Glen's Parallax Perspectives

“Create a Publicly Owned Washington State Bank”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Serious problems require bold, creative solutions! The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s January 2011 TV interview explores a creative solution to help our state’s economy. Even during hard financial times, a lot of money flows through the state government. Property tax payments, sales tax revenue, payroll taxes, fees for licenses, and other revenues arrive at various times. From time to time the state pays out this money for salaries, equipment, supplies, rent, payments to local governments, and so forth. What happens to the money while the state has it? The state deposits most of it with the big Wall Street banks […]

“A Nonviolent Society for the Common Good”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

In recent years American society has experienced a serious upsurge of anti-government rhetoric, including threats of violence against members of Congress – and in January 2011 an actual shooting. We have seen a continuation of war, torture and human rights abuses by our government, cutbacks in vital social and health services, a mania for privatizing public services, intolerance of minority races and religions, and an overall breakdown in the sense of our common humanity. Are these interconnected? Do they have common roots? Can we find solutions that will resolve these problems and restore our public ethics and our common humanity? […]

“Real Democracy, Not Corporate Personhood”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

“End ‘Corporate Personhood’ and Other Power Grabs” In its January 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that big business corporations can give as much money as they want to election campaigns. By a 5-4 majority (all 5 were appointed by Reagan or George W. Bush), they overturned a century of settled law that had protected election campaigns from excessive corporate interference. This decision further entrenched the bizarre notion that money is “speech” and that corporations are “persons” with free speech and the same civil rights as living, breathing human beings. The Citizens United […]

“Soldiers’ Wounds: One Cost of War that Never Ends”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

One of the recurring themes in the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s TV series is that we are all interconnected. No matter what issue we address on one program or another, we find ourselves affirming our common humanity – across nations, across social and economic groups, and so forth. Olympia FOR’s TV program for April 2011 took a fresh look at people who are in the military on active duty – and veterans who have served in the military. While the peace movement opposes wars and our violent foreign policy, we recognize that the individuals who serve or have served in […]

“Causing and Exploiting Economic Crises”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

What do Wisconsin’s Republican politicians, the political aftermath of 9-11, the Wall Street banking crash, and the federal budget crisis all have in common? In each case, a crisis (real or contrived) was used as the excuse to impose preconceived agendas of radical right-wing policies upon our political and/or economic lives. The Patriot Act, for example, was not a carefully crafted response to the 9-11 attacks. Rather, it was a massive collection of proposals for stripping away Americans’ constitutional rights to privacy, due process, and so forth. These proposals were too radical to ever be passed by Congress during normal […]

“Stories of Working for Peace and Justice”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

For a long time the world has been suffering depressing news about war, violence, eco-nomics, human rights, environment, climate, and other issues. As a result, people who care about these issues can feel depressed and demoralized. But – over the years – people who persist in grassroots movements for civil rights, peace, labor, environment, and so forth keep saying that what keeps moving these move-ments ahead is people sharing their stories. The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s June 2011 TV program features personal experiences, stories and insights from six local people who have worked effectively for peace and social justice. The […]

“The Arab World’s Democracy Movement”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s July 2011 TV program examines the growing movement for democracy in northern Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf states, and throughout much of the Arab world. The movement really took off in early 2011 and is continuing up through our taping date in June 2011, so it has been referred to as the “Arab Spring.” As usual, the mainstream news media and mainstream politicians have failed to understand or talk about some of the most important aspects of this, and they have described some aspects inaccurately, especially reflecting U.S. government bias, rather than understand […]

TV: “Korea: A History of U.S. Intervention”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Although Korea is in the news, most Americans do not know the real history. In the early 1950s the U.S. fought a bloody war in Korea. No peace treaty was ever signed — just a ceasefire. The U.S. military has been based in South Korea ever since the early 1950s, and the U.S. has been persistently threatening war — including nuclear war — against North Korea. What history led us up to the Korean War? What has been happening since? Neither our politicians nor our mainstream news media have told the truth to the American people, so the Olympia Fellowship […]

