Jubilee Economics Ministries

Schizophrenic Super Bowl Ads

2012-02-12T09:01:20Z

This year I was struck by two commercials, each selling American brands of automobiles, that when taken together might suggest a divided mind about how to sell cars and in a larger way, where America is and where she sees herself going.

7,000,000,000 Humans on One Planet? How Does That Work?

2012-01-31T19:08:58Z

It happened somewhere in October, 2011. A baby homo sapien was born and she or he became the seven billioneth member of that species alive at that moment. As recently as 1940, the year I was born, homo sapiens totaled a “mere” 2.3 billion. We tripled our numbers in my lifetime!

Coming Face to Face on US-Mex Border, Ethical Business, and Sustainable Economics

2012-01-23T23:00:34Z

Last year, 2011, the Jubilee Community grew nicely as a web presence via this website, Common Good podcasting, Facebook and YouTube. (Have you been part of it?) Now we want to get familiar face to face too. In January 2012, we’ve begun new venues for getting together in person.

Lane Van Ham Book Presentation

2012-01-01T23:26:00Z

For those of you in the San Diego area, you may like to join JEM and the Friends of Friendship Park on January 5th:

A Common Humanity: Ritual, Religion, and Immigrant Advocacy in Tucson, Arizona, released recently by the University of Arizona Press.

We’ll have Q&A time after Lane presents a few themes and stories from his book. His continuing work on the great creativity and innovation happening on the borders, along with the border’s impacts in our region, will make for an interesting evening together.

Jubilee Coff-Tea Time: a Salon for the 99 Percent

2012-01-01T10:00:28Z

We’re going to try something new here at JEM. Seeing how we’re in the “business” of helping people discover ideas for how to live with jubilee values in mind, we’ve used a growing range of digital channels to help spread our message. One of which has of course been The Common Good Podcast. But what about meeting up in person? We thought, what if we got a couple of them together for themed nights with compatible topics, and helped show how jubilee is already at work in the world?

Seven Positive Jubilee Developments in 2012

2011-12-22T22:04:38Z

Here are seven likely ways all of us learning more about living a jubilee world view and economy will be encouraged in 2012.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 6)

2011-12-21T16:35:09Z

Significantly, Joseph’s decision regarding Mary is our decision today regarding Earth. When we realize we have no life without her, do we not recognize Earth as our Great Mother? Civilization’s ways, dominated by patriarchy, continue to disgrace her abusively. By treating her as a thing to use rather than a being to love, “civilized” consciousness is unable to accept marrying her. Consequently, civilization is “stoning” her – her land, waters, and atmosphere.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 5)

2011-12-16T17:37:20Z

Telling the Christmas story to include what others leave out can release more of its impact. Matthew does just that. His good model urges us to tell the story as a compelling alternative to versions tailored to fit civilization’s purposes! Here’s what I mean. In the genealogy of the unholy, holy family by which Matthew leads up to the birth event, we are not surprised to see Jesus‘ revered ancestor, King David. But when Matthew makes sure to include the most earthy, least flattering, ego-protecting incidents in this Hebrew hero’s life, we have to know something exceptional is going on. Matthew does it with just one word: Bathsheba.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 4)

2011-12-09T22:45:56Z

Though parents are not likely to name their newborn girl Tamar, Rahab, or Bathsheba, an appealing romance clings to the name Ruth. Given the extensive use of her name, is Ruth then the story of a woman living according to the norms of middle American values? Is she an exception to Matthew’s interest in choosing women for Jesus’ family tree who break the rules of what is proper? Hardly. Her story fills the four chapters of the little Old Testament book that bears her name. There we can read the tale of a foreign woman who challenges norms and uses erotic powers to assure financial stability for her and her mother-in-law.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 3)

2011-12-02T19:05:38Z

You needn’t be a synagogue or church regular to have heard of Rahab. She has made her way into cultural lore as a kind of archetype of the whore, the seductress, the escort, the “pretty woman.” But has she ever been part of the Christmas story as you’ve heard it or told it?

Matthew, for his money, wants Rahab in the Christmas story. She rescues it from the smooth stone kind of story that fits civilization’s etiquette. She lures us into a different kind of story. We stammer a bit when we come to her in this “holy” story as we explain why “Her Unholiness” is there at all. So why did Matthew clearly relish her being in the story as he told it?

