The hunt for Osama bin Laden was always a sideshow. President George W. Bush even said at one point that he wasn’t much concerned with finding him. He probably meant it. Still, bin Laden played a useful role for the U.S. foreign-policy elite: He was still out there plotting, necessitating a vigilant “war on terror.” And if he were eventually caught and killed, whoever was occupying the White House would score a point with the American electorate.Now it has been done. What’s next? Don’t look for any big change. American foreign policy was formulated long before al-Qaeda came into being, and its decapitation (if that’s what it is) won’t make much difference. Not that there won’t be surface changes. President Obama may well get the remaining troops out of Iraq as required by the agreement Bush signed with the Iranian-backed government the U.S. military helped install (although the State Department may succeed in maintaining a private army there). And Obama will probably make a big show of drawing down the 100,000-troop force in Afghanistan. The American people are sick of that war (to the extent they are paying attention), and Obama is up for re-election next year. He’d probably like to be rid of the Afghan albatross if he can do it in a way that won’t let the Republicans portray him as a wimp. The bin Laden hit helps him out in that regard.But assuming those things happen, what has really changed? Will the U.S. government have renounced its global policeman role? Hardly. It will still be bombing Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen, and it continues to claim the authority to intervene anywhere, with or without the blessing of Congress, NATO or the U.N. Security Council. (Who cares what the American people think?)So it’s imperative that we not be fooled by appearances. The policymakers will not be using bin Laden’s death as grounds to dismantle the thousand U.S. military installations around the world, to stop supporting torture-loving dictators when they serve “American interests,” to end the violations of Americans’ civil liberties, or to defund the trillion-dollar-plus national security state. That gravy train, which gives prestige to “statesmen,” shapes the global order American-style and lines the pockets of contractors, is not going to end merely because one man was shot by Navy SEALS.It took no more than a few nanoseconds after the killing of bin Laden for the government to inform us that this is no time to let down our guard. The Bush Perpetual Motion Machine is intact. Every move to counter terrorists creates its own grounds for further moves. For every terrorist killed, 10 more arise. (Gen. Stanley McChrystal said that.) Demand creates its own supply. It’s an empire-builders’ dream come true. The 9/11 attacks were monstrous crimes, but they were not out of the blue.If we Americans are to free ourselves of the burdens of empire, we have to go to the root. Government must not be allowed the role of shaping the world to the policymakers’ liking. Even if their goals were entirely wholesome — individual liberty and free markets — a superpower global policeman would be impotent to bestow them on the world’s people. Government is a blunt instrument that works in top-down fashion. Freedom is something that must bubble up from the grassroots if it is to be genuine and enduring. Oppressed populations will not have decent nations built by outsiders. They will have to make their own nations decent.Anyway, having wholesome goals is not enough. The policymakers would also have to know what they are doing. Yet the complexity of any society puts the relevant knowledge beyond the reach of even the brainiest social engineers. If they are incapable of planning the domestic economy, they certainly will not be able to reconstruct a foreign society.Of course, it is unrealistic to assume the policymakers have wholesome goals. Behind the pretty window dressing we consistently find an agenda that serves particular political and economic interests. American foreign policy has long been the tool for arranging the world in just such a way as to ensure power and wealth for the right people. Just a coincidence? Not likely.Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation (www.fff.org).
Latest News
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.
Jay Ballesteros
That’s the question behind Hudson Valley Sustainable Fashion Week[end], a two-day celebration of sustainable style, local makers and the possibilities of keeping clothing in circulation. The weekend lands at Stone Ridge Orchard, a 200-year-old working farm, on Sept. 25 and 26, pairing an evening fashion show with a new all-ages Slow Fashion Fair.
“To me, slow fashion means intentional fashion. Careful, thoughtful, human,” said Joanne Louis-Paul, the event’s communications director. “Slow fashion is the speed at which one person can sew an intricately detailed dress. It’s taking the time to go to a thrift store or clothing swap and sifting through an unknown bounty of possibilities. It’s extending the life of a piece of clothing for as long as possible.”
In everyday terms, she said, “It’s stopping to think before purchasing anything or giving anything away.”
Friday’s fourth annual Organic Runway brings Hudson Valley designers to the farm for a sunset showcase of garments made from repurposed textiles and produced locally. Designers include Clare Bare, ennui, Kacy Coyle, KNUD, la vie après l’amour, Last Night on Earth, So Vicki and Touch Threads. The evening runs from 4 to 8 p.m., giving attendees time to pick apples and sip local cider before settling in for the runway.
“We’re all about the whimsy here at HVSFW,” Louis-Paul said. “The runway is so incredibly dreamy. Being outside makes for an unpredictable, one-of-a-kind backdrop every year, and there’s just nothing like that sunset glow.”
Models walk the organic runway at HVSFW. Ilan Harel
The unlikely pairing of fashion and farming is also part of the point.
“Once you’re sitting amongst the apple trees, you realize how much sense it makes to mend the relationship between fashion and nature,” she said.
