Don't Nobody Anybody - The Basics of Rankism
 "From the moment a child gets out of bed in the morning until she is safely tucked in at night, there's one central mission: the avoidance of humiliation at all costs. We have to be so careful not to subject children to public humiliation." - Dr, Mel Levine, Oprah Winfrey Show When the somebodies of the world abuse their power, the nobodies lose their dignity. Without dignity, people lose heart and can become angry and hostile. When we respect each other, we can have peace. "Pulling rank over others may be the ultimate cause of violence in the world today." - Robert W. Fuller Robert Fuller's new book Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank has been garnering a good deal of interest as he tours North America. He recently included NSP headquarters on his itinerary and we were delighted to host him over lunch as he talked about rankism. The June issue of Fast Company is also featuring the book in its "Stuff off the Month" section, as follows: Book: I'm a Somebody - Get Me Out of Here!
Everybody wants to be somebody - even if it's only for 15 minutes. That's not just the American Dream: It has become an inalienable right (not to mention the prevailing logic of prime-time TV). The problem is, almost every rise is accompanied by a humiliating fall. The most illustrious somebody is made to feel like a Nobody at some point. And here's the twist: In a world where everybody is striving to be Somebody, Nobodies might have the edge. That's the intriguing argument that Robert W. Fuller, former president of Oberlin College (and a self-described "former Somebody", makes in his bold new book, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers). Like a Betty Friedan for the 21st century, Fuller sets out to debunk the "Somebody mystique." The problem is that whether we idolize J. Lo or J. Welch, our hero worship doesn't get us any closer to success in our own lives. What's more, Fuller argues, it obscures the true definition of greatness: In order really to be Somebody (who's famous for more than being famous), you have to continue to grow, to venture into the unknown, to learn from others who are more expert than you. In other words, you have to be willing to be a Nobody again (and again). - Polly LaBarre, Fast Company magazine, June, 2003. For other reviews of Somebodies and Nobodies, see the Kudos section at left. No Putdowns
Meanwhile, once the idea of rankism is seeded, it doesn't go away - you see it everywhere. In the following article, Susan Fitzell, author of Free the Children! Conflict Education for Strong and Peaceful Minds makes the link between violence at school - in the form of the putdown - and the notion of rankism. Establish a "No Putdown Rule" in your classroom. Food for Resistance
or The Scum Always Rises… Continuing our review of post 9-11 warmongering, the following items are of particular note, especially given the upcoming Dubya re-election campaign in 2004. Let’s not let anyone forget… And then they take Tehran…
Reports from Reuters and The Guardian on May 24, 2003 suggest the worst: that the Bush regime is now actively discussing how to destabilize Iran – not whether to do so. The Reuters story can be found at:
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2812553 Saving Private Lynch: Take 2
Robert Scheer, from AlterNet, reported on May 20 that the BBC has revealed that the infamous episode during the Iraq war involving the capture and the release of Private Jessica Lynch was a fabrication from start to finish – a real-life makeover of the movie, Wag the Dog.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15958
WMDs – The Missing Evidence
Remember those weapons of Mass Destruction – WMDs – that the Iraq invasion was all about? In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity are concerned that the basis for the invasion was "forged." More... Project for the New American Century (PNAC)
Most people by now have heard of this, but the great team at Move-On have provided an excellent summary of material that points to 9-11 as the beginning of a credible conspiracy by a powerful group within the US administration to invade Afghanistan, Iraq – and More... War Profiteers card deck
The creative hellraisers at the Ruckus Society have created a WarProfiteers card deck, along the lines of the Bush regime’s 52 Most Wanted card deck. Check it out … New 'Deck of Weasels' Exposes War Opponents
Not to be outflanked, the Right has produced its own deck of cards to vilify war opponents. Go! Pentagon Readies Massive Spying System
An AP writer reports that the Pentagon is developing a computer surveillance system that would give U.S. agents fingertip access to government and commercial records from around the world that could fill the Library of Congress more than 50 times. More... Hot Off Press Hollyhock Cooks – and so can you!
 Due for release in early June is New Society’s first cookbook. And we’re proud that it comes from Hollyhock – the educational retreat center on Cortes Island, just up Georgia Strait from NSP’s international headquarters in British Columbia. Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Body, Mind and Soil is destined to become one of those cookbooks used and used and loved by everyone, for the simple reason that ever recipe works! True to NSP’s emphasis on sustainability, Hollyhock Cooks also features primarily vegetarian recipes, (along with some delicious wild seafood, too). To get a flavor of this mouth-watering new release, check out the Welcome to Hollyhock and Cortes Island pages, and if you are really curious, try the Dream Bars recipe that crated addicts out of all of us here. If your Future looks like Ecovillages…
 … then you will need Diana Christian’s Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities. Diana has collected the best possible advice on how to start and sustain an intentional community or ecovillage. And among the people who think this is a tremendously valuable book are Ernest Callenbach, Hazel Henderson, Starhawk and Bill Mollison. Read what they and others have to say about the book, browse the Contents, or check out the Foreword by Patch Adams. On The Horizon Save energy!
 Energy figures prominently in two upcoming books – how you can save it, and how you can generate it using the power of small amounts of water. First, via a circuitous route from Terre Vivante in France, through the Centre for Alternative Energy in Wales, The Energy Saving House, by Thierry Salomon and Stéphanie Bedel is almost here! Delayed by several months, this book is worth waiting for. Packed with charts, graphs and line drawings, and printed throughout in two colors, The Energy Saving House includes everything a home owner needs from designing and building, renovation and retro-fitting, to choosing household appliances and fuel suppliers.  Second, we’re proud to be adding Microhydro: Clean Power from Water to our books on alternative energy. The first book on the subject for over ten years, author Scott Davis has worked on microhydro systems for several decades, as well as being a system designer with an alternative energy company. Consequently, he’s one of the best-informed people on the continent about how to design an effective energy system from miraculously small volumes of water, along with the latest information about the new technologies making this age-old system even more efficient than in bygone days. Since we generated our own clean and reliable power from water in three different locations ourselves in past lives, this is a book close to our hearts – due off press in August. The Table of Contents reveals the full extent of the book.
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