NOTICINGS: Parallel polis
Finding our footing on the balance beam of private life and government power.
Calm in my garden. The original sell plan was 120 million acres, but it’s now exceeding 250 million.I buy the annual Discover Pass to support Washington state parks. But to tell the truth, I’ve never given any thought to public lands. America’s public lands, which are, in significant part, BLM land, our national parks, and the US Forest Service land.
But now? My god, I’ve learned a bit, and what I’ve learned is beyond heartbreaking.
The current federal government plans to exploit all that remains of the wild and essential beauty of this vast western continent. Tucked into TACO Man’s Big Beautiful Bill is yet another theft on behalf of the wealthy. And not just America’s 1%, but anyone anywhere… just come on in.
The bill as currently proposed would make millions of acres of public land eligible for sale to "any interested party," which includes foreign investors. The Center for American Progress notes that “the bill includes unprecedented language that would require selling off millions of acres of public lands to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
This is despite the fact that specific restrictions exist regarding foreign buyers of national public land.
So. What to do? What we always do. Resist.
It’s a race against the clock. July 4, to be precise.
The GOP must pass the Reconciliation Bill by July 4 so they can sell off public lands to privatize and industrialize public lands. And, you know, don’t believe how the administration is selling it—descriptions as deceiving as the description Big Beautiful Bill. It’s as ugly as it gets.
Think about it. Public lands belong to all of us and all future generations. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
In a conversation between Heather Cox Richardson and journalist for Outside, Wes Siler, Siler says, “Lands are, you know, the story of America itself. It's our nature — it's why we have animals, it's why we have clean air, it's why we have clean water. The story of America's public lands is as old as America, and it's one of the things that makes our country so unique. The egalitarian access to lands all goes back to trying to ratify the Constitution.”
As we stay informed, non-bureaucratic, dynamic, and open, we resist despotic power and protect the indivisibility and the inalienability of justice and liberty for all.
𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟰.
We each of us must do what we can.
Between protest rallies:
Form a plan with your Adjacent Seven.
What will your group say to your congressional representative?
Write postcards.
Make your 5 Calls.
We can also share what our parallel polis looks like on a day-to-day basis in the chat to strengthen, to console, and discover new ways to resist. Photos from our individual days, like a family album, are endlessly interesting!
So we’re talking public lands. Take a look here. See the bear cub? This smart little one is on the hunt for honey. Fortunately for the owner, Sofia’s brother, Nick, Bear found the swarm box (tell you about that later) and not the honey hives where Queens and Workers are doing what they do.
But this isn’t just a cute tiny video. It is the intersection of wild and domesticated! Nick is in the honey business. If Bear had found a hive (or more), it would have been somewhat of a disaster.
What image about this threat to public lands would you choose to pair with Bear Cub on the hunt?
Post your two photos of the balance beam you’re walking on here in the CHAT.
This is a new kind of family album. I post. You post. My story, your stories, will tell family members in the future what we experienced during this time.
In my work with young children and teenagers, their point of view about wildlife, air, water, forests, and seas is cogent and piercingly understood.
Detail from 4th-graders' mural downtown. Postcard. Prep drawing for 40' wide mural painted on street intersection designed by teens Lilly, Raya, and Sylvia. Neighborhood kids and grown-ups joined the girls in two days of painting. Mural photo: Robbie Hochreiter
And yes, walking the balance beam takes practice. But we love practice! And we’ve got one another, and that is what makes this time bearable, doable, and, maybe, plain ‘ol fun. Laughter and some dad jokes are vital to staying steady.
I can’t wait to see your parallel polis photos where we stick that walk (or backflip) on the balance beam.