To Die For

Good evening Sisters and Brothers!  Life's lovely ironies never cease to amaze the Reverend.  Take, for example, the word Amortization.  Amortization is the process of describing or calculating an owed amount of principal and interest over time, typically a debt such as a mortgage.  This would be a mortgage not unlike that which many of our Brethren carry on a family home.  

The word Amortization comes from Latin by way of a few twists and turns of the French over the centuries.  Amorteser comes from the Vulgar Latin, Admortire, "to kill", which has, as its Classic Latin root, Morte, or "death."  Well then, Brethren.  It seems that the very root of the word that accountants use to describe paying down debt exhorts us to bring about the death of our debt.  

Amortization is a way to mathematically plot the progress of debt payment over time, showing the relationship between principal owed and interest owed at a given point in the debt, or loan's, term.  For example, at the beginning of a 30-year mortgage, a home "owner" will be paying almost all interest, the so-called "servicing" of the debt.  As time goes on over the life of the loan, more and more of the money paid will go to paying down the principal, the actual purchase price.  This is standard amortization.

As we all know, Brothers and Sisters, housing debt, the typical mortgage, is not the consumer debt that concerns the Rev.  The real demon is unsecured consumer debt, mostly in the form of credit cards, but also in lines of credit and second mortgages on houses.  The other big player in running up our debt are auto loans.  With very few exceptions, autos, motos, boats, big-screen TVs and family vacations are not investments.  These are not purchases that maintain value over time.  These types of purchases may retain a semblance of resale value, but they are in no way investments that will yield a return of capital.  Thus, when these items are purchased on credit, they become a double drain, one that can do us to death if we don't amortire our debts before they amortire us.

Here are a few examples of how a credit amortization schedule can bring home the cold, hard facts about the cost of consumer debt.  Let us assume that there is a hard-working Sister or Brother, living in a regular town, with a regular job, doing the best they can.  Our Brethren had some unexpected health issues and, with sub-standard insurance, ended up owing $10,000 which they put on the credit card.  This is a real-life scenario that is all too common.  Let's assume an annual percentage rate (APR) of 15% on that ole' credit card, a bit below the average rate one sees on the street.  If our Brother or Sister is still strapped for cash, working hard to keep their head above the water, maybe they can only make the minimum payment.  So it goes.

Here are the brutal facts about that situation:  A $ 10,000 debt, paid out over time by making only the minimum payments, will take approximately 27 years to pay off.  Yes, folks, 27 years.  Over the course of that 27 years, our unfortunate Sister or Brother will pay about $ 11,700 in interest, in addition to the $ 10,000 originally charged.  Yes, Brethren, that's right, a grand total of $ 21,700.

Now, I can hear the cries as I describe this space between the hard place and the rock:  "Rev! What is the Brethren supposed to do when faced with a choice like that?  Do they go without healthcare, or go into debt?"  I agree with you, Sisters and Brothers, its a bargain with the Devil. What I am asking is that all of us, each of our Brethren, be aware of the consequences of our actions as consumers.  For every scenario such as we have described above, there are thousands of purchases where credit is used without dire need, without thought of the repercussions and without awareness.  There is a reason we are a people awash in our own debt.

Yesterday, one of the Brethren reminded me of the quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains..."  With the ease and cunning of a snare, purchases of consumer goods can trap us in debt.  These are chains that, often as not, we forge ourselves.  It is a hard truth, Brethren, a hard truth indeed.  I have personally held the hammer and tongs and fashioned my own chains of debt.  I have been blinded by the lure of the cargo and have indebted myself in pursuit of it.  But no more, Brothers, not again Sisters!

Everyday, we have to strive to raise our awareness of the many chains, traps and pitfalls that are thrown before us by the Down-Pressor.  The corporations want us to be in debt.  The more indebted we are, the more we support and further the system of linear consumption that the corporations thrive on.  We have to see the chains before we can break them asunder.  I urge you Brethren, see the chains for what they are and strike a blow! 

Remember our mission:  Freedom through Reduction of Personal Debt! 

More Lightening

 Good Evening Friends and Neighbors.  The Rev apologizes for what might seem like slacking on the message, but, even in the midst of the struggle, the duties of life call.     


A few days back, one of our Brethren, who chose to remain anonymous, posted the following comment in response to the blog entry titled Lightening:


 "I imagine it could be difficult to "re-enter" esp. when you've identified with your East Asian Brethren. What you've shared with the individuals you met on your journey you share with folks here. Rev. SE is passionate about his Brothers and Sisters. No matter how much stuff you get rid of that won't change."

