Times truly are "getting hard"

[Auricauricle]

…And so another, well intentioned essay, falters and sinks into the abyss of resentful sentiment and toxic invective.

Well, maybe not, but here I go, anyway….

Having been raised in an educated, upper-middleclass family of some influence, I have an acute sense of responsibility for those in need. As a person who has never known hunger, need or want, I consider important the duty to serve others in the work that I do and in the conduct of my personal affairs. I am not a foolish person, who believes that everyone who has a hand out is deprived. Nor am I cynical and turn immediately away from panhandlers and drug addicts on approach, knowing that they are con artists and liars. Some may call my behavior risky or even naïve or dangerous, but I know how to handle myself if the need arises. So far, I have learned that unpleasant encounters are rare. The dignity of addressing another, without regard to station, position or penny effectively cuts through a lot of grief.

I became a nurse partly out of this sensibility. As Boy Scout and through my parents and grandparents, I learned the importance of developing the awareness of others. Having attended public schools in the South, I knew many children whose origins ranged from the comfortable to the miserable. I served four years in the Navy, where I met people of every stripe and form, and have lived in other parts of the country as my life’s journey continued. I have lived in my own, private gutter, and communed with those whose lives were marred by abuse and mental anguish. I remember these experiences vividly every time I walk into the clinics, hospitals and treatment centers where I have worked and will continue to work. As a student of Psychiatric Nursing, I am older than many of my colleagues who went right through college and graduate school “the right way”; but the experience and knowledge I bring to the table is peerless.

I am tired of the “us-other” discussions that decry the obtuse elite and the lazy poor. These dialogs are insulting to anyone who knows that categories are merely devices that obscure many simple issues and difficult solutions. There are stereotypical examples that fit within every mode, but everyone’s circumstance is much more complicated than what the snapshot depiction of their lives shows. The fellow, who looks like the aloof and oblivious idle rich man, is secretly digging his own grave, in alcohol and empty flings, of self-abomination. The guy in rags and old shoes who grins and jives with the passers by with the same hustle he was seen dealing last week has tuberculosis and tomorrow will be found in the gutter, dead. Both have their history and both deserve to be cared for, no matter where they come from, because they share the one trait that links us all: they are human beings.

Call me a romantic or an over sentimental schlock-meister, but I firmly believe that John Lennon’s, Imagine, addresses the important truth that class, religious, color-based, sexual, and other distinctions are made simply because we, as thinking, rational beings simply need a way to distinguish things from one another. We needed to do this to survive, to tell the edible from the inedible, the harmless from the lethal, and we do it today. Yet, when I all comes to the wire, the human-ness in all of us and in all that we do is a point of distillation that simplifies the equations and makes the muddy distinctions a lot clearer.

I am excited and heartened by the message that Obama and his optimistic ilk bring. I get depressed over the horror that we inflict on one another, all in the name of arbitrary reasons, and I am ready to live in a different world. I realize that the wounds that fester in the warlords run deep, and the sense of righteous indignation that inspires them to lash out. Yet, I also believe in the strength of forgiveness, the sure nature of karma and the importance of sincerity and dignity.

We are each endowed with self-determination, yet for many of us, this power to decide our fate an make our own choices has been beaten out, drowned out or removed in some shape or fashion and made unavailable. In my work, I try to remind people of this power, but for some, taking possession of oneself is not possible. Seligman wrote of Learned Helplessness after watching a dog, subject to shocks no matter what he did, no matter where he went, finally found a corner and lay, although the shocks continued. It is for these people, who know the shocks and the futility of doing anything to get away from them that I work and do what I do.

This is the way I was raised, and this is the way I choose to live my life. I may not get rich, but I am comfortable. I have a nice apartment; I have the love of a good wife and have a number of creature comforts to keep me pleasantly occupied for a long time. Knowing that there are so many out there who know little or no comfort, I wake up with a full day and a full heart. This is my path and it gets me through the day and back to the computer where I can tell you, my friends and readers, all about it, from the safety of my chair and desk.

