12/26/2024

Happy Boxing Day, JRB,

            My heart sank when I saw that you were off to the Virgin Islands today. While you may need some time at the beach, why not just stay in DE? You like to reminisce about your working-class roots & claim you are still that kid who grew up in Scranton, but when you go to fancy places for holiday it’s clear you prefer a wealthier way of life.  I will suspend judgement but encourage more modest vacations in the future.

            My expansive read of the news today has me thinking about indigenous people. In particular, the Pit River people of Northern CA & the Naga tribal people in Burma. We have so much to learn from those who live close to the land & tune into the flora & fauna of their region.

They read their environment so much differently than colonizers. Rather than seeking to control, extract & transform, they revere. They attend to detail & are keen to subtle changes. They celebrate germination, growth & death as gifts from the planet rather than imbuing these processes as under the power of an authoritarian figure who somehow sees all, knows all & controls all.

I risk overgeneralizing here, as each group of humans is unique, complex & dynamic, but I believe the quest to dominate others & force them to change their ways eventually fails & diminishes the oppressor as much, if not more than, the oppressed.

 My asks for the day are:

1)    Designate Sáttítla & its environs as a National Monument to protect it from geothermal development & logging. According to Brandi McDaniels, a member of the Pit River Tribe, “it glistens & twinkles – deep black, but shiny like diamonds.” 160 scientists think it’s a “hydrological treasure” & “an essential factor towards California’s long-term resilience to climate change.”

2)    Draw attention to the plight of the Naga Hills area of the Sagaing Region of Burma where starving citizens are being forced to convert to Buddhism so they can eat. They deserve self-determination.

3)    Fix the contact the WH website.

BYBS,

RCA