2021-08-27-Pine-Press

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

PINE PRESS August 2021 Spartan Housing Cooperative 541 E Grand River Ste 4 East Lansing MI 48823 | 517.355.8313

Welcome, new cooperators!

TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover design by Maria Vitale of Phoenix 03 note from the editor 03 My Co-op: Hate to watch it go but love to watch it leave 05 Corporate Secretary End of Term Report 07 MDOT Toll Roads Study 09 Pet Pix & Wholesome Coop Photos 10 Building a House Budget 13 Get to Know Your Executive Committee and Staff 16 Q&A on the US Embargo against Cuba 18 Horoscopes 19 Officer Positions: This Could Be You! 20 Welcome Week Schedule

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

Note from the Editor Hey SHC, Here we are once again at the beginning of the contract period. For me it’s my fifth contract, and for some reason I’m still here….must have something to do with how much I love this community. Whether you’re a returning member or a newbie, I wanna take this moment to appreciate you.

Thanks for choosing the co-op to fulfill your needs for housing and community.

I am so glad you’re here. This co-op would be nothing without its members. It literally couldn’t function without members doing what they do. At every level, from mowing the lawn and mopping the floor to sitting on committees to running for and being elected to member leadership positions...soooo much of the co-op’s operations rely on YOU and your participation and contributions, so thank you! Later on in this publication there is a table of the positions your house will have to fill for the needs of operating the co-op. Think about going for one! It’s a great way to meet people, learn about the co-op, help out your house, build community, and get something new to put on your resume.

Sounds like a lot of good reasons!

Anyway, I want you to know that the co-op welcomes you with open arms and happy faces, we’re so glad to have you - we couldn't do this without you!

See you around, Emily Tyler Vice President of Education Executive Vice President

My Co-op: Hate to watch it go but love to watch it leave

By Danny Olweean of Bowie I have been staring at the wall for too long. I am frozen, sitting on the floor, back against the wall. Staring. This feeling has overcome me. Like ivy it has grown around my legs and up to my eyes, keeping my body in place and my gaze fixed. On this mural, and every layer of paint beneath it. I do not speak of beauty, I speak of something greater.

Google defines “sublime” as, basically, something that evokes awe. But the word is one of those philosophical debates with countless books attempting a definition. Burke thinks it is a pleasurable feeling that derives from pain (ok bottom). Hegel has a definition that’s kinda just racist. Kant thinks there are multiple types, but all of them are still this masochistic idea that we love to fear. And while we do, that’s not what the sublime means to me.

Schopenhauer puts forth a definition that sublime is essentially a spectrum, with beauty at the lowest end and transcendent phenomena at the highest, where the “vastness of the world… rests now in us.” Where the universe and the individual are codependent, one and the same.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 This is closest to what I am feeling, but I suppose I just have to explain it myself.

Because honestly, fuck those guys. There is no reason that a bunch of dudes who died centuries ago should have any more insight into the human experience than me, you, or my buddy Eric.

But first I’d like to share excerpts from Bowie class of 1992 alumni Brad Guff’s senior honors thesis on the sociology of coops:

There is a shared irresponsibility in a cooperative house. One that only arises in a space where one believes SOMEBODY will deal with it, so why should I? A dirty dish can sit on the table for days before someone begrudgingly carries it to the sink. A nearly empty tub of sour cream will remain in the fridge until some sorry sap takes it upon themselves to toss it. Broken window fallacies also run rampant — after one uncleaned dish is left at the sink, thousands pile up. After one pristine surface is graffitied, all is covered in signatures and crude drawings.

I laugh as I read this, because this all holds true even 29 years later.

Mr. Guff could have written this thesis last year. Because that’s one axiom of my house, and every house I’ve seen. Things are dirty. Even when there’s a beautiful work week, by the next things have fallen apart. Even at their cleanest, parents everywhere would cringe at the touch of our perpetually sticky wooden countertops. For some, that’s a dealbreaker. These people are usually a little lame. Imagine for a moment a twenty one year old who dreams of picket fences and the fruits of white flight. Who listens to Coldplay. Not an old soul, but a middle aged soul.

