The Soccer Mom Vote

Xamon Song

Where is this happening?:  A multinational corporation made a deal with a the government of a small, poor country to pay good cash in order to take advantage of the natural resources.  Everyone was fine until the corporation pushed harder into land occupied by natives, who then pushed back with a rebellion.  Now, the government's siding with its corporate bedpartner, nearby countries have sent in "security" forces, and the corporation, impatient to continue their profitable rape of the land, has hired private paramilitaries to silence the rebellion -- by whatever means necessary.

Guesses?

In this particular case, this political backdrop provides the set-up for a work of fiction.  The country is Xamon, a place that doesn't exist anywhere and yet certainly exists.  Told from the perspective of a young man who enlists in the military and finds himself confused by the politics of the conflict while plunked down firmly in the center of it.  Eddie, a recent high school graduate with aspirations of making it big in the music business, guides us through the story with a unique voice -- a little reminiscent of Salinger's Holden Caufield, but without anywhere near the adolescent angst (or all the cussing).  He could be any G.I, from any town, probably a C student with a lot of social awkwardness, who learns in basic training that he has exceptional sharp shooting skills and the patience and stealth to gather intelligence. 

Eddie and his buddy Mike volunteer for service together and find themselves paired for security duty in Xamon.  Rumors are flying about who is really supporting whom, and their force receives word that human rights activists are also patrolling the area, with reports of mass killings of local villagers occupying land wanted by the corporation.

What happens to them is predictable: Eddie and Mike cross paths with a young woman one day in the middle of an otherwise routine patrol.  Digna is young, passionate and idealistic, and she's there with two other human rights' activists, looking for evidence of foul play in the local villages.  When she and the young soldiers backtrack to the village she'd fled from, they find a massacre of the place.  Men, women, children -- civilians -- pulled from their homes and shot down in the middle of an open field.

The scene, and the resulting discussion among the characters, as well as their actions, is what serves to make this novel worth reading.   The characters recognize that they are bearing witness to actions that are unjust and morally despicable.  The question, for them, and for all of us is, What next?

Human Rights Watch lists its current campaigns for ending human rights violations, ranging from the crisis in Darfur, to Burma's use of child soldiers, to the use of the death penalty in the U.S.  Amnesty International does the same. Many (but not all) of the most flagrant abuses happen beyond our borders, and much of it occurs to vulnerable groups -- ethnic or religious minorities, children, women, the poor.  This isn't about partisan politics, it's about agreeing that all the human beings on this earth deserve basic rights -- freedom from slavery and torture, recognition under the law, fair treatment in the justice system,  freedom to marry and have a family, to live with reasonable health and well-being and pursue work and education. 

Are we willing to say that these people matter too?

In the words of the character Digna, "It has to matter...And someone has to do something.  And even if they don't, I have to do something, I have to at least try to get the word out."

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We've got two autographed copies of Xamon Song to give away to Soccer Mom Vote readers, courtesy of the author, Adam Stone, and his wife Shannon (who just happens to be a regular reader and commenter here!). 

To enter, simply leave a relevant comment with a valid e-mail address.  I'll pick two winners at random on Wednesday, July 11.  Winners will be notified by e-mail. 

    

The Woman at the Washington Zoo

One only has to look at the table of contents of Marjorie Williams' book The Woman at the Washington Zoo to appreciate the author's fearlessness. From profiling political figures including Barbara Bush and Bill Clinton to describing her own struggles as a working mother -- and later, a woman with cancer -- it is Williams' ability to capture the nuances of truth and character that make you wish you could meet her for lunch, if just to hear her observations of the people one table over.

I'll confess that I did not read the collection of essays in order.  I was first drawn to those that were more personal in narrative: tales from the trenches of working motherhood first, then delving into her reflections on dying of liver cancer.  It was only after I got a sense of the author's voice, an appreciation of her candor, that I trusted her enough to read about political figures unfamiliar to me.  In the end, "Protocol," the first essay of the book profiling Archie and Lucky Roosevelt became one of my favorites, because the descriptions of the interviewees read like fiction, but aren't. (Archie was the grandson of President Teddy Roosevelt and a career CIA agent; his second wife, Lucky, was an Ambassador.  I'd never heard of either before I read the essay.)

When it comes to political and social commentary, Williams' takes on a number of issues that still resonate, despite the fact that many of her essays were written 10 or more years ago.  Her mother's death prompts consideration of policy on assisted-suicide.  The essay "The Cat Race" comments on the quiet, cunning competition of parents about everything from establishing infant head control to securing spots in coveted kindergartens.  In another, she takes on the complaints of those who accuse us of being "breeders," likely before the term was introduced.  While her commentary is smart, educated and insightful -- exactly what you'd expect from a former Washington Post columnist and contributing editor of Vanity Fair -- it is the personal grit and gut that Williams' offers that separate her from the crowd.  She never pretends that her own experiences are irrelevant to the issue at hand.

