I've not posted to this listserv in a very long time, largely because I wear
my heart on my sleeve and tell it like it is - the 'it' being the lived
experience of deep poverty and the associated loss of voice and power.
Sometimes my bluntness has brought hateful response. Still, I'm hoping
people here can help me get the word out to those who are struggling in
poverty, and perhaps also to those who would like to learn from us.
For new members... I am the former coordinator of WISE, a group I founded in
2003 for women in poverty. WISE folded Dec 15/06, due to cuts and changes to
Status of Women Canada brought in by the new Harper government. Since WISE's
folding, Daphne Moldowin, one of the original WISE storytellers, and myself
have gone it alone, writing our hearts out trying to open people's eyes. Our
chief platform has been our popular, nonpartisan poliical blog, Challenging
the Commonplace. It's second anniversary is March 27 and it is likely to
pass the 60,000 visits mark today. Daphne and I continue to live in
households in the lowest decile of income - half again below StatsCan's low
income cutoff. For more info about WISE, please see the links in my signature.
Daphne and I launched a new blog on Jan 1/10. Written in the same
no-nonsense style as Challenging the Commonplace, economicus ridiculous is
only very loosely of the 'consumer advice' ilk. From the introductory post:
"Daphne and I plan to include, among other things:
* tips and tricks for getting by on next to nothing.
* discussion of systemic and societal barriers and what we do about them.
* heads-up about free stuff, discount deals, and other opportunities to
save, maybe even make, money. (No envelope stuffing, no "make money at home"
scams; we promise.)
"We're pros at stuff like this.
"That the lives of Daphne and I are of the miserly minimalist variety isn't
something that's wholly our choice. However, given that these are our lives,
like it or not, we have chosen to be creatively inventive in an effort to
improve our miserly lot. We'll provide lots of tips to help our readers in
like circumstances take similar action and also hope to educate readers who
are financially better off about the realities of poverty, Canada style."
I am particularly proud of this three-part post, which begins here:
Barriers: Tele-communicating, Part 1 http://bit.ly/5Ew3Er
I ask people on this listserv to visit economicus ridiculous, to read the
posts, to bookmark it, to add it to your reader, to pass it on to your
students, to spread the word to people who are struggling to survive on next
to nothing while maintaining their dignity and sanity, and to support what
Daphne and I are trying to do in all the other ways that you can.
Thank you.
Ocean
--
Website: http://tidewaters.tumblr.com/
Blog: Challenging the Commonplace ... and other irreverent activities
http://challengingthecommonplace.blogspot.com/
Blog: economicus ridiculous ... exercises in miserly minimalism
http://economicusridiculous.blogspot.com/
WISE Book: Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health: Stories from the front
Podcasts of book: http://bcseawalker.podbean.com/
About WISE: http://bit.ly/8qH1KY
Now on Twitter! http://twitter.com/tidewaters
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