Undoubtedly there have been some big stories to grace the airwaves and newspapers of the land this year. I know with all the information that comes our way, it's hard to keep track of all of it, let alone categorize it by importance. Was it the Union busting and subsequent mass protests in Wisconsin? No. Was it the roller coaster ride, known as the stock market? No. Was it the unofficial start to the presidential campaign season and all the whoop la over the candidates? No. Was it the threat of a government shut-down last spring or the huge debt ceiling debacle this summer? No. Was it the killing of Bin Laden? No. Or, Was it the on-going and record number of service people killed in Afghanistan this year? No. Was it the 10th Anniversary of 9/11? No. How about an unemployment rate stuck at 9.1%? No. In my opinion it was none of these items, though each one is important.
The big news I'm referring to broke about two weeks ago. The United States Census Bureau reported that, based on the latest census data, our nation's poverty rate increased to 15.1%. This item was reported in most of the mainstream media. It showed up in the newspapers and even got a mention on the network news shows. It was news for roughly one day. Then, of course, we moved on to the usual reporting about Rick Perry calling Social Security an unconstitutional ponzi scheme; or John Boehner's unwavering support of "job creators"- that elusive bunch who aren't creating any jobs; or what bracelet Michelle Obama was wearing and where she really got it; or President Obama's poll numbers.
In all seriousness, I believe this is the most important news story for this reason: the rise in the poverty rate in this, the richest country in the world, will negatively effect American life for all of us, for a generation or two, at least. Sometimes I think it's hard for us to understand what this actually means. However the implications of this news deserves our utmost attention. I hope we won't just gloss over this issue and toss it aside like yesterday's news. Because unlike many news stories- this one is tomorrow's news as well. We won't feel it all at once, but the effects will creep into our lives in ways that effect all of us one way or another.
Consider what these numbers mean to people in real life. In a country of just over three hundred million, over 42 million of us live in poverty. That is roughly equal to the total populations of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Montana and Arizona. This is the highest level of poverty since 1993. Last year alone 2.6 million more people became impoverished. That's as many people (total) as live in the State of Nevada. That's just the increase in one year. Poverty increased for every racial and ethnic group except Asian Americans. Even more disturbing is that childhood poverty is at 20% compared to general population rates of 15.1%. One in every five children in this, the wealthiest country, is poor. Among African Americans the childhood poverty rate is 40%. This is both shocking and disgraceful.
We tend to absorb numbers and go on our way. Statistics are interesting to a point, but then we drift away from them without realizing the human agony they represent. Perhaps the agony of real life poverty and despair is too much to dwell on. But, in these numbers we should see a grave warning to all of us. When this kind of trend continues we will experience an overall decline in many areas. As poverty increases the standard of living of a whole nation slowly erodes. Education, health care, infrastructure all begin to melt away. We cannot afford to allow our education system to degrade. We already rank a paltry 16th in the world for the proportion of college graduates. And every forecast reinforces the need to have more highly educated people for the jobs of the future. We're headed in the wrong direction.
We also learned from the census report that the median income of Americans has actually gone down 2.3 %. All this has happened while the wealth of the top 2% has increased dramatically. The middle class is shrinking- the poor are increasing in numbers, and the top are accumulating all the wealth. In the midst of this situation the President suggested the millionaires and billionaires pay more taxes- not a ton more- just a rate that goes from a 36% marginal rate to 39%. Three lousy per cent! But the Republican candidates and the House Republicans decided this was "class warfare".
There has already been class warfare in our time. It started about 30 years ago with advent of Reagan's policies. His policies created the greatest wealth disparity in history- until now. The policies of the G.W.Bush presidency pushed it to unbelievable levels. The war is over. The middle class and the poor lost. Today's numbers prove that. But then the poor always lose because this country's balance of power, economically and politically, is measured in money. Those without it rarely win. But, therein lies the warning.
When we look back over the great civilizations and the great empires, we see that greed at the top, and too many have-nots at the bottom, leads to the destruction of those great civilizations. When too many have nothing and too few control too much of the wealth change happens. It is not the peripheral moral issues of the day that decay a people. Those are just the distractions that keep us from dealing with the real issues. Ultimately economic and political justice and fairness define a great people. When 400 families in this country own more wealth than 150 million of us, the situation cries out for radical change. It will inevitably come. It always does when this kind of injustice continues. This many people will not tolerate the injustice. History is very clear on this issue. When this many people are deprived of the necessities of life while the privilidged continue to grab more and more- change comes. Our challenge is to recognize the need for this kind of change and act now to move it forward without the violence that usually accompanies radical change.
I've mentioned before that we are at a cultural crossroads. We must decide what kind of people we want to be. In a land as rich as ours we simply have to develop the will as a people to demand that our leaders work for social justice and against the greed that is hurting so many of us. As of now many of our leaders are owned by the very forces that create and perpetuate these injustices This has to change. This is about our basic values; and more importantly our long-term vision as a people.
Thanks for looking in.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
9/11 Remembered- From a Distance
This event will be one of those where we always remember where we were when we heard the news. Even though I was only in the 3rd grade when we were told of JFK's assassination, I still remember the event, and all the details of my movements, as if it were yesterday. So it was on that Tuesday morning as I was driving to work before 7:00 a.m. our time. The second plane had just crashed into the South Tower, and word was just coming over the car radio that there was a blast at the Pentagon. The news was coming at a frenetic pace, but it was clear this was an event like no other.
I got in to work and immediately went to the Internet to search CNN.com. I was still trying to figure out what just happened and who was behind it. We had staff meetings on Tuesday mornings, so we gathered together at 8:15 in what was the most somber of meetings. No company business today- in fact not much conversation at all as we spent a lot of time just looking at each other. Our Director had family in New York, though not in Manhattan, so she was trying to reach her daughter. Then something was said by a physician on our staff that sticks with me to this day. She just said, "well, there goes our civil liberties". It wasn't meant to be snide or callous. We were all trying to see what tomorrow would look like after this unique tragedy. But it was strangely prophetic.
As the day went on more news kept coming, all of it bad. The towers collapsed. There was no recovery of surviving victims in the buildings. ER's sat empty- no wounded, they were all just dead. The count had not begun, but we knew there would be thousands dead, many firefighters among them. Another hijacked plane had gone down in Pennsylvania. The government was in disarray and no one was even sure where the President was. There was growing fear of additional attacks, all transportation stopped, and we froze in place. Even the weather here went from being a calm sunny morning to being a blustery, dusty day with a haze in the air to match our moods. The country was on edge, stunned with grief, anxious with fear, and somewhat paralyzed by the unknown.
Ten years have passed now and I, like so many others, have tried to understand what this all means for us and the future of our country. The attack revealed a great many things about us as a people. Extraordinarily great things about our culture and our people were revealed- and sadly, some very dark parts of our character were revealed too. I could never cover all that this event means to so many people, but I will look briefly at those aspects that strike me now. I know this for sure: September 11th, 2001 is a date that was the beginning of undeniable change for all of us.
Among the things that we experienced on that day was a sense of unity. This is critically important to remember. It is critical because it seems the loss of unity, in purpose and spirit, is what tears at us most today. But, in the immediate days after the attack that sense of unity was so profound. I think the nations of the world sensed it too. It had been a long time since there was an outpouring of good will towards this country from nations around the globe. Unfortunately, we squandered those feelings instead of building on them.
The events of 9/11 also revealed incredible acts of individual and group heroism and courage. There are literally thousands of stories of Americans coming to the aid of each other. I can't recall another time when we as a nation came to revere and respect the public employees who protect us and rescue us without question everyday. I don't think any of us have viewed firefighters, paramedics, or police the same way since 9/11. Now we call them "first responders" and they are seen so differently than the day before 9/11. They haven't changed- but the way we see them and appreciate them most certainly has. To some extent our feelings about those who serve in the armed forces has changed too. I remember in the days of the Viet Nam war, soldiers could not return to claim the respect and gratitude of the nation. Today we see it differently. We respect those who wear our uniform in ways we did not only a generation ago. We respect the work and the sacrifice, and we don't hold them responsible for the political decisions of others. This is a good thing.
