11/1/2023

JRB,

How do you calm yourself? That’s the question that the Mr G asked his 5th graders yesterday. Some watch TV. Some eat ice cream. One calls a friend. A couple do art. I suggested meditation, but wish I had said something about “flow,” M. Csikszentmihalyi’s idea that when the self loses itself in a transcendent activity, by being creative or productive, the self becomes largely invulnerable to the fears and setbacks of ordinary existence.  So, the kids who do art to de-stress are onto something.

Thanks for doing what you can to take action against insidious fees that are often hidden by deceptively low prices charged to folks trying to save for retirement. As you noted in your remarks yesterday, every $ matters.   

What made you decide to choose the Duck Creek Farm (DCF) as your destination today? You could launch your “Investing in Rural America” program anywhere, why pick Northfield, MN? I hope DCF doesn’t have a carbon offset program because they tend to be incompatible with sustainable agriculture & drive further consolidation of farms. 

You could have gone to Callaway, MN, instead, where Native Harvest works to maintain the ag practices of the Chippewa. They are harvesting wild rice right now which would be fun to see.

            Going there would enable you to talk up the farm bill & advocate for funding the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) & Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). You could emphasize that no conservation funding should go toward expanding farming practices that cause environmental harm. We should be promoting native practices instead.

            Did you see the piece in the WP today where the editors suggest you can convince the world that the U.S. is serious on climate by curtailing trade protectionism. They argue we need batteries from China so this de-risking policy is counterproductive. I tend to agree.

            Let’s continue to hold the people living in insecurity in the Light.  Especially those in Burma, Gaza & Ukraine.

            BYBS,