“Teenagers Organize Peace and Justice Activities”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Our culture wants us to be afraid of Muslims, homeless people, immigrants – and young people. The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s August 2011 TV program gives you an opportunity to meet four teen-agers and a 21-year-old who is working with them. You can decide whether to fear them – or to respect them. But don’t decide until you have had the opportunity to get to know them during this hour. Every year starting in 2001 the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation’s staff and volunteers have developed and carried out some creative and ambitious training for a select number of Puget […]

“A Public Park for Olympia’s Isthmus”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Overwhelming public opinion supports having a public park instead of privately owned high-rise condominiums on the isthmus that connects downtown Olympia and West Olympia. This much beloved strip of land at the southernmost tip of Puget Sound has a great view of the Capitol Building and the Olympic Mountains. The isthmus is in the heart of an area where people love to hang out. The community struggle to protect this land for public enjoyment turned more positive in July 2011, when Thurston County Commissioners Karen Valenzuela, Sandra Romero, and Cathy Wolfe unanimously offered financial support for the Olympia Capitol Park […]

“Active Duty Soldiers and Veterans Work for Peace”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

While the peace movement opposes wars and our violent foreign policy, we recognize that the individuals who currently serve in the military – or who have served in the military – deserve human rights just like anyone else. When the military establishment hurts them, they need to protect their rights. Also, some active duty troops and veterans find various ways to work for peace – sometimes at great personal risk. The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s October 2011 TV program examines these concerns and focuses on Coffee Strong, the GI coffee house that operated for several years near Fort Lewis, which […]

“Decades of Solidarity with Santo Tomas, Nicaragua”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Since 1988 our local community has built and sustained a strong relationship with a sister community in Nicaragua. The Thurston – Santo Tomás Sister County Association (TSTSCA) has built peace and across thou-sands of miles of distance by interacting face-to-face with back-and-forth delegations and by collaborating on practical projects in Santo Tomás. While the Reagan Administration was making war on Nicaragua, people in Thurston County and Santo Tomás forged relationships of mutual understanding and respect. Bypassing governments, we just went ahead and did what was needed – and what was right. In March 1987 the second episode of the Olympia […]

“Washington State Needs Tax Reform”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The State of Washington experiences recurring budget crises, so the Legislature keeps making drastic cuts. Revenue keeps falling short of the needs, so they keep slashing and slashing. They have cut funding for state employees, state parks, K-12 education, higher education, health care, assistance for our poorest people, and pretty much everything. But it’s never enough. The Governor and state legislators scrutinize everything on the expenditure side, but they have been refusing to seriously examine the seriously dysfunctional revenue side. They don’t seriously examine “tax expenditures” – various tax breaks, exemptions and loopholes. Some of these have existed for decades […]

TV: “Occupy Wall Street, Olympia and Everywhere”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The democracy movement that swept Tunisia, Egypt, and many countries in the Arab world in 2011 also was demanding a fair economy instead of corruption by cronies in unaccountable governments. (See the Olympia FOR’s July 2011 TV program posted at www.olympiafor.org). Los Indignados in Spain, the anti-austerity protests in Greece, and other actions around the world are also related to this movement for democracy, human rights, and a humane economy. And now – with similar consciousness and demands – the Occupy Wall Street movement has swept the U.S., resulting in hundreds of local “Occupy” encampments, protests and other grassroots activities. […]

TV: “Climate Change: Updates and Next Strategieis”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The climate crisis is increasingly serious, even though most politicians don’t want to deal with it, and mainstream media fail to report on it adequately. But while politicians and mainstream media negligently fail to act, the problems get worse. The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s February 2012 TV program brings us up to date and explores strategies for making progress. Our guests – Doug Howell from the Sierra Club and KC Golden from Climate Solutions – are exceptionally well informed. Doug and KC help us understand what the climate crisis is and the scientific causes. They debunk the claims of the […]