As I read on, it becomes evident that Mr. Guff’s writings are not a condemnation, but a celebration of his community:

But there is also a shared responsibility in a cooperative house. One to each other. To the community. The walls may be vile, but their hearts are pure. Each member brings with them a unique energy, that melds into a beautiful mosaic… no that’s not the right word. Mosaic still implies separate entities, patchworks. This is a beautiful broth, with a flavor unable to be found anywhere else. Even one member changes the dynamics entirely. And this is possible because of the intentional choice to live together, cooperatively.

The seemingly paradoxical reason for a beautiful, thriving community living in a filthy, forgotten house is just that: the house is an afterthought. It is a shell. The community is what matters.

And I laugh as I read this as well, because these loving words still hold true 29 years later. Each member has brought their own experience, their own beautiful and weird individuality, and without losing that uniqueness shapes the house and those around them. My housemate Jimmy loves concrete

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 facts. Because of him I know, like, a couple things about concrete. Without him, I would know nothing about concrete.

I’ve been thinking about the Ship of Thesus a lot recently, a pretty classic thought experiment about identity over time. If the ships boards were replaced one by one until all the original wood had been stripped, is this still the same ship? Many “solutions” have been proposed, but there’s two opposite responses that I resonate with the most. First, that no identity holds over time. The ship ceased being the Ship of Thesus as soon as the first board was replaced. As a river does not have the same water, as I wake up the next day with millions of my cells replaced, we are fundamentally different beings from one moment to the next. The second solution says, fuck all that, we are whoever we say we are for as long as we say we are. The ship is the Ship as long as people say it is. I am me, you are you, the river is the river, as long as we believe it to be true.

I think both answers are correct. Yes, there is no stagnant identity over time, but the identity we ascribe to something lasts as long as we wish it to. Our houses fundamentally change the moment a new person is added or lost. In fact, houses even change from day to day. The Bowie of January 2021 was fundamentally different than the Bowie of April 2021, even with no change in membership. But the Bowie of January 2021, the Bowie of January 1991, and the Bowie of January 2041 are all still Bowie. Until someone changes the name again to the Laura Les Memorial Cooperative.

And it’s beautiful to know that I, as one of the countless members who have and will live in our rooms (until it’s condemned, because lets be honest), am both insignificant and central to the story of these walls. Just like everyone else I know and cherish. So when I sit transfixed on these murals, I don’t feel something that stems from pain, but I certainly feel in the presence of something greater than myself. The might of one person is no match for these walls, but I don’t feel powerless next to this force, I feel powerful. Because I’m not comparing my power to the coop, it’s one and the same. I draw my power from it, as all of us do. As I stare at the wall for 36 hours I don’t just experience power, I don’t just experience beauty, I don’t just experience oneness. I feel all of these in a swirling of emotions I can only describe as Sublime, which like the identities self-ascribed by people and communities, means whatever the fuck I want it to mean.

Corporate Secretary End of Term Report

By Dale Kruithoff, 2020-2021 Corporate Secretary Well, my friends, here we are at the end of another year within the coops, and with that the end of my term as the SHC’s Corporate Secretary. I entered into this role amid a global pandemic having served on the Board of Directors for one year prior. After several long board meetings, three referendums, five elections/appointments, and a dozen intermittent operations reports, I am glad to have served the board and the membership in this capacity.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Board of Directors One of the primary responsibilities of the Corporate Secretary is to record all the meeting minutes of the Board of Directors meetings. While it took time to adjust to virtual board meetings over zoom, I eventually was able to come up with a consistent template and method for taking minutes at each meeting.

One thing I had to keep in mind and recommend future corporate secretaries remind themselves of is that “if it is not recorded in the minutes, it didn't happen.” This is true for every committee and meeting of the SHC. My practice was to record motions made by Board Members exactly as worded as opposed to inferring what they were trying to say with their motion. If the wording of the motion sounded contradictory to their intent it was important for me to ask them to clarify their wording and ensure that the entire board was informed of what they were voting on as it would be documented in the minutes.

All board meeting minutes throughout my term were stored and archived electronically on the SHC Google Drive.