[RoyY51]

Very well thought out. There are, indeed, two sides to every coin.

[Smokey]

…And so another, well intentioned essay, falters and sinks into the abyss of resentful sentiment and toxic invective.

Well, maybe not, but here I go, anyway….

Having been raised in an educated, upper-middleclass family of some influence, I have an acute sense of responsibility for those in need. As a person who has never known hunger, need or want, I consider important the duty to serve others in the work that I do and in the conduct of my personal affairs. I am not a foolish person, who believes that everyone who has a hand out is deprived. Nor am I cynical and turn immediately away from panhandlers and drug addicts on approach, knowing that they are con artists and liars. Some may call my behavior risky or even naïve or dangerous, but I know how to handle myself if the need arises. So far, I have learned that unpleasant encounters are rare. The dignity of addressing another, without regard to station, position or penny effectively cuts through a lot of grief.

I became a nurse partly out of this sensibility. As Boy Scout and through my parents and grandparents, I learned the importance of developing the awareness of others. Having attended public schools in the South, I knew many children whose origins ranged from the comfortable to the miserable. I served four years in the Navy, where I met people of every stripe and form, and have lived in other parts of the country as my life’s journey continued. I have lived in my own, private gutter, and communed with those whose lives were marred by abuse and mental anguish. I remember these experiences vividly every time I walk into the clinics, hospitals and treatment centers where I have worked and will continue to work. As a student of Psychiatric Nursing, I am older than many of my colleagues who went right through college and graduate school “the right way”; but the experience and knowledge I bring to the table is peerless.

I am tired of the “us-other” discussions that decry the obtuse elite and the lazy poor. These dialogs are insulting to anyone who knows that categories are merely devices that obscure many simple issues and difficult solutions. There are stereotypical examples that fit within every mode, but everyone’s circumstance is much more complicated than what the snapshot depiction of their lives shows. The fellow, who looks like the aloof and oblivious idle rich man, is secretly digging his own grave, in alcohol and empty flings, of self-abomination. The guy in rags and old shoes who grins and jives with the passers by with the same hustle he was seen dealing last week has tuberculosis and tomorrow will be found in the gutter, dead. Both have their history and both deserve to be cared for, no matter where they come from, because they share the one trait that links us all: they are human beings.

Call me a romantic or an over sentimental schlock-meister, but I firmly believe that John Lennon’s, Imagine, addresses the important truth that class, religious, color-based, sexual, and other distinctions are made simply because we, as thinking, rational beings simply need a way to distinguish things from one another. We needed to do this to survive, to tell the edible from the inedible, the harmless from the lethal, and we do it today. Yet, when I all comes to the wire, the human-ness in all of us and in all that we do is a point of distillation that simplifies the equations and makes the muddy distinctions a lot clearer.

I am excited and heartened by the message that Obama and his optimistic ilk bring. I get depressed over the horror that we inflict on one another, all in the name of arbitrary reasons, and I am ready to live in a different world. I realize that the wounds that fester in the warlords run deep, and the sense of righteous indignation that inspires them to lash out. Yet, I also believe in the strength of forgiveness, the sure nature of karma and the importance of sincerity and dignity.

We are each endowed with self-determination, yet for many of us, this power to decide our fate an make our own choices has been beaten out, drowned out or removed in some shape or fashion and made unavailable. In my work, I try to remind people of this power, but for some, taking possession of oneself is not possible. Seligman wrote of Learned Helplessness after watching a dog, subject to shocks no matter what he did, no matter where he went, finally found a corner and lay, although the shocks continued. It is for these people, who know the shocks and the futility of doing anything to get away from them that I work and do what I do.

This is the way I was raised, and this is the way I choose to live my life. I may not get rich, but I am comfortable. I have a nice apartment; I have the love of a good wife and have a number of creature comforts to keep me pleasantly occupied for a long time. Knowing that there are so many out there who know little or no comfort, I wake up with a full day and a full heart. This is my path and it gets me through the day and back to the computer where I can tell you, my friends and readers, all about it, from the safety of my chair and desk.

