Anthology

letter to the editor, long form

Well, honestly, I don't know how my sister does it.  But I guess there's a reason that I'm the blogger - I can never get my words down to the 200 that are required for letters to the editor.  I'm going to try, but in the meantime, here's the long version.  I really feel that the voice of business has been subsumed by the voice of the GOP (who assumes that tax breaks are what all businesses want) and the WMC (who are apparently rich enough that tax breaks actually make a difference).  I read a report a while ago that indicated for our size of business, the kind of tax break we'd get is a few hundred dollars in a year.  I can EASILY make that up on one good Saturday of sales.  Which all the more so gives me reason to support strengthening the buying power of my customers over any proposed tax breaks.  I honestly don't see tax breaks as a viable way of growing our state and I think that if most businesses were asked, they would take more customer spending over tax breaks any day.  Ultimately, you can have all the tax breaks you want, but if you don't have customers, you don't have a business.  Ultimately, you can give out all the tax breaks you want, but you are going to see major costs in terms of the services that we all know and love (schools, police, fire, roads... do I really have to go on?).

Anyway, after days of thinking and failed attempts, the 5:20 a.m. wake-up is hopefully worth it.  Here's the long version:

Dear Editor:
I am constantly hearing people say that government needs to be run like a business.   Leaving aside the question of whether that is actually true, I write to you as a business owner to give the reader a little insight into the way my business is run.  These are the basic things that concern me: 1. What is new? 2. What is unique? 3. How can I get more money?

1. What is new?  Change is good.  Change is challenging, but if I don't change, then my store looks the same today as it did two years ago and the incentive to return is substantially lower.  Blame it on our American consumer culture if you will, but the new and the shiny are valuable.  I am constantly on the lookout for new products and new trends.  If Wisconsin was my business, I would be searching for the new industries and new technologies and new "customers," areas where growth is occurring: oh, say, renewable energy and bicycles and tourism, for example.

2.  What is unique?  How do I differentiate my store from everyone else?  Rarely is the point to offer the lower prices, because someone else can always offer lower prices.  Rather, my goal is to find things that aren't offered anywhere else, to bring together a collection of products that reflects the uniqueness of my taste.  If Wisconsin was my business, I would not be competing with Texas or Florida to create the lowest priced jobs, I would be building up and building upon what is unique about this state, emphasizing what we have that cannot be found anywhere else: oh, say, hard-working and dedicated people, fabulous schools (my whole life I've been hearing people say they moved from other states because the schools were horrible there, and we want to be more like other states?), amazing natural resources.  I would NOT be spreading a load of crap on farm fields or doing anything else that might jeopardize the quality of our water.

3. How can I get more money?  There is a small part of my brain that is thinking about how I can save money.  However, there are only so many things that I can cut before the quality of my store starts to suffer.  Mostly I am thinking about how to increase revenue: what product should go where so that I maximize sales in every square foot, how to reach a variety of customers, what will sell well and when I should reorder.  For me, this means finding products in a range of prices so that I can appeal to a range of customers (big sales are nice, but our business also depends on every single person who comes in and buys a greeting card).  It means capitalizing on the new and the unique; it rarely means selling things at below-cost.  It means supporting women since they are the bulk of our customers and make a lot of important decisions, not the least of which is what present to send their mother-in-law.  It means wishing I had staff, artists to create product, and customers with more money in their wallets WAY MORE than it means wishing I had a tax break.

If Wisconsin was my business, I would be much more concerned with increasing revenue.  I understand that the theory of tax breaks is that the effects will trickle down in job creation and eventually income tax and sales tax revenue, but a more direct approach would be to make sure that workers and customers had enough disposable income, that they kept earning and shopping, and thus generate tax revenue.  I think the focus on cost-cutting is a sign of desperation and also not a model for a successful business.  If Wisconsin was my business, I would be concerned with the welfare of ALL of my customers, and not just the ones who dropped a few thousand dollars on a campaign donation.  If Wisconsin was my business, I would be a heck of a lot more supportive of women; since the WDOR does not accept brownies or quilts as payment, I would be more concerned about their potential salaries.  IF Wisconsin was my business.

I initially thought I'd leave aside the question of whether a state should be run like a business, but you know what?  Wisconsin is OUR business.  It is all of ours.  It is up to everyone who lives and works in this state, not just a few people, to make sure this business runs smoothly.  Scott Walker is a poor business manager and an even worse Governor.  Our state deserves better.

YAY! for Barrett

Sachi told me last week she felt a little bit like the t-shirt companies that print shirts for the Super Bowl.  Just awaiting the outcome of voting to know what buttons we should make.  That said, she made the "Hipsters for Barrett" several weeks ago - when she saw that image she just couldn't resist.  Apparently it was a big hit at campaign headquarters.

Well, to tell the truth, we recycled and expanded upon some buttons from earlier ("Tom Barrett would never lock us out of the Capitol").  Sachi has other long ones that just have to be typed in black & white -- too many words to cram over a catalog picture.  Yesterday she ran back to the office and came out with: "A vote for Scott Walker is a vote for poop in your drinking water."  With that latest DNR story, it really isn't an exaggeration.

I ran to the copy shop last night and Sachi is now madly cutting and making buttons.  We're pleased that Wisconsin had so many choices about how to address the wrongs that Scott Walker has perpetrated.  And we're excited to go forward!

my open letter

Well, let's face it, my sister is the one who gets letters published in the paper.  I can never pare things down enough.  But I decided to take up the challenge from Monologues of Dissent.  I am voting on June 5 to remove Governor Scott Walker out of office and here is why:

Since February of 2011, our store has sold over 23,000 buttons protesting the actions of Governor Scott Walker et al.  I will grant that most people buy more than one button, in fact, ten buttons is probably the average.  So perhaps we've only had conversations with 2300 people about the effects of Scott Walker on their lives.  Nonetheless, certain patterns emerge which have only reinforced the sentiments that prompted us to make buttons in the first place.