Sisters and Brothers, The Rev will straight up admit that he is missing our Southeast Asian Brethren in the worst way.  S'Truth, I'm here to tell you.  The Brother or Sister who posted the comment quoted above has obviously been reading one of my other blogs, the SE Asia Re-Dux.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will post up the link:

http://se-asia-redux.blogspot.com/

What is also true is that what I share with those I meet on my journey, I share with each and every Brother and Sister on the planet.  Today, via the wonders of the internet, I was discussing this very thing with a most Righteous Sister who is presently in Bangkok.  We were talking about the "Heart Voice," that quiet, inner voice that guides us at a deeper level, gives us empathy for our fellow travelers, and informs us when the "Mind Voice" is chattering away, distracting and confusing things.  

We have discussed the concept of Indra's Net in past blog entries, but it seems particularly apt at this moment.  If we think of all of the beings in the world as glowing jewels cast across the night sky, and then imagine a net of beautiful strands that link all of the jewels to all of the other jewels, we have an image of Indra's Net.  Pluck at one jewel, and the entire net vibrates, affecting all of the other jewels.  We are, each of us, connected to all of our Brethren all across the globe.  Our actions cause reactions that reverberate outwards across the Net, for good or ill.  Whether we call it the Collective Subconscious, as Jung did, or Indra's Net, or any of the many differing descriptions, the concept runs through mystical teachings in many cultures, lands and peoples.  

Yes, The Reverend is passionate about his SE Asian Brothers and Sisters, just as he is passionate about each and every one of our Brethren across this amazing planet.  And what the Rev is most passionate about, is that each of our Brethren has the opportunity to live a freer and more fulfilled life.  There are many ways to strive for these goals.  My purpose, my sole reason for coming to you, is to lay out a message.  The message, the message Brethren, is that one powerful way to lead a freer life is to cast off the chains of consumerism and its foul counterpart, consumer debt.  

To break the chains, Sisters and Brothers, we have to see the chains.  The gossamer net that links us all together is a wondrous thing.  The chains of debt that bind us to the corporations are foul.  One connection is empowering, the other is enslaving.  

Fight the Power!  Strike a blow by paying down the debt!  Remember, "If 20% Pay Down 20% We Strike A Blow!!"

Re-entry Re-Dux

Commenting on the post "Re-Entry", one of the Brethren said:


"I imagine it would be difficult to come from a land of "Big Humanity Little Resources and Consumption" back to a familiar "Maybe Less Than Big Humanity Molto Resources & Obscene Consumption" esp. when you identify with the little guys and call the obscene guys home. Do you feel ashamed? Do you feel you are here by chance and it's not right that so many take the material for granted? It's not really the Rev's agenda but it's worthy of a conversation"


The Reverend does love dialogue, especially when it comes from one of the Brethren, so let's dive on in...

There is, of course, a significant disparity between the resources of the First World and that of the Third World.  (I know that some folks object to the "first-third" terminology but I don't have a better alternative at hand, so bear with and excuse me)  The Rev has made this re-entry before, as many other good folks have.  This is not a new struggle, and better writers and more agile thinkers than myself have tackled this very same issue.  Nonetheless, for me, the return from this latest journey has been the hardest yet.  The transition between the two worlds casts the varying degrees of consumption into a glaring light.  There is, in fact, a sharp contrast to the level of consumption between a villager in Northern Lao, and a city dweller in Seattle, Washington.  No matter how much a First World citizen tries to live in a small-impact way, the very fact of being a member of the most consumer oriented group on the planet virtually guarantees that his or her impact on the planet's resources will be greater than that of a Lao villager.  

The Brethren refers to the difference of the "Big Humanity -vs- Maybe Less Than Big Humanity"  It is true that  there is a fundamental difference in the way folks interact as villagers, and how folks interact as members of the First World.  Lao and Thailand are primarily Buddhist countries, and that explains part of what our Brethren may be referring to as "Big Humanity."  There is, however, more to it than that.  I believe that a rural lifestyle, based on a village society, requires intense cooperation.  Khmer or Hmong people in Lao simply don't have the capital to buy their way out of problems.  They have to barter, ask for help, or work together as a family or extended community to solve a dilemma.  In modern urban societies, citizens are often able to simply call someone, pay them, and the problem is fixed.  We are not as dependent on our friends and neighbors as we once were in the past, when our western society was also primarily agrarian.  

