"Consumerism is the drug of an unjust society" - Jim Wallis

On an interview on the Today programme recently, Jim Wallis warned that everyone held some responsibility for the economic crisis, not just the bankers.

"I think we've been asking the wrong question, which is 'When will the crisis end?' The right question is 'How will the crisis change us?'" The people who precipitated this are now walking away with record profits and bonuses. But all of us have a share of this, if we put the mirror up, that we have been part of an economy based on too much consumption and too much debt.

I would say that consumerism is the drug of an unjust society. It numbs our minds, it quiets our conscience and it distracts our attention.

So I think that we can't go back to business as usual. We need a new normal now. How do we reset our values and use this crisis as an opportunity for a change in direction?"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9222000/9222855.stm

Banks that serve the people?

http://www.giantvampiresquid.org/

Enneagram

Quite a few people I know have found the Enneagram a really useful tool, so I've started taking a little look at it.

There's a basic free test on the website to help you determine which personality type you might be. But it seems that a lot of people have got the most value from this by exploring it with others & talking about what it brings up for them.

http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

the end of growth?

In a planet of finite resources, is never ending economic growth sensible, or even possible?

It takes a brave person to even question the idea of growth - the cornerstone of our economic system. But some people have been starting to do just that.

There's some interesting ideas in this report from the Centre for Steady State Economics. Some of them may raise some eyebrows, but hopefully may provoke some interesting discussions.

http://steadystate.org/enough-is-enough/

a sobering moment

On Channel 4 news the other day they showed a map of the jet stream, while talking about the floods in Pakistan, the heatwave in Russia, and the rains in China. Apparently these weather events could all be attributable to an unusual fluctuation in the jet streams.

As I then watched pictures from Pakistan, it made me think of some of the predictions made about the effects of climate change. It brought it home to me again that 'this is happening now'.

We won't have to wait 20 or 50 years to see news bulletins of people dying due to the effects of humankinds stewardship of the planet.

Day 26. Bethlehem.

It did snow even though Steve and myself were adamant that it wouldn't. I think this was more optimism than realism. We had a few cold days but now it is nice weather again which is great.

We have had two or three really active days. It feels longer than matbe it actually has been since the last post simply because of what we have done.

Over the past three days we have:

- Visited Solomon's Pools. These are situated on the way into Bethlehem and were commissioned by Solomon and provided water to Jerusalem. They are vast. There are three pools (all empty), with dimensions of approx. 100m x 40m x 30m. We went for a walk down the valley there and got invited into someone's house for a brew. It seems in Palestine that if you end up walking onto someones property or near their house you get invited in for a drink as people are interested in who you are and want to welcome you into their homes.

-Went to Jerusalem. Met a liberal Rabbi contact and spent a couple of hours chatting. This was interesting. Not least because we saw how the 'other half' live in Israel. Later we met some friends who came from Amman in Jordan for a couple of days.

Spent the night on the Mount of Olives and went to look over Jerusalem at midnight when all the old city was lit up with great views of the Dome of the Rock mosque.

Yesterday we came back to Bethelehn and went to Herodian, an ancient citadel east of Bethlehem built by Herod the great. Herodian and Solomon's Pools are not exploited tourist attractions like so often happens at home. It seems there is so much history here that some of it justs sits on the side of the road and people live alongside it, almost unaware of the importance many people at home would place upon it as landmarks with Biblical connections.

We also had a chance to go back to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is always a great experience. After sipping a late afternoon coffee in Manger Square we headed back to Tent of Nations.

Today we have been to Hebron. A very interesting city. Especially contentious as it the burial place of the Patriarch's. We were allowed into the Mosque that sits on the site of the burial caves; the first Mosque I have ever been in. In Hebron city centre, settlers have moved in and the city centre is divided into Palestinian and Settler areas. This makes for a continuous army presence and constant tension. We visited Christian Peacemaker Teams which observes what goes on and
reports and photographs any abuses in the city in order that the issues are not hidden. We went onto the roof of their building and had a great view over the city. On the roof over the street some Israeli soldiers were posted and we had a great conversation with one guy who was from Haifa. Below, Palestninan boys played football in the street. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day, and even though there was potential for more trouble as it was Shabbat, the whole situation seemed ridiculous. The individual people you speak to are really nice, but the two sides are bitter enemies.

Tomorrow is my last day on the farm as I have got some time off to go to Jordan for a few days leaving Monday.

So, I will keep you posted, and maybe Steve may be taken to write at some point too.

Take care one and all.

Day 19. Bethlehem.

The weather has turned cold again and we are expecting more snow tomorrow. I don't think it will happen, but most people here seem convinced and are getting ready. The West Bank comes to a standstill when the snow hits as the infrastructure is not up to coping with it. Not unlike Britain in that respect really.

Steve and myself have had a good day working today and this afternoon we settled down to another game of chess.

Just to fill in the last few days.... obviously life mainly revolves around the farm, but this last week I took a day trip up to Nablus with a small group of people and had a look around. We saw some ancient ruins at a place called Sebastia, where Alexander the great (among others) made a citadel; we toured a soap factory (which was really interesting); we went to turkish baths which were 600 years old and finally we ate some local food. So far so good.

At about 5pm we left Nablus to go back to Jerusalem where I had decided to spend the night. The trip is about 45 minutes by road. However, vehicles are not allowed to leave Nablus by the south, which is the way we were going, so we had to queue at a checkpoint for over an hour to get through. All the Palestinians had to queue in order to leave the town. We could have been checked quickly as we hold foreign passports, however we decided that we shouldn't have rights over and above the people who live here, so we decided to queue in the cold. It was a pretty horrible experience but good to do and appreciated by some of the guys who we spoke to in the queue who have to put up with that everyday. It was then two checkpoints, two taxi rides and a bus trip later that I arrived in Jerusalem. Daily life under occupation is difficult and degrading.

So day to day life plods on really. I think that is all for now.

We spent the morning digging the ground to make a patio - a quiet sunday in the countryside. Then at the end of the day, some Israeli soldiers came to the end of our lane with jeeps and a bulldozer. This is more frightening than it sounds as people here live with the daily fear that their houses could be demolished without warning. The soldiers said that they wanted to pile more earth on the roadblock at the end of our lane (we are not allowed to bring cars along to the house, but have to park half a mile away as the road is blocked by a pile of rocks & earth). So they did that and then headed home. We went back to our undemolished house and our 'quiet' sunday.