R is for Ruts

The street near our driveway in Canada, high and dry (thank goodness)
and in the peak of repair
©Kristin Lord 2014

Rural dwellers in northeastern North America know that we have a fifth season: “mud season,” which usually occurs between the end of winter and the beginning of spring, although a late December or January thaw can cause the same effect. Mud season often coincides with maple sugaring season, as the sap runs when the weather goes above freezing during the day but plummets below it at night.

To all accounts, this was the nastiest winter in this quadrant of the continent in at least a generation, and for many people there were spring floods and axle-gripping mud baths as well. That said, the single “muddiest” episode, at least in my mind, occurred about 20 or 25 years ago. My husband and I were driving up from Bristol, Vermont to my parents’ house in Ripton on the Ripton-Lincoln Road, a dirt road with spectacular daytime views, which is real estate jargon for precipitous dips and inclines. It was about 8 p.m. and misting rain. My parents had insisted that the road was passible. They were so rarely wrong about highway conditions that we kept going even after we started slipping on that first hill. I was driving a Dodge Colt; between its standard transmission and new winter tires it had passable traction. Unfortunately, traction was not the issue. The size of the wheelbase was. When one of the tires got stuck up to the axle in mud, I had no choice but to get out and make my way to the only place with lights on, a winterized cabin in the distance on the left. (Almost no one had cell phones then, and in any case the area is still in a dead zone.)

My husband stayed with the car since he wasn’t as familiar with the area. About four feet into my trek, the mud sucked my left shoe off my foot. Wearing only a sock, I managed to get to the cabin. The owners let me in to phone my father. Since my father has that kind of alchemy with cars that will allow him pull a mid-sized Mercedes or an SUV out of a ditch with a small Toyota pickup, he had no trouble with the Colt. We didn’t even have any problems retrieving my shoe.

When we got to my parents’ house in Ripton, my mother greeted us at the door. The dining room rug was white with blue trim and she wanted to keep it that way, so she thrust an old towel at my feet. “Oh, I am sorry I forgot to tell you.” She pulled a strand of hair back around her ear. “Your uncle phoned yesterday and said that he had trouble on the Lincoln-Ripton Road.” My uncle owned a large domestic pickup.

So that’s what Vermonters mean by ruts. We don’t mean bad jokes about Rutland City, Rutland County, or Rutland Town. (“Rutland” is an English place name that apparently has nothing to do with bad roads.) Ruts are different from the kind of dry spells we Quakers are told about in Faith and Practice. A physical rut typically yields to a truck with a chain; at the worst, maybe we need some cement blocks in the back for ballast. It’s similar with a rut in one’s mind. The psychological equivalent for the chain is usually a deadline. The chief difference between the different types of ruts, however, is that while a rutted road usually becomes somewhat more passible in a dry spell, a mental rut can lead to a dry spell.

This year, the winter of 2013-14, was a nasty winter for ruts of all kinds. Before the first half of winter term was over, we had to replace the hot water heater and the furnace (both in weather that was well below zero Fahrenheit) and have the oven looked at, all the while fielding calls over departmental and family matters. Most spectacularly, like millions of others, we had damage from an ice storm at 6 a.m. on the Sunday morning a few days before Christmas. A downed tree limb tore off the electrical line to our house from the street, arcing perilously close to the neighbor’s car, and also destroyed the “stack,” the fixture connecting the line to the meter and the house. We were lucky, though, as the power company employee who removed the line from the road told us to phone an electrician before anyone else got up or we might spend Christmas in the dark. Others didn’t receive such prompt advice and were not reconnected until Christmas eve, when the thermometer had plunged to near-record cold.  We were deeply grateful to the three wise men who sorted us out.

Our two cats (both indoor cats) were quick to weigh in on the ice storm. Since we were uncertain how long we would be without heat and power, we booked a room at a pet-friendly hotel in town and tucked them into their cat carriers. As we stomped out the back door, trying to keep from slipping on the ice-encrusted snow and dodging branches that were still collapsing in the darkened neighborhood, it occurred to our feline contingent that their annual physicals might have been less stressful. The older, more introverted one became “haired out,” shall we say, although the younger thought it was a great adventure. Over the winter, I related to the older cat more and more but kept thinking of the younger as more worthy of emulation.

 

For some cats life is just an adventure which one can then sleep off.
©Kristin Lord 2014

Mud season brought a record season of potholes and flooding, and even city dwellers who drive those “very-un-Quakerly-cars-that-dare-not-speak-their-names” were worried about losing their mufflers. Those vehicles are actually the best ones to have for such conditions, as galling as it may be to people who own the more economical ones, but I digress. Was I going to be punished by the automotive gods for buying a “relatively-Quakerly-car-to-the-extent-that-one-exists?” SO... WHAT WAS that rumbling in the exhaust system? It kept deteriorating for the three weeks I had to wait for an appointment. The mechanic was thoughtful, but, like everyone else, he needed to be paid. “Just wheel bearings. They sometimes sound like a holey muffler. You can drive to work and back just fine, but, no, I wouldn’t go off to Vermont with the car acting like that.”