Executive Committee The unique thing about the Corporate Secretary position is that they serve both as a voting member of the Board of Directors and a voting member of the Executive Committee. My responsibilities at meetings of the Executive Committee were similar to those at board meetings by taking the minutes for the meeting. However, EC meetings were more informal as decisions were reached through a consensus rather than formal motions. The practice of taking notes at EC meetings was to add the notes to the existing agenda in a different color text.

Operations Reports Once every two weeks the Corporate Secretary is expected to send out an operations report to all members of the SHC to keep them informed of what the SHC is doing. My method for doing these reports was to take each officer's report from the notes of the EC meetings and put them into a separate document. I would then share this document with the EC to make any changes they saw fit. Finally, I made my edits and revisions to the report to adjust it to the membership as the audience as opposed to other officers. During the first couple of months of my term, I worked with the VPE to include the operations reports in the monthly Pine Press. I regret to report that the inclusion of the reports in the Pine Press fell out of practice later in my term. One of the major changes I made to the operations report during my term was the decision to include copies of all the meeting minutes for the EC, Board of Directors, and all other operational committees as attachments when the report was sent through email. I felt this was a great step forward in the interest of transparency from the SHC by making these documents very easy for any member to access.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Elections I think I can safely say that the busiest time of any Corporate Secretary’s term is when the SHC Executive Officer elections roll around. This year my first step in the facilitation of these elections was to establish a timeline for the election cycle. I based this timeline on the ones for previous years and the requirement that the polls are open for at least two weeks for each election. Other steps included verifying the list of eligible voters in the election. One of the big questions that arose during my term was due to the wording of our bylaws which allowed for members with a future contract with the SHC and have paid their dues to be eligible to vote in SHC elections even if they are not currently living here. I also facilitated a town hall Q&A with the sole candidate for the SHC President Election which I believe was a success. In addition, surveys were sent to candidates for Vice President of Education and Vice President of Membership so members could have more information about them before making their votes.

Looking Forward To share some ideas for whoever is the next Corporate Secretary, I would encourage exploring the possibility of having the Corporate Secretary serve as a member or work more closely with the Board’s Governance Revision Committee as a lot of their descriptive areas of responsibilities overlap. In terms of elections, I advise in situations where only one candidate is running for President to have that election combined with the elections for VPE and VPM to save time and the number of emails that are sent out to members. I hope that the operations report is continuously improved and that the practice of including minutes from meetings of the SHC is continued.

Final Thoughts I will end by saying that it was an honor to serve as Corporate Secretary this past year and I am excited to see how the SHC and the cooperative movement continues to grow from here.

In cooperation, Dale Kruithoff

MDOT Toll Roads Study

By Alayna Offredi of Howland In 2019, State Senator John Bizon makes the case to install toll roads in Michigan, hoping to aid the highway construction costs. The roads in michigan have the worst reputation in the entire country. You know this to be true. The

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 money for maintenance is almost never enough, causing the problem to be a staple of Michigans infrastructure. Toll roads, placed on the most popular highways in the state could be the answer. The study is being done in late 2021 and will provide key insight on if tolls can provide the funds michigan desperately needs.

Michigan roads are bad and they’re likely not going to get better. Half of the problem is political. Democrats will not vote to increase the highway budget, so theres no money for road maintenance. Something about the environment or whatever. Then, r*publicans hate being taxed, so they won’t vote to increase any budget anywhere. Adding to the issue, Michigan has the heaviest truck weight limit in the country and the smallest fine for being overweight. The fine money doesn’t even go to the roads. It goes to local libraries. Literally what the fuck. Thirdly, we have extreme weather. The jumps from hot and cold so causally cause breakdowns in the asphalt. The physical road is constantly getting beat tf up and theres no money for a doctor. It’s not like MDOT doesn’t have the money. It’s all for building and adding on lanes to areas with high traffic counts. There is a very small maintenance budget for ALL of Michigan, and it isn’t enough. Between the floods, decades old infrastructure and the weight limit, there is simply no doctor visit for the poor roads of Michigan.

Believe it or not, but you already pay tolls. Between getting a car and paying for gas and anything other transportation related, there’s a special tax that goes to the highway maintenance fund. It’s about 2.7 cents per mile. But Alayna, you ask, the highways are shit. To that I reply, yes they are. And they wont be fixed entirely unless we have these tolls. The tolls will run on MDOT’s most popular roads. I-96, I-75, M23 and all the ones we drive on to get home. Depending on how the study goes, you might not have to pay these tolls.

