Dream job or the dream of finding a job?

Sorry for the delay friends, I've been working on 2 other blogs this summer also, one for my internship class and one for BTC. You may have seen the controversial article in the NY Times last week about our generation (millennials) and employment opportunities. While I personally think it slighted our generation a little and tied larger issues to the personal story of a recent graduate who had more a support system in place than the average college grad, it's still generated a lot of conversation. So much of the framing of our anti-poverty campaign is focusing right now on this idea of the American Dream. Yesterday, one of the NY times bloggers called for millennials (that's us!) to respond to this concept of the American Dream and opportunity. There are some great comments, check it out here.

Here's my 2 cents that I just sent to the NYT:

As a 21 year old about to graduate from college the job market and economic climate are pretty terrifying. The reality is that even though we embrace this myth of the American Dream, hardwork and strong moral character alone really aren't enough to move up the income ladder or 'make a better life'. I do think there are strong misconceptions about our generation's sense of entitlement. While it is present, we aren't all privileged. Today the neighborhood you're born into is the strongest predictor of your economic success, mobility, and education achievement. While I wish the American Dream was a reality, it's a rare occurrence and we rally around the occasional story of mobility and success, touting it as a cornerstone of our nation's identity. It's not the reality for college grads right now and it's definitely not a feasibly reality for children born into poverty without access to quality education. If there's ever been a call to action for our generation, this is it. Where we go from here though, I'm not really sure.

What do you think? Comment here or comment on the NY times page.

Yours in idealistic activism,

SG

a little bit of soul

I came across this wonderful article in the Huffington Post this morning. I highly recommend checking it out. It's an excerpt from Paul Loeb's new book "Soul of a Citizen". I'm buying it on Amazon right now. Activism, El Salvador, oppression, homelessness, immigration, and globalization; what more could you ever need in a good summer read?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/soul-of-a-citizen-stories_b_590704.html

what is it good for?

This morning the New York Times lead story was about the toll of war and fatalities in Afghanistan surpassing 1,000. Now that lead story has been replaced with this erroneous coverage of the CT attorney general and whether or not he served in Vitenam or misspoke. Everytime I've walked by the tv in our office today cnn has been replaying the same clip of him apologizing for his 'word choice' with two Vietnam vets standing on either side of him. Anyone else find this ironic? Where are our priorities? What about the real story, the families that are suffering? The young soldiers losing their lives? The innocent civilians dying in the crossfire? What type of backwards values do we use to bind politics and military service together? I’m tired of war. And the media. We need a paradigm shift.

activism: quick & easy

Finals are winding down and I know just what you're thinking "hey, I have 5 minutes free... I wonder what I could do right now to have a positive impact on the world..."

Well friends I have just the solution to your musings =) I've fallen in love with this organization/website called Avaaz. Avaaz means "voice" in many different languages around the world. The idea behind this website is to provide constructive ways for you to lend your voice to different issues you care about. The organization proudly touts that via their website 19,329,252 actions have been taken since its launch in January '07.

You can sign petitions, email law makers, or even take a more aggressive action. So what will your issue of the day be? GM foods? offshore drilling? relief in Haiti?

www.avaaz.org

use your pizza-purchasing-power

Today two of my roommates and I headed to Shaw's on a mission for a frozen pizza. As we approached the Porter Square Shaw's we saw a group of union workers picketing and a detail of Cambridge Police officers keeping a watchful eye. I had heard a little bit about the strike via facebook but none of the details, something about workers on the production end holding out for living wages. We weren't sure how to react at first, we made a lame joke about how it's a good thing I'm not a politician yet because then I wouldn't be able to cross a union line (no intentions of ever being a politician here by the way) even for a pizza. We hesitated in the parking lot and then one of my roommates made an honest decision "I'm hungry" and walked into the store. I followed with my other roommate. Her dad's part of a union and she started tell us about visiting him while he and his co-workers were striking, bringing them coffee in the middle of the night. Now I should be perfectly honest. We had some useful resources on our side here. We had a car with us, we were college students with a free Saturday afternoon ahead of us, and I was willing to bribe my roommates by offering to buy their pizza for them if we went somewhere else. With that on our side we walked out of the store, stopping by the workers quickly to say "We couldn't do it! We're with you guys. We're going somewhere else" Which was met by a round of applause from the determined group standing there in the pouring rain. My Global Social Change class likes to go on tangents about how it's up to us to be informed consumers and show support by spending our money accordingly. I agree, but I think that's a lot easier said than done. Driving to Market Basket and navigating our way through the jam-packed aisles wasn't the best. It was totally worth it and I'm glad we took a small stand via our pizza-purchasing-power, but as a college student with limited resources it would have been so much easier to go for the convenient option. That being said, I feel obligated to share what I can with you about the strike and help these workers garnish support. I did a little research when I got home and I feel that their demands are completely reasonable. All they're asking for is access to decent, affordable health insurance through their employer. In response it looks like Shaw's is going to simply fire those who have been striking and bring in 300 new workers. That's 300 families left without healthcare or a steady source of income. In this economic climate, this seems entirely unjust and uncalled for. United for Justice with Peace posted a great article with more information about the negotiations and Shaw's reaction. I hope you'll take a minute to read it over and at the very least find someplace else to buy your groceries right now.

