Survival in adversity

                 THIS WEBSITE IS ABOUT NON VIOLENCE AND HUMOR

Father Bill Crumley is a retired Holy Cross priest ordained for the Catholic Church in 1964. He spent 44 years in South  Louisiana . He was pastor of two parishes, founded another church, and worked part time in 25 or 30 other churches. For ten years he was involved in a social justice ministry. In that ministry he attempted to help change some of the political and economic structures that foster poverty. He also built two solar houses as a model for persons who wanted to become more economically independent.

Presently he lives at St. Edwards University in Austin , Texas . Although his official residence is Austin , he spends much of his time on the road pursuing interests he also pursued as a pastor and political activist.

Father Bill hopes to do two things in this ministry.

1. Promote a book he wrote “Why We Are Always Broke: things we need to know about the economy.”
2. Increase awareness of the dangers of nuclear energy and suggest steps people can take to help in this effort.
3. Help ordinary people realize they DO have solutions THEY Can implement.

His book begins with the story of how many Native Americans lost their land. Their economy centered around the deer. The deer provided their homes, their clothing and some of their food. A few deer each year would provide much of their basic human needs.

European traders came and introduced guns. With the guns was a promise: “You can kill more deer with guns.” One gun cost 20 to 30 deer skins. One round of ammunition cost 20 to 30 deerskins. There were a limited number of deer. So the Native Americans found themselves in debt to the European traders. ”We will take your land in payment for the debt.” They said. Father Bill suggests this is the same technique used today. People find themselves in debt and lose their lands as a result of that debt. He then describes the national and international structures which today help to create debt in the USA and worldwide.

He also suggests tools we can use to help counter these threats. These tools involve the creation of local structures for obtaining many of our needs and the creation of local networks to assist in this effort. More information can be obtained in two web sites www.icsee.html on that web site hit “Book”.        whywearealwaysbroke.blogspot.com

Copies of the book can be obtained through Father Crumley.   His e-mail address is mailto:bcrumley1936@yahoo.com  they can also be obtained through Amazon Books. www.amazonbooks,com  they can be obtained through other publishers. To contact them type on the internet. “Why We Are Always Broke Bill Crumley”

To help increase awareness of the danger of nuclear energy he has uncovered data in his research which might not be well known: e.g. there have been at least 64 accidents involving nuclear war heads or material used in the production of nuclear war heads. Many lost war heads have never been recovered. There have been two and a half times the number of direct deaths caused by these accidents as the number of direct deaths caused in Chernoybl, Ukraine, where the most serious nuclear power accident to date has occurred.

Again Father Crumley does not simply highlight a problem. He offers citizens some tools to respond. He offers a signup sheet for citizens entitled “Cities Are Not Targets”. (CANT) This is a citizen’s request for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a petition that can be given to mayors asking them to join “Mayors For Peace”.

“Mayors For Peace” is an international organization based in Hiroshima , Japan . Over 4,000 mayors worldwide have joined the organization. Over 200 US mayors have joined. In the last two years the US Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed “Mayors For Peace” at its annual meeting and asked mayors to join. This also can be found on the internet www.mayorsforpeace.org

For anyone wishing to pursue the question on a deeper level Father Crumley offers an internet conference with the Hiroshima Peace Group. This conference can be arranged by contacting Father Crumley or by directly contacting the Hiroshima Peace Group. www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html