It could just apply to the trucks who break down our roads the most. Or, if you benefit from EBT you may be exempt. However for now, tolling is just an idea. You won’t have to even think about tolls for the next 3-5 years. Thank god for slow bureaucracy right?

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

Pet Pix & Wholesome Coop Photos

Left: Montana Svoboda of New Community digs up the roots of invasive trees between New Comm and Toad Lane. Middle and right: cats of Hedrick.

Left: Earl of Bower and Zach Crewes (VPF) of Vesta use a circular saw to build Bower’s little free library.

Right: a new Howland member helps troubleshoot a bike issue during the SHC Bike Tour on the 21st of August 2021.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Left: a beautiful kitty at Howland, submitted by Alayna Offredi.

Right: Happy Howlanders; bottom left and center, cat of Ferency

Wanna show off what your house is up to? Submit to the Pine Press at education@spartan.coop !

House Finance for Non-House Treasurers: Building a House Budget

By Leah Rogers, Corporate Treasurer, of Vesta It’s that time of year again, co-opers: time to budgets! Many of our house finance officers are creating healthy house budgets, so I am writing intention to provide some guidance to those who will soon be voting on a new house budget.

submit your fall house already well-versed in this article with the may be less experienced or who

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Budget Basics: It is important to keep in mind that your house budget is expected to be submitted by the end of the first month of each semester. Newly submitted house charge amounts will be posted to member accounts beginning the 1st of the month following the month during which an approved budget is received.

This means that if you want your house budget to start on September 1st, the budget is due by August 30th. All approved house budgets should be emailed to msc@spartan.coop and treasurer@spartan.coop. It has been standard operating procedure to continue using the last approved house budget until a new approved budget is submitted.

Approval of a house budget means that a majority of house members have voted “yes” on a proposed budget. Unless your House Constitution states otherwise, a unanimous vote is not required to pass a house budget. A proposed budget can be voted on at a quorum house meeting, via an online poll (such as Facebook or GroupMe), or as a printed budget with member signatures.

When in doubt, overbudget! Overbudgeting means you may be charging yourselves more month-to-month, but in doing so, you may be able to avoid a deficit come the house audit (more on house audits later in this article). You can calculate your projected expenses by looking at past house financial records.

What does a house budget look like?

Your house’s budget will be created based on the number of residents contracted for your house and the expense categories that you budget for.

These expense categories include all of your utilities, house meals and pantry, house savings, vacancy reserve, maintenance, and any other budgeted house expenses. Below is an example budget worksheet from my house, Vesta!

This sheet may seem daunting at first glance, but once you break it down, it can help you gain a deeper understanding of your house budget, and where any weaknesses may lie! For the most part, the formulas built into this sheet will create your budget for you, with you inputting several different items. Anything in a gray cell has a built-in formula that is linked to another cell in the spreadsheet. For example, the “food and supplies” budget in the orange box calculates your total monthly house meal and pantry expenses based on your inputs in the green, blue, and yellow boxes to the right.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 When creating a semester budget, it is important to note which costs may vary from month-to-month and which costs will stay the same. Internet, trash, maintenance ($5/member/month), vacancy reserve contributions (2% of total monthly Carrying Charges), house savings, and phone lines (if your house has them) are all fixed costs. This means that you can expect to pay the amount that you budget for each month (in other words, you should budget for the amount that you know you will have to pay). Other utilities and the amount that your house spends on food, on the other hand, may fluctuate each month or as the seasons change. For example, gas bills are typically lower during warmer months, so you may decrease your budget for gas going into the summer semester. When budgeting for variable expenses, it is important to look at how much your house has spent in the past to get an idea of what to expect. Last year, when my house was consistently going over our electricity budget, I calculated our 6-month average electricity expenditure and my house voted to increase our budget to align with the average. By budgeting for our average cost as well as making conscious efforts to lower electricity usage, Vesta was able to avoid a deficit during the Spring audit!

