good-enough people into believing that they are benefactors of society. They are truly wolves in sheep's clothing. The majority Good-enoughs are either unable to understand the damage they cause (This sometimes involves being able to understand fairly large systems, something that not everybody cares about or is good at or has been educated to understand), or because the Good-enoughs are up to their gills in all the work they can handle just with everyday life and don't have energy left over to fight this type, or because the Good-enoughs themselves don't have empathy for much of anybody besides family and friends, so just don't care about the victims. So this type operates generally unchallenged, slowly accumulating power and leaving behind an increasingly damaged world about which they care very little. It is because of these people that our world will continue to become a less happy and healthy place to live for the majority of living things. They may even succeed in destroying the planet entirely. So who are these people? They are leaders of corporations, religious organizations and charities. They are elected government officials and unelected heads of state. They are educated, respectable, law-abiding people with nice homes (usually lots of them) and nice families. They run companies that sell us stuff we want with one hand and with the other hand, keep workers in poverty, pollute the environment, and make us sick. They head companies that sell us cigarettes, sugary drinks and products loaded with chemicals whose safety has not been proven. In the name of profit they cut safety corners and workers die. They tell us to think only of the next life or send us on off on tangents chasing hot-button social issues with no solution. Divide and conquer. They distract us with every possible new shiny gadget and tawdry interpersonal scandal of the "stars". They sing to our love of country and send us off to wars that benefit only them. They play on our essential goodness and collect large sums of money to cure this or that disease. They don't tell us about the people selling us stuff that causes these diseases. So who is challenging these people? Only this type, the ones who are intelligent, hard working, have lots of empathy and very little desire for power. But alas, there are way too few. But we can make more. The few can help educate the many through media both old and new, we can be honest with people whose hearts are in the right place about how much truly hard work it will be to make a better world, how early in the morning they will have to get up and how late at night they will have to go to bed, we can try to help people understand the connections between all of us and our world, and we can be shining examples of the true happiness that comes from helping others, a happiness that power can never bring. The challenge is huge. Are you one of these smart, hardworking, empathetic, humble people? Will you start working hard to repair the damage caused by these predators?

Art Show at "The 99" June 9

What a Lot We have Done!

As we look toward having a permanent locus in the community of Newport, here are a few photos of the many things NEK 99% has done over the last year and a half! This year we planning art shows, community classes and and many other events and actions in the community. Great work Occupy the NEK!

Occupy the NEK Gallery and Community Space Opening Soon

Stay tuned for more info about our new space on Main Street in Newport.

The NEK 99% Newport City Community Survey Is Done!

Survey Results: NEK 99% Survey of 200 Current and Recent Newport City Residents When the Survey Was Done: People were surveyed from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013. Most people were surveyed during daytime hours both on week days and weekends. Because of this, the survey may over-represent people not currently working due to retirement or unemployment. (Twenty-five percent of respondents indicated that their “work life could be made easier” simply by “finding a job”, which one would hope over-estimates the rate of unemployment in Newport City.)

Who Was Surveyed: Respondents were overwhelmingly current Newport City residents, but a few Newport City residents who had recently moved filled out the survey. One or 2 Newport Town residents were also included due to misunderstandings. Surveyed individuals ranged from teenagers to senior citizens. Very few people who were approached declined to fill out the survey. Respondents had been in the Northeast Kingdom for one month to over 70 years. Most get information by watching TV. Reminding us that this is a small town, the second way of getting information was word-of-mouth, followed by the newspaper. Under “Other”, 7% listed the internet or web sites as separate from Facebook (29%) or e-mail (26%) as a way to get information. One person listed “wife” as a main source of information. We live in a car culture. 81.5% of respondents travel by car, and 57% either walk when they're not driving or get places exclusively by walking.

Where the Survey Was Done: People were surveyed on the sidewalks in front of the Family Dollar, One Stop, Vista, the Emory Hebard Building and the Municipal Building as they exited from voting in November and March. People were surveyed indoors at two community meals, two indoor tag sales, at NEKCA, at North Country Hospital, Newport Natural Foods, the Woodknot Book Shop, and the Brickhouse. Sixteen students at North Country Union High School filled out the survey with teacher permission.

How the Survey Was Done: People were asked to pick what interested them and to leave items which did not interest them or didn't apply to them blank. They could pick as many items as they wanted. Work related items fall toward the bottom of the list probably because some respondents were unemployed due to retirement, being students, unemployment or disability and the items didn't apply to them.

