{"id":3319,"date":"2011-07-15T13:04:06","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T17:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/slacktivist\/?p=3319"},"modified":"2011-07-15T13:04:06","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T17:04:06","slug":"friday-fragments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2011\/07\/15\/friday-fragments\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday fragments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I completely agree with Matt Yglesias that \u201cFull Employment Is a Worker\u2019s Best Friend<\/a>.\u201d He writes:<\/p>\n

The real issue here is that instead of workers threatening to leave this crappy job and get a better one, people are clamoring to work at this warehouse. This is one small glance at why I keep urging progressives to start caring about monetary policy more. Nobody considers themselves a monetary policy activist. But if you\u2019re interested in labor and working conditions, you\u2019ve got to be interested in full employment. Full employment gives workers meaningful leverage. Mass unemployment gives it all to the bosses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s nearly all true, but I do<\/em> know many people who consider themselves to be \u201cmonetary policy activists.\u201d Unfortunately they\u2019re all gold-bugs and\/or Ron Paul conspiracy buffs.<\/p>\n

What would it mean to be the sort of \u201cmonetary policy activist\u201d who seeks a goal of full employment and who has some hope of meaningfully contributing to that goal?<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n

While oil-puppets like Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, are fighting to waste your money on lousy, obsolete, 20th-century light bulbs by repealing efficiency standards that will save taxpayers $12 billion a year<\/a>, the Liter of Light project<\/a> is bringing light to the homes of poor Filipinos with plastic bottles, water and no electricity<\/a>. Very cool.<\/p>\n

(Hasn\u2019t Barton heard about this project? Why isn\u2019t he defending these people from Liter of Light\u2019s assault on their freedom to sit in the dark?)<\/p>\n

Speaking of good news to the poor, say hello to the newly renamed \u201cSaunders Creek Home Owners Cooperative<\/a>\u201c:<\/p>\n

The park officially became a homeowner\u2019s cooperative on April 26, which means residents will have the option of buying into the cooperative in exchange for controlled rent spaces. Residents can bow out of the cooperative, but with a higher monthly rent for their space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe land at the park was up for sale, and residents started to worry about someone coming in and jacking up our rent. So the idea for homeowners in the park to purchase the land to be in control of the park started to circulate,\u201d commented resident Vivian Downs. \u201cIt is nice knowing as residents we have more control of our futures than we may have had with someone else stepping in and purchasing the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park, which consists of 43 mobile home spaces, was purchased through private loans and funds from the residents and grants to help the homeowners achieve their goal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also very cool.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

Jane Smiley reviews Frank Schaeffer\u2019s Sex, Mom, and God<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[Schaeffer\u2019s purpose]\u00a0 is to expose the insanity and the corruption of what has become a powerful and frightening force in American politics. He considers himself an eyewitness to the insanity during his childhood, and an eyewitness to the corruption during his early adulthood. The root of both, according to this book, is the perverse and destructive view that the \u201cGod-of-the-Bible\u201d takes of women and sexuality \u2014 that women are inherently corrupt and that their sexuality must be controlled by men. Frank\u2019s point in Sex, Mom, and God<\/em> is that female sexuality is at the heart of the abortion debate that energized the religious right, and he asserts, from his experience of both his very troubled father and himself, that profound anxiety about women and hypocrisy about the sex drive shape the evangelical \u00a0bid for power in the United States.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written a lot over the years about the self-destructive addiction to offendedness and indignation. One of my main theories about indignation is that this addictive form of self-absorbed self-righteousness makes one not just less kind, but also less smart.<\/em><\/p>\n

For an ongoing illustration of that principle at work, see Literally Unbelievable: Stories from The Onion as interpreted by Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere:<\/p>\n