Now, our dad sometimes laughs and says, "you should write Scott Walker a thank-you note for the ways that he has boosted your business this year."  Ha ha.  Do I thank him for making my customers so worried about their health care, their livelihoods, their children's education?  Do I thank him for taking away the possibility of new jobs in reneweable energy sectors?  Do I thank him for threatening the quality of our waters and other natural resources?  No thank you.

Now, I know that there are those who will say that religion and politics should not mix, but I was raised in the United Church of Christ and my religion is a part of who I am.  I will admit that I might have a simplified version of Christianity, but mine is fundamentally about: "whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do so unto me."  That is about doing unto others as you'd have done to you, that is about justice and mercy and kindness, that is caring for those who might have nothing to give to you, and doing so because it is the right thing to do, not because of some eventual reward.  In that respect, I find Scott Walker unChristian and in a way that is truly offensive to me.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me, even about the existence of God, or about the value of the Church, but I DO expect people to adhere to some moral compass, whatever true north is for them.  I find Scott Walker utterly lacking in such direction.

But fine, perhaps you believe that church and state should be separate.  To that I would say that Scott Walker is also not abiding by the principles of state governance: accountability to taxpayers, transparency, the separate but equal branches of government.  I believe that all of his actions to "balance the budget" are really just an elaborate shell game to move taxpayer money into the hands of a few campaign donors, to reward these few people at cost to public well-being and to the natural resources of our state.

My sister and I own a small shop two blocks from the State Capitol.  We object to the actions of Scott Walker on some fundamental moral/religious grounds, but we also object on behalf of our customers.  What we hear from our customers is that they are worried about paying their bills, they are wondering about their pension plans that they've been paying into all these years, they are worrying about budget cuts and layoffs.  Worries such as those give lie to the notion that this state is "open for business."  I have seen very little action from the office of the Governor to allay such worries.

I think above all, what I have learned from this last year, is our utter dependence on each other.  We talk as if taxpayer is separate from state worker or consumer, but they are really all connected, if not residing in the same body.  We as consumers and voters are an important part of the picture, the well-being of workers is intimately connected to the well-being of the state as a whole.  Just ask whoever is in charge of collecting state income- and sales- taxes.  Yet Scott Walker behaves as if the well-being of this state can be parsed out into little packages, appeased with tax breaks for a few corporations, weakened air- and water-quality rules for a few others, the promise of school vouchers for a few families, a few roads for some construction companies.  Never mind that doing so threatens the livelihood of small businesses who depend on tourists swimming in clean waters, the education of the very many children who will still be in public schools, the need for our state to start facing up to the realities of climate change and the majority of people who will never make large campaign donations to be rewarded by tax breaks and special favors.

We ARE all in this together.  We know it; Scott Walker seems unable to face up to the entirety of the state he was elected to govern.  He is not fit to remain in office.

 

 

Mother's day window, second draft

All right, here's the deal: The Mother's Day window is going in this week.  It was going to be all fluffy and flowery and pastel and pretty.  I've cut out butterflies from book pages, had Sachi make more bird nest necklaces,  ordered some special lovely things to put in the window and sell in the shop.  But I'm also starting to feel rather feisty about matters of women & politics.

Interestingly, there is some national sorority group coming into town so the downtown business newsletter that I got recently said something to the effect of, "stock up on pink and green, because this is a shopping crowd and they love pink and green."  I am not judging the downtown newsletter, nonetheless, I find it rather interesting that my focus was momentarily distracted, or, rather, my pretty & pastel direction was being encouraged. 

I mean, we have so many lovelies to choose from, after all.  And I was thinking it would be nice to hang up our lovely washi paper which has never had time in the window...

(Meanwhile, this afternoon, I am going to see Pink Ribbons, Inc. at the Film Festival.  Sachi saw it yesterday and said her head is spinning from all it gave her to think about: "Replacing the political march with a fun run, no anger allowed--only hope, the "tyranny of cheerfulness," women with Stage 4 cancer being "the elephant in the room," the "ideal" survivor being a middle-class white woman because she's the perfect consumer, pharmaceutical & cosmetics companies simultaneously causing the cancers that they promote themselves to cure, globalization of Race for the Cure...")

Earlier in the week, a customer asked me, "what are you going to protest when this is all done?"  He was referring to all our Walker protest pins, but I assured him that at the rate the GOP was going, I was pretty sure there would be more to protest.  (oh, and I shouldn't blame it all on the GOP, we are all in this together when it comes to our nation's defense budget and campaign financing - the levels of which I find rather gross and immoral).  In fact, yesterday there was as rally of Veterans for Peace and this coming Saturday is a rally at the Capitol: Unite Against the War on Women.

Meanwhile, we have Sachi's panty protest pins, but people are still coming in asking for new pins - a customer has returned several times for a "woman power" pin, and I've had requests and suggestions for many others (such as "something about Governor John Doe.").  And I find I still have more to say, though I'm having trouble fitting it on a button.  No, we aren't done protesting yet.

