It’s not about us and them, it’s about sharing — just ask Mark Zuckerberg

By Hoover Wind, Kathleen Kenna and Hadi Dadashian

It’s not about us and them.

As much as we honor the peaceful intentions of the Occupy movement, it’s not just a simple formula of 1% versus 99%.

It’s about all Americans, as Sarah Palin reminded us at the CPAC convention this weekend.

Let’s look at Mark Zuckerberg, sometimes reviled, sometimes beloved founder of Facebook.

It sounds outrageous that the social networking giant could raise $5 billion in its public stock offering.

We want all American companies to raise that kind of cash in their IPOs.

We want all American companies, all Americans — from the wealthiest to the lowest-income  — to share.

Zuckerberg, hopefully, is about to show us how this is possible.

Say Facebook raises $5 billion.

This means as much as $1 billion for the rest of California.

How? That five-letter word in the current election campaign: T-A-X-E-S.

The non-partisan legislative analyst’s office in California estimates this single IPO — the largest ever for an Internet-based firm — could bring California millions, and perhaps even $1 billion, in taxes.

This has so excited California’s governor, the sometimes reviled, sometimes beloved Jerry Brown, that his staff has offered to mow Zuckerberg’s lawn in exchange.

“If it is as big as it is being billed, then on behalf of a grateful state, I will go to Mark Zuckerberg’s house and either wash his windows or mow his lawn,” says H.D. Palmer, Brown’s finance spokesman.

This is the great part:  The non-partisan legislative analyst’s office and the Democrat governor’s office have both put one of California’s richest entrepreneurs on notice.

Pundits are crowing that Zuckerberg will pay the most taxes of any American in history.  This is good news, no matter where you stand on tax reform, tax breaks for the rich, or tax hikes.

California is broke.  With a deficit of more than $9 billion, its schools are falling apart, and its streets and highways are filling with garbage.  Social services — for veterans, elders, people with disabilities, children and low-income families — have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.

Slashbacks across all levels of government have hit all public services, from policing to economic development, like a tsunami.

To international visitors, it appears that California’s homeless population is growing, in major cities and small towns.

Politicians will fall all over themselves with a windfall like this. Watch for national politicians to argue about how Zuckerberg’s tax contributions should be spent — more prisons/less prisons; more affordable housing/more campaign contributions.

We’ll be watching Zuckerberg and his Facebook workers, many of whom are counting on becoming millionaires as a result of this IPO.

Will they park their new profits outside the country to avoid taxes?

Or will they share, by paying full taxes — however that is defined — to help California’s most vulnerable?

Will they, as Republican minority leaders in California insist, use this newfound tax wealth to “protect our public school students … and pay down the state’s debt service.”

You know — the debt that everyone shared in accumulating during the so-called “good years”?

Layoffs, recession show ‘we’re living in a new world’

Dan Witter was confident a Bachelor’s degree would help him pursue a career.

Dan Witter

A survivor of layoffs and a recession that has crushed career hopes, the 43-year-old from Bellingham, WA, says his experiences have taught him an unsettling lesson: “I’m not convinced things will go back to the way they used to be.”

That means the days when a solid resume, good references and a B.A. meant something better than minimum wage.

Witter, working two jobs for more than 45 hours a week, just filed his taxes and concludes, “I didn’t clear $16,000.”

He says this with some amazement, as if he still can’t believe he’s back to retail after two years of unemployment, following a layoff.

“I’m disappointed that things aren’t working out the way they should,” he says. “I realize I’m living in a different world. It’s so sad to see this happen to our country.”

Witter says it’s not enough to be committed to a job, and work hard to get ahead.

“I work hard, I take pride in my work, I’m a detail-oriented person,” he says. “That doesn’t mean anything anymore. Everyone puts that on their resume.”

After applying for 300 jobs in the past two years, Witter was relieved to get a part-time job as custodian at his church, first at five hours weekly, then 10.  That was followed by a full-time job as produce assistant in a new department at Target.

“At least I have medical,” he says. “Between two jobs, I can’t afford $700-a-month rent. I pay room and board to my parents, but I have this guilt trip — I’m supposed to be out on my own. I’m supposed to be supporting myself. I should be independent, yet here I am.”

He’s quiet for a moment and adds, “There are so many people worse off than me, who have lost everything.”

Witter joined the Occupy protests in Bellingham, and removed his savings from the Bank of America to protest the bank’s role in the recession.

“We hear about all these bailouts of Wall Street … so I stood outside the Bank of America (in Bellingham), to say, ‘you got bailouts and I lost my job’,” he recalls.

“A lot of the time I was out of work, I was angry. I just didn’t show it. I was really, really angry — I had nowhere to put the blame.”