CapitaliShare

2011-11-30T09:27:32Z

For the planet to survive we need a new mindset of cooperation and sharing, rather than compete and beat. Life is sacred and property but a loaned privilege, not the other way around as current societies are now run. The main objectives of our productive industries must be directed toward providing the necessary goods and services needed by humanity, not the bottom lines as encouraged by Wall Street speculators. Our human energies must be redirected to useful productive pursuits and away from the various parasitical industries of which we have an over abundance and can do without. Liberal arts and sciences should be supported because they help us to be human as developers of the future. Nation states are political units of humanity that exist for the fair administration and regulation of societies within their borders to assure peace and justice for all, not international warring bands.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 2)

2011-11-28T00:14:24Z

Have you ever heard the Christmas story told in a way that included a woman named Tamar? Perhaps no one has. But that’ s how Matthew tells the story of the birth of Jesus. We have to ask, “Why?” Well, by 80 or 90 CE, when Matthew was writing his gospel, it was six decades after Jesus’ life. Matthew was part of the Jesus movement, his life having been transformed by the divine consciousness Jesus embodied. Furthermore, he saw how the Christ consciousness of Jesus was transforming the world views of all who sought to embrace it. Instead of being shaped by empire-think and control, the more people got into Christ consciousness the more their world views became shaped by caring, cooperation, and interdependence.

The Unholy Family of Christmas (Part 1)

2011-11-20T18:25:33Z

Artists depict the holy family of Christmas on everything from cards to pieces hung in galleries. One pose that has may variations shows Joseph standing with a staff and looking over Mary’s shoulder. Both of them are focused on their newborn lying in a manger. The scene is iconic and conveys a holy hush.

Mothers and fathers everywhere are photographed similarly holding their newborn in adoration and quiet amazement at this new life now in their lives. Though these poses also hold a sense of the sacred, only Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are called “the holy family.”

Metanoia Newsletter, November 2011

2011-11-12T21:42:50Z

Download the November 2011 newsletter here. PDF format.

Features:

Occupy Christmas!
Suggestions for a Jubilee Christmas
Fair trade continues to change economics of rich and poor
Housing designed for community

Around the JEM World in Thirty Days—Learning More about Living the Sustainable Economic Model Called Jubilee

2011-11-12T01:56:25Z

The 30-Day Immersion into the world of Jubilee Economics seems to be a winner. Instead of getting buried in the blog, we decided to make a page out of it so it would be readily available. So if you’re bold, drop in and spend a month to get to know all about Jubilee Economics—the organization and the alternative model we stand for.

Podcast Changeup

2011-11-04T23:25:00Z

There is some change in the wind for our podcast, The Common Good. Some of it is brought on a bit abruptly due to service issues we had to resolve with different hosting for the files, and some is purely programmatic and reflects our needs and aspirations as we move ahead with 2012 and things like Lee’s book project on the horizon.

Defending the System on the Christian Airwaves

2011-10-29T13:41:09Z

Thanks to the technology of the internet I am able to listen to Christian radio from my home city of Chicago even while living in Chiapas, Mexico. Specifically, I listen to WMBI, the flagship station of the Moody Radio Network. On average I listen a couple hours a day and especially appreciate Chris Fabry who touches on deep issues of the human spirit and Nancy Turner who invites guests not ordinarily heard on the station.

Investing & Environment: Impressions from SRI in the Rockies Conference, 2011

2011-10-20T19:04:01Z

SRI in the Rockies, “the premier annual gathering of investors and investment professionals working to direct the flow of investment capital in more positive, healthy, transformative ways,” has been held annually for 22 years. The conference has long since traveled beyond the Rocky Mountains, but the name is a true brand in the socially responsible investing world and thus lives on.

Acting with Strength for Earth in the Midst of Not-Knowing

2011-10-13T20:11:02Z

It’s been one week since my 320 mile journey from Fortuna, CA ended safe and soppy at San Francisco’s City Hall. Since then, with all of you in mind, I’ve been trying to piece together a synopsis of the event—a couple of cleanly written, succinct and inspiring paragraphs to summarize the success of our activism and the mission we accomplished.

Much to my own confusion, I can’t.

Solidarity with Occupy: Move Our Money from Banks-too-Big-to-Fail

2011-10-13T16:37:27Z

You may want to pack your tent and join those camping out. Or, perhaps joining in decisions about which actions Occupy can take that are most strategic to the democratic work of the 99% suits you better. Another possibility is to move your bank account to a credit union or locally-owned bank if you’re still banking at Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, or any of the few hundred banks that brought us to the 2008 crisis, were bailed out, and now are making profits in trading derivatives and speculating on currencies and markets rather than helping small businesses create jobs.