I am leaving town on Friday for my annual art workshop/spa getaway at Valley Ridge Art Studio so I'm frantically running around right now (in addition to attending the film festival) with various last-minute projects that I have to get done earlier than I would if I weren't leaving town.  My protest bracelets continue to sell well, but it occurred to me that I should make a women's protest/rights bracelet.... SO, now I have to make some images that will fit on tiny 1" buttons, get them copied and make them into buttons, glue them onto bracelets, all before Friday morning.   I've been hunting online for new button slogans but not really getting inspired ("women's rights" on Zazzle brought up the craziest assortment of buttons - everthing from I {heart} Sarah Palin to "never again" with a picture of a hanger, including one button that was something like "we fought for birth control, right to vote, equality... now we're tired. YOU do it."  This last button has me a little discouraged - first, the reminder that this fight has been fought already; second, well, of course a person is allowed to have fought and be tired and be done with it, but still, the sentiment rubbed me the wrong way;  third, I go back and forth - sometimes it seems like young people aren't doing enough, sometimes I am amazed at all they are doing.  I'm not really sure it helps at all to start making assumptions about ability and age, to absolve oneself of responsibility.  And yes, I got all that from one button.  But it also made me think that I need to work on using my voice and my strength... more.

In this context, I was mentally planning the window last night: pretty papers, pink and green, flowers... but then I thought, no, that isn't all that I want to say.  And now, it is about 48 hours before the window is to be installed and I was going around in circles thinking about messages, signs, big posters, prints...  In the end, I think I will have to just make a simple print for the window and get it printed quickly.  I do think that it can become something like my "keep calm" print which I will have printed in quantity, but I don't quite have the time to wrap that up and get it done in time for installation.

Still, for now, here's the work in progress.  It will be an 11" x 17" print, black and white, in similar format as my "keep calm" print, but perhaps with just one font, for a change.  I've toyed with a number of options, all within a few hours this morning.  And no, I couldn't start with "keep calm" - that just seemed way too... placating... for the situation.

At first I was thinking about the equality issue.  I find people's arguments about women's inequality rather disingenuous, to be honest.  One man is really not equal to another man - in one way or another, one will be more talented than the other; and vice versa.  We all have our strengths and our weaknesses.  It is true both that no person is equal to another person, and that all people are equal to each other.  And to categorically say that equality among men is expected but equality between men and women should not be expected is highly offensive to me. It's like apples and oranges.  An apple is not equal to an orange; a green apple is not equal to a red apple.  But they are all fruit.

So I was going to dig up the statistic about inequity between men and women (the way that women do x amount of work and earn x amount of money and own x amount of property).  But the internet was not cooperating and the first search results came up with someone questioning the statistical accuracy of those figures.  Well, fine, I think it it still pertinent, but there are other ways of going about this.  And then I was reminded of a Facebook post from last week: Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.

So I think this is what I'm leaning towards.  More about what are women's strengths, how have they EARNED respect, equality, etc, and how do we celebrate them - since that's what Mother's Day is supposed to be anyway.  This is the rough  draft - the words that first came to my mind, but I'd be happy to hear from other people about what women have brought to their lives.

she is woman.

she is a person.

she is mother. daughter. wife. sister.

she gives you life.

she gives you respect, love, attention, gratitude, consideration, knowledge, beauty.

she will nurture you, fight for you.

she deserves nothing less from you.

 

 

 

Wisconsin Film Festival and other notes, at length

Sorry, I'm really trying to edit this down but I have a lot of thoughts and they really are connected, honest.  The short message of this post is: check out the works of Gene Sharp and the Albert Einstein Institution.  Watching How to Start a Revolution, really inspired me. a lot.  You should see the film and check out the book From Dictatorship to Democracy.

And now for the long version:

We are right in the throes of the Wisconsin Film Festival here in Madison.  It's wonderful to see where people's interests and passions have taken them, as well as to enjoy a little escapism.  As always there are many more films than I have time to see, particularly since I have to fit them around the shopgirl life.  Nonetheless, I'm a little under halfway through my 10 movies in 5 days.

On Wednesday night, I went to Monsieur Lazhar, a film about a substitute teacher in Canada.  I've always felt that the world would be better off if everyone spent a year in retail; perhaps that should be followed by a year in the classroom.  Honestly, I don't know how teachers do it.  That movie was followed by a hastily consumed but delicious dinner from Los Gemelos.  The handwritten sign at the register makes me smile:  "every day is judgment day."  It's a strange mix of homemade charm and threat from on high.  My second movie on Wednesday night was We Are Not Broke.  This is the kind of film you feel like you ought to see, along the lines of The Inside Job and Bowling for Columbine.  The film documents the money passing between Congress and multi-national corporations, and the way these corporations have thus reduced their tax burden, shifting it onto, oh, everyone else.  At the end of this film, I was seriously thinking about packing up my friends and family and the shop and moving to another country.  It's frustrating that there seems to be so little about our country right now that is of, for and by the people.

I have also had recent conversations with 60-somethings who are terribly worried about their grandchildrens' futures.  And when someone who has lots of experience and wisdom has such concerns, they are hard to dismiss.  I'm not denying there are things to be worried about - global warming alone should cover it, not to mention the aftershocks of all the budgetary crises and economic manipulations that are going on.  And after watching this film, I certainly didn't have a lot of confidence in our Congress or in the "free market" (I use quotations because I don't at all think that it is free - these corporations go to extraordinary lengths to stack the deck in their favor).