How do you budget for pantry and meals? Your house’s pantry budget will depend on what kind of foods you plan to supply for members. At Vesta, we collectively purchase basic goods, such as milk, butter, eggs, bread, flour, sugar, spices, and some fruits. This keeps our pantry budget fairly low, at about $12 per member per month. If your house decides to provide more than basic pantry items, you may consider charging a bit more for your pantry supplies. For house meals, a good rule of thumb is to budget for about $2.50-$3 per member per meal.

What about the audit?

Being audited is usually something that new members are unfamiliar with, but I promise it’s way less scary than it sounds! Every 4 months, house finances are audited to assess for the previous semester’s surplus or deficit.

During the audit, staff members, as well as myself, sit down with your house’s finance officer and look over what your house collected in income and spent during the previous semester. The amount that your house spent is then compared to what your budgeted for and the difference is calculated to determine if you were over or under budget. If your spending was over-budget, then your house will end up with a deficit. Deficits can be passed on to members who were living in the house when the deficit was accrued to be paid back, or members can vote to cover the deficit with house savings, if they have the means to do so. Surpluses, on the other hand can be returned to members as a nice little bonus or kept in the house savings account for a rainy day. The next house audits will be taking place in October and will analyze spending during May-August 2021.

The takeaway: Building a budget doesn’t need to be daunting, even if you’ve never done it before! The budget sheets that we use for our houses break down spending into categories so that you can see where your ultimate house charges are coming from. Your house finance officer should be familiar with this sheet and be able to answer any questions you may have about your specific house’s budget. I hope that you learned something from this article and that you feel prepared to vote on your Fall House Charges! If you ever want to chat finance, co-ops, or anything else, hit me up at treasurer@spartan.coop!

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

Get to Know Your Executive Committee and Staff Yeah yeah, we’re recycling this content from the May Pine Press. We want newbies to get to know us too!!

Marty Sloan first became involved with the Spartan Housing Cooperative when he moved into Bower House the summer of 2014. He was the membership officer for Bower House for 2 years before moving into Beal House the fall of 2017. He served as the Corporate Secretary from fall 2017 until becoming President of the SHC in spring 2018. After finishing his term and graduating from MSU with a BS in Computational Mathematics and a BA in Spanish, he moved to Spain to teach ESL for 2 years. He now serves as the temporary Member Services Coordinator of the SHC while still teaching ESL on the side. As Member Services Coordinator, he manages accounts receivable, supports the Membership and Education Committees with their goals, handles member communications and office administration, facilitates and coordinates trainings, manages and oversees all member contracts, and assists in conflict management. He enjoys cooking, eating, playing World of Warcraft, and drinking beer on porches.

Hey! I’m Emily Tyler, your Vice President of Education as well as your Executive Vice President (the latter means I’d take over as prez in the case of Erik’s inability to do it).

This is my second term in both of these positions, and I’m thrilled to have another go around it. I have lived at Vesta since August 2018, but I originally started in the co-op at Toad Lane in December 2017. Some of my favorite things include coffee, writing in my journal, reading, writing letters, and spending time with my friends. I have a bachelor’s degree in English from MSU ’19, and I’ve been around East Lansing since fall 2015.

Leah Rogers is the SHC’s Corporate Treasurer for the 21/22 Executive Committee. She graduated in Spring of 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Michigan State University. Most weekends and weeknights she can be found making good use of her degree behind the bar at Hopcat. Leah lives in Vesta Cooperative with her moose Pillow Pet and extensive CD collection.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Hey SHC! I’m Erik Berg, resident co-op historian and SHC President. I discovered the co-ops completely by accident in 2016, toured Orion in 2017, immediately fell in love with the house, and moved in in 2018.

At the start of 2019 I became Orion’s Board Rep. and House President, and found myself in a multitude of other roles in the process. That continued up through spring of 2020, when I became SHC President.

Now it’s 2021, and I constantly wonder, “How the hell did I end up here?”

