Order of the Phoenix

Following the supposed election of George W. Bush in 2000, there were many people who thought they had it made. After the September 11 attacks, they must have thought themselves so solidly entrenched in power that nothing would ever dislodge them. Talk of a “permanent majority” echoed the “end of history” rhetoric that followed the end of the Cold War (not to mention the phrase “Thousand-Year Reich”).

But consider what has happened in just the past few months: the Abramoff and DeLay scandals… the regaining of Congress by the Democrats… the forced resignation of Donald Rumsfeld… the rejection of John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador … the downfall of Iraq invasion architect Paul Wolfowitz from his lofty perch at the World Bank… the passing of Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell… the disgrace and impending ouster (one can only hope) of Attorney General and torture advocate Alberto Gonzalez.

Events like these remind us of the ever-transitory nature of power and influence. In each case, powerful people have been ultimately deluded, whether by their ambition, sense of mission or simple hubris, into actions and statements that undermined their efforts and actually hindered their own causes. But even as the structures of neoconservative and theocratic governance accelerate in their disintegration, we have to wonder what will replace them. Will there simply be more subtle and more sophisticated attempts to enforce exploitative systems of order from the top down—or will people become more empowered to determine their own economic and political destinies, and to build a sustainable future together?

In this regard, I was greatly heartened to hear about the Economic Justice Forum being held by St. John’s Episcopal Church in Monticello on May 20 as part of their “Kairos Project.” This forum is part of widespread efforts among grassroots activists, labor groups and progressive churches to examine issues of corporate control and economic justice, including fair labor practices and fair trade. The project also involves Trinity Episcopal Church in Manhattan, the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition and Rural & Migrant Ministry Inc.

We could use more of this kind of wide-ranging and inclusive effort over here on the PA side of the river. A recent study from Philadelphia social services agency PathwaysPA revealed that fully 25 percent of Pennsylvania’s citizens qualified as “working poor.” (See the full story at www.post-gazette.com/pg/07138/787079-85.stm.) Tracking down more information on this story led me to a very interesting document called the “Self-Sufficiency Standard,” that lays out on a county-by-county basis the kind of wages that are required to maintain different kinds of families. The Pennsylvania version is at pathwayspa.org/policy/FINAL_PA-2006_full%20report5-15-06.pdf—and the New York version can be found at www.sixstrategies.org/files/Resource-StandardReport-NY.pdf. The “Self-Sufficiency Standard” presents a very strong case for supporting “living wage” initiatives, among other things.

Recent revelations about the student loan system have combined with what we have already been told about the credit card industry, predatory mortgage lenders and other kinds of abuses built into the financial system (see my column “Balances,” in the April 11 issue). Such evidence might well lead middle- and lower-class folks to deduce that not only are their economic interests not being protected by the Powers That Be, they are in fact the object of a systematic campaign that aims to dismantle what few protections remain.

And this brings me to the J.K. Rowlings reference in my title. When Harry Potter and his friends realized, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, that they were not going to be given the knowledge and tools they needed to for their own protection, they took it upon themselves to develop that knowledge and acquire those tools. Likewise, efforts like the “Kairos Project” are the logical response to some very real threats—not the nebulous and remote threats of terrorism, but the everyday oppressions conducted by a system that thinks itself invulnerable.