The worst thing about terrorism is, that it works! Tactics like these generate terror. Another word for terror is fear; and fear is a powerful thing that usually results in behaviors we wouldn't ordinarily engage in. Fear reveals things about ourselves we might try to hide deep down, or keep at bay. Fear causes us to be reactive, instead of reflective and measured in our responses. The last ten years have been a study, a text book example, of how to demoralize a people. Our fear led our leaders to direct us into seemingly endless wars. Immediately after 9/11 we went into Afghanistan and promptly liberated the capital city, installed a government and then neglected the rest of the country while off on other missions. We were attacked so we had to attack back, and I would agree that needed to happen in Afghanistan. But then we kept using, in fact embellishing, the images of fear to engage in yet another war in Iraq. This one was all about fear and, as it turned out, deception.
In more reflective times we would never attack a country that did not attack us first,because it would be below the dignity and status of the world's only super-power and greatest democracy. But we did it this time. Our environment of fear permitted us to permit our leaders to wage a war, commit lives and limbs and enormous amounts of money to an endeavor that was based on lies. That war revealed that we would tolerate inhumane treatment of prisoners, rendition of prisoners, and torture. We even waged war in civilian areas, then never bothered counted the dead. At home we trampled on our own civil liberties, with illegal wiretaps, searches, and detentions. When some objected, they said: "if you're not guilty, what do you have to worry about?" But our Constitution was what we needed to worry about. We allowed it because we were afraid. We were so wounded by the attacks of 9/11 that, in many ways, we forgot who we are and what we stand for. Even today the architects, The Cheney's, the Rumsfeld's, and the Bush's still try to justify those actions we call atrocities, when done by others. Instead of holding them to account, we buy their damn books and put them on talk shows.
Another casualty was "the common good" and our civility in the political arena. Politics became about being "with me or against me". If you're "against me" it became normal to question one's loyalty and patriotism. Foreign policy became about "being with us-or against us". In less fearful times our ability to reason, compromise, and be statesmanlike, would have ruled the day. This cost us the compassion and support of other nations. In less fearful times we would have not risked our entire national treasure borrowing the money to fight these wars, then come back in following years to blame the new President because he just put them on the books, instead of pretending like these war debts didn't exist.
I believe the troubles we face now, domestic and foreign, economic, social and political, are a direct result of what happened ten years ago. It was the beginning of a decade of decline, and changes in our national character. Even the hopeful events, and there have been some since 9/11, have been overshadowed by the fear, and our lost sense of what is best about us. We now view this from a distance of ten years. But these events will only be truly understood by historians who examine this period many generations from now. We will need a far greater distance than ten years to understand this one. That's because we are not healed yet- we have not stopped reacting yet- we have not regained our footing and our true character yet. Some of you may see my thoughts as too critical, perhaps even unpatriotic. They aren't. They are meant to be a plea to reclaim our true values. They are meant to remind us that the best of us is reflected in the heroism and humanity among Americans on that day, not the wave of fear that took hold of us in terrorism's wake.
Thanks for looking in.
I got in to work and immediately went to the Internet to search CNN.com. I was still trying to figure out what just happened and who was behind it. We had staff meetings on Tuesday mornings, so we gathered together at 8:15 in what was the most somber of meetings. No company business today- in fact not much conversation at all as we spent a lot of time just looking at each other. Our Director had family in New York, though not in Manhattan, so she was trying to reach her daughter. Then something was said by a physician on our staff that sticks with me to this day. She just said, "well, there goes our civil liberties". It wasn't meant to be snide or callous. We were all trying to see what tomorrow would look like after this unique tragedy. But it was strangely prophetic.
As the day went on more news kept coming, all of it bad. The towers collapsed. There was no recovery of surviving victims in the buildings. ER's sat empty- no wounded, they were all just dead. The count had not begun, but we knew there would be thousands dead, many firefighters among them. Another hijacked plane had gone down in Pennsylvania. The government was in disarray and no one was even sure where the President was. There was growing fear of additional attacks, all transportation stopped, and we froze in place. Even the weather here went from being a calm sunny morning to being a blustery, dusty day with a haze in the air to match our moods. The country was on edge, stunned with grief, anxious with fear, and somewhat paralyzed by the unknown.
Ten years have passed now and I, like so many others, have tried to understand what this all means for us and the future of our country. The attack revealed a great many things about us as a people. Extraordinarily great things about our culture and our people were revealed- and sadly, some very dark parts of our character were revealed too. I could never cover all that this event means to so many people, but I will look briefly at those aspects that strike me now. I know this for sure: September 11th, 2001 is a date that was the beginning of undeniable change for all of us.
Among the things that we experienced on that day was a sense of unity. This is critically important to remember. It is critical because it seems the loss of unity, in purpose and spirit, is what tears at us most today. But, in the immediate days after the attack that sense of unity was so profound. I think the nations of the world sensed it too. It had been a long time since there was an outpouring of good will towards this country from nations around the globe. Unfortunately, we squandered those feelings instead of building on them.
The events of 9/11 also revealed incredible acts of individual and group heroism and courage. There are literally thousands of stories of Americans coming to the aid of each other. I can't recall another time when we as a nation came to revere and respect the public employees who protect us and rescue us without question everyday. I don't think any of us have viewed firefighters, paramedics, or police the same way since 9/11. Now we call them "first responders" and they are seen so differently than the day before 9/11. They haven't changed- but the way we see them and appreciate them most certainly has. To some extent our feelings about those who serve in the armed forces has changed too. I remember in the days of the Viet Nam war, soldiers could not return to claim the respect and gratitude of the nation. Today we see it differently. We respect those who wear our uniform in ways we did not only a generation ago. We respect the work and the sacrifice, and we don't hold them responsible for the political decisions of others. This is a good thing.
The worst thing about terrorism is, that it works! Tactics like these generate terror. Another word for terror is fear; and fear is a powerful thing that usually results in behaviors we wouldn't ordinarily engage in. Fear reveals things about ourselves we might try to hide deep down, or keep at bay. Fear causes us to be reactive, instead of reflective and measured in our responses. The last ten years have been a study, a text book example, of how to demoralize a people. Our fear led our leaders to direct us into seemingly endless wars. Immediately after 9/11 we went into Afghanistan and promptly liberated the capital city, installed a government and then neglected the rest of the country while off on other missions. We were attacked so we had to attack back, and I would agree that needed to happen in Afghanistan. But then we kept using, in fact embellishing, the images of fear to engage in yet another war in Iraq. This one was all about fear and, as it turned out, deception.
In more reflective times we would never attack a country that did not attack us first,because it would be below the dignity and status of the world's only super-power and greatest democracy. But we did it this time. Our environment of fear permitted us to permit our leaders to wage a war, commit lives and limbs and enormous amounts of money to an endeavor that was based on lies. That war revealed that we would tolerate inhumane treatment of prisoners, rendition of prisoners, and torture. We even waged war in civilian areas, then never bothered counted the dead. At home we trampled on our own civil liberties, with illegal wiretaps, searches, and detentions. When some objected, they said: "if you're not guilty, what do you have to worry about?" But our Constitution was what we needed to worry about. We allowed it because we were afraid. We were so wounded by the attacks of 9/11 that, in many ways, we forgot who we are and what we stand for. Even today the architects, The Cheney's, the Rumsfeld's, and the Bush's still try to justify those actions we call atrocities, when done by others. Instead of holding them to account, we buy their damn books and put them on talk shows.
Another casualty was "the common good" and our civility in the political arena. Politics became about being "with me or against me". If you're "against me" it became normal to question one's loyalty and patriotism. Foreign policy became about "being with us-or against us". In less fearful times our ability to reason, compromise, and be statesmanlike, would have ruled the day. This cost us the compassion and support of other nations. In less fearful times we would have not risked our entire national treasure borrowing the money to fight these wars, then come back in following years to blame the new President because he just put them on the books, instead of pretending like these war debts didn't exist.
I believe the troubles we face now, domestic and foreign, economic, social and political, are a direct result of what happened ten years ago. It was the beginning of a decade of decline, and changes in our national character. Even the hopeful events, and there have been some since 9/11, have been overshadowed by the fear, and our lost sense of what is best about us. We now view this from a distance of ten years. But these events will only be truly understood by historians who examine this period many generations from now. We will need a far greater distance than ten years to understand this one. That's because we are not healed yet- we have not stopped reacting yet- we have not regained our footing and our true character yet. Some of you may see my thoughts as too critical, perhaps even unpatriotic. They aren't. They are meant to be a plea to reclaim our true values. They are meant to remind us that the best of us is reflected in the heroism and humanity among Americans on that day, not the wave of fear that took hold of us in terrorism's wake.