Reflecting on my personal timeline over the past year is a trip, but it’s nothing compared to the events we’ve collectively experienced over the past year. I became President just as the first COVID-19 cases were cropping up in Michigan, and served throughout the entirety of the pandemic in the US. To call it difficult would be an understatement. We’ve come a long way in just one year, but we still have a long way to go. 2021 marks the 50th year in the story of SHC, and it’s a story of hardship after hardship. The miracle to our survival is simple cooperation. When we work together, the things we’re able to overcome are nothing short of incredible. This past year — and the past 50 years — are a testament to this truth. As our houses open up and our co-op community is able to flourish once again, I’m happy and honored to continue this legacy as a member-owner and as President for the upcoming year.

My name is Zach Crewes and I graduated from MSU with degrees in Political Science and Statistics. I've worked construction and as a private contractor for the past few years and am very excited to be Vice President of Facilities for the SHC. I am very into politics (I'm an Anarcho-Syndicalist), I love camping and backpacking, and I am a somewhat active disc golfer. My favorite animals are snakes and any time I'm in woods or fields I'm scanning the ground for a legless friend. I pretty much always have either the TV on or music/podcasts playing because my brain can not function without constant stimulation. I am super into history and could talk for hours with anyone willing to listen to me ramble about dialectical materialism.

I just recently moved into the coops in late October, but I have already found myself to be incredibly enthralled by the cooperative movement. I hope to be able to ensure that the SHC will be able to have safe and sturdy places for members to live and grow, and I would very much enjoy teaching anyone about house maintenance or just talking about politics, history or the state of the SHC! I am very much looking forward to this upcoming term.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 Executive Director: I’m holly jo Sparks and I’m extremely good at one thing: Cooperatives.

Seven years ago, I was the winning tribute in a Hunger Games style hiring process for the SHC, and have been a non-voting member of the Executive Committee and cooperative chief of staff and advisor to SHC’s Co-op President(s) ever since. I moved into Sojourner Truth co-op in Ann Arbor in 1993 and my life has never been the same. Since then I’ve lived in eight other housing co-ops in five different cities, and have helped start or “save” dozens more. These days, I’m a part of Genesee Gardens Co-housing Community in Lansing, where I live with my almost-two-year-old rockstar kiddo, Celyn Weaver.

I’m a lifelong learner and co-op board junkie: I’m board president for Oryana Community Co-op (in Traverse City) and Campus Cooperative Development Corporation (CCDC); I also serve on the Shared Capital Co-op Board. I received a BA in History of Art from University of Michigan in 1997; and have since studied nonprofit finance, law, housing, economic development, and city planning at UC Santa Barbara, MIT and UNC Chapel Hill.

Other than nerding out about co-ops, I enjoy vegetarian dinner parties, wine Wednesdays, Feng shui, cardigans, Woody Guthrie, audiobooks, and lately, a lot of NYTimes & Cocomelon. I’m a proud member of Team Tea, not to be confused with the Tea Party or Team Coffee (although I don’t mind associating with the latter !! <3 ) Being a part of the Spartan Housing Cooperative and working with its Executive Leadership motivates and inspires me — not only because of how far we’ve come in the past 7 years, but how much more we have yet to accomplish in the years to come!: Howdy! I'm Claire Hibbard (she/her/hers) and I'm your Vice President of Membership. Here's a bit about me...

Haus: Orion since '19 Current Anthem: Se a Cabo by Santana Passions: - Hiking, Camping, Skiing... being outdoors! Come find me on Orion's porch ^_^

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 - Music ~ love live music & exploring genres. My favs are reggae, experimental bass, and psych rock.

- Dabble in writing, painting, dancing. Love to move and keep my mind and body busy.

- Cooperative living, duh! The SHC has opened my eyes to the joys (and stresses) of co-operative living, and now I can't imagine housing any other way.

Q&A on the US Embargo against Cuba Brandon Chew of Toad Lane, with Jorge Martín The following is a shortened version of my conversation with Jorge Martín, an editor at In Defense of Marxism, the website of the International Marxist Tendency. Martín’s stories focus on Latin-American politics. The full interview can be read at https://medium.com/@brandonmichaelchew/q-a-on-the-us-trade-embargo-again st-cuba-8bddcdad754a

This interview was conducted on August 2, 2021 and has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Brandon Chew When would you say the US embargo against Cuba began? How was it implemented?

And could you explain some of the motivations that the United States had for the embargo?