Then came the miracles: when the spring rains hit, the repairs that we had made last year after a sink hole opened up in the back yard managed to forestall basement flooding. Then the grades got done in the nick of time, and some other issues were resolved. I was grateful, or so I thought...

A week after the car was repaired, I was at my desk with two stacks of library books, thinking that this would be the most productive summer in years ....  and then I got bogged down in updating a petty bibliography. The gears in my mind had become completely gummed up with some unknown ooze. On Sunday I fidgeted at Meeting. On most days I practiced the piano for the requisite daily hour, to no avail, becoming more nervous about the adult “performance class” in June. I was staring past the ruts and thinking about a dry spell ahead.

I turned to Howard Brinton’s advice in The Guide to Quaker Practice about ruts (although he does not use such vocabulary) and dry spells. His advice about dry spells was not what I had hoped to read:

            The autobiographies of Friends nearly all report intervening periods of dryness when God seems far away and the very meeting for worship is formal and unfruitful. Almost everyone passes through such stages which should not become times of too deep discouragement. Drought is eventually followed by refreshing rain... Growth should not be hurried. (1993 edition, p. 19, emphasis mine)

Rain? Thanks a lot, Friend Howard. Rain is what they need in California and Australia. Maybe my problem is a simpler one of self-examination: “an obstacle may be ... merely a mind too busy with routine affairs.” (p. 17) Let’s hope that this is the impediment; it looks more straightforward and is certainly plausible. (He also cites “selfish or degrading desire,” which I cannot entirely rule out.) But Howard Brinton is right that some problems do come to an end. I remember that after retrieving my shoe from the mud all of those years ago, I somehow cleaned it up along with its mate and wore them for the next year. The socks came out of the wash unscathed. I think I finally got rid of them last week when I cleaned out my dresser drawers.

Stockbridge, Vermont in the summer of 1997.
This area was cut off in the flooding that occurred
during post-hurricane Irene in 2011.

Q is for Queries and Advices (about paid employment)

Quakers do not have a creed, but we do have a tradition of Advices and Queries. Both are encapsulations of Friends' testimonies and practices; both are designed to make us reflect upon how we view our beliefs and put them into action. If an Advice or Query gets under one's skin a bit, then it may be doing its job; on the other hand, material that is not relevant for one person may be for another. The principal difference between the Advices and Queries is that Advices are written in prose, while Queries are in the form of leading questions. Indeed, because of the similarities, some Yearly Meetings, such as Britain, have amalgamated related Advices and Queries. The most effective Advices and Queries are those that speak to core Quaker values but which can be updated, either on their own or as a complement to new such contributions, as needs and ideas change. An example of the latter is the increasing emphasis on environmental concerns, which arise naturally from Friends' traditional testimonies of equality, peace, and simplicity.

I had occasionally read of individuals writing their own Queries and/or Advices as a way of bringing their own lives into clearer focus (an article by Mark S. Carey in Friends Journal in the October 1, 2009 issue provides an excellent example) but had never done so myself until contributing to this blog. Because of recent and upcoming changes at work I have decided to write some related to employment. With this set of Queries I am concerned about paid employment, although unpaid labor, especially internships, is also relevant to many of these Queries.

A note to readers who are not Quakers: while the use of Queries and their specific formulations may arise out of the values and practice of the Religious Society of Friends, others may find them beneficial. Please feel free to substitute your own religious tradition, if you have one, for "Quakers" and "Friends," or supply any relevant secular philosophy. The only Query that is particular to Friends (and a few other groups) is the one on oath taking, but even there, oaths and affirmations, especially those of loyalty, may cause a wide variety of people to be skeptical. The Advice about lawsuits does not derive from an absolute prohibition, as there are examples of cases involving Quakers and their beliefs that have gone to high courts (in the USA, one may compare the Supreme Court cases Tinker v. Des Moines on the rights of high school students to free expression and United States v. Seeger on conscientious objection, although these cases are not related to the workplace). Furthermore, while some faith communities do not have a specific peace testimony or pacifist tradition, all responsible religious traditions and leaders that I know of wish to reduce the incidence of enmity, violence, and strife —wherever and whenever they arise.

A bit of personal background information: except for a brief hiatus in the winter of 2001, I have been a contract academic employee at the same Ontario university since 1999. My specialty is Classical Studies. I have also been employed by other universities in Canada and the United States. I have been connected with the bargaining unit of my faculty association, which is a recognized labour union in the Province of Ontario, since its inception. I have served it in formal and informal capacities, including the Bilateral Committee on Contract Academic Staff Office Space. In 2010 I organized and chaired a panel presentation and discussion on contingent faculty (also known as "adjuncts" and "contract academic faculty" or "contract academic staff" at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS).

