Ed Gulley brought Silly Sally, one of his year-old Swiss cows,to the Open House to hang out today. Red didn’t seem to notice, Fate flipped out, barking and growling. I had both dogs like down for a few minutes, and everybody settled down.
Ed says I’m his brother from a different mother, and I think there is some truth to this. Ed is going to speak this afternoon about his farm art and his life as a farmer. Sally’s eager to be scratched and lick people. We are underway. The open House opens in about a half hour.
In my mind, every Open House has a theme, and this year, Ed Gulley’s Tin Man speaks to this Open House in my mind: we need to find our hearts again, to care for one another. I am touched by the slogan of the youth movement that recently sent an earthquake through the political world, their theme is the same one I am working on: for the many, not the few.
That is the point of the refugee work, the Mansion work. The factory worker and carpenter is just as valuable to our world as the hedge fund manager, the rich are not the only people society can work for if we are to live in peace and harmony.
And humanity.
We live in a democracy, what democracy means to me is that the people will have great influence on the policies of their government, and then the government takes action and passes laws that are determined by the largest numbers of people.
That’s what democracy means. The average salary of a U.S. Congressperson has gone from $280,000 in 1984 to $725,000 in 2009, while the wealth of an American working class family slightly declined to $20,000 to $20,500 at the same time.
Historians have repeatedly written that the most privileged and powerful of people fear and dislike democracy and for good and obvious reasons. Democracy, writes politician scientist Naom Chomsky, puts power in the hands of the people and takes it away from the privileged and the powerful. It is the elemental political principle of the concentration of wealth and power.
How much power do you feel you have today to influence government policy, and how well do you feel your political representatives know and understand and represent your values? They don’t speak for mine, not the left, not the right.
The farm and the art show this weekend have never been about making money (if so, we have failed). Maria’s art show is about the power of creativity and encouragement to life people up and support them as they struggle to live their lives and follow their bliss. This is at the core of my life with Maria, and the driving force behind our loves and lives together.
The Tin Man speaks to me finding our collective hearts, of caring for those in need, of using government to inspire people and to do good and lift people up. For giving the Mansion residents enough support to buy oxygen when they need to breathe, rather than force them to take short breaths at the end of every month when their money runs out.
Our society must be about something more than the highest profit margins and the largest retirement funds. Those are not values.
The is the message of the youthful revolution that has turned England upside down and has sparked a wind that is blowing our way. David Broder, a great political reporter I knew once told me that politics is not about polls or pundits. It is about feeling the wind.
I feel a new wind blowing, it is coming here today, it will grow stronger and clearer and more beautiful as time goes on. The turmoil around me is a gift, it calls on me to understand my values and work for them. That is why the refugee kids are coming her today to sing, that is why some of the Mansion residents are coming her today as honored guests.That is why local artists are being asked to bravely show and sell their work.
It was said that the American Revolution began with a shot heard round the world. I feel in my bones that the young people in England have returned the favor.
This has been a bad time for the poor and the vulnerable. It will soon be an uncomfortable time for the wealth and the powerful.
It means saving the refugee children, making room for them, helping them when they come and supporting them as the grow.
Today, for me, this is what the Open House is about. This is really Maria’s art show, we each have different roles, but I know she shares this value about our Open Houses. That is what this Spring Open House is about in 2017.