Jorge Martín The economic measures of the United States against the Cuban revolution started very early on in 1960, less than a year into the revolution. When the agrarian reforms started in Cuba, the countermeasures from the United States began.

Cuba's national liberation movement focussed on agrarian reform which affected the sugarcane plantations and the sugarcane mills, etc., which were previously owned by United States companies.

So what is the U.S.’ motivation for the trade embargo?

I can read from an official document, [entitled] “Memorandum from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom),” in 1960.

It says the following: "Salient considerations respecting the present Government of Cuba are:

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021 The majority of Cubans support Castro. There is no effective political opposition.

Fidel Castro and other members of the Cuban government spouse or condone communist influence.

The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through this enchantment and this affection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship."

The document continues: "every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."

“The principal item in our economic quiver would be flexible authority in the sugar legislation. This needs to be sought urgently.”

[Link: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 ] So that's the explanation. The reason for the trade embargo and all the economic sanctions on Cuba is to create poverty, desperation, hunger, in the hope that this will then turn the Cuban people against the Cuban government, which, from their own admission, was extremely popular at the time.

This is regime change through the starvation of the population in another country. That's the real strategy behind these measures.

Chew What are some thoughts you have about the future of the embargo?

Martin There should be, in my opinion, a strong movement in the United States against the blockade. And that could have an effect if it was strong enough.

If it was taken up by organized labor, the trade unions, the youth, the Black Lives Matter movement and in solidarity with people around the world who are fighting for a better future.

I think there's a weariness also amongst the American public after these failed military adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. The idea that the U.S. should dictate to other governments what they should or should not do is becoming increasingly unpopular.

The United States is a powerful country with massive economic power, if that power was in the hands of working people just imagine how the conditions could improve.

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Horoscopes Submitted anonymously Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Never be the person to tell yourself no, let someone else do it. Apply for a salaried job you aren’t qualified for. Let the manager tell you no. Buy something that you can’t afford. Run your card and if it gets declined, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Fall is creeping up on us quick, dear Libra. Take a walk through a flower garden while you still can!

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22): New opportunities are beginning to present themselves to you, dear Scorpio. For the past several months you have been manifesting abundance be it in material wealth, love, or health. Your manifestations are about to come to fruition, but you need to take action while you can to receive them.

Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 21): I feel that you deserve an overpriced drink from a pretentious coffee shop. Buy yourself an expensive drink from a pretentious coffee shop.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Have you ever played Stardew Valley? I highly recommend it as a great way to unwind. Definitely a game that matches your Capricorn vibes.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19): Block your mom on Facebook to start some family drama.

Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20): You are permitted to do one bad thing today. You’ve got a lot of options and ideas, so choose wisely.

Aries (March 21-April 20): There’s lots of stuff going on in the world right now to protest or fight for. I know you’re always down for a direct action, dear Aires. Start a letter writing campaign.

Taurus (April 21-May 20): You don’t need to feel existential dread when you have no survival skills for the impending apocalypse anyway. Watch a post-apocalyptic show or movie and ask yourself, why do they want to live so bad?

Gemini (May 21-June 20): Stay away from people whose names start with C this month. If your name starts with C, then I’ve got some bad news for you.

Cancer (June 21-July22): If something goes wrong this month, ask yourself, “is it beets?”

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): By this stage in your life, you should have an idea of if you have a green thumb or not. If you don’t, try a pothos. If you do, time to give orchids a try.

Officer Positions: This Could Be You! The following are positions at each house that need to be filled (except Toad doesn’t owe office labor).

Speaking of office labor - we’re figuring out how to reinstate this practice for the benefit of the co-op and its members. You’ll be hearing more about the return of office labor and expectations soon.

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

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Spartan Housing Cooperative Pine Press, 27 August 2021

Spartan Housing Cooperative

WELCOME WEEK 2021 Meet your fellow co-opers at the following outdoor events!

Monday 30 August 5pm

Cookout at Orion 501 MAC Ave Tuesday 31 August 7pm

Crafts at Howland 415 MAC Ave Friday 3 September 6pm

Games at Vesta 505 MAC Ave Saturday 4 September

2pm Field Day at Valley Court Park 7pm Cookout/fire at Hedrick 140 Collingwood Dr

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