When Witter was unemployed and lost his health insurance, he got injured and was advised to get surgery at a cost of almost $20,000.

“I was livid,” he says. “I was scared.  “That would have wiped out all my savings.”

Witter sought opinions from two more doctors, who advised against surgery, so he still tries to add to his savings.

“There are so few making so much money in our country, and so many suffering,” he continues.

“It leaves you with a sense of helplessness. I don’t feel like I have a whole lot of power. There’s a certain acceptance of things — but I’m not giving up.”

Witter is writing a book about his church, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, as a way of channeling his writing skills.

“Writing gives me a sense of contentment,” he explains. “This a real, printed book — I can’t wait to get it in my hands.”

Witter leaves with a Mark Twain quotation he finds inspiring: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Second of two parts

Who will help the bully and the bookworm? Mike Spalsbury, hopefully, at a school near you

By Kathleen Kenna

Mike Spalsbury is so likeable, it only takes a brief chat online to get comfortable.

One follow-up call confirms he’s the kind of guy you would trust with your children — that is, if education cutbacks weren’t affecting everyone who helps youngsters.

Mike Spalsbury

The trust issue is critical, because Mike, 40, has been working with children and teens for more than two decades.

At 17, he discovered his life’s passion, working as a summer camp counselor.

“I had 70 kids a week at this little camp, and there was one boy with Down Syndrome.  He was my absolute favorite,” Mike says by phone from Michigan.

“It was the first time I had worked with a child who had special needs or differences.  I knew then that’s what I wanted to do.”

Mike specialized in therapeutic recreation while studying for his Bachelor’s degree in Education. He graduated with a specialty in experiential education.

“I’ve spent the better part of my adult life trying to provide recreation for kids of varying developmental and physical abilities,” he explains.  “I spent 11 years with the YMCA and have been trying over the past two years to establish an experiential education program within the public school system.  Unfortunately, budget, space and time restrictions have slowed me down.  The programs are ready to be implemented, but the timing hasn’t been right.”

Mike has been unemployed for two years, trying to convince public school boards to hire him for once-weekly education programs.  They can be tailored for physical education, intellectual exercises, or a combination of both.

Only individual schools have hired him on short-term contracts so far.

Yet Mike clearly has a lot to offer, at a time when America is seeking solutions to an increase in youth violence.

Take the case of the bully and the bookworm.

The latter boy weighs 70 pounds; the bully, much more.

Mike put the boys together in an experiential adventure with a group of children of diverse ages and abilities.

The goal: Work together as a group to solve a common problem.

The problem:  Help each other to get over a fence, regardless of ability or age or weight.  The last child must be helped over the fence by the group too.

Conclusion:  Kids always help each other, and they always succeed in getting everyone over the fence.

“I can’t say what they do after, but during the time they’re with me, the bully and the bookworm work together, as a single group,” Mike explains. “For one or two hours, they’re coming up with solutions together.  I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”

Mike has worked as a camp counselor in California too, working with adults with developmental disabilities, from the ages of 18 to 80.

He’s concerned that public spending cutbacks are reducing such programs around the country, strangling jobs like his.

“Money in Michigan is a huge issue,” Mike says.  “Unfortunately, I’m a victim of this economy.”

Michigan’s unemployment rate is almost 10%, compared to the official national rate of 8.6%.  (Unemployment is actually much higher, since these numbers reflect only those workers collecting, or registering for, unemployment insurance.)

Cutbacks have led to higher classroom sizes of 30 to 40, and the long-awaited “mainstreaming” of special needs children (those “who need a little extra attention,” Mike says) means they’re often shunted away from busy classrooms to unused space for “study hall.”

There’s no studying or learning, “nothing experiential,” Mike acknowledges. “It’s very, very difficult.  These kids are completely ignored.”

It seems especially cruel when Mike’s self-stated goal is “to erase the stigma of special ed,” to help children labeled as different by society, to be accepted by others.

“My dream job is to direct an experiential education program ( a co-op ) for kids of all abilities under one roof,” he says. “Regardless of  the limitations or difference the kids may have, they will have a safe, inclusive place to grow while enjoying great therapeutic recreation.”

Public school officials have been enthusiastic, but the rough economy means “hands have been tied,” Mike says.

“I’d like people to know how dedicated and driven I am to make my program ideas happen,” he emphasizes.  ” My aims and passions are real and while I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of some amazing programs, I think I have a lot to offer with my own ideas.”

Mike sees similarities across vulnerable populations in the U.S. while unemployment remains high.

“Remove the words ‘special needs’ and fill in the blanks with your own choice — homeless veterans, for example — of someone who is different from the rest of society.  That’s what is happening now,” Mike says.

“I’m trying to stay optimistic,” he adds. “This work is always incredibly satisfying.  It’s the little things that make it so satisfying.”