1. When investigating new employment or changes in a current job, do you look at how the opportunity reflects Friends' beliefs and your own values, as well as your career goals, financial needs, and personal and family considerations? Try to ensure that contracts are clearly written and mutually understood, with questions and concerns resolved in advance. To the extent possible, anticipate any major ethical conflicts that may arise in this position, and consider how you might deal with them. Will you be required to take an oath or affirmation; if so, how will you respond? If asked to provide medical information as a condition for undertaking or continuing employment, is this necessary and appropriate? If a conflict does arise, use it whenever possible as an opportunity to develop strategies to reduce the incidence of similar issues in the future.

2. One of the oldest Queries among Friends is, "How are love and unity maintained amongst you?" While this Query was originally aimed at maintaining harmony within the Quaker community, it may be reframed for the workplace, regardless of how secular that may be. Friends should be mindful that those they meet on the job are human beings first and parts of an administrative hierarchy second. Remember that we are all children of God, and work as equals with those whose backgrounds and viewpoints differ from your own. Be prepared to be challenged by different perspectives and new ideas.

3. Friends' testimonies of peace, equality, and integrity sometimes put people in workplace situations that may be uncomfortable at best. Act justly and fairly, whether you are an employer, employee, or both. If you employ others, in what ways do Quaker principles intersect with your responsibilities and the law? Regardless of your own position, do you seek avenues for mutually satisfactory resolutions when conflicts arise, either among individuals, or between those categorize as employees and management? Remember that some may be particularly vulnerable, particularly those of limited finances or who belong to groups that have been and often continue to be marginalized or oppressed. Do you strengthen opportunities for mediation? Avoid gossip and tale-bearing and maintain confidentiality as needed, while working toward transparency when this is possible and appropriate. Recuse yourself from actual and potential conflicts of interest. When differences arise, listen to all sides before arriving at a conclusion. People on all sides of a situation may need support; indeed, Quakers have often been asked or felt called to assist those who have taken an unpopular stand or who are accused of wrongdoing. Remember that disputes sometimes have innocent bystanders, and that it may not always be obvious who they are.

4. Regardless of how your workplace is structured, remember the rights of all to fair employment, and be aware your rights and those of others under the law. Do your part to help rectify labor laws that you believe are unjust or that leave employees with insufficient livelihood. If you are in the position to do so, ensure that job searches are ethical and transparent, and that they meet the requirements of the law and any union contracts. What are the laws concerning discrimination and harassment where you are, and how can they be improved? If there are unpaid internships where you work, is this appropriate? Although mindful of the needs of employers, be aware that people require stability in their jobs in order to support themselves and their families. In what ways can you ensure that those needing accommodation because of religion, family responsibilities, and disability receive support in accordance with the law, and with good will and to the satisfaction of all concerned?

5. Consider the role of labor unions and collective bargaining for various sectors of the economy. At the same time, however, be aware of realistic constraints on wages and benefits, and the need for businesses in the private sector to provide a reasonable return on investment. Globalization may affect your workplace in various ways. To what extent do the pay and working conditions in your employment, community, and country aggravate or improve economic and social mobility, while still providing appropriate rewards for merit and risk? Does your work situation help you and others plan for illness, retirement, or disability? If called to represent others, as on a workplace committee or tribunal, do you have or can you develop the qualifications to do so effectively while respecting the rights and responsibilities of all? If you are a member of a labor union, or a manager with oversight of union members,  try to anticipate what you might do if there is a strike or lockout. In the event of a workplace dispute or disruption, consider how Friends' testimonies may help defuse anger and frustration, while being aware of your own emotions and limitations. Remember that third parties may be hurt, and that all sides in a labor dispute may try to involve these third parties.

6. Friends often work at large entities that serve others, such as educational institutions, hospitals, stores, offices, and factories.    How do you relate to people who are not employees where you work, but upon whom your work may depend? If you become aware through your employment of injustice in the broader community, in what ways can your work help to prevent or remediate it? Consider how your understanding of Friends' testimonies may help provide a needed perspective on discrimination. Examine the possible systemic roots of such problems and seek ways to alleviate them, being especially mindful of any privilege you might have. Be aware of how your workplace and your own job or career might address environmental concerns.

7. Problems at work are inevitable. Can you see ways in which you might help keep them from escalating? If someone should break the law, how might you respond? Consider the right place for legal assistance, especially if you find yourself on the receiving end of discrimination, harassment, or threats, or if you are asked to break the law or to enforce an unethical law. If you are faced with a crisis at work, can you get help in confidence, such as appropriate legal advice or personal counseling, or assistance from a bargaining unit or employee association? In what circumstances, if any, might a committee of clearness or concern from your Meeting be right for you? Friends should particularly consider the moral and practical implications of lawsuits. In general, if a crisis arises, try to view it as an opportunity — for yourself, for others, or both.