There is a quote from her essay about the launch of the magazine Real Simple (a magazine I'll confess to consuming every month with gusto) that sums up the wit and wisdom of Ms. Williams:

"[The magazine] doesn't tell her what she really needs to know about simplifying her life: black trash bags. A mother's lot is the constant beating-back of a tide of things.  And if you use white trash bags during your periodic sweeps of the house, your children complain about the cruelty of throwing away their old tangled Slinkies and toys from ancient Happy Meals, that fossilized lollipop from last December.  You must strike at night, and use opaque black bags."

Passages like that make Marjorie Williams a woman you'd want to know.  Unfortunately, that's only possible now through her legacy of written work.  This collection was edited by her husband, Slate contributor Timothy Noah, after her death in 2005 from liver cancer.  The last section of the book includes her poignant reflections on mortality, her experience of cancer diagnosis, and thoughts of a mother leaving behind a husband and two children, not yet grown.

A generation separated me from Marjorie Williams.  The current events in the 1980's and 1990's on which her political profiles and essays focus were a backdrop to my childhood and adolescence.  It's educating to see some of those issues reinterpreted through the lens of a contemporary, who was then the age I am now.  It's even more interesting to see how far we have -- and haven't -- come in addressing many of the same problems.

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Win a copy of The Woman in the Washington Zoo by leaving a comment below in response to this question:

“Forced into a corner, I’ll choose truth over hope any day,”  Ms. Williams writes, in direct reference to her battle with cancer, although this struggle between hope and realism threads through the book.  Would you?  How would you categorize yourself -- realist, optimist, pessimist, or something else?  Why?

Entries will be accepted through Thursday, April 12.  A winner will be drawn at random and announced Friday.  Contributors to this site are not eligible to win.   Only commenters that include a valid e-mail address will be entered.  And this probably goes without saying, but you must be willing to share your mailing address with me in order to receive the book if you win!

(Special thanks to Ms. Lindsay Goodman at Public Affairs Books for making this giveaway possible.)

More than a New Year's Resolution

Ironically, I wrote my New Year’s resolution almost three months ago. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was just shy of ten days from finding out I was pregnant with number 2 and suffering the loss of a recent miscarriage. I didn’t know what lay ahead when I decided I wanted to make a change in my life.

Change, I did.

As 2006 begins to close I find myself stuck in several ruts. Work, home, marriage, parenting. Each of these institutions do not equate boredom on their own, nor do they have to emit fumes of dissatisfaction. But we all take time around the end of the year to look back, plan ahead, and make a change and I'm realizing these things need a drastic change.

I started reading the book, “The Beginner's Guide to Changing the World.” It’s a good read filled with religious philosophy, historical facts, and a trip to Tibet. It’s full of those questions that prod me to reconsider my own thinking at home. Am I learning more about the world about me? Am I aware of what consequences our actions as a country create? Do I just feel strongly about a topic or am I informed and challenged and willing to actually do something?

In my reflection I found a lifetime of considering, discussing, nodding and writing while pondering The Big Issues. I always tend to reflect on The Big Topics this time of the year (Is there a God? If so why would Jesus be the only gate open and isn’t that just a bit silly? And what about all those people in Nepal and Tibet and India that have a religion of peace and compassion and love never hurting even an ant?) but I find that I pass up issues that I may actually have the option to do something about. (Stem cell research? Partial Birth Abortions?) Instead, I dig my head in to my daily routine and feel good about the times I ponder these thoughts.

It’s time to make a difference. Most New Year’s resolutions are filled with the “I”. “I will lose ten pounds.” “I want to save money.” “I want to get a promotion.” And, perhaps, these things can benefit others (Hubby would find me so hot at 30 pounds less! Family will have more money if I get paid more!) they are, in fact, mostly local and self withstanding goals only. I need to work on a more global level. I want to make a bigger change. Not just in my pants size but in the world around me, locally, as well as the bigger picture. I want to write my Congressman. I want to actually know who my Congressman is (having just moved to a new location, I honestly couldn’t say who my representatives are. I think I’ll start there.)

What changes do you plan to make? What things have you been pondering lately that you are ready to put “out there?” I’d love to hear from you because honestly, I’ve never kept a New Year’s Resolution to date. This one, I’d like to make my Lifelong Resolution.

*I was also inspired by Elaine's post as well as her write up about it on her blog.