Saturday introduces the inaugural Slow Fashion Fair, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with workshops, mending, fiber art, vendors, music, eco-friendly kids’ crafts and a clothing swap. There will even be sheep.
“We wanted to have a fair so we could invite more people in the eco-friendly ecosystem into the fold,” Louis-Paul said. “We get to highlight not only designers, but makers and artisans of all kinds.”
The organizers hope the fair appeals not only to people already thinking about climate and sustainability but also to those encountering the ideas for the first time. With mending, a clothing swap and hands-on workshops, the emphasis is on showing visitors things they can actually do.
“There are so many things anyone can start doing today,” Louis-Paul said. “From something as simple as sewing a patch onto a stain or tear to hosting a mini clothing swap at your house with friends and family, there are tons of ways to engage with your wardrobe more thoughtfully.”
She speaks from experience. Before becoming involved with the event, she said, secondhand shopping held little appeal.
“As someone who never liked the idea of thrifting, I am now completely sold on circular fashion,” she said. “I recently sewed a broken strap on a dress I got at a clothing swap, and I felt so accomplished! Being in this world has shown me that conscious consumption is attainable and fun.”
But behind the fun is a serious concern about what happens to clothing once consumers decide they no longer want it.
“Just because you throw it away doesn’t mean it goes away,” she said, pointing to discarded clothing accumulating in other parts of the world and the microplastics shed by synthetic fabrics. “The planet and people are suffering because of this throwaway culture we’ve adopted. If an outfit is new but super cheap, believe there’s a high cost to someone else.”
For more information and tickets, visit hvsfw.org
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
She has been creating lampshades for 25 years and has settled in Ashley Falls, where she is renovating a barn behind her house for a larger studio. Her mission: “Changing the view on plain white lampshades, one at a time!”
Besides using marbled paper, she uses papyrus, silk and hand-painted papers for the shades.
Shandell’s on Main Street, offers a large selection of marbled decorative home items on its website — trays, coasters and bookends, to name a few — as well as scarves and belts. Schneider will also customize items and creates custom wallpaper, gifts and favors for weddings and special events. She offers consultations by appointment.
Schneider explained how she began making lampshades.
“I was in business as an antiques and textile dealer, needing lampshades at the time (the early 1990s). I had a dealer who used to make lampshades. She was moving and sold me everything she had in her barn for making them. Arcs, templates for lampshades, and tools.”
Schneider used the marbled paper from the endpapers of old books to make small lampshades.
“I collected those voraciously.”
The papers were too small for the larger lampshades she wanted to make. To get paper in the size she needed, she decided to learn how to marble.
That was 10 years ago. She now has 20 tanks for marbling, including one 10-foot tank that allows her to make 3 yards of fabric at a time.
As she demonstrated the marbling process, making covers for journals, it was easy to see why she “got hooked.”
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s, creates a variety of products with marbleized surfaces in her Ashley Falls studio.L. Tomaino
She explained that marbling takes a couple of days of preparation. She prepares water mixed with carrageenan the night before so that it thickens and becomes a viscous liquid onto which the acrylic paints can be dropped. Paper or fabric must also be prepared with alum, which “makes the paint stick,” she said, a day or two ahead of time.
When she was ready to start, Schneider first used a level to make sure the tank was even. Then she pulled a squeegee across the surface of the carrageenan mixture to break the surface tension, followed by strips of newsprint for the same purpose. She also dipped small pieces of newsprint into the mixture.
“The hardest thing to teach people is to break the surface tension first,” she noted.
Next, she used droppers to place rows of paint onto the mixture.
“It’s a joyful process,” she said as she chose more colors. “It’s totally the pleasure of the colors.”
She explained, “The colors are stopped from spreading by the surface tension.”
Then she added newsprint around the edges of the tank to break the tension again and added another layer of color. Next, she used a marbling comb, slowly dragging it back and forth across the width of the tank to create a feather-like design.
Combs come in many sizes, with teeth spaced at different intervals and in different patterns. She chose another comb to drag through the length of the tank, making the design more intricate before laying two pieces of paper on the surface. After a second or two, she lifted them, perfectly capturing the pattern, and carried them to the sink for a rinse with water.
Once she squeegeed away the paint left in the tank, she was ready to begin the process again.
Next, she created a different type of design, dripping colors in a less ordered array, then twirling them into curving lines and circles with a thin rod.
When the surface was ready, she laid a journal cover on top, then lifted it out, covered in a vibrant pattern of swirling colors.
For observers, the process can seem magical.
Schneider loves to share the delight of marbling by teaching classes at Dewey Hall in Sheffield. Upcoming classes will be held Nov. 20, 21 and 22. Beginning in November, she will also offer private classes in her home studio. Schneider had never pictured herself having a business like Shandell’s, but she discovered a passion for creating, as she says, “things that make you smile.”
For more information about her work and upcoming classes or to contact her for a consultation, visit shandells.com.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