The Magnetism of Myra House

2011-10-12T08:07:49Z

Nestled up at the outer edge of the suburban tracts of Claremont, CA, right at the base of Mt. Baldy, a 10,000 foot hill that’s part of the San Gabriel Mountains in the back yard of Myra House, there is a place that quite excellently models what JEM is about. Yet funnily enough, Lee had never heard of it. It took maybe a couple years before he and I finally made the trek up to Claremont. Now that we do the podcasts and are looking for things to cover, we finally took the plunge (helped along by a lecture we thought would be interesting). Owned and created and re-created incrementally by a Korean couple, Sung and Myra Sohn, the property is a living laboratory for alternative living with a distinct spiritual awareness that has a magnetic charm, mainly because as you get to know the folks behind the house and grounds, you can’t help but see that they have both tenacity and grace to thank for all this.

Get on the Horn With JEM and Volunteer!

2011-10-03T20:45:26Z

Get on the horn with JEM today!

Whether you have two hours a month or two days per week, volunteering with JEM can contribute to economic change and maybe increase your own understanding of a jubilee economy. Currently, volunteers multiply by 15 every dollar donated to JEM. Here are ten volunteer tasks you might consider helping out with.

Cafe Virtuoso Slideshows

2011-10-01T07:02:00Z

Jubilee Economics’ podcast The Common Good went on the road to San Diego’s Cafe Virtuoso where everything is organic, as much as possible is Fair Trade, and the goods are top quality. (Episode 18 is the main audio interview.)

These slideshow are extensions to the podcast interview with Steve von Kolkow and Laurie Britton, the principal owner-partners at Virtuoso.

A Brief (Contextual) History of JEM from Chiapas

2011-09-29T14:00:44Z

I really can't do justice to JEM's history without going even further back beyond the decade or so that we have been an official organization. What brought JEM into being in 1999 had much to do with what was going on in Central America during the 80's and then in Chiapas during the 90's. US foreign policy was firmly in the anti-communist camp warning of a "domino effect" after one country had already turned "communist."

INTERdependence Day

2011-09-15T05:04:05Z

INTERDEPENDENCE is a key reality of all of nature and the cosmos. Because a jubilee, one-Earth economy copies nature’s wisdom of how to make exchanges that mutually benefit all involved, interdependence is at the heart of it. That’s why jubilee likes the Declaration of Interdependence and its 9/12 annual celebration.

Development Done in Jubilee Style in El Salvador

2011-09-09T19:24:07Z

In my recent trip to El Salvador, I was struck by some changes that are benefiting people who are living in poverty there. As part of a group sponsored by El Salvador North America Village Network (ESNA), I was able to get to know and to work with local people in constructing part of a classroom being added to the school in the village that we visited called Suquiyat.

Tomatoes Teach Jubilee

2011-08-19T08:05:49Z

Giant volunteer tomato plant bears fruit

Sometimes I think we waste too many words talking about Jubilee. It isn’t that they aren’t good words or well studied, well meant, and probably even useful. But once in a while, they fall flat in the face of a glimpse of the real thing.

My wife Kelli is holding a bowl of cherry tomatoes that are among the first such bowls yet to come for the summer. A few months ago, a determined little volunteer plant started shooting up near the compost igloo.

"A Jubilee Economy? What's That?" I Was Asked

2011-08-16T22:28:50Z

The questioner was interested in a different economy, but “jubilee” did not connect with anything in his experience of economies. So, I said that it was a sustainable economy, an ecologically friendly economy—one that fit our planet. The global, capital-driven economy, I explained to him, required multiple planets even though we have only one. So it’s essential that we shift to an economy that can fit inside of Earth and restore her. A jubilee economy is a one-Earth economy. That made sense to the questioner.

Austerity?! Let's Talk about Abundance for All

2011-08-10T21:32:13Z

By now we see that all the talk about austerity in these economic hard times does not apply to the wealthiest whose wealth has increased as their taxes remain low It does not apply to military spending or the budgets of the intelligence community. It does not apply to the bankers in the too-big-to-fail banks. It does apply to those with no jobs, low-paying jobs, and insecure jobs. It does apply to students in state universities, to people without health insurance, and to many who can no longer self-identify as middle class.

Metanoia Newsletter, August 2011

2011-08-01T07:00:00Z

Download the August 2011 newsletter here. PDF format.

Features:

A pro-business, one-earth economy?
Strengthening your local, living economy
Network responses
Jubilee news briefs