Mindful that media exposure is greater than ever before, I still can’t help but wonder when the last time this country was in such a terrible state. This mess (obviously) began on 9/11, in ‘01. Until then it looked like Bush was going to spend his presidency giving out checks and taking vacations.
Of course America has had eye-opening tragedies before. I personally remember JFK’s assassination. Also the murder of Bobby Kennedy and Dr. King. Before my time there was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. All these event have tragedy in common of course, but also that feeling of “This can’t happen in this country!”
The difference in then and now is in the response. It would be fair to say that Bush’s response to Sept. 11 has done more to ensure the outcome Bin Laden desired (chaos and the downfall of America) than the initial act of terrorism did. Strong words to be sure but just think about it: The economy is in near collapse with a mind-boggling deficit, the country is totally polarized, there’s absolutely zero respect from the rest of the world and the war is draining the last bit of life out of us – a war in response to 9/11, against a country that had absolutely nothing to do with it…at least according to a Republican Congress committee’s findings.
I won’t belabor the point by talking about civil liberties, gas prices, unseen body bags, etc, etc. since we’re all living this nightmare this very minute. What I will do is ask what we’re going to do about it. The Dem’s are on top now. Will they wander aimlessly (their normal response to governing), will they fight endlessly with the Republicans (their usual response) or will we finally stop trying to do what’s best for our parties and do what’s best for America? I guess the question is really, “Can we get along long enough to keep the ship of state from sinking?”, because I don’t think either party can do it alone.
I wish I felt more positive.
In The Cave
Tags: Education, gang, Plato
I received an email from a family member today. It had a young girl in handcuffs being lead to a police car. She calls out “Hey, News. I didn’t do it. It’s cool.” She allegedly killed her cousin over an X-Box. The family member that sent this to me is this girls teacher and claims she is one of her favorite kids. The family member is young, hip and has a special talent for dealing with the “at risk” group of kids she works with. They love her and she loves them, with all their scary faults. It is a small alternative school where most kids have had some dealing with the criminal justice system and nearly all are in some way connected with a gang. She sees this on a regular basis. There are kids that are smart and have talent. Those same kids will steal a car or shoot up a McDonald’s or flee to Mexico. It is hard for them to really take school seriously when there is often a very real chance they will not live long enough to graduate.
This is a world that most of us do no live in. Trust me, these kids are not reading this blog or doing one of there own. We cannot understand how it would be possible to kill another person over an X-Box. But, it happens. Flashing the wrong gang sign, wearing the wrong colors, any sign of disrespect could be justification for killing someone. It is such a self-defeating, self-feeding cycle. Life is devalued because they are told in so many ways that their lives mean nothing. They do not respect their life or themselves enough to “get out”. Getting out is not an option when you don’t know that your in. If you are born into the life; you know nothing else exists.
It seems so hopeless. How do a change a culture so ingrained and so pervasive? Exposure, education and opportunity. Implementing that is the hard part. Instead of valuing the culture in music and other media, could we have a little something about moving forward? How about an educational system that taps into their creativity? What about taking them out of their world once in a while? All these things happen, just not consistently or enough. It is a long struggle. I can’t do it. You can’t do it. My family member, no matter how she tries, can’t do it. We can only try to make way and help the best we can. The kids have to do it, they have to want to get out. I keep thinking of Plato’s story about the cave, all the people chained to where they only saw the shadows on the wall. We need to help explain there is sunshine outside the cave.