Yes, I identify with "the little guys" as mentioned in the comment.  I strive to identify with all of our Brothers and Sisters in the world, but the Rev has a special place in his heart for the small villages of Northern Thailand and Lao, mostly as a direct result of how the folks there have received and treated me.  I do not know that I "call the obscene guys home." but I think I know what the comment refers to.   I was born in the First World, and no matter where I travel, that is my background.  My country of birth, the United States, is certainly home to a great many of the corporations that are an integral part of the obscenity of over-consumption.  It is important to remember the multi-national nature of the modern corporation, but many of these huge entities started out in the States.

Our Brethren ask me if I am ashamed.  The answer, simply, is no.  Where I was born, and when, are details of my life that were out of my control.  Hence, there is nothing to feel shame about. 

It is the Reverend's belief that guilt and shame are not the most useful tools for accomplishing change.  My goal is to call attention to the pitfalls of over-consumption and consumer debt amongst our brethren.  With over-consumption and consumer debt comes the intrusion into our lives, and control over our lives, by corporate interests.  My belief is that increased corporate control over society and government has a negative impact on all of us.  Being shameful over being born in the United States, rather than a Lao village, does not further the accomplishment of my goal, nor does it make me a better person, nor does it even make sense.  Feeling guilt over whatever position I hold in the world does not make me a better citizen of that world.  How I choose to act determines whether I am worthy to be a citizen of the world.

The Rev does indeed believe, as mentioned in the comment, that he is "here by chance."  I have no more right to the resources of the world than any other of our Sisters and Brothers.  Much of what I possess comes to me by the very chance that caused me to be born a citizen of the First World.  I know that people will say that they worked hard to earn what they have, and I applaud them for that.  The simple truth is, starting out in the First World is a whole lot easier than starting out with the same set of talents and abilities in the Third World.

Lastly, yes, The Rev is appalled by the level of consumption in our society and by the amount of cargo that society takes for granted.  This does not mean that I am advocating all of our Brethren to renounce worldly goods and wear sackcloth in the desert.  The Rev is not against our Brothers and Sisters having the stuff that makes life pleasurable and good and safe.  What we are talking about is raising our level of awareness about the nature and impacts of consumerism.  Acquiring the goods that help make our lives comfortable and safe for ourselves and our families is one thing.  Acquiring more than we need, without any regard for the impact that we are having on the rest of the planet, is another thing entirely.  

Thanks for the comments.  Please keep them coming!

In the meantime, be strong, be aware, be well, and Fight the Power!!

Lightened

Hello Friends and Neighbors.  The Reverend is forced to admit to nursing a heavy heart.  The process of re-integrating into the First World is proving more daunting than previous experiences.  Life goes on, however, and whether I wish it or not, so do I.

Sisters and Brothers, we have had discussions on the nature of stuff.  I find myself, once again, dealing with the lure and bondage of possessions, and woe it is.  As Hamlet cleverly opines, 

"For 'tis the sport to have the engineer

 Hoist with his own petard, an shall go hard..."

Once back in the First World, amongst my cargo, I am confronted by the futility of my utility in amassing.  While the moves of the last year have seen my goods sorted and boxed, and some junk returned to the gyre of worthless circulation, there is still simply too much stuff.  Forgive me Saint George, for I have sinned.  

In truth, I have parted with the easy things, trinkets and bits in boxes and bins that were unknown or forgotten, until disturbed by the need to tote them.  This box of moto pieces, and that bin of tarnished treasures, once discovered, were dealt with.  Trifles that caused not a backward glance, Brethren.  It was shallow work.

No more.  The Rev, more than anyone, has to walk the talk.  Here in the Fortress, I have even more room in which to store acquired goods, so I must be even more vigilant against the temptation of The Stuff.  So I am selling the Ducati.  Not the work-a-day modern moto, but the real treasure, the 1977 900 SS.  Its true, and the deal is done.  Regardless of our mutual past glories, it has become a treasure that I do not cherish. It is time to pass the treasure on to someone else who will.  This parting is not without price, and as such has a more solid value than another dusty box of forgotten kit.  

I am not advocating that all of our Brethren run out and divest themselves of all of their swag.  The goods that bring us joy, that make out lives sweeter, these things are, indeed treasures.  We can, and should, revel in them.  When the time comes to lighten the load, I only wish for the wisdom to see it, and take action with a lightened heart and no sense of regret.  

