Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 23:58:40 -0400
Reply-To: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Organization: Bulley-Hewlett
Subject: Political eruption, Bulley Style; was Vanagons for Peace
In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20020909225029.029b09a0@pop.blueriver.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
In the final analysis, there is only one reason for the Administration's
fixation with Iraq. Insurance on the flow of cheap oil.
There would be no such thing as "terrorist attacks on the US" if we
weren't trying to force our beloved democracy down the throat of every
nation where there is a natural resource we want to keep cheap.
Middle Eastern terrorists aren't inflamed for "no particular reason"...
it is because the US is bound and determined to shape policy and
governance in the Middle East so we can keep our cheap oil. Wouldn't you
be peeved if, for example, Brazil was militarily forcing its political
will in the US? Wouldn't you be tempted to take some wacky action to
hurt Brazil? Duh. Why don't Americans get this?
If the US weren't addicted to cheap oil, if we could bear $8 gallon
gasoline because we had walkable towns, and fast trains, Saddam Hussein
would be just another corrupt, power-hungry dictator, preparing for war
on his neighbors, and we'd read about it in the papers. Other countries
with better land use and smarter transportation systems don't want to
get involved in Dubya's "war", because they don't rely as heavily on
cheap oil. They don't have a dog in the fight, and consequently they'd
rather read about it in the paper.
Since we Americans demand fresh salad greens in January from 3,000 miles
away, and we love Wal*Mart, whose scam on America is completely reliant
on cheap oil to get those cut-rate drills and chintzy sweaters from
China to the crappy grey box near you, our kids will die to keep our oil
cheap. And you thought that little yellow smiley was fueling the cheaper
prices. Watch what happens to Wal*Mart when fuel prices do spike, (and
they will eventually).
Bottom line: we're the one's with the addiction. We're the one's who
should have to pay the price, or should have to develop better land use
policies, and transportation options that cut our per capita oil
consumption 85%. That would put our oil consumption on par with most
other countries in the world. Or we can keep asking for plums in
February for $.89 a pound at Wal*Mart, and raise an extra kid or two to
send to Dubya's perpetual war for cheap oil. Reality.
Developing business and guiding change since 1996,
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
AIM = IExplain4u
Phone: +1.919.658.1278
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Andy Mahler
Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2002 1:03 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Vanagons for Peace
friends
this is the first item I have posted to this list
(other than a request for help from my Wolfy-driving cousin who was
passing
through)
My wife and I have three Vanagons, all Westys, two '84s and an '88
We got our first Vanagon in 1991, the same year I helped organize
what has since grown into an eighteen state regional cooperative network
of local, grassroots forest protection organizations called Heartwood.
I mention this because my wife and I have spent a lot of time in our
vanagons
in every one of those states, hooking up with the good, caring,
hard-working local folks who
sometimes alone, and sometimes with a handful of friends,
organized among their neighbors
to stop the careless and wanton destruction of the remnant hardwood
forests
of the East, Midwest, and South (heartland + hardwood = Heartwood).
Our Vanagons have taken us down some windy-ass driveways in the Ozarks
and the Appalachians, from Mississippi to Minnesota, and from Missouri
to
Maryland,
from the mean streets of big cities to the most rugged and remote rural
areas,
the Vanagon has proven itself, time and again, the most useful beast in
the
barnyard.
We always had a place to sleep, even when broken down by the road in the
middle of nowhere---
and when you're in this line of work, the great thing is you're never
more
than a couple of hours
from someone who will come get you, help get your vehicle back on the
road,
feed you a great meal,
and set you up in a beautiful place for the night-- and, the next day
they
take you to the most beautiful forest, or a wild free-flowing river, or
some other sweet precious spot that gives them solace and strength in a
crazy old world.
I am on a lot of lists, none of which get as much traffic as this one
I am beginning to recognize names and personalities
and wish to say
thank you for the generosity in sharing wisdom and experience and spare
parts
for good advice and good laughs
for your devotion to these contraptions and their many admirable
qualities
and of course their idiosyncrasies
long life to them all, and to you
I don't spend as much time on the road as i used to
spending more and more at this computer
in the woods here in southern Indiana
I'm going to go on digest mode for a while (too much to read as it is)
but I wanted to post this message before I do
and now, to the point
to me the Vanagon is not just a conveyance
it is a political tool
a remarkable utilitarian expression of personal transportation and
self-sufficiency
(those who do not wish to read a political opinion are advised to
discontinue reading now)
Times are getting tough and people are carrying a lot of stress
The political situation is getting ugly and the bill of rights is
getting
constricted and eroded
I may bring down coyote's wrath, but I just have to ask
Won't you all please take some action, small or large, soon,
TO STOP THIS INSANE WAR!!!
Thanks for listening
thanks for caring
thanks for whatever you choose to do
and thanks to TomC and Coyote for moderation
peace
@
andy