That is one best post I seen in while. Especially the part about John Lennon's song Imagine where artifical walls we have created for ourselves devide us all and prevent us from helping each other.

I remember watching the movie Oh God with George Burns and John Denver, where John ask Burns (as God) as to why there are so many miseries in the world and why God would let it all happen. And Burns (God) said that he did not let happen. The humans did! Instead of helping each other, the humans rather jump down each other throat with religion, wars, color and race as the cause.

[3-LockBox]

What ever shall we do to fix poverty?

I knew that suggesting impoverished people first address their own predicament would be seen as elitist. But who better to do something about it? Who you gonna trust to do it - the government? Hasn't worked and won't work - and I'm stating that as a fact, as its been proven over and over again.

I endured hardships as a kid, what with my dad being disabled by a massive heart attack when I was 12. No, my dad's heart attack wasn't my fault, but it damn sure was my problem. I'm not suggesting that welfare is a bad thing or that government assistance is a bad thing. But generational welfare exists. My comments were adressing the one article that Bobsticks posted, but of course, if someone says they're destitute, then that's that. I took my own steps to change my financial destiny.

My comment about immigrant workers was not some random statement, but based on experience. I work with a lot of naturalized immigrants and foriegn nationals, because I too, am among what you guys would call the working poor. The foriegn nationals I work with make the same rate of pay I do, some more. So if there are immigrants working for pennies, I haven't seen it.

Auricle, you are a hopeless romantic, and so are others like you, because its all rehtoric. Saying poverty is a problem that we all must address isn't good enough, and hasn't been good enough. Believe me, if there's a plan, I mean a substanitive plan out there, I'd love to hear it - I'm all ears. But until then, I'll address the problem myself because one of the real outrages of our time have been politicians pretending to care, pretending to have answers. I don't want to trust anyone else with my financial situation other than myself. Who should I trust? Politicians? The government? They have failed to bring us to that great society. Anybody can point out possible causes, but we've had a century of that noise - where's the big f*cking solution?

[Auricauricle]

You are right, 3-Lock to call me out on the mat about my pie-in-the-sky words. We DO need practical solutions, not vapid statements that sound great but offer nothing practical to address the problems.

Even as I wrote my words down the other day, I was (and am) going through a few thoughts to address the very issues you and others would present as I gushed and sspouted. Like you, I believe that politicians have done much to tarnish their images and disgrace themselves. The fact they have failed to do their duty and that we have countenanced thier sins and continue to give them licence to do as they please at our expense has been nothing short of suicide.

Simultaneously, I believe people can work together and galvanize support for one another far more effectively than we have in the past. Communities and cities and their representatives generally have worked hard to address their own, individual needs, but often these needs are usually held in abeyance while the needs and desires of the more visible mainstream and influential hold sway.

In this town, we have built wider roads, fancy aquariums, and encouraged the erection of more and more houses, condominiums and apartments to an influx of great number of people who have moved here. Town leaders tell us that encouraging the erection of such projects and the like encourages the influx of greater numbers of people and adds to the addition of more funds to the coffers. Meanwhile, the impoverished neighborhoods remain impoverished, the educational system continues to gasp and cough and the mental health centers can barely afford to stay afloat or staff themselves. Meanwhile, the local waterfront park gets a new pineapple water fountain and the new aquarium charges $15.00 a ticket for 12 year olds and up—too much for ma and pa who work for minimum wage at the local 7-11.

At least their kids can dance in the water fountain....

In short, 3-Lock, I think a few trees need to be shaken. Many great, lavish and extravagant resources have been made available for many things that simply could have remained on the drawing board. This war, a fiasco from the start, never should have been waged. The space station and launch program can wait. And while so many other examples of this wastefulness exist, the fact that we haven’t enough money left to take care of more fundamental needs boggles my imagination. The fact that we have people starving in this country, that people who are mentally ill untreated and living in our streets, that we have an insurance system that charges outrageous sums and hardly anyone can afford their measly benefits and while other forms of outrage exist, I am mad as hell.