Thanks for looking in.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
My Two Daughters... and Gloria Steinem
Ordinarily I would never refer to these very special young women as "my" daughters. In truth, they are far more a product of their mother's influence and fine example than they are mine. They are also the products of a loving extended family and they have been enriched along the way by grandparents, aunts and uncles and caring adults. But as I was developing my thoughts for this article, I felt it would be proper to to use the word "my", in describing my notions on this subject.
Please allow me to introduce my daughters. I don't have their permission to write about them, but I'm sure they would give their old dad some latitude to share his feelings and perceptions about them. My oldest daughter, Erin, is now in her mid-thirties. She is a wife and and a mother. She has two children from her first marriage and now has a step-son with her her husband. I won't bore you with any of the "growing-up" stories about her. She's the kind of person who would love to know we still remember those cute, but embarrassing childhood moments- yet not particularly want them shared with the world.
Erin is also a college graduate and has been working in her chosen profession since she graduated. She works in a rather large Mental Health and Social Service agency that specializes in helping the victims of sexual abuse- often child victims. She is the Intake Coordinator, which means she and her colleague are the first to hear the painful stories, and the horrific details of families seeking treatment and healing. Her job is ensure they get the help they need. I have tremendous respect for her. Not only does she conduct herself in the most professional manner, she has earned the respect of a great many professionals in the social service community. Being part of that community myself, I can only say that she makes me so very proud of her. But the source of my true admiration for her is in the kind of person she has turned out to be. In spite of what some might think is a depressing job, she maintains a positive, hopeful, and respectful attitude towards everyone she encounters. In spite of some personal challenges in her life, she has raised her children so beautifully, and is happily married. She studies the art of parenting, and has committed many self-sacrificing acts to ensure her kids get the best schooling and have a safe, secure, and loving home. She has devoted friends and she would do anything for them, as they would for her. She a complete and wonderful woman.
My younger daughter, Emily, is two years younger than Erin. She too is a wife and mother. She and her husband have a five year old son and they are expecting a new daughter in January. Emily, has always been an outgoing and highly engaging person. She had academic and athletic success in high school, then went on to college. Her path through college took her further from home. She graduated from the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia. She moved to Portland and managed a small bistro before beginning a career with Sysco Foods. She is also working in her chosen profession and was recently promoted to a management position. I won't tell you any of her childhood foibles either, but I can tell you that her path has led us to very proud of her too.
I've had the chance to see Emily in her professional environment a few times and each time I've been introduced to one of her customers or other managers they go out of their way to tell me what a special person she is. She is rising fast in a very competitive business, and making her mark as only Em can do. Like her sister, she too has made me proud because of the kind of person and parent she is. This is the kid who swore she never have a baby because of "the diaper issue". Now, of course we all see she and her husband being such great parents.
So what does any of this have to do with Gloria Steinem? Gloria Steinem was one of the leaders of the "Women's Liberation" movement of the '60's and '70's. She is a journalist, writer and activist for women's equality. Ms. Steinem began "Ms." magazine and became a leading national voice for women's rights. She is now in her late 70's, but remains a voice for women's rights. It was after watching a documentary about Gloria Steinem that I began to think about my two daughter's lives in the way I'm describing to you now.
Men have often made jokes about the women's movement in this country and resisted it with all their might, as they did the sufferage movement. It was Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Bella Abzug and many, many others who suffered the taunts and the hatred of those who questioned their femininity or sexuality- those who accused them of every vile motive under the sun in advancing the rights of women. But being the father of daughters ought to cause men to have some gratitude for the work that women like Gloria Steinem did on behalf of our (my) daughters. In the paragraphs above I described two women who were able to attend college, begin and flourish in careers of their choosing, and have the freedom to have families without risking either career or family. There was a time not that long ago (within my lifetime) when this would not have been possible. We must remember it has been less than 100 years since women were even recognized as full citizens, with the right to vote in this country.
When I refer to Erin and Emily as "my" daughters it isn't out of a sense of possessing them- it is out of a sense of responsibility to them. I don't view the Women's Movement as an affront to traditional family values as so many claimed then, and some still do today. My family values include the value of my daughters being able to seek higher education and work in a profession they choose; the value of having my daughters being paid a fair and equitable wage, not based on gender; the value of having my daughters be free from sexual harassment in the workplace; and the value of them being able to pursue any goal in life they choose, not being limited to prescribed roles defined by men.
The work that was begun so many years ago is not finished. Institutions, businesses, government, and churches still have not granted full equality to women. Progress is there, but not complete. There is still wage disparity for women. Women still earn only $.78 to every dollar men earn. In an advanced country like ours, there are only 93 women out of 535 in Congress (House and Senate combined) There are only six women Governors out of fifty. There are only 15 Women CEOs amongst the Fortune 500 companies. In less advanced cultures women are totally subjugated by men based on antiquated religious beliefs or barbaric custums, where female genital mutilation is common, or women are subject to honor killings at the whim of a man. Even today in the oldest and largest of the western Christian religions, the Roman Catholic Church, not one women can, or ever has, held a position of leadership, let alone ministry.
So there is still a great deal to be accomplished. It is up to all of us to keep pushing. They are your daughters and they are my daughters. If we fathers say we want the best for our daughters then we have a responsibility to work for true equality for women. You see, now I have a granddaughter and another on the way. I hope progress towards equality will march forward in their lifetime too.
Thanks for looking in.
Please allow me to introduce my daughters. I don't have their permission to write about them, but I'm sure they would give their old dad some latitude to share his feelings and perceptions about them. My oldest daughter, Erin, is now in her mid-thirties. She is a wife and and a mother. She has two children from her first marriage and now has a step-son with her her husband. I won't bore you with any of the "growing-up" stories about her. She's the kind of person who would love to know we still remember those cute, but embarrassing childhood moments- yet not particularly want them shared with the world.
Erin is also a college graduate and has been working in her chosen profession since she graduated. She works in a rather large Mental Health and Social Service agency that specializes in helping the victims of sexual abuse- often child victims. She is the Intake Coordinator, which means she and her colleague are the first to hear the painful stories, and the horrific details of families seeking treatment and healing. Her job is ensure they get the help they need. I have tremendous respect for her. Not only does she conduct herself in the most professional manner, she has earned the respect of a great many professionals in the social service community. Being part of that community myself, I can only say that she makes me so very proud of her. But the source of my true admiration for her is in the kind of person she has turned out to be. In spite of what some might think is a depressing job, she maintains a positive, hopeful, and respectful attitude towards everyone she encounters. In spite of some personal challenges in her life, she has raised her children so beautifully, and is happily married. She studies the art of parenting, and has committed many self-sacrificing acts to ensure her kids get the best schooling and have a safe, secure, and loving home. She has devoted friends and she would do anything for them, as they would for her. She a complete and wonderful woman.
My younger daughter, Emily, is two years younger than Erin. She too is a wife and mother. She and her husband have a five year old son and they are expecting a new daughter in January. Emily, has always been an outgoing and highly engaging person. She had academic and athletic success in high school, then went on to college. Her path through college took her further from home. She graduated from the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia. She moved to Portland and managed a small bistro before beginning a career with Sysco Foods. She is also working in her chosen profession and was recently promoted to a management position. I won't tell you any of her childhood foibles either, but I can tell you that her path has led us to very proud of her too.
I've had the chance to see Emily in her professional environment a few times and each time I've been introduced to one of her customers or other managers they go out of their way to tell me what a special person she is. She is rising fast in a very competitive business, and making her mark as only Em can do. Like her sister, she too has made me proud because of the kind of person and parent she is. This is the kid who swore she never have a baby because of "the diaper issue". Now, of course we all see she and her husband being such great parents.
So what does any of this have to do with Gloria Steinem? Gloria Steinem was one of the leaders of the "Women's Liberation" movement of the '60's and '70's. She is a journalist, writer and activist for women's equality. Ms. Steinem began "Ms." magazine and became a leading national voice for women's rights. She is now in her late 70's, but remains a voice for women's rights. It was after watching a documentary about Gloria Steinem that I began to think about my two daughter's lives in the way I'm describing to you now.