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, I was also yelled at by a customer.  In all my years as a shopgirl, I've only been yelled at twice so it is not a common occurrence (which is not to say that I am a perfect shopgirl; we all just usually manage to mask our displeasure with each other).  This customer has known me for at least 8 years, during which time, I feel that I have not  given her cause to talk to me that way, but I will also acknowledge that we never particularly "clicked" on a personal level.   Still...  In the past, I might have stewed about it for a long time and tried to figure out what I had done wrong, but for some reason, I was really just left feeling like, wow, she totally misinterpreted that situation.  Perhaps I ruined the rest of her day - but all that anger is ...well, I won't say that it is without cause, but I think more that it is misplaced.  Perhaps it is a general anger at the way shopgirls treat customers, or cumulative anger at all the times people implied that she wasn't smart (THAT was not my intention, but that was certainly her perception), or the way younger people treat older people, or the way life in general is not working out according to plan, or the way her knee is paining her at the moment... there's no end to the possible reasons.  This is particularly pertinent because last Saturday there was a Tea Party rally and I've been stewing ever since, holding the Tea Party responsible for dragging our country down (my anger is not totally misplaced, but the Tea Party did not make it so costly to run a campaign that you have to take donations from multi-national corporations who expect you to give them favors in return).  I was doing lots of yelling, but just in my head.  At the same time, a part of me feels sorrow and pity for people who are caught up in so much anger, so much of it feels wasted and misdirected.  Nonetheless, we are all walking around with our hurts and our sorrows and angers.  Perhaps the amazing thing is that we don't yell at each other more often.  Still, what is the benefit to ourselves, to our spirits and our lives, for holding on to such anger?  What is it accomplishing?  What is it creating?  I'm not saying there is no reason to be angry, but I do wonder if there is some anger that is from misinterpretation, or which is misplaced, in which case it seems like even more of a waste of energy.  Even anger with cause or purpose, if it just stops there, becomes less useful in my mind, if it does not propel you to make some changes, take some action.

That was Wednesday.

Yesterday was day two of the film festival.  Since I had spent Wednesday rushing around, stressed about getting to theaters on time, saving seats, getting food... only to have a depressing documentary as my grande finale, I decided to make some changes for Thursday.  Things had been relatively quiet at the shop, so I left early and strolled down State Street (in the pouring rain).  I stopped in at a few local shops, did some browsing at the bookstore, and ate a leisurely dunch at Mediterranean Cafe.  I never seem to get down there in time for lunch, and they close early so I can't eat dinner there they way I used to.  Mmmm.... I love their chicken shawarma.  After that, I consulted the bus map and realized that there is a free campus bus (#85) that would take me right to Union South for my movie.  And I arrived there in plenty of time to watch How to Start a Revolution.  I have to admit that I'd never heard of Gene Sharp before I read this movie synopsis, clearly I have some catching up to do.  The movie was.... what can I say?  deeply inspiring and heartening, a reminder that people around the world have faced so much worse than we will ever face here, and they have prevailed, succeeded, overturned regimes!  And done so non-violently.  Mr. Sharp was an inspiring figure; most of the movie discussed points from his book which has been distributed and transmitted around the world: From Dictatorship to Democracy.  If you follow that link, you will get to a downloadable PDF, but I would strongly recommend an accompanying donation towards his endeavors, the Albert Einstein Institution.  We need to support with our words, and our money, what we want to see more of in this world. 

My final film of the night was The Fairy.  This was a fictional work set in France, whimsical bordering on goofy and even slapstick but a nice light finale for Thursday.  I caught a bus between Union South and the Orpheum with ease, and got out of the fire-hazard stairway of the Orpheum with a few minutes to spare to catch my final bus home so transportation went smoothly.  In all, the day went much better than the day before.

A friend posted the following on Facebook: "Part of last night's teachings was this: instead of trying to cover all the thorns that are out in the world which can potentially hurt us, we learn how to cover our feet while we are walking. This is how mind-training will eventually lead to total freedom."

And another friend posted: "Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate."  That's something I've really been trying to be more mindful of: rewarding the behavior I like and putting my energy on what I appreciate and value.

These postings made me return to the idea of the angers and hurts that we all hold; to think about what were my own, whether misplaced or not, and to remind myself of the way that I really want to be in the world.

Furthermore, since I watched the movie about Gene Sharp, I've been filled with a sense of optimism and energy, bordering on giddy.  I think the thing that was so appealing is that I left with a sense of ability and action; instead of feeling overwhelmed with information and lack of power as I was the night before.  One of the appendices of his book is a list of 198 non-violent actions.  Perfect! Steps I can take, things I can do!

"Dictators always tell you they have more power than they actually have. The people always think they have less power than they actually have." Gene Sharp

Additionally - even though we have all these multi-national corporations, threats to our Democracy, tremendous income inequity, global warming, we also have such amazing democratization in other senses.  Technology has allowed us new avenues that were not available 30 years ago.  And I'm sure 60-somethings in the middle of the Cold War were filled with dread for the future, and yet, here we are.  If someone wants to say something, they can start a blog and say it.  If you want to write a book, you can (see any of my past ravings about Blurb.com). We CAN share our stories with each other, we CAN connect, we can live a small life in relationship with businesses who support our community, we can fund endeavors we like with Kickstarter and Kiva.  We can live in ways that radically differ from the corporate and homogenous life that some would have us live.  I haven't quite figured out to live a life free of those big multi-nationals with offshore accounts (GE, for example, Apple and Google, for another)(these are the "dirty thirty" companies who've spent the most on lobbying and the least on taxes), but I feel satisfied with the steps that I've taken even in the past two years to reduce their participation in my life.  We can act in ways that support the equal rights of others, that promote democracy if only on a small scale.  Facebook alone is a truly amazing thing.  I know, it has its drawbacks but at least two leaders of revolutions mentioned the role that Facebook played.  Facebook.  I bet THAT was unexpected.  I won't be too surprised if that starts to be limited - because you can bet money that there are some dictators who absolutely cringed to hear Egpytian youngsters saying they used Facebook to keep in touch and spread the word.  But the point is that we don't know what is coming next - there will be bad things, sure, but there is also no end to what the mind can come up with and what the hands can make.  I will grant that my sense of democracy might be more related to this button than to on-the-ground reality, but it's not nothing.

