(no subject)

[olivermoss]

Cell phone pick from Lower Macleay this morning. Did some trash collecting in the rain, my third session of working with community clean up stuff. I'm glad I am finally getting involved with this stuff.

Part of why is just too much interaction with the Portland queer/leftist scene who think that clean up efforts are literally fascism*. I'm not even kidding. During the pandemic there was a problem where garbage wasn't being picked up on school grounds specifically and it was becoming an actual public health hazard, enough debris that it was getting infested. A group that formed to tackle the problem got harassed out of existence by 'leftists' defending us from fascism. I wish I was kidding. Being involved in clean up stuff would get me turbo-cancelled in a lot of social spaces I've interacted with in Portland and it's nice to be around people who would find that nuts.

* They do have a whole theory babble explanation for this, which I am not going to bother to explain. Also not going to talk about it being classist or anti-union.

Some of Portland Parks land is likely going to be in private hands by the end of the year due to budget issues. The maintenance backlog is insane. Doing what can be done is important. I cleaned out some bioswales and keeping those clean is key. Bioswales can be an huge win/win/win for the city in terms of rainwater management, ecological health, infrastructure that pays for itself, and also they look really nice... but all that goes to shit if it get clogged with plastic.

So many people in this town are proud of not voting, not taking part in imperfect systems, not touching the non-profit-military-industrial-complex, etc. All they do is theory babble, criticize and tell people they are going on lists. I try to avoid them, but they infest spaces where people go looking for queer community

Comments

[kaffy_r]

So many people in this town are proud of not voting, not taking part in imperfect systems, not touching the non-profit-military-industrial-complex, etc.

Thank you for what you did/are doing out there. I have to wonder at the general age of the folks you describe above. They sound so much like angry 22-year-olds.

Says the exhausted 70-year-old.

[mistressofmuses]

I'm so glad you're doing the trail cleanup stuff!

I remember you telling me about people who claimed that cleaning up trails was some great evil. Batshit stupid, imo.

It sucks that things are shifting to private ownership. Budget issues seem to be such a constant.

I am so extremely frustrated by how much "better to do nothing than to participate in anything less than perfection" I see. It's infuriating.

[olivermoss]

Thank you!

Mostly late-20s/early 30s and I'm pretty sure they spend time in these spaces trying to bring them into their 'anarchist' groups. They are often after the recent transplants and, well, people looking for community. Before I left a certain space I pretty much told one guy he was only there to recruit for the group he was in, and instead of deny it he started venting to me about how much work it was.

[olivermoss]

Budget issues and also mis-management. Get behind on maintenance and things go bad, and it goes from things volunteers can do to stuff that requires hiring companies.

We can't live in theory, we need to live in reality.

I'm really liking the clean-up stuff, especially bioswales! Due to my allergies I don't pick up garbage on my walks typically. I'll only grab food wrappers and stuff if I have gloves and grabbers, which I do at these events. So nice to be able to actually go after stuff.

[kaffy_r]

That sounds like the guy is thisclose to giving it up as a bad job. Heh.

[dine]

thank you for your efforts! that sort of work is so important - I cannot fathom the mindset of those decrying it. providing a solid good to the community is what everyone should be doing