Discussing Everyday Justice 1
The recent contest to win a copy of Everyday Justice generated some fantastic comments and questions about justice issues. So over the next few days I will be addressing some of those in blog posts. I don’t assume to have THE answers to anything, but just want to share my perspective and hope you will join in with yours as well.
Jamie asked -
I get so overwhelmed with the interconnectedness of justice and consumerism. I feel sometimes like I have no choices. How do we even live as humans in America without going completely off the grid?
I think there are a lot of people out there who would say the only answer is to go off the grid. We already have all sorts of intentional communities and communes that do their best to go off the grid to some extent. And I respect and even admire that. But for as often as I am labeled an idealist, I am a very practical person. In my opinion, it just isn’t feasible for everyone to step off the grid. Or even for, say, all justice minded Christians to do so.
Part of the problem with that is sustainability. There are just too many people to totally abandon the infrastructures that are currently in place. We still have to eat and have clothing and shelter – we need those structures to survive. Sure it is possible for groups of 50-100 to remove themselves from the system or for powerful countries to force smaller non-industrial countries to live in primitive conditions. But New York City can’t just step off the grid.
Why? Because the way many people remove themselves from the grid these days is by surviving on the excess waste and remnants of that grid. For example, the freegans who live off of dumpster diving survive only because the rest of us throw away perfectly good food. Veggie-mobiles often run on the used fry oil from fast food restaurants. The earthship recycled homes are built from the discarded tires and glass bottles of others. I think what they all do are fantastic ways to reduce consumption and waste in this world, but they are not sustainable solutions. If we were not creating this waste to begin with, then people couldn’t live this way. If everyone stepped off the grid in the paradigms we have available at the moment, we couldn’t survive.
But I am also not comfortable with the idea that living justly is therefore only for certain people. Sure, some people can step off the grid in those ways, but it isn’t feasible (for a variety of reasons) for everyone to do so. They can be off the grid redeeming the waste the rest of us produce. Others of us through need to be working within the system to make it more just. We have to act to reduce our own waste, and to call the system to take a hard look at itself. I might despise the grid, but sometimes it takes working from within to affect change in the long run.
Justice has to be everyday and doable for it to make an impact. Subvert the system and improving the system are just two sides of the same coin. Both take a lot of work, and we may never see the outcomes, but we can each do our part wherever we are at.
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
Greetings from the South,
I’m assuming you are referring to the ‘electric grid’. Or are you speaking of the Matrix?
I think ‘going off the grid’ must be one act among others that is a consequence of a genuine concern for justice and the other. I keep thinking of a couple in the suburbs that lives out the American Dream with 2 SUVs, watching sitcoms on TV every night, etc, but changes a light bult from regular into fluorescent trying to save world hunger. Ok, it’s an exageration, but the point is that these acts must be a consequence of a deep love and concern for those who suffer from the current injust social forces.
Yes, we from the South need you, rich ones from the North, to take the initiative addressing some major problems, including the environmental and economical issues. But please keep the people in mind (or keep the Kingdom in mind). Please also do NOT forget to speak prophetically against ‘the Grid’ and these incredibly powerful, invisible forces. In keeping the people in mind, why not try go get to know them? Why not take an extra effort to go beyond the biased news sources of the masses? Why not get to know their History and spend time with them?
Cheers,
Gustavo K-fé Frederico
(a member of the group ‘Evangélicos pela Justiça’ [Evangelicals for Justice] in Brazil)
I’m a big believer in sustainable changes in lifestyle and priorities. I might manage to get “off the grid” for a short season, but just as likely I’ll get sucked back into it eventually. Learning to simplify my life (reduce consumption) and think about justice issues when I do buy something is a slow process. Maybe that’s an excuse for not doing everything I can right this minute, but honestly, I don’t have energy for that. My understanding is still a step or two (or more) ahead of my discipleship on these issues, but I try to keep moving forward. Your book is helpful in suggesting concrete steps to take. I think that’s what most of us need — a big vision, sure, but lots of manageable baby steps to get us on the road toward a more just lifestyle.
Your post reminded me of an old (meaning original) Star Trek episode where the rock aliens forced the Enterprise crew to fight another group. They appeared to do the same things, but their motives and their objectives were different. The Enterprise crew was fighting to save others, while the enemy was fighting for financial gain and power. The Enterprise crew had a different calling. And so it is with the body of Christ – we are called by our Lord to minister in our daily living by loving and serving others. Your voice clearly tells us that our vocation as Christians includes care for all of God’s creation. As we live out that calling in our occupations and our recreation, the world can be transformed so that all of God’s people are served. Simplifying our lives is a tangible demonstration to others of a different way to live – with life more abundant in God’s grace.
Obviously, since I’m typing this I haven’t heeded Wendell Berry’s advice. But this, one of his more famous short essays which appeared in Harper’s in 1987 and which I first read in college, contains thoughts that I hope will continue to trouble my conscience and prompt me to take whatever measures I AM willing to take, to reduce my own consumption at the expense of others:
http://home.btconnect.com/tipiglen/berrynot.html
I like his replies to some of the letters to the editor that were prompted by his essay:
“But virtually all of our consumption now is extravagant, and virtually all of it consumes the world. It is not beside the point that most electrical power comes from strip-mined coal . The history of the exploitation of the Appalachian coal fields is long, and it is available to readers. I do not see how anyone can read it and plug in any appliance with a clear conscience. If Rhoads can do so, that does not mean that his conscience is clear; it means that his conscience is not working.”
Gustavo – I was referring to the consumeristic grid (including the electrical grid). And yes, it all has to be based in love for others. I would argue though that encouraging the family in the suburbs to change a lightbulb, while it is just a small thing, is a good start. Many families still don’t see the need to even do a small step like that. Helping them see that loving others is a priority and that this is something they can start with can help move them along the path to doing more. I would never encourage anyone to stop there, but there has to be places to start.