in case there is any doubt

We're still mad at the Governor of our state.  I just don't want you to think that because I've been silent on the matter that I've forgotten it.  900,000 signatures were collected (540,000 were needed) so we will be going back to the polls.  He continues on a path which runs counter to all that I hold dear about my state and my country, to reward campaign donors at cost to public well-being on many levels, oh, and he's a liar.  Really, I don't call people names that often, but I do not trust Scott Walker.  I think he is unChristian, lacks caring and empathy, and I think that his idea of balancing the budget is really an elaborate shell game to move taxpayer money out of the light (and out of transparent accountability) and into the bank accounts of a few people.  So, yes, we will continue the work to recall him.  Whatever the outcome, the work will be ongoing, but I sure would like 1. more than 25% of Wisconsin voters to determine the path of the state (that's how many people voted for him) and 2. for more than 50% of votes cast to agree with me that other people are more fit to govern the state.

The primary election is in May, the general election is in June.  If you live in Wisconsin, please please learn about the candidates and get yourself to the polls!  I understand that some people think they don't have a voice and that voting is.. I don't know....pointless?  But I think not voting is to completely give in and give over to forces which might seem greater than can be defeated by a vote but which will certainly not be defeated if you never use your voice.  Also, not voting is totally unacceptable in the democracy that we are supposed to have.  So, vote, wouldja?! 

We are still selling buttons - at last count, we've sold 22, 795 since February 2011.  That is a lot of buttons!  And a lot of conversation and commiseration, and a little bit of holding my tongue. 

I had a labor history teacher from Chicago come into the shop last weekend; he told me that history is on our side.  Gosh, I sure hope so.  I'm looking forward to a time when we can look backwards on all of this.  In the meantime, I mostly hope that we can all continue to communicate and connect, to remember the very deep and intrinsic value of everyone, and to respect and uphold their rights.  I think the biggest thing I got from the protests of early last year and everything that came from that, is a keen sense of connection and interdependence.  Even though we speak of "taxpayer" "state worker" "politician" "businessman," I'm not really sure that we are gaining anything from being so vehement about our independence.  I'm not sure there is any independence.  As a small business person, I like to think that I'm making independent decisions and choosing a career where my only boss is myself and my sister, but I won't have much of a business if I don't have customers.  In so many ways, we are all connected, and I don't think we will really get anywhere if we keep buying into the divisiveness and partisanship (though sometimes I can't help myself, see below).

So, that's where we are.  We get a lot of out-of-staters in to the shop so it seems like we've been answering a lot of questions.  In some ways it feels like so many peoples' hopes are resting on the outcome in Wisconsin; in other ways, it only registers faintly when they are in the midst of their own daily lives and dramas of their own states.  Seems like simliar events are occurring all over, ones that I hope we can meet with our own strengths and resolve to address the changes that are taking place in the world, the new people and places and connections, the necessities of living smaller in a world that is strained to bursting...

Which actually brings me to Easter. 
The shop was closed on Easter Sunday and I attended the church I have been attending since I was a child. The congregation is the Community of Hope, a United Church of Christ congregation on Madison's West side.  (I mention the UCC component because an article in the New York Times portrayed Obama's membership in a UCC church as fringe, which I find somewhat offensive.  Yes, we are a small denomiation, but we believe in gay marriage and in the rights and values of ALL people, men and women.  SO I don't really think that our beliefs should be considered "fringe.").  Our wonderful Pastor Tisha had us pick up stones as we entered - so there we all sat, holding our stones (as a geology student, I have great fondness for stones, and enjoyed the feel in my hand), and then she made us bring them up, and exchange them for flowers.  The idea was to emulate the women approaching Jesus' tomb - knowing the stone was there, not knowing how they were going to deal with it, but going nonetheless, and then finding the stone rolled away!  So, too, we thought about what were the stones in our life, the things that we weighing us down, holding us back, preventing us from going in the direction we wanted, and what we would we do if they were suddenly rolled away?  Then we carried those stones up to the altar, and swapped them for flowers, for the promise of Easter and spring and blooming and growing.  And then I went home, and all I could think about for the rest of the day was how could I end up with THAT notion of Easter, and my ideas of love and justice, from the same religion that has generated so much hatred and judgment.  It's really a puzzle, and a sorrow, to me.

I was also thinking about this quotation from the movie "Chocolat," one of my favorites, and also one that embodies what I consider Christian:

"I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of Our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life, here on Earth. His *kindness*, His *tolerance*. Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we *embrace*, what we create and who we include." Père Henri

Which then brings me to national politics.  WHAT is going on?!  I don't think it is an exaggeration to call this a "war on women."  But I'm also not sure it is the benefit of anyone except a very few.  I think most 2-income households would LIKE it if there was wage equity; I think women are capable of deciding for themselves when/if they should have babies and doing/deciding what needs to be done; I think that two people in a loving adult relationship should be able to be married whether they are a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman; and I think that NOT talking about sex is not the way to avoid unplanned teenage pregnancies and that if you really want to avoid abortions, you should be a little more supportive of contraception.  Should I go on?  I know, there's a bit of a tirade element but I found a rubber stamp in one of our catalogs that's pretty much perfect:  "I myself have never known what feminism is.  I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." Rebecca West

In truth, my objections to the action of the Governor are similar to my objections to the actions of the Republican Party on a national scale.  I was under the impression that they are the party of small government, but that seems to be only in certain areas - no regulations on corporations, but, yes, by all means, regulate what goes on in the bedroom between consenting adults.