I cannot hope to free myself from all of the chains of desire, the pull of the Stuff.  But I do want to strive, Brothers and Sisters, to be able to recognize the chains for what they are.  When I see the things as they really are, it makes it that much easier to spit in the Down-Pressor's eye, when snake-oil he does try to sell. 

Be strong Brethren, Be real, and Strike a Blow !! 

The Kudzu of Retail Commerce

Good day Brothers and Sisters!

Any of our Good Brethren lucky enough to have traveled across our Southeastern United States will have seen kudzu, even if they didn't know what they were looking at.  This invasive vine, ubiquitous across whole states, will grow over and cover anything that doesn't move out of its way, including trees, buildings, vehicles and Burma Shave signs.  Regretfully, about the only thing that kudzu won't grow over and obliterate is Walmart.  I guess its a case of professional courtesy shown between one creeping blight and another.

http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/

Having just returned from traveling the back-country of Thailand and Lao, I am dealing with the jolting re-entry into the First World.  For me, one of the most notable differences between Thailand and Lao, on the one hand, and the US on the other, is the way retail commerce is carried out.  What we in the West call "stores" are not the norm in SE Asia as I know it.  Where there are actual stores, they are most often small, open fronted affairs that are family owned and operated.  At night the shutters are rolled down tight and the day is done.  In many cases, however, purchases of food, clothes and durable goods are made from stalls in one of the many markets, either the official markets operating in a designated area, or the myriad of foods stalls and hawkers of goods that spring up on almost any street, at any time of day.

Businesses in Thailand and Lao, whether stalls, markets, or actual stores, usually open directly onto the street or sidewalk.  In many places, the sidewalk is not for walking at all, but is used as additional space for more marketing by folks selling spring rolls, fruit, shoes, or underwear.  To walk on a sidewalk in Bangkok is to thread a gauntlet of tightly packed entrepreneurial enterprise in action.

When one shops in a small town in Lao, there is no avoiding being directly in contact with the people who run the establishment.  Very often, the things you are purchasing are being manufactured, or cooked, right in front of you.  That evenings chicken curry may well feature the chicken who dodged around your feet earlier in the day.  Free-range takes on a whole new meaning in these countries.

There are, however, changes taking place.  Although Lao, for the most part, remains more resistant to large stores and supermarkets, the Rev has seen the creeping vine of the big box store with my own saddened eyes.  Tesco, the English version of Walmart, is making inroads in the larger provincial cities in Thailand.  I drove past one example in the new town of Lopburi.  I can only hope that the monkeys who make the old city their home will engage in raiding the big box store, wreaking similar havoc on the tall shelves there as they do in the small shops around the temple.

Maybe that's the answer to the blight of big-box consumerism:  The Flying Monkeys

Of course the real answer to being aware of the hidden cost of Tesco, Walmart and others of their ilk, is to know the devil when the devil shows his face.  The Rev would be lying to you if I said the impacts of big box retailing are simple.  They are not, nor are the solutions to those impacts.  However, what is a simple truth is that Tesco and Walmart hide the cost of their goods  by under-paying their workers, denying their workers healthcare, and then allowing those healthcare costs to be passed on to the local governments.  This means that while the taxpayers at a local Walmart may think they are getting a better deal on an item, the real cost of that item is being taken out of their community and their own taxes.

In countries like Thailand and Lao, the cultural effects are far-reaching.  And, as in the US, no one is forcing the Thai people to shop at Tesco.  But just as small town main street businesses in America are driven to economic despair by a Walmart on the edge of town, so will Tesco impact the local marketing culture in SE Asia.

Thailand and Lao already have an "eat local" movement as it is now so often, and rightly so, touted in the West.  And just as surely as the emerging local food movement is a threat to corporations in the West, subverting the existing ancient local food culture in Asia is a goal big box corporations in the East.  The Down-Pressor just calls it a "market opportunity."

For more perspectives on Tesco and Walmart, here are just a few of many, many websites exploring these issues.  The site dealing with Walmart does a good job of exploring some of the complexities of the big box phenomena.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/marketing_material/tesco_takeover_leaflet.pdf

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogaug06/walmart2.html

In the meantime, all of us need to remember, how we spend our money is how we distribute our power.  The economists call this a consumer based society for a reason.  We simply need to remember who has the power.  Without our capital, the corporate demons starve.