Men have often made jokes about the women's movement in this country and resisted it with all their might, as they did the sufferage movement. It was Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Bella Abzug and many, many others who suffered the taunts and the hatred of those who questioned their femininity or sexuality- those who accused them of every vile motive under the sun in advancing the rights of women. But being the father of daughters ought to cause men to have some gratitude for the work that women like Gloria Steinem did on behalf of our (my) daughters. In the paragraphs above I described two women who were able to attend college, begin and flourish in careers of their choosing, and have the freedom to have families without risking either career or family. There was a time not that long ago (within my lifetime) when this would not have been possible. We must remember it has been less than 100 years since women were even recognized as full citizens, with the right to vote in this country.
When I refer to Erin and Emily as "my" daughters it isn't out of a sense of possessing them- it is out of a sense of responsibility to them. I don't view the Women's Movement as an affront to traditional family values as so many claimed then, and some still do today. My family values include the value of my daughters being able to seek higher education and work in a profession they choose; the value of having my daughters being paid a fair and equitable wage, not based on gender; the value of having my daughters be free from sexual harassment in the workplace; and the value of them being able to pursue any goal in life they choose, not being limited to prescribed roles defined by men.
The work that was begun so many years ago is not finished. Institutions, businesses, government, and churches still have not granted full equality to women. Progress is there, but not complete. There is still wage disparity for women. Women still earn only $.78 to every dollar men earn. In an advanced country like ours, there are only 93 women out of 535 in Congress (House and Senate combined) There are only six women Governors out of fifty. There are only 15 Women CEOs amongst the Fortune 500 companies. In less advanced cultures women are totally subjugated by men based on antiquated religious beliefs or barbaric custums, where female genital mutilation is common, or women are subject to honor killings at the whim of a man. Even today in the oldest and largest of the western Christian religions, the Roman Catholic Church, not one women can, or ever has, held a position of leadership, let alone ministry.
So there is still a great deal to be accomplished. It is up to all of us to keep pushing. They are your daughters and they are my daughters. If we fathers say we want the best for our daughters then we have a responsibility to work for true equality for women. You see, now I have a granddaughter and another on the way. I hope progress towards equality will march forward in their lifetime too.
Thanks for looking in.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Flavor of the Month
I took a short vacation last week and had some time to think some different thoughts as my wife and I spent time just relaxing. There were also some quiet hours in the car as we drove the entire breadth of the state on our trip. I'm a bit of a political nut so as the miles passed by I got to thinking about all the political theatre taking place in the Republican party right now. To be fair, the Democrats would be doing much the same if they didn't have a sitting President. But there will be no Democratic primary so the media can focus all its love and attention on the Republicans.
I concluded at this stage in the game this is far more "Entertainment", than news. Given that we have several 24-hour news networks in addition to the usual news sources, it stands to reason that they just have to have something to say all day-everyday. But what we're getting isn't real substance. Therefore, I've decided the only way to interpret this junk is as "Entertainment". I view it that way because it's just not real. It's like a situation comedy-or sometimes an engaging drama, or a made-for-TV mini-series, even a day-time soap opera. Sometimes it makes us laugh. Sometimes it makes us cry. It can titillate or annoy. But in the end we just have to appreciate the entertainment value, then turn it off and wait till the next episode. With that in mind, let's look at a few past episodes.
In 2010 the Republican contenders started lining up. You'll remember the early acts. Tim Pawlenty actually started running in 2008 when his name was bandied about as the VP for John McCain. McCain went with Sarah Palin because he thought all those women who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries couldn't tell one woman from another. Man, he was wrong. But Pawlenty got this name out there. Then there was Haley Barbour, the Boss Hogg look-a-like Governor of Mississippi. Here was a guy with serious Republican credentials and national connections who could pull the party together after the disastrous defeat in 2008.
Next, the word was Mike Huckabee was going to be the guy. Huckabee made a strong run in 2008 winning the much ballyhooed Iowa caucus. He was strong with Tea Party types and has particular appeal with right-wing Christians. In November 2010 Republicans won 80 crucial seats in the House of Representatives. This gave control of the House to the Republicans. So as 2011 came, the Republicans believed the rest of the Government was theirs for the taking in 2012. Here comes the avalanche.
Mitt Romney announced, as expected, and suddenly he was christened the front runner. He was only the front runner because the press and a few obscure Republican pollsters said so. But old Mitt happily accepted the title. Here's where it gets interesting! Both Mike Huckabee and Haley Barbour pull out, each claiming they were instructed to directly by God. (please make note of this for later). Of course in Huckabee's case if he had decided to (actually) run he wouldn't have been able to keep his job with Fox (news?) And he really needs a job. I hesitate to call Fox News news. It's more like a big conservative, anti-Obama, anti-science, anti-everything, big corporation infomercial. But suit yourself.
Front runner Romney had the Tea Party-ers wetting themselves because he's not conservative enough. Speculation now grows that Michele Bachman will throw in. But, just for fun, Donald Trump announces his intentions. He got a lot of press resurrecting the racist "birther" nonsense and promised his people were uncovering very big things on Obama's past. Stay tuned and all will be revealed. Establishment Republicans were actually saying that Trump could be a serious contender. He and his hair (two separate entities) were on the news shows for two solid weeks claiming to know the President was a Manchurian Candidate, who probably cheated in college. That all ended over one weekend when the (Harvard Law Review) President stooped to show his birth certificate- crucified The Donald at a Press Club Dinner, and the next day announced the death of Bin Laden. Trump never formally withdrew- we just changed the channel. Poof, The Donald is gone. We never saw those "big things" either.
Things really heated up when Jon Huntsman entered the race. (not!). This guy was the one Obama was really afraid of, so they said. A moderate Republican with good looks, money and brains. The press made him out to be the next coming of Christ. Poor Mr. Huntsman totally botched his announcement speech, handed out campaign material that misspelled his own first name, and mistakenly loaded his press corp on a plane headed out of the country- all in one day. Jon is mired in a 1% approval bog. Next came Michele Bachmann- the real Tea Party candidate. She shot into prominence during a Fox (?) sponsored debate with plain talk and folksy charm. She managed to keep "the crazy" under wraps. She couldn't undo Romney because she didn't have any ideas, but she looked like the one to watch. She got that goofy picture on the cover of Newsweek and then took the Ames Iowa Straw Poll. All the while, the party regulars kept hoping somebody else would run. Long suffering Pawlenty gives it up after the Iowa butter festival. Ever present Libertarian Ron Paul is also in the mix. But he's a Libertarian, so who cares?
Finally Rick Perry holds a stadium prayer meeting and later announces that he will be the next President. This is big. The Messiah has arrived. Here's a guy who wants to preside over no Federal Government, and if elected will probably succeed from himself. Romney is no longer the front runner and Bachmann drops like a rock in the Republican polls. Remember that God also spoke directly to Bachmann and Perry telling them both to be President. Whereas, he told Huckabee and Barbour to hit the showers. There are three possibilities here: 1) God is a Democrat and a prankster; 2) God is a confused Republican; or 3) that voice they heard was in their own heads.
That should catch you up on our show so far. Each one of these folks has risen in the public's eye, then faded just as fast. They were just the flavor of the month, propped up by the press one month and ignored the next. But stay tuned-there could be more. Chris Christie and Sarah Palin might still be the next big things. Chris is just a big guy, and Palin has an ego as big as the state she quit being Governor of. I could be wrong, but I believe Sarah Palin will go for it. She just won't be able to help it!
A couple of things are clear to me. The Republican party is just as fractured and disorganized as the pundits claimed after the whippin' they took in '08. Don't let that quirky off-year election last year fool you. The candidates don't even sound like they're in the same party- with the one exception of truly hating our President. They will wreck this country to prove their hatred, and ask you to elect them after they do. Oh, good strategy people! Its really working out well for Republican Congressmen. Have you seen their approval ratings lately? Another thing is clear- not one of these chosen people has floated a solid policy idea yet. The President looks vulnerable now, but as any one will tell you- it's hard to beat the incumbent. Just ask Reagan or G.W Bush. Each had lower approval ratings than Obama's at this point. As for now, I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the show.
Thanks for looking in.
I concluded at this stage in the game this is far more "Entertainment", than news. Given that we have several 24-hour news networks in addition to the usual news sources, it stands to reason that they just have to have something to say all day-everyday. But what we're getting isn't real substance. Therefore, I've decided the only way to interpret this junk is as "Entertainment". I view it that way because it's just not real. It's like a situation comedy-or sometimes an engaging drama, or a made-for-TV mini-series, even a day-time soap opera. Sometimes it makes us laugh. Sometimes it makes us cry. It can titillate or annoy. But in the end we just have to appreciate the entertainment value, then turn it off and wait till the next episode. With that in mind, let's look at a few past episodes.
