Income Inequality and Violence 1-20-12

MINISTERS CHAMPION AGAINST HOSTILE CLIMATE AT UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, community leaders will gather to announce plans to ameliorate the racially hostile climate at the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque campus). The Minister’s Fellowship of Albuquerque and Vicinity (MFAV), a 70-year old organization of pastors dedicated to providing religious and community service, have joined with the local NAACP branch to highlight proven injustices against African American UNM employees.

Complaints against UNM include documented cases of the following:

1) Hostile Climate for African Americans;

2) Compensation Disparities;

3) Adverse impact of policies upon African Americans that reduce the number of role models, reduce quality of healthcare, and reduce the same service delivery; and

4) Inequitable distribution of federal funding for minority healthcare research.

A press conference will be held at New Hope Church, 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NE at
10:00 am, Albuquerque, New Mexico. All members of the press are encouraged to attend as representatives from the Minister’s Fellowship and NAACP will announce the filing of its Title VI Civil Rights complaint against UNM. Additionally, cases of injustice will be shared as well as plans to redress them. The time is overdue for the University of New Mexico to rectify policies and procedures that result in unfair disparities and reduction of service delivery to the African American community. The Minister’s Fellowship and NAACP, along with other community allies will work toward ending the institutional racism at UNM.

For more information contact Bishop David Cooper at 505/881-7780.

Short Reflection on Occupy

This is a brief set of thoughts on the current political impulse.

My main question is how do we make direct action, community organizing, and electoral work build upon each other?

We know that a more open approach to politics will make things better for many people. It will not be the solution, but will move things forward. As an example, there have been Mayors who make sure that police do not attack strikers and demonstrators. There are also elected officials, Senator Sanders as an example, who believe in many things that the 99% organizers believe.

We can move beyond "either/or" and get to "all and." This means that we will have to learn to listen to each other. We have to learn to communicate differently. To reach out and check in more often.

We'll make mistakes. And it is OK because this is the time to learn to be gentler with those fighting for social justice. We tend to be very hard on each other. It is time to move beyond that.

We have the opportunity now to discuss lots of things. Who has the privilege to camp, be arrested, travel to demonstrate, etc. And how to use that as an advantage. We have the chance to have conversations about class, race, gender and more with people have not had those conversations with.

We have the opportunity now to talk beyond individual issues. We have the opportunity to discuss changes in the systems and rules. Systems change after the rules change. You don't get different people at the table as long as you need to be a millionaire to buy a ticket. We get different policies by the combination of pressure and more representative decision-makers. We have had one good discussion at Camp Coyote about long-term electoral politics. Something beyond the current "progressive" approach. We need to have many, many more of those conversations.

We have the opportunity now to take many movements and turn it into movement! Many communities have been screwed by capitalism for many years. Like many problems now that it is impacting the white and middle-class it is a "crisis."And in many real respects it is a crisis for all of us.

This is a great time to be alive and working for social justice!

MLK on Poverty (9/28/11)

"There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it. There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is human will. The well-off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds, and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Way of Life by Enrique Cardiel

I am registered with La Raza Unida because to me it represents my way of life. A way where we make sure that all have what they need to thrive and grow. A way were we have to be strong enough to take care of each other. We the idea of “we the people” taking care of our common welfare is a reality.

We need by the people and for the people to be a strong reality. The market is not providing jobs, housing, or quality health care. So we need to find ways to make that happen. The people who have chosen to register LRU are some of the most dedicated advocates and I am proud to stand with them to make the world a better place for all of us.

I will continue to be registered LRU because our government has chosen to redistribute the wealth toward the wealthiest of society. That needs to change, and it will not change without a strong people's movement and political parties that are openly for regular working people. We need a family friendly economy and real democracy! And I believe that's what LRU stands for!!!

Beyond Elections Part 15

Democratizing Democracy! That decisions go beyond a hand full of people is a major shift. Much of the "Progressive" movement now doesn't question that it should be a handful. In fact their idea of "revolution" is to change the handful of decision makers to a nicer gentler type of decision makers.

College, Jobs and Inequality NYT

Education is important and vital, but not sufficient. We need to promote education AND promote policies which support our way of life where people have fair opportunities, and fair opportunities for participation. Just like there is more to democracy than elections, there is more to economic opportunities than a degree.

From the NYT article College, Jobs and Inequality

College is still the path to higher-paying professions. But without a concerted effort to develop new industries, the weakened economy will be hard pressed to create enough better-paid positions to absorb all graduates.

And to combat inequality, the drive for more college and more jobs must coincide with efforts to preserve and improve the policies, programs and institutions that have fostered shared prosperity and broad opportunity — Social Security, Medicare, public schools, progressive taxation, unions, affirmative action, regulation of financial markets and enforcement of labor laws.