8. Be mindful of your use of time on the job. Consider the needs of any family members while accepting your responsibility toward your employer and yourself to avoid inappropriate interruptions. Avoid procrastination. What is the appropriate use of technology where you work, and what is its abuse?

9. Be sure to care for yourself. If you find yourself depressed or anxious due to workplace demands, or if you find yourself using alcohol or other substances inappropriately, seek help promptly. Does your employment encroach on your needs and those of any family for adequate exercise and leisure, a balanced diet, medical attention, and rest and sleep? If you have a companion animal, does your schedule allow you to care for it properly? A vacation does not have to be expensive; can you take one? Do you take the legal holidays to which you are entitled or, if not, are you fairly compensated? Can you take parental or elder care leave? Do you have time to visit friends and family and to fulfill your responsibilities as a member of our Religious Society?

10. Know in advance where you can get immediate assistance if you should find someone with a medical emergency, or acting or about to act as a danger to him or herself or to others. Do not try to deal with these situations directly unless you are trained to do so.

11. Even if you work only for yourself, your workplace will have questions of governance. Wherever you work, consider the rights of any stockholders and investors and any fiduciary responsibilities in addition to legal requirements. Those who work directly or indirectly as civil servants often face special issues and may bear the brunt of broader political pressures. Those considering going into business or restructuring an existing one might examine the place of employee-owned companies. If you own or share ownership of a small business, what plans do you have for the day when you will no longer be connected with it? If you work for a non-profit organization, how do your values mesh with its governance, goals, and mandates?

12. Despite the best of intentions, not all workplace problems can be resolved satisfactorily.  How can you and others best move on if the need arises?

Original material ©Kristin Lord 2014

If you find yourself swimming with the sharks at work,
maybe you should take a day off and visit them at the aquarium.
Ripley Aquarium, Toronto, Canada
©Kristin Lord 2014

P is for the Peace Testimony

Conscientious Objectors Memorial,
Tavistock Square, London, England.
Photograph by Vernon White, provided via Wikimedia Commons

People were waiting in line for coffee at work one morning a few years ago when someone commented that every day, week, or month had some significance attached to it by one or more organizations: religions, legislative proclamations, charities —whatever. We started talking about days and months that were of particular relevance to us and then, no doubt, went off and looked days up if we had nothing to contribute to the conversation.For instance, June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, while the Church of England has a Commemoration for George Fox on January 13, the day of his death in 1691. (When I first saw this, to my great delight, in a British version of the Book of Common Prayer, I realized that human progress is not always an illusion.) Today, May 15, is International Conscientious Objectors Day, a date chosen for reasons that I have not yet been able to determine.

The history of war is taught all too well; the history of pacifism rarely merits more than a mention in the school curriculum, with the exception of those schools affiliated with the historic peace churches. I learned this myself recently when I was discussing the Grade 10 Ontario history curriculum with our teenaged daughter. Despite having two Quaker parents who have used the term “peace testimony” with some regularity, she had never heard the phrase “conscientious objector,” at least in the sense (to use the definition from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)  of “a person who for reasons of conscience objects to military service.”

Part of the explanation in this case is that our daughter is in a form of French immersion and has had all of her social studies classes in French. She thus has to learn both the history and the terminology and with some justification gets concerned when her Anglophone parents provide information that will not be on any exam but will entail learning words for which she will lose points if she gets them incorrect. While the term “draft” might be unfamiliar, “conscription,” a word the same in French and English, would result in a detailed response from her about the (Canadian) War Measures Act of World War I and the introduction of compulsory military service in Canada in World War II. Her meticulous notes contained references to pacifistes (in this case, Mennonites and Doukhobors were given as examples, primarily in regard to World War I), but there was absolutely nothing about what happened when a pacifist was faced with conscription in wartime, other than the fact that Canadian pacifistes were disenfranchised during World War I. At that point, I went to Robert Bothwell’s Penguin History of Canada, which covers the issues in the school curriculum in more detail. Since I went to high school in the US, I had only a passing knowledge at best of the Canadian history of conscientious objection. The Penguin History was more helpful on the point of the Mennonites and Doukhobors, but not much more enlightening on the whole. (See here for a description of the history of conscientious objection in Canada from a Mennonite perspective.)

A few days later, I approached the Friend on Ministry and Counsel (a committee in some Yearly Meetings that handles the combined responsibilities of Elders and Overseers in the UK) whose job it was to set up monthly discussions on topics of Friendly interest. This Friend is one of the more perceptive thinkers about Quakerism that I have come across, so I expected that a thoughtful reply. I cleared my throat: “Maybe we should talk about the peace testimony from the historical perspective and include conscientious objection. It’s not taught in the schools. After all, the centenary of World War I is upon us, and there is all that nasty stuff about Lord Kitchener, for whom the city is named.” (I had already told him about what I had learned about Lord Kitchener.) “Yes, we should be doing the peace testimony soon, but I am not so sure about newcomers being interested in conscientious objection. Why do you think it should be a priority?”