In 2010 the Republican contenders started lining up. You'll remember the early acts. Tim Pawlenty actually started running in 2008 when his name was bandied about as the VP for John McCain. McCain went with Sarah Palin because he thought all those women who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries couldn't tell one woman from another. Man, he was wrong. But Pawlenty got this name out there. Then there was Haley Barbour, the Boss Hogg look-a-like Governor of Mississippi. Here was a guy with serious Republican credentials and national connections who could pull the party together after the disastrous defeat in 2008.
Next, the word was Mike Huckabee was going to be the guy. Huckabee made a strong run in 2008 winning the much ballyhooed Iowa caucus. He was strong with Tea Party types and has particular appeal with right-wing Christians. In November 2010 Republicans won 80 crucial seats in the House of Representatives. This gave control of the House to the Republicans. So as 2011 came, the Republicans believed the rest of the Government was theirs for the taking in 2012. Here comes the avalanche.
Mitt Romney announced, as expected, and suddenly he was christened the front runner. He was only the front runner because the press and a few obscure Republican pollsters said so. But old Mitt happily accepted the title. Here's where it gets interesting! Both Mike Huckabee and Haley Barbour pull out, each claiming they were instructed to directly by God. (please make note of this for later). Of course in Huckabee's case if he had decided to (actually) run he wouldn't have been able to keep his job with Fox (news?) And he really needs a job. I hesitate to call Fox News news. It's more like a big conservative, anti-Obama, anti-science, anti-everything, big corporation infomercial. But suit yourself.
Front runner Romney had the Tea Party-ers wetting themselves because he's not conservative enough. Speculation now grows that Michele Bachman will throw in. But, just for fun, Donald Trump announces his intentions. He got a lot of press resurrecting the racist "birther" nonsense and promised his people were uncovering very big things on Obama's past. Stay tuned and all will be revealed. Establishment Republicans were actually saying that Trump could be a serious contender. He and his hair (two separate entities) were on the news shows for two solid weeks claiming to know the President was a Manchurian Candidate, who probably cheated in college. That all ended over one weekend when the (Harvard Law Review) President stooped to show his birth certificate- crucified The Donald at a Press Club Dinner, and the next day announced the death of Bin Laden. Trump never formally withdrew- we just changed the channel. Poof, The Donald is gone. We never saw those "big things" either.
Things really heated up when Jon Huntsman entered the race. (not!). This guy was the one Obama was really afraid of, so they said. A moderate Republican with good looks, money and brains. The press made him out to be the next coming of Christ. Poor Mr. Huntsman totally botched his announcement speech, handed out campaign material that misspelled his own first name, and mistakenly loaded his press corp on a plane headed out of the country- all in one day. Jon is mired in a 1% approval bog. Next came Michele Bachmann- the real Tea Party candidate. She shot into prominence during a Fox (?) sponsored debate with plain talk and folksy charm. She managed to keep "the crazy" under wraps. She couldn't undo Romney because she didn't have any ideas, but she looked like the one to watch. She got that goofy picture on the cover of Newsweek and then took the Ames Iowa Straw Poll. All the while, the party regulars kept hoping somebody else would run. Long suffering Pawlenty gives it up after the Iowa butter festival. Ever present Libertarian Ron Paul is also in the mix. But he's a Libertarian, so who cares?
Finally Rick Perry holds a stadium prayer meeting and later announces that he will be the next President. This is big. The Messiah has arrived. Here's a guy who wants to preside over no Federal Government, and if elected will probably succeed from himself. Romney is no longer the front runner and Bachmann drops like a rock in the Republican polls. Remember that God also spoke directly to Bachmann and Perry telling them both to be President. Whereas, he told Huckabee and Barbour to hit the showers. There are three possibilities here: 1) God is a Democrat and a prankster; 2) God is a confused Republican; or 3) that voice they heard was in their own heads.
That should catch you up on our show so far. Each one of these folks has risen in the public's eye, then faded just as fast. They were just the flavor of the month, propped up by the press one month and ignored the next. But stay tuned-there could be more. Chris Christie and Sarah Palin might still be the next big things. Chris is just a big guy, and Palin has an ego as big as the state she quit being Governor of. I could be wrong, but I believe Sarah Palin will go for it. She just won't be able to help it!
A couple of things are clear to me. The Republican party is just as fractured and disorganized as the pundits claimed after the whippin' they took in '08. Don't let that quirky off-year election last year fool you. The candidates don't even sound like they're in the same party- with the one exception of truly hating our President. They will wreck this country to prove their hatred, and ask you to elect them after they do. Oh, good strategy people! Its really working out well for Republican Congressmen. Have you seen their approval ratings lately? Another thing is clear- not one of these chosen people has floated a solid policy idea yet. The President looks vulnerable now, but as any one will tell you- it's hard to beat the incumbent. Just ask Reagan or G.W Bush. Each had lower approval ratings than Obama's at this point. As for now, I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the show.
Thanks for looking in.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
So Long Borders Books
After a weekend that included Lee's folks staying with us and a big family dinner to coincide with the visit, we found ourselves alone and doing a bit of shopping to finish off the weekend. As you may know Lee is an educator and a Director of a large child care facility. As such, she is always on the look-out for educational materials and books for the Center, and of course for our grandchildren. So there was a quick suggestion that we head over to Borders Book Store.
If you've been following the business news lately you know that Borders is finally going out of business after years of struggling to stay afloat. Last year they closed about one third of their national chain of stores. That was not sufficient. So a few weeks ago Borders announced that the entire chain was closing down with amazing deals to be had until everything was liquidated. Being very astute shoppers, we joined the pack to pick over the bones of this failing enterprise- and had some success. Both the grandchildren and the students benefited from our outing.
Whenever an establishment has a going-out-of-business sale these places seem to have a different kind of energy. There is an urgency to shopping that you usually don't see- particularly in book stores. One of the great things about book stores is the laid back atmosphere of people browsing and seeming more cerebral, polite, and content. Not so this time. Eyes were darting and scanning the quickly emptying selves, while hands were at the ready to grab that last edition if your brain gave the signal to pounce. Everybody had their game-face on.
I was mostly along for the ride, so I had a chance to think about book stores in general, which led me to thinking about the future of the written word. I was a bit sad at first to think that Borders' fate was a harbinger of the fate of all bookstores. It's kind of a sad trend to have books disappear, but it seems that's the direction. I'm not a great reader myself (mostly because I'm a slow reader) but I've always felt that books were venerable and honorable instruments to be preserved and respected. But, as I watched this place of venerable objects take its last dying breaths, being devoured by bargain hunters, I realized this isn't the death of the written word. I realized this is just the transformation of the written word to another form.
I thought about the first of these blogs, called "Getting Started". In that poor beginning I talked about my initial resistance to the notion of Blogging because it seemed to run afoul of my ideas about full expressiveness in the written word. But I accepted that writing isn't disappearing- its just showing up in different ways. Take newspapers as another example. They, like the bookstores, are dying. I've concluded they're dying because it's their time to die. They only come out once a day and anything new they had to impart showed up the day before in the digital world of the Internet. All the great journalists have migrated to the new electronic mediums. The newspapers that still exists have devolved into a collection of advertising. As a news source, they're obsolete. Books stores, in general, won't last much longer either. A book, in fact practically a whole library, can be downloaded to a Kindle or a Nook or some other devise instantly though the airwaves, and stored in your pocket.
We have progressed to new technologies in almost every aspect of our lives. To mention only a few: Motorized vehicles with incredible technological wonders transport us instead of animals. The smoke house, the root cellar and the canning jar have been replaced by refrigeration. Entertainment is now nearly unlimited via the satellite and the cable. Practically the entire store of human knowledge is available with the touch of a finger to a computer. Medical science and technology has extended life (for some) of the human race to unimagined lengths.
When it comes to the written word and the imagination of man, I don't worry. I see some keepers of the human experience dying (like the book stores) but I know the new forms will surely come to replace them and will probably be even better. In the end, it's not the form-but the substance of expression that will always move us forward. So anywhere we can use writing to describe beauty- tell a story- expose injustice- inspire us- or elevate our spirit, writing will find a way to be there for us. Writing is the ordering and the recording of ideas- an expression of the human experience. Writing itself will never go-out-of-business.