Honestly, their actions seem based on greed for money and power, and an unwillingness to deal with the changes occurring in the world.  And, I know, I'm not practicing what I preach about connection and communication and trying to understand, but, I'm just totally bewildered, kind of sorrowful too, because there seems to be so much hatred and misinformation and distrust.  I don't know what to do about that exactly.  Usually I just try to focus on the happy things.

Like the crafty way that people have responded to various political and social issues.  Have you heard about the knitted uter...ii?  being sent to Republican politicians?  LOVE. 

Like getting to cast a vote for Obama.  The Wisconsin primary was last week, and I must say it was a thrill to mark that line.  I know there are people who were hoping he would get more done in the first term; maybe they are disappointed about the difference between campaign speech and the limits of our system of checks and balances.  I still shudder to think what things would be like if McCain-Palin were in the White House.  And I also read a 2007 Vanity Fair article about the decades it will take to recover from Bush's reign.  And Mitt?!  Please.  I've learned that Democrats are just as beholden to lobbyists and big-money spenders (that's a whole 'nother post, but, seriously, we need campaign finance reform), but there is not no difference between Obama and Mitt.  So, while we're still on the fence about the candidates for Governor, we know who we're voting for in November!

And in the meantime, here's to hoping for spring and blooming and rolling away the impediments to a just and happy life.

feeling feisty

Well, I've been stewing about this for a little while.  Obviously the state and national politics aren't helping with their various ways of suggesting that women are lesser, weaker, dumber... you name it...   I'm utterly fed up with that.

This past week I have also been reminded of the middle of February last year.  When the budget rumblings were just beginning and customers were coming in asking for our buttons.  We didn't even HAVE buttons yet, we were still reeling.  And the requests have started up again.  Sachi just finished a series of Obama buttons; we had been talking about how we were feeling a little at a loss for where to go, but also trying to figure out what exactly to say.  Then on Tuesday, a few customers came in and said, "where are your contraception buttons?"  And on Wednesday, a customer called and said that she heard we might have some buttons, or could make some for her.  She said she hasn't been particularly political, but all these attacks on women's rights were forcing her to get involved.  "We're mad as heck, don't ya know."  Classic.  Seriously. 

So I told Sachi on Wednesday that we really needed to get going on the next set of buttons.  We watched the girl at her ballet class that night and brainstormed possibilities.  I went a little too far in the dictionary of urban slang.. but did emerge with "my lady business is none of yours."  Meanwhile, as expected, Sachi just needed a little push but threw herself into her panty protest pin series, debuting today.

I've also had a few incidents - a very few, and not enough to constitute a pattern by any means, but nonetheless ones that makes me annoyed with a certain category of person - one who wields power and perpetuates a system whereby they have more power than other people; specifically, they, as men, have more power than other people, as women, and then goes out and yells at the people who have less power.

In all, over the last year, I have been pleasantly surprised.  I have managed to maintain mostly civil retail relationships despite having  opponents to my clearly stated point of view.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me.  And, fine, if you feel that you cannot support our store because we disagree with our Governor, that's your prerogative.  That said, I am much more likely to respond to paying customers.  Although I myself have been tempted with the boycott approach, on a very basic level, I feel like there's no way we are ever going to find any middle ground if we can't even buy, say, a donut from each other (a customer recently told me about a "horrible Republican" baker.. but, yeah, I won't give up the donuts).  Now that I have learned that I can still get along with some Republicans, well, hey, maybe we can start to have a conversation about what it is we do have in common and what it is we want to make our world better for our children.

Nonetheless, between myself, my sister and our part-timer, we've had a handful of unpleasant experiences.  Maybe we just caught these men on a bad day, maybe as women, we just ignore the whisperings of other women, maybe it's just a matter of that particular communication style butting heads' with our own particular communication style.  Still, it is irksome.  And more than that when combined with the behavior of political men on state and national levels.

What is it exactly about these few incidents?  Well, for starters, they were all men.  They stopped in (or stood in the doorway); in all of my situations, there was very little room for discussion, because they basically said what they wanted to say and went on their way.  In the case of our part-timer there was some feeling... not threat exacly, but unease, given that the that it was a group of high school wrestlers (a situation with an underlying potential of physical harm, whether conscious or not).  And yes, this is our store, we are the owners, and we made the decision to be vocal about our opinion.  However, there is some imbalance of power in the retail relationship.  After all, we are trained in customer service that the customer is always right, even when they are wrong.  There is an underlying element that you must maintain civility and that the customer holds the fate of your store or job in their hands.  This gives the customer an advantage.  Additionally, I'm never really sure - does that customer realize that I am the owner of the store, or am I just a hapless shopgirl?  If you think I am not the owner who set policy, then that's even more objectionable that you take your ire out on me.  My objection to these incidents is they way they are like a microcosm of the way certain men (notably politicians) seem to be treating women right now.  No effort for interaction or understanding, just a wielding of power over matters that, honestly, are none of their business.  Sure, these customers are free to disagree with me, but they are not free to expect that I will change or impose their views over mine.  I have just as much right to have an opinion - but since they didn't stop for a conversation, they aren't even letting me have mine.  Well, they might say that I imposed mine on them first, but I don't require them to read or listen to mine.  YET, because of the imbalance of power in the retail relationship, I am required to "smile and nod" in the face of their opinion.

