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Inside
NCR Jubilee 2000 could make millennium magic
This is the one and only new
millennium for which any of us will be around. We should try to make it
matter.
We should exult. However artificial the computation of years and
calendars, passing such a big milestone, even an imaginary one, should cause
the heart to wonder.
But we should make it more than an occasion to pop champagne
corks. Perhaps something special could happen. All that energy focused on a
moment, on a day, a year. Maybe it could be turned to some great good.
If any human endeavor is worthy of the occasion it should be
Jubilee 2000. If this great plan could be made to take wing, we could make the
old world new and change life as we know it. Above all, we could change life as
the poor know it. And you know what: The rich wouldnt miss what it would
cost them. So go tell everyone.
As the movement gathers momentum around the country, new creative
possibilities will certainly emerge. Meanwhile, here are a few ways to get
involved.
- Contact the Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign, 222 E. Capitol St. NE,
Washington DC 20003. Phone: 202-783-3566. Fax: 202-546-4468. E-mail:
coord@j2000usa.org. Call or write for resources, organizing ideas,
networking contacts. For latest information, log on to
www.j2000usa.org.
- Order the J2K Education Packet, an excellent collection of
well-written materials accessible to the committed layperson who is not a
professional economist. Information on the debt burden, human stories of its
impact, moral and religious reflections, action suggestions for educating and
involving your community and resources for further study and action. A fine
start for you to become a resource for groups of all kinds on this issue. Send
$5 to address above.
- Circulate the Jubilee 2000 Petition. A copy is included in the
packet. Set up discussions and circulate the petition among your friends from
work or place of worship, school or college, trade unions, service clubs and
community groups, local peace and justice organizations -- wherever you can
get a hearing. The goal of 22 million signatures to present to the G8 in
Cologne on June 19 is a formidable challenge. Thousands are working on it
around the world.
- Form a small study and support group in your congregation.
Using the petition as a focus, connect with discussion, Bible study, youth,
adult education groups. As a prayerful and organizing focus, some congregations
are beginning to dedicate themselves as a Jubilee 2000
Congregation. The education packet contains lots of suggestions for
religious and community organizing.
- Contact policymakers. Write to the president and members of
Congress, particularly as details become available on congressional
legislation, which will be introduced this year. Also write to the U.S.
Treasury secretary and heads of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(see addresses below). Your letters are important to create political
visibility for the issue. They should be brief, expressing your concern about
the terrible burden of debt, your support of Jubilee 2000 and its call for
cancellation of unpayable debt to give impoverished peoples a fresh start with
the millennium.
Some specific suggestions:
The Honorable (Name) United States House of
Representatives/Senate Washington DC 20220
The Honorable Robert
Rubin U.S. Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20515
Mr. Michel Camdessus Managing Director
International Monetary Fund 700 19th Street NW Washington DC 20431
James Wolfensohn President The World Bank 1818 H Street NW
Washington DC 20433
Efforts to preserve the ancient art
heritage of the Zuni people are interesting and worthwhile. Anybody who wants
to help the Seowtewas, the family working on the project, can send checks made
out to the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Cultural Center, PO Box 1009, Zuni N.M.
87327. Mark the check for the old mission mural project. Donations
are tax-deductible.
-- Michael Farrell
National Catholic Reporter, March 26,
1999
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