Thanks for looking in.
If you've been following the business news lately you know that Borders is finally going out of business after years of struggling to stay afloat. Last year they closed about one third of their national chain of stores. That was not sufficient. So a few weeks ago Borders announced that the entire chain was closing down with amazing deals to be had until everything was liquidated. Being very astute shoppers, we joined the pack to pick over the bones of this failing enterprise- and had some success. Both the grandchildren and the students benefited from our outing.
Whenever an establishment has a going-out-of-business sale these places seem to have a different kind of energy. There is an urgency to shopping that you usually don't see- particularly in book stores. One of the great things about book stores is the laid back atmosphere of people browsing and seeming more cerebral, polite, and content. Not so this time. Eyes were darting and scanning the quickly emptying selves, while hands were at the ready to grab that last edition if your brain gave the signal to pounce. Everybody had their game-face on.
I was mostly along for the ride, so I had a chance to think about book stores in general, which led me to thinking about the future of the written word. I was a bit sad at first to think that Borders' fate was a harbinger of the fate of all bookstores. It's kind of a sad trend to have books disappear, but it seems that's the direction. I'm not a great reader myself (mostly because I'm a slow reader) but I've always felt that books were venerable and honorable instruments to be preserved and respected. But, as I watched this place of venerable objects take its last dying breaths, being devoured by bargain hunters, I realized this isn't the death of the written word. I realized this is just the transformation of the written word to another form.
I thought about the first of these blogs, called "Getting Started". In that poor beginning I talked about my initial resistance to the notion of Blogging because it seemed to run afoul of my ideas about full expressiveness in the written word. But I accepted that writing isn't disappearing- its just showing up in different ways. Take newspapers as another example. They, like the bookstores, are dying. I've concluded they're dying because it's their time to die. They only come out once a day and anything new they had to impart showed up the day before in the digital world of the Internet. All the great journalists have migrated to the new electronic mediums. The newspapers that still exists have devolved into a collection of advertising. As a news source, they're obsolete. Books stores, in general, won't last much longer either. A book, in fact practically a whole library, can be downloaded to a Kindle or a Nook or some other devise instantly though the airwaves, and stored in your pocket.
We have progressed to new technologies in almost every aspect of our lives. To mention only a few: Motorized vehicles with incredible technological wonders transport us instead of animals. The smoke house, the root cellar and the canning jar have been replaced by refrigeration. Entertainment is now nearly unlimited via the satellite and the cable. Practically the entire store of human knowledge is available with the touch of a finger to a computer. Medical science and technology has extended life (for some) of the human race to unimagined lengths.
When it comes to the written word and the imagination of man, I don't worry. I see some keepers of the human experience dying (like the book stores) but I know the new forms will surely come to replace them and will probably be even better. In the end, it's not the form-but the substance of expression that will always move us forward. So anywhere we can use writing to describe beauty- tell a story- expose injustice- inspire us- or elevate our spirit, writing will find a way to be there for us. Writing is the ordering and the recording of ideas- an expression of the human experience. Writing itself will never go-out-of-business.
Thanks for looking in.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
People I Know From Work
Most of my adult life I've worked in the field of social work. That experience has been in child welfare, with an additional seven years as a manager in a large state public assistance office. In my current position I got a new assignment around the first of the year. The agency where I work received funding to address financial management with some of our clients. It's a new, and long overdue, trend in social work. My background lent to this assignment. But this week's offering isn't about my work, it's an opportunity to have you meet some of the people I've met and gotten to know as a result of this assignment. Please come along as I introduce to folks you probably wouldn't get a chance to meet otherwise.
My job is to educate, coach, instruct, or otherwise help our clients do a better job of handling their money, and hopefully guide them toward a more self-sufficient life. Of course, I can't use any real names- but I assure you the people and their circumstances are 100% real.
Let me introduce you to "Kathy". Kathy is in her late twenties, and has two children- ages nine and two. Kathy was raised in an abusive home with a a very impaired and addicted mother and two sisters who are now drug addicts. Kathy didn't finish high school. Kathy worked a few low-paying jobs in her early twenties. She got involved with an abusive mate who led her to alcoholism and drug abuse. He eventually became so violent that he seriously injured Kathy, causing her to be hospitalized and needing a surgically repaired jaw and later, spinal surgery. Needless to say Kathy doesn't possess many skills and was rendered somewhat unattractive with her displaced jaw.
Kathy's been involved with Child Protective Services for a long while due to her negligent parenting during the dark period described above. She regained custody of the two kids but requires constant counseling and intervention to help her and the children overcome the trauma in their lives. She still lives in constant pain from the neck injuries. Kathy doesn't get TANF (Welfare) money anymore. Our state finally enforced a five-year lifetime limit rule. The rule has been there for fifteen years-but the recession finally forced the state to use it in this budget crisis. She does get food stamp benefits and medical coverage. She lives on $200.00 a month (child support for one of the kids). She lives at the Salvation Army Housing Program. They only charge 30% of your cash income for rent. Trouble is she has to leave next month because those dark forces have returned. Constant physical pain and deep despair led her back to drinking and mental health problems again.
Next, meet "Jane". Jane is a very bright, articulate twenty-eight year old woman. Jane has her high school diploma and some post HS education. Jane has worked in the medical field for some time as a nurse's aid and held responsible jobs in hospitals. Jane fell head-over-heels in love with a young man who gave her two children. They are eight and three. Mr. Wonderful didn't turn out so well. He fell on hard times with his employment, then turned to drugs. He convinced Jane to join him on this path. She began using Cocaine with him to save the relationship. She lost her jobs- then he lost his temper. More drugs, more crime, and then violence. She got out with fewer injuries than Kathy, but the mere idea of seeing him can cause a panic. Along the way one of his friends sexually abused their daughter. Jane managed to get unemployment compensation, but it's less than two hundred bucks a week. Jane can't afford her own place with two kids because she wasn't lucky enough to find subsidized housing. She's on the waiting list for Section 8 Federal Housing Assistance, but it's going to be nine months to a year, if at all. (demand is higher than ever) She and the kids live with relatives in a small house. She is doing well in treatment and her eight-year-old daughter is getting treatment to help her deal with being raped. Jane has the skills to return to work, but this recession isn't good for job seekers- particularly ones who have other obligations like Jane does.
Please meet "Sally". You'd like Sally very much. She is highly personable- genuinely charming and engaging. She is outgoing and devoted to caring for her one year old baby. Sally is in her late thirties. She has other children who live out of town with their fathers. She came here to escape the life of drug abuse and violence she experienced in her home town. She stays in touch with the other kids and does her best to maintain a relationship with them. Sally helps other women in her group- and fiercely guards over the babies of other women. She has been free from heroin for well over a year now. However the legacy of that period is damage to her brain that prevents her from having a useful short term memory or completing many intellectual tasks. Sally lives on about $340.00 a month from TANF. She tried to make it in an apartment subsidized by the YMCA Housing Project, but couldn't manage it financially. She and her child are back in the shelter program again. She is planning to go to school in the fall with the help of federal Financial Aid programs, but schooling won't repair her brain; though she might get SSI because of the brain damage.
I could go on introducing you to people I meet- like "Dan and Jenny". This couple has a severely disabled child who needs both feeding tubes and breathing assistance (birth defects). The child is so medically fragile she must live in a specialized foster home.They both have jobs now. Dan is working part-time at McDonald's and Jenny's working one day a week at Wal-Mart. It took each of them five months to get those jobs. Having to drop everything to go to the hospital for the child's near death episodes jeopardizes their meager jobs. I also know "Sandy" who was raised in foster care herself, and is now trying to learn how to parent her child. She's never had a lasting, supportive, or stable relationship in her whole life, and just doesn't know how to parent, let alone cope with the complicated world we have to navigate.
As I say, I could go on with the introductions, but I just wanted you to meet some of the people I see almost daily. Anybody in my line of work could tell the same stories. I'm not asking you to make any judgements about how they each got to this place. Surely, a lot of these wounds are self-inflicted. They made mistakes, and some made bad choices. Some simply had bad luck, or trusted the wrong people, or were born to the wrong kind of parents themselves.