Beyond Elections Part 6

This section starts by talking about reducing hierarchy and increasing participation. We often wonder why there is such low voter turnout in the US, it seems obvious that our "winner-take-all" electoral system along with the representative nature of politics does not inspire people to participate. People want more power and control over their lives. Decades of using the term "democracy" has raised expectations. And rightfully so!

The discussion about the difference between an elected representative and a spokesperson is a stretch for many of us, but something to consider deeply. The discussion about taking and internalizing and doing the work for democracy is important as well. We have become so accustomed to voting and waiting for the next election that all of this seems odd. But real democracy will be really challenging work.

Beyond Elections Part 2

It is amazing that they share this!





If only the supposedly "progressive politicians" would get us to this type of democracy. It is obvious that electoral representation only is not enough!

Albuquerque Youth Health Summit 12/4/10

The Albuquerque Youth Building Health Communities project held their Youth Health Summit today. Representatives of La Raza Unida, Young Women United, SWOP and other groups were there to discuss health from a youth perspective and also talk about solutions.

The group will continue to process the information and look for a project to follow through on. It was very exciting to discuss health from a social justice perspective. These youth may truly be the future!

Project HEALTH

We can support innovative models like Project HEALTH, which empowers doctors to remove the social barriers that prevent people from taking the actions they need to be healthy. They literally write prescriptions for food or heating assistance for struggling families, or stable housing for a single mom that does not exacerbate her son's asthma. A dedicated team of college volunteers then helps connect vulnerable patients to local resources that can immediately benefit their health.

We can apply new public health tools at our disposal to see the potential health benefits and consequences of new projects and policies. If Denver decided to expand its light rail system, for example, it would make sense to conduct a health impact assessment, an analysis that would consider questions like, "Will people walk more in getting to and from the rail stop?" This happened in Charlotte, N.C., where people who began to regularly ride the rails lost, on average, six to seven pounds.

...

We need a fundamental change in how we think about health. A nationwide commitment in which each sector - transportation, business , education, housing - assesses the health effects of their plans and programs and creates ways to help people live healthier lives. The community development arm of the Federal Reserve Board is doing just that; its July conference focused squarely on the health implications of housing development.

Read more about Project HEALTH here and here.

Dr. Raphael - How Inequality Makes us Sick

"Why should inequality, perhaps the biggest factor affecting the health of populations,
be so bad for us? In a big gap society, those lower down the ladder experience more
chronic stress than those towards the top. We are beginning to understand how this stress
produces ill health, in large part mediated through hormones released by the adrenal
glands.

Inequality concepts relate to the quality of social and human relations produced by the
structure of society which in our era are largely determined by measures of hierarchy. We
tend to associate with people like ourselves, most of us do not have friends who are either
much richer or much poorer than we are. As a young boy, growing up in the 1950s in East
York, a part of Toronto, I lived in a working class neighbourhood and did not consider
myself disadvantaged. My father repaired shoes, and my friends’ parents were similar
workers. When I went to the University of Toronto, I became aware of hierarchy in
Canada, as my classmates came from more privileged backgrounds than mine. I began
to feel poor. Today with lifestyles of the rich and famous always in the media we don‘t
compare ourselves to just our friends anymore but to the many achievers and the wealthy
who are constantly in our face. Finding ourselves down the ladder, our sense of self-worth,
our ability to control our lives and our access to what is considered essential for health,
suffers. Not only do we not do as well, but society’s health suffers.

Modern societies, unless held in check, tend to share income and wealth unfairly.

...

The kinds of positive societal changes that will produce health improvements will only
come from popular pressure on the forces of wealth and power. Canadians must continue
to maintain and strengthen their unique society, one that values cultural diversity and social
justice. Many prescriptions for dealing with health problems are outlined herein, but none
of them will be given to you by your doctor. We are all affected by this dis-ease, and must
work together to take this remedy through the democratic process."

Read the entire report - Social Justice Is Good For Our Hearts

Invisibility of Poverty in Diabetes Research

Chaufan and Weitz write an important article pointing out that poverty as a cause of disease is ignored in academic research. They also point out that there is at least a 200 year tradition showing this to be the case. Poverty is ignored because it would make academics and others have to deal with how we benefit from the power dynamics that create poverty.

Dealing with these dynamics would require academics and public health workers have to face their role in the maintenance of poverty and disenfranchisement. Or, in an attempt to appear more academic researches focus on individual cause and effects which can be easily manipulated in a manageable experiment. Either way this leads to what the authors state as "business as usual."

They also point out that working for changes is one possible option. They suggest that living wages, affordable housing, and health care as a right will have greater impact than attempting to change individual behaviors. They also suggest that researchers look at the role of poverty as a cause of disease and propose structural changes to society that make the population healthier.