Brethren, be well, be strong, and Fight the Power!!

Re-Entry

Hello Friends and Neighbors.  While the Rev is currently struggling with re-entering the first world, I suppose that it is important to get back to work, and back to the message.

During my recent travels, I was reading, amongst other things, a two-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt.  "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by  Edmund Morris, and "Theodore Rex" by the same author, chart the amazing early life of Roosevelt and, in the companion volume, the contentious years of the Roosevelt presidency.  

Theodore Roosevelt was a contradictory and fascinating character, intensely interesting.  Many of Roosevelt's actions and beliefs are so at odds with each other that they are difficult to reconcile.  His blood lust as a hunter, juxtaposed with his force as one of the founders of the policy of resource conservation, is just one example of the seemingly polar opposition of his beliefs.  

There are many things that "Teddy" did and said which are consistent with his background as a person of privilege.  And yet, at the same time, Roosevelt began to challenge the nascent corporations and the new phenomena of trusts in American business.  Some of the issues that he raised seem prophetic today.  

"It is no limitation upon property rights of freedom of contract to require that when men receive from government the privilege of doing business under corporate form... they shall do so upon absolutely truthful representations...  Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefor our right and duty to see that they work in harmony with these institutions."  Theodore Roosevelt's Message to Congress, 1903.

One of the reasons that corporations have become the enormous entities that they are, is because they do business with the governments of the world.  The governments provide a huge market for the goods and services that the corporations offer.  No private customer can possess the buying power of a government that requires military armaments, transportation infrastructure, or energy production.  Selling guns, bridges and power grids to the government, to use the same three examples, is good business.

Mega-markets, on the order of defense contracts, are created solely by government sized consumers.  Since corporations like General Electric have reaped huge benefits from the award of defense contracts, why should they not be held to the standard of being trustworthy participants, bound to the same compact and conduct, with the government that is making them rich?

Of more specific complaint would be companies such as Halliburton, Brown-Root, or a smaller company now know as Academi, once Xe Services and prior to that the by apt moniker Blackwater.  These corporations, from the enormous to the merely deadly, exist primarily as parasites on the US government, as well as other hosts.  Halliburton and Brown-Root, both connected with the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal, benefited from the "no-bid" contracts to supply services to US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Blackwater was a private army, with whom the US contracted for security services in Iraq.

Halliburton and Brown-Root, as previously mentioned, had "No-bid" contracts with US military to supply housing, food services, and other support for US troops.  Think about that My Brethren, a "No-Bid" contract.  That means, in essence, that a company provides goods or services without a prior agreement as to price.  Once the goods or services are rendered, a billing is sent to the US Government, who pays it.  I ask you, Sisters and Brothers, who among us can afford to do our shopping this way?  Anyone?  Of course not.  And yet, when called to account, the corporate officers of Halliburton and Brown-Root, who have counted among their numbers Cheney and Rumsfeld, became testy that government officials were questioning some of the corporate billing practices.  

Blackwater, of course, is an even more heinous example.  The US, in its infinite wisdom, hired these mercenary cowboys to provide "security" for officials travelling around Iraq.  In the course of these duties, the Blackwater folks killed more than a few innocent Iraqi civilians.  Changing their name two times does not absolve these trigger-happy maniacs,  hired by tragically short-sighted US officials, of murder.

Brethren, I will grant you that these are disparate examples of the government-corporate interrelationship.  There are so many more, it is difficult to know where to begin.  Whether it is the interstate highway system, the Manhattan Project, of the mind-boggling land giveaways of the early railroad projects in America, the benefits that huge corporations have harvested are, in large part, as a direct result of tax-payers dollars.  

Brothers and Sisters, without us, there is no them.  The mega-corporations, the huge multi-nationals, grew out of the early trusts that Roosevelt fought against.  The fight continues, unabated, and is now more desperate.  The corporate trusts of the early 1900's are as child's toys compared to the schemes and financial slight-of-hand practiced by the Corporate Demons of our present day.  We, each of us, must see the Down-Pressor for who he is or forever remain under his thrall.

Take back the power!  Take it back, Brethren.  Look and listen to the vapid excuses for leadership that are currently positioning themselves for another round of inaction in Washington.  I urge all of us to look behind the curtain at those who manipulate the levers of fear in an attempt to draw away attention from the real problems that beset our nation and the world.

Be strong, be real, be here, be aware and strike a blow!