Our Friend had a point. Canada has never had peace time conscription, in part because both World Wars were controversial in Quebec. While the US had the draft through the Vietnam era, the youngest people affected by the US draft are now older than the newcomers whose needs are at the forefront of the discussions. The Young Friend we both know who, like a number of his generation, moved from the US to Canada because he felt his own ability to apply for CO status (and, in all likelihood, to be accepted for it) was unjust when so many others had no alternative to being sent to Vietnam or  crossing the Canadian border, is now a grandfather. (Those who left the US during Vietnam later received an amnesty, but that is another story.) The cases of the recent US service people who came to Canada recently for similar reasons to the young men of the Vietnam era, but who were sent back in a completely different political climate, would in all fairness come at the end of a discussion aimed at newcomers, not at the beginning.

Why, then, is conscientious objection relevant in a country that has had no conscription for nearly 70 years? First, Quakerism began in England in a time of social, political, and military turmoil. The question of serving in the army of either Oliver Cromwell or the king was behind the development of what came to be known as the Quaker peace testimony. It was the rationale for Friends’ famous reply to King Charles II in 1661, “We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever. And this is our testimony to the whole world.”

The times in the history of our Society when male Quakers did not have to think about at least the possibility of being “encouraged” to sign up, if not drafted (and for female Quakers to have been faced with these issues at second hand), have been far fewer than the times when male military service was almost universal. Even today, the United States has Selective Service registration for almost all young citizens and immigrants from 18 to 25, which also applies to the tens of thousands of dual citizens living in Canada and elsewhere. Because the resulting database can be use to set up conscription at short notice, people who would wish to declare themselves as conscientious objectors in the event of conscription are advised to start preparing a dossier as soon as they turn 18. Such documentation is also required if someone enlists and then develops moral objections along the way.

Then there are the countries with conscription, Russia and Ukraine being among them. In some of these nations, conscientious objection is very difficult to obtain (cf. reports from the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and the Quaker Council on European Affairs on cases in Europe alone). In others, conscientious objection is not allowed under the law, despite the efforts of the United Nations. (The main problem is that it is not explicitly recognized by human rights conventions.) People have gone into self-imposed exile to avoid military service, even if they are entitled to desk jobs; others have gone to prison. Their comfort is that the fate of others has been and occasionally continues to be worse.

While Friends, like members and attenders of other historic peace churches, have often been conscientious objectors to military service, not all have taken this stand. Richard Nixon is an example of the large number of American Quakers who fought in World War II. Conversely, conscientious objectors come from all religious backgrounds, or none —not just the historic peace churches. A member of my own extended family, a conscientious objector during World War II, fell into this broader category.

The modern concept of conscientious objection first developed in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries such as the US and Canada during World War I. It was revised and expanded during World War II and has undergone further development since, with court rulings and laws in various countries that permit conscientious objection on philosophical grounds and not necessarily strictly religious ones. Generally, conscientious objection must be to all wars that one might reasonably be asked to fight in at the time asked, and not particular ones. (It was the latter issue that sent a number of young Americans to Canada during the Vietnam era.) Men —and it is still almost always men, except for women requesting to leave the military for reasons of conscientious objection— have to prove their cases before assessors whose credentials vary depending on the country (and often within parts of the same country). If someone is approved for alternate service, that service can be non-combatant (e.g., in a military medical corps or ambulance service) or civilian (e.g., working as a hospital orderly or doing manual labor). Absolute objection, that is, the objection to any form of alternate service on the grounds that doing so frees up someone else for war work, has not been accepted in the last century the English-speaking countries known to me. Although all “conchies,” as they were called, suffered greatly during World War I, the Absolutists such as the Richmond Sixteen and the Harwich “Frenchmen” were initially sentenced to death and later had their punishments commuted to hard labor. (See my previous discussion on Lord Kitchener re the Richmond Sixteen.)

In any case, objector status is not easy to obtain, and laws are not always fairly applied. For these reasons, and for countless others, Friends have always opposed military conscription. Even in places where there is no obligatory military service, conscientious objection is also relevant, both in its own right and as a broader moral issue. Soldiers who enlist may develop moral objections for a variety of reasons. The United States has for some time recognized the rights of these men and women to a discharge on grounds of conscientious objection, despite difficulties in its application. Canada has done so since 2004.

In the broader sense, we are all “conscripted” as taxpayers to pay for past, current, and future wars. For US taxpayers in particular, putting two wars on credit cards, so to speak, raises a huge number of ethical concerns,  which include the fact that some of the debt is held by countries such as the People’s Republic of China, which has a large military in its own right. Court decisions have not backed up the right to conscientious objection to these taxes, and those of us who work for third parties all have automatic payroll deductions.