(and another thing, what is the party that regularly complains about the
"nanny state" and calls for small government doing in anyone's personal life?  Unfortunately Citizens United only went one way to declare that corporations are people.  Because if people were declared corporations, then maybe the Republicans would be more amendable to privatizing our private lives?).

I have worked really REALLY hard to get where I am today.  I think every person should have a say in who they want to be and where they want to go.  I think you should behave in this world the way you want other people to behave towards you, and also not assume that your way is the only/best way.  I am personally not suited to stay at home in the kitchen with the children, but if someone else wants to do that, that's fine.  The point of all the work of all the people that have come before us is that WE get to have a say in our destiny.  Just like anyone else.  We can make mindful decisions about what our life is going to look like, and not be subject to the whims of other people.  We deserve that as much as anyone else.  We are smart enough, we are capable enough, and if anyone says otherwise, they are losing out because we could have rocked their world.

a few words from a small business owner about taxes

Two things:

1. Why do some people have effective tax rates that are less than other people's?

2. What is the good of tax breaks to generate business if the price that is paid comes out of the customers' discretionary income? 

 

I was rather discouraged to read that Mitt Romney's effective tax rate is around 14%.  I tell you quite honestly, it makes me feel that my work is less valuable than his work; that somehow I am less valuable than he is.  Now, certainly, I don't circulate as much money in the world, perhaps my circle of influence is not as large as his, but it seems to me that the principle of these United States is a certain level of equality, of fairness, of inherent VALUE in every single person. 

And yet, I think back to the civil rights era, the pictures of people with signs, "I am a Man."  Have we made progress?

I am a person.  I am a small business.  I am a creator, even of jobs if you count our part-timers.  I matter.  I will even go so far to say that for some people, I matter MORE than Mitt Romney.  So there.

The first year that we started our business, my effective tax rate was over twice that of Mr. Romney's.  Honestly?  I cried.  A lot, that year.  I cried on the phone to the IRS when setting up a payment plan; I cried at night wondering how I would meet those payments and pay the mortgage.  I cried trying to come up with some possible part time night job like grocery store stocker. 

That tax rate was much higher than it had ever been in all my years working for someone else, following someone else's rules, subsuming my own creativity and intiative to the will of someone else.  It was much higher than when I wasn't paying thousands of dollars in sales taxes because I was selling stuff.  And then, when I took a risk, steeled my nerves and became a small business owner (something which is talked about as if it is valuable and important to the progress of our nation), paid sales taxes, paid unemployment taxes, paid income taxes, I was met with hurdles. 

Now, I am not begrudging the amount of taxes that I pay.  Let me be clear about that.  I will say that the amount of paperwork involved in paying taxes is irritating.  I don't mind the actual paying of taxes; it just would be a lot less painful if I didn't have to spend hours dealing with the paperwork, if there was some coordinated and centralized form-filing-out department so that I don't have to reconfirm how many employees I have when that should be self-evident in the amount of taxes that I pay.  I came to realize that while our politicians and media talk about the value of small businesses, the things they were talking about were for businesses much larger than mine.  Structurally, it seems that part of our system doesn't care at all about me as a small business.  Will never care about me at all unless my business is big enough to afford me the kind of profits that will allow me to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobbyists or campaigns.  That's discouraging.

And when there starts to be a conversation about tax breaks and incentives for small businesses, it really seems as if I am once again not even at the table.  If I WAS at the table, I would say that a couple hundred dollars of tax breaks (because, for us as a small business, that's about all it works out to per year) is NOTHING compared to what my customers spend at our store, or what our customers could spend at our store.  All the tax breaks in the world are not going to help me if my customers are not in a better position to buy things.  Maybe these huge corporations don't depend on their customers the way I do, I don't know, all I know is that this talk of tax breaks is almost meaningless to me as a small business, particularly when it is accompanied by lowered discretionary income of my customers.

It has been an eye-opener.  That's for sure.  Now, on a daily basis, my value is affirmed by my customers, and by my own sense of satisfaction.  It is affirmed on the small local scale at which I feel that I have value and influence and power.  And that's fine. But overwhelmingly it means that my loyalty is to my customers, and to seeing that their quality of life is not threatened by tax breaks which are supposedly good for business but which leave schools and communities struggling.  In all honesty, I don't even understand how that scenario IS good for business.

I am happy to pay taxes for the many benefits that I reap.  But I am less happy about those who would pay less and yet reap the same benefits, who would somehow deny the way that they owe their wealth to society at large.  And I do not think I am unreasonable to begrudge someone a smaller effective tax rate just because... .what?  they have enough money to pay someone else to find all the loopholes?  they make their money from moving other money around not from talking to customers all day long?

Now, I realize that I am no expert in matters of taxes and national budgets, but I fail to see why the work that I do is somehow less important than the "work" of earning interest on investments.  WHY are capital gains taxed at a lower rate?  Is laying concrete and roadways, helping customers, selling goods or services - does that build this nation less than earning capital gains?  Because, according to tax code, certain work is more valuable/less taxable than other work which is taxed at a higher rate - by implication, I would say that the higher rate of taxation means that such work is of less value.  Really?  Is that the kind of country we want?

 

thanks, A MILLION!

I heard from a friend recently who asked me, "so you won, right?"  And I realize that I've been struggling a bit this week.  Mid-day on Tuesday, just after a conversation with my sister (she didn't want to overestimate and be disappointed, I had my heart set on a million), my Facebook page started filling up with the news.  A million signatures of citizens wanting to recall the Governor of Wisconsin.  Wow.  Almost double what was needed.  I teared up just a little bit.  The remainder of the day is lost in a blur of giddyness.  And of course, we immediately started brainstorming the next iteration of buttons ("one in a million," thanks a million," etc.).