Some of these health improving changes are electoral, others are economic. Either way, it is important to begin to look at poverty as a structure which makes people sick. Then we can look at politics as one of many methods to make people healthier!

Register! Vote! Organize Raza Unida!

Health Equity in the United States

On average, people in the United States die much younger and suffer worse health, as well as endure serious societal dysfunction, compared to people in other rich nations. The usual explanation is that we engage in too many adverse personal health behaviours and do not have access to the right medicines. Presenting the evidence that personal behaviours affect only a small fraction of our health status as a population leads to 'but....' responses. The idea that health care has limited impact on mortality measures in societies is not believable to most people, regardless of their level of education or even their experience or training in health care.

Read More on Health Equity in the United States

More on Keeping the Net Free

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps spoke to hundreds of supporters about the need for net neutrality Tuesday evening at the Albuquerque Journal Theater at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

Net neutrality is the principle that all content on the internet should be treated equally, and that internet service providers cannot discriminate between different types of content.

"When broadcast came about the corporation said 'trust us.' When previous FCC commissions removed limits on media consolidation we were told 'trust us.' With this new medium they are saying 'trust us,'" Copps said.

Andrea Quijada, the Executive Director of the Media Literacy Project, served as the MC for the evening. She shared how an open internet is needed for the most basic of services.

"With 30 of our 33 counties being medically underserved, we know that the internet is not just about civic participation," Quijada said. "With a state poverty rate at 19 percent we know that the internet is not just about access."

Read More

New Mexico Fighting to Keep Internet Open

Residents in and around Albuquerque, N.M., will gathered yesterday for a town hall meeting to discuss the future of broadband Internet legislation. The meeting, the second such event in less than six months, comes at a difficult time in the battle over how open the Internet will remain. The FCC has largely gone silent on the issue, and prospects for regulatory legislation in next year’s Congress now appear dim.

Social Justice is Good for Our Hearts

Latest estimates are that 23% of premature years of life lost prior to age 75 in Canada
can be attributed to income differences. That is, 23% of all of the premature years of life
lost to Canadians is accounted for by the differences that exists among wealthy, middleincome,
and low income Canadians. The disease most related to income differences is
cardiovascular disease. Twenty-two percent of all years lost that can be attributed to
income differences are caused by cardiovascular disease.

In addition, it is estimated that income differences account for a 24% excess in
premature deaths prior to 75 years from cardiovascular disease among Canadians. Were
all Canadians’ rates of death from cardiovascular disease equal to those living in the
wealthiest quintile of neighbourhoods, there would be 6,366 fewer deaths each year from
cardiovascular disease. An estimate of the annual costs to Canada of these incomerelated
cardiovascular disease effects is $4 billion.

This report outlines the role that income and its distribution play in the incidence of
cardiovascular disease. There is particular focus on how living on low income -- combined
with government policies that limit access to basic needs and resources required for health
-- contributes to the process of social exclusion by which individuals are denied full
participation in Canadian life. This exploration of the role of income on cardiovascular
health is particularly timely as the distribution of income is becoming less equitable in
Canada.

Societal changes that increase the numbers of Canadians living on low incomes and
foster social exclusion are considered in relation to what is known about the societal
determinants of cardiovascular disease. Means are presented for addressing these issues
in order to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Canada. These include
recommendations for reducing the number of Canadians living on low incomes, reducing
the social exclusion of citizens from participation in Canadian society, and ways by which
the social safety nets that support population health can be restored.

Side effects of a lifestyle emphasis are discussed as are reasons for resistance to
thinking in new ways about the causes and means of preventing cardiovascular disease.
Finally, community activities that will support heart health that are consistent with the best
principles of health promotion are presented.

From - Social Justice is Good for Our Hearts

The Gap Between Rich and Poor is at its WIDEST

From Census: Gap Between Rich and Poor is at its Widest:

"highlights"

The income gap between rich and poor Americans grew to the widest amount on record and represents the greatest disparity among Western industrialized nations, according to U.S. Census data.

The census finds that the top-earning 20% of Americans (those making $100,000 each year) received 49.4% of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4% earned by those below the poverty line.

That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968, the Associated Press reports.

# # #
A clear goal would be to get back to 7-to-1!

If we've done it before we can do it again. It is disappointing for the US to have the greatest disparity among industrialized countries. We should expect better.

American Dream?

There are many ideas about how the United States is doing. One important sample is the idea of the "American Dream." Apparently it is on the decline. Many people have felt that they never had a real chance at the American Dream - now others are catching up to that unfortunate reality.

Economic Impact of Racial Inequalities

Because we can't just seem to do things because they are the right things to do we need to add economic analysis. Racism costs - go figure!