WHAT NEWPORT CITY PEOPLE WANT
Clothing Stores on Main Street and Cleaning Up the Lake Are Top Priorities for Those Surveyed

Clothing stores on Main Street, cleaning up the lake and more affordable housing were most on the minds of these Newport City residents, followed by fostering attitudes of valuing all citizens and promoting respect. In public safety, safer streets at night was more of interest than more law enforcement in general. People said access to more nutritious food was a priority, as was a department store on Main Street and free classes to learn new skills. 29.5% of respondents said they would appreciate better wages. Those who indicated how much this would be put values from $8 per hour to $20 per hour. 25% said they would be happy just to find a job.

Every category included a space for “Other”. Under “Making changes in healthcare services” 5.5% listed “Affordable or Cheaper”. In the food category, 3.5% of people wrote in “More Affordable” or “Cheaper” . Providers of human services and mental health services might want to note that 6.5% of people wrote in “niceness, more respect, nicer, less grumpy, more support and attention” under “Making changes in human services” and Making changes in mental health services”.

Possibly just kidding, two people suggested a Victoria's Secret on Main Street. Four mentioned Walmart and three suggested electronics stores or a Gamestop.

NEK 99% Survey: “Other” Responses

Information: Internet (14), wife, Tumblr. Work: more hours (2), less stress, be self-employed, personal days paid, gratitude for work. Healthcare Services: More affordable (11), healthier food, single payer, treat pain, universal access (3), non-profit, better record keeping, see MD intead of PA, teeth and glasses covered (2), better record-keeping, less filling out forms, alternative medicine (2). Human and Mental Health Services: mental health client-based not diagnosis based, less enabling, work to earn support, dignity not stigma, help people get off services (2), less welfare, human services in town, central location, beds for more mental health patients, more one-on-one mental health, monitor mental health medications, more access for elderly to services, Jesus, respect to mentally needy, nicer (4), more respect (3), niceness (3), more understanding (2), treat clients better, more support and attention, affordable, suicide [prevention?] help, better communication. Food: More affordable or cheaper (7), vegan/vegetarian options, better quality. Stores on Main Street: Outdoor recreation, electronics (2), Gamestop, Victoria's Secret (2), American Eagle, a motel, TJ Maxx, book stores, 5-10 stores, Walmart (4), mix of stores, fabric, coffee shops, natural food stores.
Making Community Life Better: Close off Main St., better parades, keeping things clean and nice, more access to lake, NEKCA more helpful, activities for special needs kids. Housing: tenant responsibility (3), good condition, less welfare, better quality, housing for homeless.
Attitudes: Following through with plans, get to know neighbors, smiling, improve teenagers, help neighbors, stop seeing differences as enemies, better attitudes through education. Safety: Police taking respectable citizens at their word and not treating like criminals, getting the bums off the street, no bars, no druggies, no loitering, jailing drug dealers for 20 years, better law enforcement officers, less law enforcement (2), love your neighbor, more education funding, curfew (2), more accountability (2), more police foot patrol.

"Money as Debt" Thursday March 28 at 6 PM

“Money as Debt” An animated documentary from Paul Grignon. Everything you always wanted to know about our monetary system but didn't think to ask. Thursday March 28 at 6 PM, State Conference Room, 2nd floor, Hebard Building, 100 Main St. Newport. Presented by NEK 99%. FREE.

EDUCATION

EDUCATION So in the modern technological age, why is education still stuck in the old, expensive models? Why do we transport students, not lectures via internet? Why do we have students live on a campus at a high cost, both to the environment and the students’ families. Why can’t we let them tele-commute? Why do we pay professors to set up their offices on a campus, teach a class or two and write their books or perform research. With the access to the internet, professors could compete to prepare the best courses, the best lectures, the best teaching models and sell them to users at any university. The cost of paying lecturers and professors would be transferred from universities to consumers, the students. Competition on the internet for the best education will reward the best educators. Period. No more lecture halls, - remodel these into study cells with computerized scheduling for any group to form or meet regularly or ad hoc to study together, to download lectures and share expenses, to tutor each other or hire tutors (graduate students then can be self supporting if they really know their stuff), to practice Socratic dialogue, to mentor, to study, to learn. Dorms can be re-imagined as studios, as housing for the elderly, for the poor! (Not just poor students). We can finally separate sports from education and let the campuses rent out all athletic facilities to leagues or individuals. Athletes will have to pay the universities, not the other way around. All those wonderful quads can be made into gardens and feed the area residents who have been feeding students. Students can achieve credits in a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways; passing competency achievement tests in knowledge areas (standardized such that excellence receives higher scores than mediocrity) portfolios peer review projects products And all the research professors did on campuses at the expense of universities, families and students? Who will pay for that? - the ones that currently pay for it - large pharmaceuticals, big corporations, federal government. And they can rent the labs and facilities from the universities. What will be left to the universities - computerized management of schedules, fees for lectures, fees for credits, matching students to tutors, maintaining records, renting facilities..... and all this can be out-sourced to the Bahamas. Mary Brenner