August 3 Posts to Ponder

The Neglect of Poor Whites' Perspective in Today's Society

Starting off with an interview with the author of a book I still haven't read, Hillbilly Elegy. Interesting perspective on what still is a great mystery, the mystique of Trump among so many:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-us-politics-poor-whites/

Between the Trump insurgency and this book, there seems to be a renewed interest in "poor whites." Here is another article worth pondering:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/the-original-underclass/492731/

Affordable Housing

A good discussion this morning about "granny flats" at the leadership coffee led to this posting. Looks like there is nimby-ism in Rochester that could create roadblocks here too.

https://seniorcareadvice.com/my-mother-lives-in-the-backyard-the-granny-pod-evolution.htm

Is "affordable housing" an achievable goal for developers? This article says no; it doesn't "pencil out." Some sobering info here.

http://apps.urban.org/features/cost-of-affordable-housing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=aug_posts&utm_term=housing_development&utm_content=aff_housing_tool

The reference to Black Lives Matter is likely to put many people off, but this is an excellent article about some ways to address inequalities, including efforts to develop inclusionary housing plans.

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/black-lives-matter-policy-agenda-city-playbook


On Community

I was reminded of this quote from Wendell Berry when a positive response  came through on a review I'd written back in 2007. The quote and my specific comments:

"Andy said, 'You're worried because they've left the membership,' and he smiled...They've gone over from the world of membership to the world of organization. Nathan would say the world of employment.'...One of the attractions of moving away into the world of employment, i think, is being disconnected and free, unbothered by membership.It is a life of beginnings without memories, but it is a life too that ends without being remembered. The life of membership with all its cumbers is traded away for the life of employment that makes itself free by forgetting you clean as a whistle when you are not of any more use. When they get to retirement age, [my children] will be cast out of place and out of mind like worn-out replaceable parts, to be alone at the last maybe and soon forgotten.

"'But the membership,' Andy said, 'keeps the memories even of horses and mules and milk cows and dogs.'"

"And that is the magic of Berry's writing; his telling of stories of those who are still *members* of a community helps keep their memories alive and reminds us of our own need to find our own community within our own spaces."

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SY7IHVRP79XA/ref=cm_cd_notf_message?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2IHQOI1XWVAXH&cdPage=1&cdThread=Tx2TIH22H69Z4MS#Mx10732S9JNWQMC

Indian Reservations, Poverty, Joblessness, and Why Native Americans Don't Leave

Working on some FAQs for our congregation's website related to our ministry among one of the reservations here in the US, and found some good resources to use.

This first one is a very capitalistic view that manages to ignore the history of broken promises, etc. Still, it does present one part of the problem.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoppisch/2011/12/13/why-are-indian-reservations-so-poor-a-look-at-the-bottom-1/#3cd59da6337a

Another site goes into more on-the-ground detail on the very real problems so many people on the reservations face every day.

http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=naa_livingconditions

This site deals with some of the specific problems of life off the reservation:

http://nativenews.jour.umt.edu/2014/?page_id=171


A "Better Way" to Political Correctness

Interesting piece here, calling for civility on all sides.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/july-web-only/wrong-way-to-fight-political-correctness.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=13414595&utm_content=453703145&utm_campaign=email