Making judgements is often the kind of thing that keeps these people down. We have a tendency to judge people not on what we know, or who they really are- but on assumptions about their value as people. There is old tradition in the Christian world (Calvinism) that says the poor are that way because God doesn't favor them. But I, for one, cannot know the pain and trauma some of these folks have suffered. I cannot know the huge barriers they face being born into poverty- poverty that, more often than not, is a self-fulfilling destiny for generations to come. But I'll tell what I have found. In getting to know these people and really hearing their story, I've found that I like them. In some ways I admire them. Can you imagine going from our relative comfort to having to live on $340 a month? Can you imagine knowing you can never buy that coffee drink, or know that buying a toy for your child is a major financial decision? I admire how they stretch a dollar in ways I never thought of- or the way they form their own networks to survive.
Our country is in trouble now. The Great Recession has reduced our 401K's and caused our homes to lose value. It has caused more unemployment and uncertainty in the future. At least Kathy, Sally, Dan and Jenny and the others don't have to sweat out uncertainty. Their whole lives have been a Great Recession, and it will probably be a Recession for them and their children as far as they can see; so there's little uncertainty for them. But as we debate our future we have to keep in mind that the poor are still there- that they are real people with real hopes, real heart-aches and real needs. They too want a better life for their kids, but they don't have the means to provide it. We've all heard the stories of those who have overcome lowly or disadvantaged beginnings, and we applaud them. But there are far more stories of those who will be trapped forever by the circumstances of their birth- or the those who have victimized them along the way.
The discussions of late have focused so much on the taxes on the rich and measuring our finances in trillions of dollars, that we tend to forget the poor. The middle class is shrinking not because more of us are joining the rich, but because more of us are joining the poor. The poor make a good target for anger and blame. But when we know their stories it's much easier to see them as people. From our RVs, boats, and lake cabins our view of them can be obscured. I'm just asking that we remember the poor are there-and there are many more of them than most of us realize. If we allow our leaders, or ourselves, to simply turn our heads from these people, we do so to our own detriment. It's not so important whether we see them through the eyes of scorn or pity- just that we see them.
Thanks for looking in.
My job is to educate, coach, instruct, or otherwise help our clients do a better job of handling their money, and hopefully guide them toward a more self-sufficient life. Of course, I can't use any real names- but I assure you the people and their circumstances are 100% real.
Let me introduce you to "Kathy". Kathy is in her late twenties, and has two children- ages nine and two. Kathy was raised in an abusive home with a a very impaired and addicted mother and two sisters who are now drug addicts. Kathy didn't finish high school. Kathy worked a few low-paying jobs in her early twenties. She got involved with an abusive mate who led her to alcoholism and drug abuse. He eventually became so violent that he seriously injured Kathy, causing her to be hospitalized and needing a surgically repaired jaw and later, spinal surgery. Needless to say Kathy doesn't possess many skills and was rendered somewhat unattractive with her displaced jaw.
Kathy's been involved with Child Protective Services for a long while due to her negligent parenting during the dark period described above. She regained custody of the two kids but requires constant counseling and intervention to help her and the children overcome the trauma in their lives. She still lives in constant pain from the neck injuries. Kathy doesn't get TANF (Welfare) money anymore. Our state finally enforced a five-year lifetime limit rule. The rule has been there for fifteen years-but the recession finally forced the state to use it in this budget crisis. She does get food stamp benefits and medical coverage. She lives on $200.00 a month (child support for one of the kids). She lives at the Salvation Army Housing Program. They only charge 30% of your cash income for rent. Trouble is she has to leave next month because those dark forces have returned. Constant physical pain and deep despair led her back to drinking and mental health problems again.
Next, meet "Jane". Jane is a very bright, articulate twenty-eight year old woman. Jane has her high school diploma and some post HS education. Jane has worked in the medical field for some time as a nurse's aid and held responsible jobs in hospitals. Jane fell head-over-heels in love with a young man who gave her two children. They are eight and three. Mr. Wonderful didn't turn out so well. He fell on hard times with his employment, then turned to drugs. He convinced Jane to join him on this path. She began using Cocaine with him to save the relationship. She lost her jobs- then he lost his temper. More drugs, more crime, and then violence. She got out with fewer injuries than Kathy, but the mere idea of seeing him can cause a panic. Along the way one of his friends sexually abused their daughter. Jane managed to get unemployment compensation, but it's less than two hundred bucks a week. Jane can't afford her own place with two kids because she wasn't lucky enough to find subsidized housing. She's on the waiting list for Section 8 Federal Housing Assistance, but it's going to be nine months to a year, if at all. (demand is higher than ever) She and the kids live with relatives in a small house. She is doing well in treatment and her eight-year-old daughter is getting treatment to help her deal with being raped. Jane has the skills to return to work, but this recession isn't good for job seekers- particularly ones who have other obligations like Jane does.
Please meet "Sally". You'd like Sally very much. She is highly personable- genuinely charming and engaging. She is outgoing and devoted to caring for her one year old baby. Sally is in her late thirties. She has other children who live out of town with their fathers. She came here to escape the life of drug abuse and violence she experienced in her home town. She stays in touch with the other kids and does her best to maintain a relationship with them. Sally helps other women in her group- and fiercely guards over the babies of other women. She has been free from heroin for well over a year now. However the legacy of that period is damage to her brain that prevents her from having a useful short term memory or completing many intellectual tasks. Sally lives on about $340.00 a month from TANF. She tried to make it in an apartment subsidized by the YMCA Housing Project, but couldn't manage it financially. She and her child are back in the shelter program again. She is planning to go to school in the fall with the help of federal Financial Aid programs, but schooling won't repair her brain; though she might get SSI because of the brain damage.
I could go on introducing you to people I meet- like "Dan and Jenny". This couple has a severely disabled child who needs both feeding tubes and breathing assistance (birth defects). The child is so medically fragile she must live in a specialized foster home.They both have jobs now. Dan is working part-time at McDonald's and Jenny's working one day a week at Wal-Mart. It took each of them five months to get those jobs. Having to drop everything to go to the hospital for the child's near death episodes jeopardizes their meager jobs. I also know "Sandy" who was raised in foster care herself, and is now trying to learn how to parent her child. She's never had a lasting, supportive, or stable relationship in her whole life, and just doesn't know how to parent, let alone cope with the complicated world we have to navigate.
As I say, I could go on with the introductions, but I just wanted you to meet some of the people I see almost daily. Anybody in my line of work could tell the same stories. I'm not asking you to make any judgements about how they each got to this place. Surely, a lot of these wounds are self-inflicted. They made mistakes, and some made bad choices. Some simply had bad luck, or trusted the wrong people, or were born to the wrong kind of parents themselves.
Making judgements is often the kind of thing that keeps these people down. We have a tendency to judge people not on what we know, or who they really are- but on assumptions about their value as people. There is old tradition in the Christian world (Calvinism) that says the poor are that way because God doesn't favor them. But I, for one, cannot know the pain and trauma some of these folks have suffered. I cannot know the huge barriers they face being born into poverty- poverty that, more often than not, is a self-fulfilling destiny for generations to come. But I'll tell what I have found. In getting to know these people and really hearing their story, I've found that I like them. In some ways I admire them. Can you imagine going from our relative comfort to having to live on $340 a month? Can you imagine knowing you can never buy that coffee drink, or know that buying a toy for your child is a major financial decision? I admire how they stretch a dollar in ways I never thought of- or the way they form their own networks to survive.
Our country is in trouble now. The Great Recession has reduced our 401K's and caused our homes to lose value. It has caused more unemployment and uncertainty in the future. At least Kathy, Sally, Dan and Jenny and the others don't have to sweat out uncertainty. Their whole lives have been a Great Recession, and it will probably be a Recession for them and their children as far as they can see; so there's little uncertainty for them. But as we debate our future we have to keep in mind that the poor are still there- that they are real people with real hopes, real heart-aches and real needs. They too want a better life for their kids, but they don't have the means to provide it. We've all heard the stories of those who have overcome lowly or disadvantaged beginnings, and we applaud them. But there are far more stories of those who will be trapped forever by the circumstances of their birth- or the those who have victimized them along the way.
The discussions of late have focused so much on the taxes on the rich and measuring our finances in trillions of dollars, that we tend to forget the poor. The middle class is shrinking not because more of us are joining the rich, but because more of us are joining the poor. The poor make a good target for anger and blame. But when we know their stories it's much easier to see them as people. From our RVs, boats, and lake cabins our view of them can be obscured. I'm just asking that we remember the poor are there-and there are many more of them than most of us realize. If we allow our leaders, or ourselves, to simply turn our heads from these people, we do so to our own detriment. It's not so important whether we see them through the eyes of scorn or pity- just that we see them.