Service as a conscientious objector requires its own kind of heroism. Those who have put themselves in positions of danger have often run risks similar to those of combatants. In other cases, the sacrifices are different, but that does not mean that they do not exist. Officials in the Carter administration in the US in the late 1970’s briefly considered the possibility that women, as well as men, would have to register for the draft. Since I was of the age in question, I started considering who might help me assemble a dossier if need be. I spoke with a Quaker who had done alternate service as a conscientious objector in the mid-twentieth century and had then served as a draft counselor during the Vietnam War. He had no problem agreeing to a letter (which, as we now know, never needed to be written), but a few weeks later after Meeting he took me aside unexpectedly and spoke quietly. “There is always a price for conscientious objection. You may or may not know what that price is or will be. It may be then or later. You may pay the price, or it may be someone else. At the time may not even know the person who will pay. But there is always a price.” 

Inscription on Conscientious Objectors Memorial,
Tavistock Square, London, England.
Photograph by Mark Barker, made available through Wikimedia Commons

O is for One Per Cent(ers)

“Occupy Wall Street!” “Support the 99 per cent!” Social and economic inequality has been increasing in most, if not all, OECD countries since the 1970’s, with the result that the top one per cent of income earners —and even more so, the top .1 and .01 per cent of earners— have taken home the overwhelming preponderance of growth over the past generation. (See general articles on the USA and Britain.) Although many scholars, politicians, and organizations (including the major Quaker service organizations and familiar groups such as England's Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the secular Equality Trust) have been trying to publicize this issue ever since it became apparent, others started paying attention in 2011 when loosely organized groups started “occupying” (i.e., camping out 24/7) in high-visibility areas like Wall Street and the “City” (the financial district of London, England). Soon other groups were occupying locations in other cities around the world, or holding demonstrations, vigils, and marches in support of greater equality of both opportunity and outcome. This spring, the French economist Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the USA since the 18^th century, has sold out at amazon.com, where it held the number 1 rank. Not surprisingly, given our long tradition for social reform, a number of Friends supported the Occupy movement (indeed, there is a FaceBook page entitled Occupy, Quakers), and some participated.

I will leave a formal reply about the Occupy movement to Friends who participated and scholars with the expertise to evaluate it. What I would like to do, however briefly, is to consider how Quakers might fit into the broader picture of who has what in the English-speaking countries most familiar to me (the USA and Canada, and to some extent the UK and Australia). These are the observations of an armchair observer who knows much more about Julius Caesar than the Gini coefficient (which measures the degree of economic inequality in a society), so if I am way off base, please bear with me.

Because Friends are such a small percentage of the populations of each of these countries, hard data are next to impossible to come by, both historically and for the present day. For example, the Pew surveys on religion in the USA group Friends with mainline Protestant groups. However, it is my understanding that in the four countries best known to me, Friends historically were not drawn from the poorest sectors of society. Basic literacy and numeracy were needed for contributions to the life of the Monthly Meeting; with the Quaker emphasis on female participation in Meeting decisions, education was necessary for girls as well as boys. It is thus not surprising that prosperity followed for some Friends, and that for others there was tension. For instance, in Colonial Pennsylvania, the research of Barry Levy (Quakers and the American Family, 1988) has shown that Quaker young people who married other Friends and thus stayed with Quakers were better off than the average; those with fewer means had better luck attracting marriage partners from outside the Religious Society. In those days, Friends who “married out” were obligated to leave. Quaker religious leaders apparently knew the demographics of those forced out, and, at least at that time, preferred to maintain in-group cohesion at the expense of economic diversity within the Religious Society. It is not a pretty picture.

In England, Quakers could not attend university until the early nineteenth century, but a high level of basic education and in-group cohesiveness fostered an entrepreneurial culture. With the rise of capitalism came some stunningly successful Quakers and Quaker families in a variety of countries. Abraham Darby was one of a number of Quakers and others active at Coalbrookdale (see especially Paul Belford’s 2007 article in IndustrialArchaeology Review, a citation for which I owe his team member Ron Ross). Barclays and Lloyds banks, some of the great chocolate manufacturers (Cadbury, Rowntree, and Fry), and Clarks shoes —along with many other businesses— all have Quaker roots, although they have long since become parts of corporations. If we had been talking about “the one per cent” or even the “point one per cent” in Victorian England, Friends would have been reasonably well represented.

Quaker employment patterns shifted away from big business with the availability of higher education and nearly universal secondary education. Increasing urbanization and the shift of unprogrammed Meetings, at least, from an internally cohesive group connected through intermarriage to one with a large percentage of people entering and leaving in each generation reinforced these trends, as did Friends’ emphasis (at least in relative terms) on gender equity and social reform. As a result, we now see Friends in unprogrammed Meetings in a variety of small businesses and a wide range of professions, especially those that might be considered altruistic in nature. While these trends have long been apparent anecdotally, we now have some formal data — two carefully drawn surveys, both from Britain Yearly Meeting̛— that confirm them. 58.0 and 68.0 per cent of respondents had obtained at least an undergraduate degree in the 1990 and 2003 surveys, respectively (Mark S. Carey, Pink Dandelion, and Rosie Rutherford, “Comparing Two Surveys of Britain Yearly Meeting: 1990 and 2003,” Quaker Studies 13/2 [2009] p. 241). (Note: Friends from programmed Meetings in the United States may share some or all of these features, but I have neither the formal data nor the informal “feel” for those groups of Friends which would allow me to test this hypothesis.)

