September 14, 2010 Hi everyone. The Associate Press reported this weekend that the US census for last year has it that roughly 1 in every 7 people in the US are under the official poverty level (the real proportion is 1 in every 6.7 people). ...
WESPAC promotes Economic Justice through promoting fair trade year round and helping to organize the annual Margaret Eberle Fair Trade Festival in White Plains. We also partner with the Wassaic Community Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) http://wassaiccommunityfarm.com. WESPAC is an active member of the Hudson Valley Fair Economy Coalition that meets monthly at the Union Hall in Port Chester, and we have taken a lead role in promoting a public bank for the State of New York. To get involved, please contact the office at 914.449.6514 or by email at [email protected].
Attacking Social Security
Attacking Social Security Paul Krugman NY Times August 15, 2010 Social Security turned 75 last week. It should have been a joyous occasion, a time to celebrate a program that has brought dignity and decency to the lives of older Americans. But the program is under...
Impossible Choices in a World Depression
Impossible Choices in a World Depression Immanuel Wallerstein Agence Global June 15, 2010 As the world's leaders and pundits continue to deny the reality of the world depression -- they won't even use the word -- the impossible choices that are faced by government...
Notes from April Unemployment meeting at WESPAC
Notes from WESPAC’s Unemployment Initiative, inspired by Nick, Kwame and Sandra – First Meeting, April 14, 12-2Introductions (10 people attended the meeting, with three people coming after 2pm due to misunderstanding about the start time) What have you learned from...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Eight
Those who believe that the left-right polarization of traditional politics will find no place to draw energy in a cooperative society presumably believe that policy debates with egalitarian implications, for example, concerning income ratios and minimum requirements,...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Seven
Sarkar promotes a set of ten principles that encapsulate cardinal human values.149 The first three are concerned with the avoidance of violence, deceitfulness and theft as described above. To act according to cardinal principles of morality, says Sarkar, is virtue and...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Six
30 UNDERSTANDING PROUT – VOLUME 1 Other studies published in accounting journals have concluded that the threat of prosecution significantly lowers the propensity for financial wrong doing, suggesting that an effective regulatory regime helps to keep business people...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Five
18 UNDERSTANDING PROUT – VOLUME 1 In debates about equality, the theme of selfishness versus altruism obviously plays an important role. But perhaps surprisingly, nature versus nurture is also invoked. Those on the Left, in keeping with the socialist tradition, give...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Four
The Ethics of Scientific Socialism Marx rejected a universal morality54 just as he rejected a fixed human nature but it is inaccurate to claim, as many have, that there is no morality to be found in his philosophy. Morality for Marx was rooted in class. Good and bad...
The Biopsychology of Cooperation Part Three
THE BIOPSYCHOLOGY OF COOPERATION 7 Opposition to the Cooperative Movement The British cooperative movement in the early years of the 19th century drew its inspiration from the Benthamites, a highly influential group whose primary philosophical concern was to place...
WESPAC on Facebook
Dear WESPAC Members, Friends, and Supporters,In these extraordinarily challenging times, strong and independent community organizations are more important than ever. We invite you to renew your WESPAC membership—or to become a member for the first time—and help sustain our shared work for justice, peace, and meaningful social change.As we celebrate WESPAC’s 52nd anniversary, we remain inspired by our rich history and deeply grateful for the community that has sustained us. WESPAC continues to serve a unique and essential role as a hub for progressive organizing in Westchester County and throughout the Lower Hudson Valley. You can donate at wespac.org/donate
Dear WESPAC Members, Friends, and Supporters, @followers In these extraordinarily challenging times, strong and independent community organizations are more important than ever. We invite you to renew your WESPAC membership—or to become a member for the first time—and help sustain our shared work for justice, peace, and meaningful social change.As we celebrate WESPAC’s 52nd anniversary, we remain inspired by our rich history and deeply grateful for the community that has sustained us. WESPAC continues to serve a unique and essential role as a hub for progressive organizing in Westchester County and throughout the Lower Hudson Valley.With the support of our members, WESPAC:• Brings people together through community meetings, solidarity gatherings, educational programs, and public events;• Works with local high school and college students, providing meaningful internships and volunteer opportunities;• Organizes the annual Westchester Social Forum, where organizations and activists from Westchester, Rockland, and neighboring communities share skills, strengthen relationships, and build collective strategies;• Supports organizing for climate justice, affordable housing, immigrant defense, food sovereignty, racial and economic justice, public banking, and worker-owned cooperatives;• Advocates for investment in communities rather than cages, and for a clean and safe transition away from fossil fuels;• Calls upon our federal representatives to invest our tax dollars in schools, affordable housing, healthcare, and meaningful job creation—not war and endless killing overseas;• Provides affordable office and meeting space to like-minded organizations working for a more just, equitable, and peaceful world; and• Honors outstanding local justice advocates at our annual awards ceremony, a cherished highlight of Westchester’s social justice calendar.Annual membership dues are $100 per person, and $50 for students and people living on fixed incomes. Sustaining contributions above that amount are warmly welcomed. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds, and volunteer hours may be arranged in lieu of payment.Please renew or join today by mailing a check to:WESPAC Foundation77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 2WWhite Plains, NY 10607You may also contribute securely online at wespac.org/donate. To arrange volunteer hours or discuss another way of supporting WESPAC, please call us at 914-449-6514.We hope to see you at our upcoming events, including our September 10 author talk with Brian Barber about Gaza and our September 16 Community Partners gathering featuring Common Cause New York on election integrity. Details are available at wespac.org.Thank you for standing with WESPAC. Your membership is not simply a contribution—it is an affirmation that principled, locally rooted organizing matters. Together, we can continue building the relationships and movements needed to create a more just and peaceful world.With gratitude and determination,Steven Rabinowitz, Board Chair and Nada Khader, Executive DirectorContributions to WESPAC Foundation are tax-deductible.
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.This year, that vision takes physical form. They are renovating two barns—one at Rock Steady which will winterize the barns, expand the cold storage three fold for aggregation, build much larger wash-pack space with new equipment, a retail store and new CSA pick-up, Rock Steady staff space and workplace kitchen, short term housing for all the trainees and facilitators and so much more. The barn at Wildseed will be home to a gorgeous event space, and an added value commercial kitchen. Sweet Freedom Farm will be stewarding grain processes equipment and grain processing space that has been a significant need of small to mid-sized grain producers in the area.This shared processing infrastructure will expand the capacity of over a dozen BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-led farms to wash, store, and process food year-round. It's an investment in a more resilient future where farmers across the region can enter a food system designed for their success.The Elias Foundation is kindly subsidizing the cost of the dinner so that more of the proceeds can support the farmers' fund! @followers
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.