Honestly,  I don't mean to be ungrateful, but the sense that I've had most strongly this week is: there is a LOT of work ahead.  It didn't help that I watched the Ed Show and was informed that the entire country is watching Wisconsin, as if the fate of democracy rests upon us alone.  I do feel keenly that other Governors will take their cues from the fate of Scott Walker.  But, of course, it is also every citizens' responsibility to hold their politicians accountable for their actions. In that respect, I do feel that people are much more alert and active, so that is a good thing.

It certainly feels like a very historic moment.  I have a friend with a friend in academia who studies labor relations.  Last February, he apparently told her that history will mark this time as "pre-Wisconsin" and "post-Wisconsin."  That seems flattering, but only if it goes the way I want it to.

No doubt that a million signatures represents a lot of time and energy and work and dedication; no doubt that a million signatures is a powerful message.  No doubt that forward is forward, no matter how small the step - because as much as a million sigatures is an amazing thing, there is the matter of signature verification (which I thought Walker was supposed to pay for with his unlimited fundraising that he's been doing, but apparently not), voter registration and voter turn-out in new districts and voter ID still ahead.  Not to mention whatever other shenanigans Walker will get up to in the meantime and the likelihood that he will continue to divert Wisconsin resources to his campaign donors and appoint more unqualified people to positions with newly-raised salaries.  Not to mention the millions of dollars of fundraising, Super PACs and whatever else are going to start coming into the state.

So, yes, it definitely seems important to mark this momentous week.  To say thanks, thanks, a million times thanks.  So many people have put so much work into collecting signatures and sharing their stories.  So many people have awakened and connected to each other in ways they hadn't before. 

Governor Walker's response, as expected, trivialized the whole matter: 'it's easy to sign petitions but not as easy to vote.'  But it also betrays so much about what is wrong that it kind of breaks my heart.  Is it really supposed to be HARD to vote?!  Isn't everyone supposed to vote?  Isn't that our responsibility?  Isn't that how we judge other countries as far as how free they are?   So, I don't mean to be a downer, I'm just a little tired.  Not completely exhausted, not giving up or losing my momentum or determination, just a little weary and just a little sad about the ways that some people seem utterly uninterested in the idea of liberty and justice for all.

Happy 2012!

"In those days, we finally chose to walk like giants & hold the world in arms grown strong with love & there may be many things we forget in the days to come, but this will not be one of them." Brian Andreas

I don't know what it is exactly, perhaps it is just my starry-eyed optimism that has somehow managed to stay undimmed even through the political tumult of 2011.  I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that our December 2011 sales were well above December 2010 sales (and not just because of buttons).  It also has something to do with the amazing creative renaissance that I witnessed in 2011 - in the face of frustrating politics and shaky economics, I was concerned that people would no longer have time for creating, would be preoccupied by trying to cover their rising cost of living, would be distracted from following their passion by having to follow the strictures of their workplace.  And instead I was blown away by the ways people found to voice their anger, their hope, their humor, their very selves.  In song, in metalworking, in signs, in video, in printmaking.  The list goes on.  Of all that has come about from politics in Wisconsin, this creative renaissance is truly inspiring to me. I am filled with so much gratitude for the people who supported our shop, for the moments of laughter around the button table, for the spirit and resilience that I witness everyday.

I have a strong & good feeling about 2012.

I realize there is a lot of work ahead of us and maybe all of my wishes won't come true but I am also very mindful of everything that was wakened in 2011 - there is a sense of anger and frustration (with politics, mostly), that's true, but there is also a sense of energy and vigor, of committment and community.  If everything that has led us to this point brings more of us out to vote, makes us think more about where we shop and how we eat, helps us think more about the hands that actually made whatever it is we are buying/selling/giving, gives us a stronger sense of our Christian or moral or American duty, well, then I think my optimism is not misplaced.  I don't things will be easy or easily resolved, I think we will always be fighting against those who would deny us power or wealth or influence, but I think we are strong, and have the ability and generosity to support everyone else on this journey and affirm the value of All.

I know, there are great forces that have been at work for decades now and some part of me feels that I am witnessing the American version of the fall of the Roman empire.  There's little doubt in my mind that lots of people will be worse off for more years to come, that some people will never willingly let go of the money and power they have, even if it is at cost to the health of our entire nation.  There are great forces at work against the American Dream, but that doesn't mean we have to cede our dreams or our voices.

Change is coming - it is here, in the slow food movement, in the buy local movement, in the ways that the internet connects us and informs us, in the diversity of our population, in the challenges of the environment and the demands of the world.  I sometimes feel like some people's political and economic motivations are based on a way of life that is more fitting for the 1950s, but that time is gone, the world is changing.  They will fight it, and desperately, but I don't think the change can be undone.

"There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and suffer greatly. Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personally least of all ourselves, for the moment we do that, our spiritual growth comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves; banish the word ‘struggle’ from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred way and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for." Hopi Elder's Prophecy

I would also note, though I've forgotten what Madison businessperson said this, that I am taking to heart the notion of defending Madison like a city-state.  I feel so blessed to live here, I love my city, and my state, and I am resolved in my committment to uphold the qualities that I love so much.

So, 2012, bring it on!  We have spirit, we have resourcefulness, we have creativity, we have wealth.  May we use it in the pursuit of Liberty and Justice for All, and a Happy New Year.

 

"...I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind." --Neil Gaiman