Given that people with better than average access to higher education and/or other kinds of social capital are more likely to prosper (or at least have a hope of holding their own) in an increasingly unequal world, how many Friends might be in that lofty one per cent? This is an unpopular question, theologically and in other respects. While we believe that talents differ (including, no doubt, the talent for making and saving money), equality is a fundamental Quaker belief. Add that to the usual taboo in most English-speaking countries about money and... well, I might find it easier to get a few Friends to help me update Towards a Quaker View of Sex.

Judging from the article in Quaker Studies, the two recent UK surveys did not ask about individual or household incomes. (If they had, maybe there would not have been a 75 per cent response rate to the questions.) However, we do know something in general terms about the top one per cent of wage earners in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom — and perhaps other countries as well, although I have not looked (I do have to work tomorrow). The figures from all of the countries are sobering, including Canada, where income inequality is not quite as severe. In terms of Canada, there are some problems with the methodology (disclaimer: one of the statisticians cited is a family friend and a colleague of my husband), but by and large Statistics Canada has a reasonable idea of who these high-income taxpayers are. 38.8 per cent are in management; 14.3 are in health; 13.7 in business, finance, and administration; 11 per cent in education, law/social, and community/government services; and 9.9 per cent in natural sciences.

However, just because 11 per cent of “the one per cent” are educators and another 14.3 per cent are employed in health care, it does not follow that the converse is true, i.e., that 11 per cent of educators and 14.3 per cent of health care workers are be members of that one per cent. All of these sectors employ vast numbers of workers, and only a few are part of the crème de la crème. To provide another example, salaries of educators, civil servants, and those health care workers who are officially part of the broader public sector in Ontario, Canada's largest province, are published annually if their income is $100,000 Canadian. Those who make around the cut-off for the one per cent are a vastly smaller group and tend to be clustered in a very few areas. (See here for the list published in March of 2011, which corresponds to the tax year in the 2011 household survey, and here for the most recent figures.)

Journalists and statistical organizations have also looked at salaries of many other professionals. The typical physician in general practice in the USA and Canada and the typical lawyer are not part of that one per cent, except maybe at the very bottom end, let alone the nurses, social workers, school teachers, small business owners, and tradespeople who make up most our membership. (Also, very often the salaries quoted are averages, and not the median, which is usually lower.) Thus, while it is impossible to know how many Friends belong to “the one per cent,” it is a reasonable back-of-the-envelope guess that the number is probably not much out of proportion to the general population. In terms of that point one per cent and the zero point one per cent who are the real movers and shakers, there will be very few Friends.

Does that let us off the hook, either individually or as a Religious Society? Not at all. First, the access to education and other forms of social capital available to many Friends means that the median individual and household income among members and attenders of unprogrammed Meetings is almost certainly greater than the national median, and that the poverty rate is lower, although the clustering of Friends in such fields as education and social work will lower the median salary. This relatively high level may be especially true of household income, given the high labor force participation of Quaker women. The improvements in women’s education and work force participation in two-earner households, from which many Quaker families have benefited (and which have indeed been necessary in a period when individual incomes outside of the elite have been stagnant or declining), have exacerbated the tendency toward economic inequality. These factors create numerous barriers to outreach and participation; I will discuss my understanding of them in later posts. (Ethnicity is a confounding factor here as well; once again, that will be the focus of another post.)

Secondly, the fact that trends in middle and working-class incomes have been unfavorable will also increasingly push those already in our midst toward a bimodal distribution of wealth.  The traditional incentives of partial financial support to attend Quaker gatherings may not do the job as well as they once did. There may also be a need to see in what ways, if any, tax codes in various countries might permit Friends Meetings to support young people in their post-secular education.

Finally, the United States, Britain, and Australia all have Quaker-affiliated or Quaker-founded educational institutions and social organizations (e.g., retirement communities and children's camps) that were either developed during the heyday of Quaker capitalism or have been established primarily for the needs of those with above-average incomes.  Admittedly, a number of Yearly Meetings also have camps for young people that cost about the same as those run by the Y or the Scouts, and Woodbrooke has a huge range of options at different price points, including some on line; but here I am talking of high-end facilities of various types that serve a much smaller number of people. Please don’t get me wrong: I am happy to see the children of high income earners learn Quaker values (they are vastly preferable to the alternative), I am delighted at an increasing number of options for retirees, and I am pleased that virtually all of these organizations are engaged in broadening their base through financial assistance. I am also aware that many people make enormous sacrifices to be part of these organizations, and that sometimes they do so because of a dearth of alternatives. Nevertheless, does the preponderance of high-priced institutions with “Quaker” as part of their institutional DNA take away some of our energies from helping those who on the whole have much less social capital and who desperately need alternatives for education or living? For instance, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States probably accomplishes significantly more for the education of disadvantaged young people than we do, on a per capita basis as well as an absolute one. (Disclaimer: family members have attended Quaker schools or secular institutions with similar demographics, and my own undergraduate alma mater, which I attended on financial aid, shares many features with Quaker ones.)

