Yeah. So. Yesterday was apparently a walkout by all schools in favor of Greta, i.e. the teenager from the Netherlands or something who has become famous for going to public meetings and saying in a meek, girly voice, please sir, can I have some more rationality from the policies that persuade people to behave in less environmentally destructive ways?
I bought some curtains at Kohl's the other day, feeling pretty good about saving 75% or something. And tried to look up online where they were actually made, some information about the factory and the people who work in that factory. Or, manufactury. Or, plant. It's so ironic that places where all the crap we buy gets made, are called "plants." They're anti-plant, if you condier the word "plant" to mean a soft green thing that eats sunlight and CO2 and breathes out oxygen for us to breathe, that keeps the air moist and healthy for us.
Anyway. I didn't see anybody walking out of school where I was. I wasn't really looking, but if they had walked out I would hope they did something where I would have noticed them. What's the point of a protest when all it means is skipping class? I "protested" a couple times like that in high school too, and I cringe about having been such a tool that ll I did was stand around in the parking lot with all the other tools from school.
Let me explain. I heard on the radio (NPR, or probably Democracy Now) that a lot of school administrators were giving kids the pass to walk out in "protest." That kids wouldn't be charged with truancy, or given attendance bad-marks-on-their-record. The Democracy Now presented it as this positive, supportive gesture by the school administrators.
Fucking bullshit. If it's an actual protest, the kids won't care. If it's an actual protest, they'll be breaking laws, standing in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, making people notice them, explaining their reasoning, getting more than angry ... getting articulate.
It's no surprise no local kids were doing that. They have other things to worry about besides the climate, and not just silly shit like Snapchat and so forth; they'll have to eat this afternoon, and maintain social circles. And feet have to be rested, after all the bullshit of the day, just like everybody else. The environment isn't bothering them, it's just more psychic noise in the battleground of propaganda info bombardment if life in 2019.
And a sanctioned walkout is bullshit. I still hold out hope that Democracy Now chose that detail to include to help us get a fuller sense of the world, not to heap accolade on the continued fawning display that is public administration of things like schools, these days.
By the way, dear Reader, if you happen to live in PT and plan to vote in November, a few remarks on Pam Petranek, running for Port Commissioner seat 1 of 3 in November.
Pam's really cool. She's like one of the public displayers of progressive ideals you'll see at the Co-op, an extremely PT type of lady. It's real, though. She really does eat foods that don't travel long distances in trucks; she eats local. She's the lady that rides around on the bike with the trailer full of salmon, to the farmers markets and stores. She delivers salmon by bicycle.
I met Pam someplace very soon after starting work in Port Townsend in 2012. Pam was on her hands and knees sanding and scraping some obscure corner of the Cape Cleare boat -- the new one, the sailboat. The old Cape Cleare powerboat was still around then. Pam and Rick were just starting to really get into cleaning up the sailboat into a sail-powered fishing boat, which they've since completed. They fish for salmon without massively loud and polluting diesel engines. Yes they still have an engine probably. But sailing is a lot quieter, which I think is what animals need.
Yeah I know. All my shit came on a freighter from China, so loud boats are being supported by my own lifestyle. Ach, the guilt.
Dear reader. Stop wasting emotional energy on guilt about our wasteful lives and instead talk, really talk, out loud; and write, and Snapchat; ... about the systems in place that we grew up using. The people who placed those systems -- politicians, legislators, CEOs -- those people can replace those systems. We do have to go to more public meetings. We have to become the public meetings. Pam Petranek talks about that -- about getting involved. She sees a problem and she makes a plan and takes steps and moves forward to make the changes.
Pam is running for Port Commissioner because she wants to help make the Port Commission's actions more clear to the people those actions affect. She wants governmental transparency. Annual budgets shouldn't be so long and complex that people can't really see what money is coming in, and how, and where it's all being spent.
Pam also wants to help save jobs in Port Townsend by helping small businesses. The Port of PT's mission, a lot of it, is economic development. That means helping small businesses get going -- leasing them space at reasonable rates, with the necessary infrastructure like water and fire suppression systems and sufficient power. That's their main job. I also think the Port, in alliance with the City and County, should maintain public restrooms with showers and laundry, like the Port did for decades until a couple months ago.
Anyway. Vote for Pam. Go to City Council meetings. Listen to them online, then. Watch them on your little digiscreen.
Love,
Fern
