In my last post, I wrote about the recent elections and how discouraged I felt by the results. The Far Right and the Tea Partiers made real inroads, especially in Maine, and this is a worry for progressives who believe that individual responsibility must be combined with societal responsibility. The two are twined, and to my way of thinking, it is impossible to have a decent society if they are separated. Yes, individuals should work hard and be thrifty and resourceful. But there are some things that are too much for individuals—roads, trains, schools, and health care come immediately to mind, but there are other items as well, which are for the common good and should be overseen by the government. (Other things, such as the sale of chocolate, shoes, and books should be left to businesses.)

Unfortunately, the common good doesn’t seem to be first and foremost in the minds of the Far Right/Tea Partiers. In the New York Review of Books, I read a piece about Rush Limbaugh, the Far Right’s de facto leader, and the piece clarified some of the motivations behind that group. There is no other way to put this—Limbaugh et al. seem to be older, affluent white people who are at the top and who want to stay there. They don’t want to share, and they see their authority and status threatened by uppity minorities and poor people. If society is too equal, then who will serve Limbaugh and Company? So they sneer and tear down and bully the public, making enough converts to influence opinion and elections.

What to do? As a member of society, I will, of course, continue to vote, supporting candidates whose views match mine. However, I know very well that as a “hobbit,” as someone who lacks power and money, my influence is small. This is not to downplay the importance of voting but rather to be realistic about my role in shaping politics.

Yet I need to do something to lift myself out of the doldrums the past election has put me in, and here is what I have decided to do: I will make bread, and I will give it away. I have even come up with a title—the Let Them Eat Bread project. (This is, of course, a twist on “Let them eat cake,” which Marie Antoinette supposedly said to her starving subjects. True or not, it represented the indifference those at the top felt for those at the bottom, and it seems to me we have a similar situation right now with the Far Right.)

This project has been brewing for quite a while. It’s taken me about a year to learn how to make decent bread, and one of the reasons I started making bread was so that occasionally I could give it away. But now it’s time to get serious, to give bread away on a more regular basis.

With bread being “the staff of life,” I am very much aware that giving it away is a symbolic act. However, we are a symbolic species, and this action of mine is meant both as a way to share with others and as a way to rebuke those who are not inclined to share. Opening the hand, so to speak, rather than clenching the fist. (And if we are going to survive as a species, we’d better damned well open our hands.)

Every project needs some guidelines, and keeping simplicity and flexibility in mind, here is what I have come up with:

1. Starting on January 1, 2011, I will give at least one loaf of bread away every week. (I want to wait until radiation treatment stops.)
2. If possible, I will give away more bread—2 maybe even 3 loaves a week. Since my mixer will only make enough dough for 2 loaves at a time, this is more time consuming than it sounds.
3. It counts to give bread to family and friends.
4. It counts to give bread as a thank you.
5. However, I will never take money for the bread.
6. As I get more into the habit of giving bread, I will branch out to acquaintances. In fact, I will try to branch out to conservatives. Just as with the Buddhist loving/kindness meditation, it will be good spiritual practice to include those who are not “kindred spirits.” They might not like my politics, but they’ll probably like my bread. (Who knows? Perhaps one day I’ll even be able to bring myself to give a loaf to Paul Lepage, our new “Tea Party” governor.)

And that’s it! It would be fun to come up with some kind of label to stick on the bags of bread. I’m not graphically inclined, but Clif is, and I’ll ask for his help.

Anyway, come the first of the year, let them eat bread!