Meanwhile, my whole discussion about “the one per cent” is geared to generally wealthy countries whose citizenry is not representative of the world as a whole. Indeed, Quakers in developed countries are not representative of Friends in the world as a whole. Neither education nor income in most of the world is what most readers of this blog are likely to see around them. Looked at from this perspective, even if we are not part of a global “one per cent,” we are certainly part of a cohort of exceptionally well educated and privileged individuals. Other than getting in line if we want a hard copy of Piketty’s 696-page tome, what are we going to do about that?

Abraham Darby Climbing Rose
photographed at our house
©Kristin Lord 1998

N is for Nice and No

 

The napkin rings are from Ten Thousand Villages.
The dinner napkins were purchased in 1989 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
photograph ©Kristin Lord 2014

Nominating Committee: because of several months of bad weather and issues getting some key positions filled, we have not yet given an important report to Monthly Meeting. As the person who is first named on the committee and usually the one with the most viable car, in the end it is my responsibility. Everyone has been very polite about the situation, but the job has to be done, both filling the positions and giving the report.

Upon rereading the previous sentence, maybe I should eliminate the word “polite” and insert “nice.” The etymology of the latter word (according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, “nice” is from from the Latin nescius “not knowing,” which is in turn a form of nescire “to not know,” via  Old French) shows exactly the quandary we are in. If Friends will allow me, in the interests of confidentiality, to provide a composite picture of many nominating committees of more than one organization and to put my own example first, I might suggest that sometimes we are nice because we don’t know what else to do. No one wishes to upset his or her neighbor, or the Friend calling from the Nominating Committee, and people hate to disappoint by saying “No.”

Thus “Nice” and “No” are in a sense opposite. If we are nice, then we are most reluctant to say no, even to unreasonable requests for service in money and time. Many women in particular were raised to think that, if we are being “nice,” we should acquiesce to any and every work-related project and pick up articles of clothing that able-bodied people leave on the floor. The social reality that many women have been raised to be compliant makes it harder for people to believe us when we say “No” to unwanted sexual favors, despite the persistence of double standards of sexual behavior. (As my friends in women’s and gender studies would undoubtedly remind me, the linguistic and social history of “nice” and “no” when it comes to sexuality makes writing about theology look straightforward by comparison.)

As Friends, we are discouraged from waffling behind the screen of social convention, although we have euphemisms of our own when we wish to avoid giving offense. For instance, we all know that “the name of that Friend would not have occurred to me” means that the speaker believes that the Friend in question quite emphatically does not have the right credentials for whatever is under consideration.

If Quakers have heroes, inside or outside of our Religious Society, then they are often the ones who have refused to go along, regardless of the price. And those heroes do not always have to say “No” in as many words. Think of the statements of Martin Niemöller (“First they came for the Socialists...”) and Rosa Parks. All Rosa Parks needed was a physical refusal and the pointed use one word, “may” instead of  “can,” in “You may arrest me.”

In terms of work, successive Quaker committees revising editions of Faith and Practice are quite adamant about the importance of the word “No.” Section 3.09 of most recent version of Quaker Faith and Practice of Britain Yearly Meeting begins:

            It is not expected that any Friend should attend every meeting or sit upon innumerable committees. Decide what is within your physical and spiritual capacity, and be responsible in your attitude to what you do select. Be as regular, faithful, and punctual as possible in your attendance.

Rewriting Faith and Practice is hard work; the Friends who wrote that statement would have been the first to know when to call it a day. Nevertheless, to be true to the old Query, “Are love and unity maintained amongst you?” a refusal may still be “nice” in the best sense of the word.

And yet, an anecdote from my own Quaker experience provides a cautionary tale of the difficulty of one human spirit holding the potential for “nice” and “no” in proportionate measure. Friends may recall that George Fox considered telling the truth, to let yay be yay and nay, nay, among his central testimonies —indeed, the one upon which the others depend; this insistence in turn entails the use of affirmations in place of oaths. A man made of weaker material than Fox would have failed to achieve any of his goals, and yet Fox’s consistency of principle and practice had a price. Some years ago, an older and experienced Friend stood up in a group of New England Quakers who were admiring the visionary nature of the first chapters of George Fox's Journal. “I am going to ask you all a question: would you invite George Fox to your home for a formal dinner party?” Need I add that this Friend was a cook and host of legendary abilities.