As a health care worker who sees these inequities and injustices and knows that they don’t have to exist, that we can do much better, I get fired up at times. Addressing them may involve giving a few entitled people or complaisant others a good pinch in the butt, but if it benefits those who need it, so be it. It may involve voting some people out of office and bringing fresh ideas from dreamy minds, but we need to think outside the box and do something different or there will be nothing left for anyone when we really need it.

We can do much better. The solutions are staring us right in the face. They are not complicated and they are actionable. I’d say more, and there is more to say, believe me. Yes, I am a dreamer, but these simple dreams I think come from simple truths and simple solutions.

Thanks again for the zap, 3-Lock.

[3-LockBox]

You want change. I do have a plan.

Register to vote (I'm sure you are) and pester everyone else to register if they're not already, and encourage them to vote. Now I know there's a lot on issues on every docket and I'm not 100% 'up' on every issue, but let's put aside referendums for a second. Referendums and bonds and all that fun chit is the byproduct of way too much legislation and back scratching and wallet padding. Let's focus on the people that we've hired to do a job. Government is such a boondoggle, at both the state and federal level, and its the politicians fault.

Anyhoo, its time for Joe Blow to send a message, not just of disatisfaction, but of intolerance. Let's all vote...against incumbants, no matter what political affiliation they claim. Let's make public office a revolving door for one or two years. Let's show people who would attempt to make careers out of pretending to serve the public that they're under our reproach, and if they don't like it, quit. Let's seperate the wheat from the chaff. Let's get back to our roots. Hell, Davey Crockett served as Congressman for a term - The House Of Representatives was never meant to represent the idle wealthy in this country anyway and it damn sure isn't suppose to occupied by it. It shouldn't be any harder to send local representatives to Washington than it is to occupy a city council position, but only a very small percentage of the population ever run for office. It shouldn't take a law degree to serve the public on any level. They're are way too many lawyers in both state and federal government.

After we've shaken Washington and taken away their disproportionate sense of entitlement, we'll put the squeez on lobbies.

[Auricauricle]

Your solution embodies an important resource that all of us have available, but is seldom addressed in these dialogs: self-efficacy. As I remarked in my note, part of the work I do involves reminding people of this little appreciated power. Whether by drugs, physical abuse, mental cruelty or whatever, some folks have had this valuable resource grievously removed. I use Victor Frankl’s life as an example to draw upon when reminding people of their power to make decisions for themselves. Even when so much had been stripped away from him: his livelihood, his family, his friends, and nearly everything else, Frankl realized that his attitude alone remained, and it was that that he could control. He described his experiences as an inmate in a concentration camp, where the doomed would take their last morsels of bread to the living. They did so not because eating the bread was futile, but as a true expression of their freedom: the freedom to choose their decisions, no matter what fate lay before them.

Conversely, there is the stripping away of power that comes from being over-indulged. Lured into the sense of complaisance of having all needs and desires attended to, the organism loses the will to fend for himself: why should he? In providing everything to this person, the sense of self-motivation and self-efficacy disappears into the shadows. The brain stops caring about the next moment, the muscles wither and waste away for there is no reason to move, no work to do. We can easily describe people who take advantage of our welfare system and those who continue to go on work-disability programs for a minor muscle injury that occurred seven years ago. I have known these people as well as idle trust-fund children, who live in the sloth of their inheritance. In both groups, the idle are impotent, dull and unmotivated.

This apathy, this impotence, creeps into communities. In our South Carolina Lowcountry, we have neighborhoods of poor people living in their ramshackle hovels and sending their kids to schools where the quality of education is appalling. With no hope or vision of a future or even a possible future, many of these communities remain stagnant sinkholes. Few members of the community attain more than a junior high school education, and eventually sink into a life of self-destruction. Drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and violence are the result. For some members of the community, who know that their needs will be attended to, by hook or by crook, this is just fine. For the powers that be, who were more than happy to keep the provisions available, as long as these people stay in their hamlet, this is just as well. And so the merry go round of hands and handouts continues….