Thanks for looking in.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Better Angels of Our Nature
During those times when I'm feeling troubled by the events of the day, and this is one of those times, I tend to look back to our history to find a perspective that will give me some grounding. The last few weeks have given us plenty to be troubled about. From my perspective we have seen our government at its worst. We have seen partisan bickering, posturing, and antagonism nearly put us over the edge of financial ruin. We have seen a small faction of the government seemingly disregard all that we have as a nation just to make a point. We have seen people so entrenched in their political dogma that would have committed suicide not only for themselves, but gladly committed the rest of us to undeniable destruction. In the end, we have seen the very nature of our Republic rocked by the tyranny of this minority.The result of this shameful charade is a solution that doesn't fix the problem or provide an ounce of justice for the working class, the poor, or the elderly of this country. Only the rich came out untouched and unaffected-again.
So, it is here I retreat into history to search for some sense to it all. In doing so, I believe I discovered a point of view that is very different from the common rhetoric of the day. Today, the media would have us believe that we have moved permanently towards more conservative political values. The latest skirmish in the political wars of Washington politics might suggest the media is correct. But, I don't think that's true- and don't think it was ever true.
Even though there are times when the pendulum seems to swing to the right, I believe that progressive values always come through in the end to move our country forward. Let's start with the very beginning of this nation. The conservatives of the mid-eighteenth century grumbled about Great Briton's colonial policies, but never moved to toward independence or liberty. Our nation was born out of the Enlightenment. Our founders were great believers in the ideas of the Enlightenment as it came out of Europe. The great thinkers and philosophers of this period valued reason, human liberty and the common good for mankind. It was the progressive movement of the century. Some of our political leaders today misquote and misinterpret the Founders- but there is no mistaking that they were the liberals of their time and they created this country.
The next great movement was the formation of our government. You will remember that our current form of government was not our first form of government. We tried smaller, decentralized government as some suggest we should have today. Our first constitution was called The Articles of Confederation. It was vastly different that today's constitution- but very similar to what a number of conservatives are calling for again. It failed because smaller decentralized government could not regulate trade or currency, provide common justice under law, or provide for the general welfare. Our current constitution created the stronger central national government we have today because it was necessary in order to have a nation. The progressives of the late 1780's created our current Constitution.
Our nation struggled against its own ideals over the existence of slavery. In the 1850's a new political party was born to stand against slavery. It was the Republican party. You would not know it by today's definition, but the Republican party of the mid-nineteenth century was the progressive party of its day (the liberal/ abolitionist party) and it remained so until the first decade of the twentieth century. The election of Lincoln, the progressive candidate, led to the rebellion in the southern states, and the civil war that ended slavery and eventually preserved the nation. The election of Lincoln is perhaps the greatest example of how progressive policies have shaped our nation. They turned out to be tragically painful because of the war that resulted, but undeniably the most important event in American history.
In the early twentieth century (after a shameful period of westward expansion at the expense of the American Indian) we saw the suffrage movement intended to make women full-fledged citizens. This worldwide movement was the result of progressive (enlightened) efforts towards economic and social reform. The movement's introduction to the U.S. was seen as extremely liberal, even to the point of being called "subversive", by the social and political conservatives of the day. Progressive values won the day,and every woman needs to understand it was the progressives who brought about this change.
After the conservative Republican policies of Coolidge and Hoover drove us into a horrible Great Depression, the progressive policies of the Roosevelt administration turned the economic fate of the country around. The programs instituted during the Roosevelt years form the basic framework of social safety net today. Yet there are those who would have us move in a backward direction. Ask any elderly person today if they would give up the programs we have today-social security from the liberal Roosevelt, medicare from the social liberal Johnson- and I would guess they would not. That's why they call it "security". These are progressive ideals.
It was the young liberals and the progressive movers who fought against racial segregation in the fifties and sixties; who fought against the Viet Nam war in the sixties and the seventies; who fought for equal rights for women, and now fight for human rights in on many different fronts.
Each time America has taken a step forward toward our true ideals of justice, equality, and economic security, progressive thought and progressive political action has been the driving force. Inevitably though we become complacent and allow, for a time, the forces of greed to push us backward toward a reduction in our freedoms, or halting the advancement of the people. But this look back at our history gives me renewed hope that we will rise up as a people and move forward again. I suppose we only move forward when we have become fed up with injustice, the tyranny of corruption, and the greed of the privileged few- only then we do listen to "the better angels of our nature", as Abraham Lincoln called on us to do.
Thanks for looking in.
So, it is here I retreat into history to search for some sense to it all. In doing so, I believe I discovered a point of view that is very different from the common rhetoric of the day. Today, the media would have us believe that we have moved permanently towards more conservative political values. The latest skirmish in the political wars of Washington politics might suggest the media is correct. But, I don't think that's true- and don't think it was ever true.
Even though there are times when the pendulum seems to swing to the right, I believe that progressive values always come through in the end to move our country forward. Let's start with the very beginning of this nation. The conservatives of the mid-eighteenth century grumbled about Great Briton's colonial policies, but never moved to toward independence or liberty. Our nation was born out of the Enlightenment. Our founders were great believers in the ideas of the Enlightenment as it came out of Europe. The great thinkers and philosophers of this period valued reason, human liberty and the common good for mankind. It was the progressive movement of the century. Some of our political leaders today misquote and misinterpret the Founders- but there is no mistaking that they were the liberals of their time and they created this country.
The next great movement was the formation of our government. You will remember that our current form of government was not our first form of government. We tried smaller, decentralized government as some suggest we should have today. Our first constitution was called The Articles of Confederation. It was vastly different that today's constitution- but very similar to what a number of conservatives are calling for again. It failed because smaller decentralized government could not regulate trade or currency, provide common justice under law, or provide for the general welfare. Our current constitution created the stronger central national government we have today because it was necessary in order to have a nation. The progressives of the late 1780's created our current Constitution.
Our nation struggled against its own ideals over the existence of slavery. In the 1850's a new political party was born to stand against slavery. It was the Republican party. You would not know it by today's definition, but the Republican party of the mid-nineteenth century was the progressive party of its day (the liberal/ abolitionist party) and it remained so until the first decade of the twentieth century. The election of Lincoln, the progressive candidate, led to the rebellion in the southern states, and the civil war that ended slavery and eventually preserved the nation. The election of Lincoln is perhaps the greatest example of how progressive policies have shaped our nation. They turned out to be tragically painful because of the war that resulted, but undeniably the most important event in American history.
In the early twentieth century (after a shameful period of westward expansion at the expense of the American Indian) we saw the suffrage movement intended to make women full-fledged citizens. This worldwide movement was the result of progressive (enlightened) efforts towards economic and social reform. The movement's introduction to the U.S. was seen as extremely liberal, even to the point of being called "subversive", by the social and political conservatives of the day. Progressive values won the day,and every woman needs to understand it was the progressives who brought about this change.
After the conservative Republican policies of Coolidge and Hoover drove us into a horrible Great Depression, the progressive policies of the Roosevelt administration turned the economic fate of the country around. The programs instituted during the Roosevelt years form the basic framework of social safety net today. Yet there are those who would have us move in a backward direction. Ask any elderly person today if they would give up the programs we have today-social security from the liberal Roosevelt, medicare from the social liberal Johnson- and I would guess they would not. That's why they call it "security". These are progressive ideals.
It was the young liberals and the progressive movers who fought against racial segregation in the fifties and sixties; who fought against the Viet Nam war in the sixties and the seventies; who fought for equal rights for women, and now fight for human rights in on many different fronts.
Each time America has taken a step forward toward our true ideals of justice, equality, and economic security, progressive thought and progressive political action has been the driving force. Inevitably though we become complacent and allow, for a time, the forces of greed to push us backward toward a reduction in our freedoms, or halting the advancement of the people. But this look back at our history gives me renewed hope that we will rise up as a people and move forward again. I suppose we only move forward when we have become fed up with injustice, the tyranny of corruption, and the greed of the privileged few- only then we do listen to "the better angels of our nature", as Abraham Lincoln called on us to do.
Thanks for looking in.
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