http://www.justicewithpeace.org/node/1203

"3.3 billion ways to change the world"

You may have heard about the G20 Summit that is going to take place in Toronto this summer. While G20 Summits are always ripe for protest and various types of activist efforts, this event has a really unique gathering prefacing the dialogue between world leaders. It's called the G(IRLS)20 Summit. The tagline proclaims "3.3 Billion Ways to Change the World", representative of the 3.3 Billion women in the world. It's a really neat idea in my opinion. This initiative is going to bring together 20 girls, 1 from each G20 nation for 3 days of intense dialogs and youth-driven planning sessions focusing on how to empower girls and women, economically, politically and socially. Unfortunately, those of us in the twilight of our college years are a bit too old! They're soliciting applications from girls ages 18-20 because these are the "transition years" between girl and woman. If you know a girl in that age range with strong convictions about the future of the world and uniting women and girls to advocate for equality tell her to apply ASAP, the deadline is midnight tonight. Even if you're not eligible, check out the organization and their website, it's a pretty neat activism-based idea =)

http://www.girlsandwomen.com/

think globally, act globally

This January I spent two weeks in El Salvador with a group of Lesley students. The whole experience was inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time. This semester I decided I would focus my capstone paper on this small country that I've grown so attached too. Let me warn you, if you are attached to a developing nation, the worst thing you can do for yourself emotionally is set a google alert. The media is driven by what sells, violence, sex, action, etc. A thread of violence and oppression has been woven throughout El Salvador's rich history. From the time of independence there was a strong established ruling class and frequent rebellion from the oppressed. A 12-year civil war tore the country apart and today gang violence is rampid and the nation has the highest murder rate in the world. You can gain a sense of all these issues through those news stories that pop up. The thing is, this isn't the El Salvador I know. Yes, we had a little background on the history, the war, and we knew that there were places we should and shouldn't go. None of those news stories capture the lives of the amazing, kindhearted, giving, accepting people we met. Google news didn't tell the story of what it's like to step into another world, where family and faith is everything and you work hard to serve others and contribute what you can. I want to avoid idealizing the developing world or romanticizing poverty but I wish you could all spend a day with our group in El Salvador. I wish you could see the dedicated teachers in the rural school we visited, the masons at the Habitat worksite who wrote a song about how volunteers inspire them, sat with the kids who came to visit us every day and talked about riding bikes and eating ice cream, or had a young mom hand you her 6 week old baby like you were an old friend. In reality, the contributions we made there during those 2 weeks don't add up to much. I probably learned more about how to live a meaningful life and put your family first than I could ever reciprocate. So the frustration floods in as a read about how the US is financially and morally responsible for so much of the institutionalized oppression and poverty in El Salvador. We continue to exploit this country, though today it's not about funding violent militarize government death squads, it's about restructuring their economy, forcing them into debt and exploiting young female workers through the maquiladora industry. Solidarity is an interesting concept. A rare loyalty in today's fast-paced globalized world. Amid the frustrating news articles and the academic research I delved into regarding El Salvador, I came across a unique organization, a small beacon of hope. Today I encourage you to visit their website: http://www.efn.org/~ciscap/

The Latin American Solidarity Committee, a small organization with one full time staffer based in Eugene Oregon has fought for the oppressed workers in El Salvador and other Latin American countries. They recognize that we have shared common interests and that we must take action to reverse the negative impact the US has had in this region. Sometimes we feel limited by geographic boundaries when it comes to advocacy and activism. This organization proves that boarders are a fluid thing and when it comes down to it, our commonalities often outweigh our differences.