Yet, inexorably, the landscape of the Lowcountry is changing. More and more people from beyond the state are moving in, with many of them ensconcing into these hamlets. The original squatters are being uprooted, and are feeling the burn and are regretful of the consequences of their indulgence. They are learning that they will have to fight to live. Some are using violent means to achieve these goals; but others are looking forward with better ways to improve their lot.

One way to do this, is by encouraging and emboldening youth with lessons of self-efficacy. As an example, I point to an experience I had last year, when colleagues and I worked at a junior high school in one of these hamlets, teaching seventh and eighth graders techniques of violence prevention, behavior modification and mood management. These skills, embodied in a program called Positive Adolescent Choices Training (PACT), are among the first interventions developed to address the specific needs and issues facing African American adolescents. While other programs have been developed their generic natures were described as noteworthy, but not culturally sensitive. With PACT attending to these issues, there is an increased sense of ownership, and it appears to be working rather well. Already, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) includes PACT among other Best Practice protocols.

The PACT experience is only one that addresses the needs of communities to increase the sense of self-efficacy. With the introduction of programs like these, and by giving the clear and unequivocal message to government--city, state and federal-- that unrepresentative and shoddy representation will not be tolerated, we can turn things around. I do think that John Lennon’s words are just as effective as they are idealistic. We have created barriers between others and ourselves that have blocked the paths of many people. Whether by over indulging people or depriving them, we have effectively pushed some people to the edges and fringes of society and pulled others into the front and center. Influential and moneyed people usually win out in these fluctuations, but they are just as liable to wreak just as much havoc on the system as the entitled poor, who need to work harder. If everyone is to win, everyone must be included.

The answer, then, relates to responsibility. When I was serving in the Navy, a friend of mine and I were talking one evening about the military and the mass of people serving within the ranks. Realizing that many members of the service had come from families and circumstances that were less than ideal, my friend observed that the military apparatus could be described as a giant tit (sic). Like the giant gland, the military provided these people, in return for their sacrifice or their allegiance, nearly every need and desire in return: food, clothing, shelter and more. In this little microcosm, the American experience could be observed. Some folks made the most of the military, working hard to succeed and did well. Others faltered, by their own device and stupidity, and did poorly. What remained was the fact that the military experience pretty much panned out to whatever you made of it. Caring not a whit about he individual, the great machine was impersonal yet fair, just as it is in Everyday America, where people are responsible for their own destinies.

It is that kind of self-responsibility and the power to decide one’s own fate that form two of the pillars on which the Great American Empire was founded. Fed up with a king, whose absolute rule held sway in the name of imperialist entitlement and cronyism, the founding fathers created a government that built on merit and self-efficacy. While these men were privileged, they were smart men who were not idle. They were men of letters and sound philosophies, who were capable of forging a nation that could and would be propelled by responsibility and inclusion.

Somehow, these ego-centered messages have been lost. Realizing that self-determination must be tempered with altruistic responsibility, the American ideal has become complaisant and idle. Like junk food that is easy to eat and somewhat palatable, the resources and goods that have been provided to the consumers of our culture have a deceptive quality. We have become fat, physically, emotionally and intellectually; we have perceived our lives as comfortable and well attended to. To those who have never known satiation, this state is a welcome relief and respite. To the Burger Masters, who wield the spatulas of power (crazy analogy, eh?), keeping the populus plied, plump and lazy, there was no need to worry about the masses rising up in protest and unrest.

Eventually the meat and beer run out and the weekend is over: it is time to return to work, the barbeque must end. Here in America that sad hour has come. Resources, once plentiful and ready are running out. Like fattened guests who must go home, for work beckons, some Americans are realizing that the party we have enjoyed has been a pleasant daydream. We need to get back to work and we need to wake up and look at our situation in full. This is not something any of us look forward to, but if we are to survive as a people and as a nation we must do so now. By helping out where help is needed and withdrawing our hands from those who have the power to help themselves, we can get back on track. Removing barriers and by doing the right thing, regardless of color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or whatever arbitrary measure can be described makes sense. It means doing the right thing, period.

After all, when we do right, what’s left?

Right?