"a situation of the needy versus the greedy"

In my e-mail this morning was a link from Nona over at Fish Wars to an effort by a small group of celebrity activists, including Joan Baez, trying desperately to save a 14 acre community farm in urban South Central L.A.

They were invited there by Julia Butterfly Hill. She's the one who climbed up a giant redwood in northern California a few years back in an effort to save that tree and a small grove around it from the logging industry. Naming the tree "Luna," it was over two years before Julia's feet touched the Earth again!

But I was a little freaked out at the synchronicity of this morning's e-mail from Nona, as I explained when I wrote her back, to wit:

Nona:

Thank you for the Hill--Baez link. What an incredible 'synchronicity'? Not 15 minutes ago I awoke from the night. And lying there, remembering I'm probably still in the same Universe this morning that I went to sleep in last night, I took a minute to reflect on someone for whom I hold the deepest of admiration and reverence. I'm talking about Julia Butterfly Hill! I know you know how in awe I am of someone who will climb up a tree and not come down for two years, so strong her belief in a cause. I wondered what she has been doing lately, for I knew that whatever it was, she would be putting forth an effort for something worthwhile. And just so you know, I never wake up thinking of Julia Butterfly. Never! But I did this morning.

After putting together a pot of coffee, I ambled into the computer room--and there was the answer to the question I'd asked just moments earlier! Thank you, Nona.

And so, putting my Jungian "scarab beetle moment" aside, I followed Nona's link to the story. In short, it told of Julia Butterfly Hill and the cause she's taken up on behalf of people trying desperately to save, what is for them, a very important piece of property. What it entails is a 14 acre plot of land that approximately 450 "squatters" farm in urban Los Angeles. They grow food crops on it. The current owner, a man named Horowitz, rebought the land from the city of Los Angeles (details of that in link below) in 2003 for $5 million. He's now asking $16.3 million.

Dada's not sure that Horowitz's more than tripling his investment in three years was a wise business decision. Seems to me he should ask a lot more for those 14 acres, particularly in light of the fact he's dispossessing over 450 folks working that land as aid in their survival. (Okay, so I was being sarcastic, forgive.)

So far the effort to raise the owner's asking price to buy the land for these farmers has stalled at a little over $6 million dollars! That's when Julia Butterfly Hill put in a call for any celebrities interested in raising awareness of the effort to save this little urban farm.

Just imagine if Horowitz were to sell his land to the "squatters" for the $6.3 million they've raised. He'd make over 20% profit in the three short years he's owned it. Something in today's economy most any of us peanuts investors would be more than satisfied with. But no, Horowitz isn't satisfied with a reasonable return on his money. He wants to turn a three year, 226% profit on his investment!

Now that's good business. Dispossessing hundreds of people from their livelihoods while tripling your money! Imagine another Universe, maybe just one or two over from ours where a Horowitz would take the money raised by these people, realize a 20%+ gain on his monies and let the people keep their land. But that only happens in some other Universe(s), not here, not in ours.

In the words of Daryl Hannah who answered Butterfly's call and is currently camping on the land in a tent to bring attention to this said, it's truly "a situation of the needy versus the greedy." And that's the Universe we inhabit!

Thanks Nona for answering my waking question of what Julia Butterfly Hill is up to these days. And thank you, Julia, for rallying the celebs like Baez and Hannah to bring attention to the people's plight. And a *special* thank you to a man named Horowitz who shows us all what kind of money can be made if you have huge sums of money to invest to make your piles even huger. I'm sure in a Universe just one or two over from ours, this kind of business never crosses one's mind.

For the whole story, see the L.A. Times, "Celebrities Crop Up at Farm Protest"