There has always been a struggle for power between those who feel that everything (including human beings) belongs to them to profit from from womb to tomb. In this period, the danger of their triumph is extreme. We all have our triggers depending on which exploited group we belong to. The pending repeal of Roe v Wade is just one of mine. Hence, this poem.
I am a woman, not an object to be bound, to be forced, to be driven, to be possessed.
Do you think I will lower my eyes demurely and say, “Yes, sir,” while you strip me of my personhood?
Do you think I will continue to cook and clean and woman your factories and your fields, your retail stores, schools and your hospitals after you legally own my womb?
Do you think I will continue to allow you to beat, beat, beat me down forever?
Or
Will there be a bubbling, bubbling, bubbling on the surface?
Will there be a burning, burning, burning in our eyes?
Will there be a marching, marching, marching to your doorsteps?
Will there be a singing, singing, singing for our lives?
No more taking, taking, taking of our labor while you dribble back our nickels and our dimes.
No more taking, taking, taking of our children for your prisons, wars, factories and mines.
No more taking, taking, taking of earths treasures that your tiny minds could never even dream.
No more guzzling of the water, oil and gasses that harm us all and only feed your greed.
We are tired of your primitive performance.
We are tired of your claim upon the earth.
Tired of your claim upon our time, upon our lives, upon our children
Who you only see as fodder for your wealth.
I am a mother, not an incubator.
I am a sister, not a receptacle.
I am a daughter, not a vessel.
There will be marching, marching, marching.
There will be singing, singing, singing.
This will be our first song.
Now that you have touched the women you have struck a rock,
you have dislodged a boulder, you will be crushed.
Women's Freedom Song, August, 1956 South Africa
.
Sometimes I can just feel myself at the sink in my new kitchen in some
suburb looking out a window into a green yard. I see myself sitting on a deck where I
can feed and watch the birds away from the sirens and funeral home deliveries. When
I walk with our students on the city streets, the garbage swirling everywhere
offends me and then I come upon a little patch of brick sidewalk and think of
Frenchtown or Lambertville; places I wanted to live in my younger days. I’ve always
preferred the city up until now. I feel safer in a diverse place. I like
walking even though I hardly do it with the soccer and the bus drop off time.
Usually I’m exhausted after waking at 5:00 AM, getting my grandson to the bus
stop and myself to work, picking him up, making dinner, taking him to soccer
practice twice a week and the games on Saturdays. I am sure, now, that I want to
move. The house is too big for us. We barely use the first floor. It’s a lot to
clean. I need a change. But where to go from here?
I realized a little while ago that once Medicare kicks in I’ll
be freer than I’ve ever been to go wherever I want to. I have the pension and
Social Security and I can get a job somewhere, especially if I get my license. I
can go wherever I want to go. I have to consider Eddie, though so it probably won’t
be too far. Still, the feeling of freedom is nice. As long as I don’t get sick,
I’ll be fine. As long as… Always a worry. Always a worry.
I could use a few years without worrying about things. That
would be nice. This move will be my last so it has to be the right one. I don’t
want to disrupt Eddie’s life so I want him to stay at the same school. Thank
goodness it’s a charter school so I can be in any neighborhood in almost any
town in the area. Arts are a big thing in the Lehigh
Valley. The Arts
Academy is good for him.
I’m trying to dream about where to go next. I found a nice
area in Palmer/Easton. It’s about 20 minutes closer to New
Jersey. It’s only one exit over the border on both 22
and 78. Taxes are reasonable. Houses were built in the 60’s so they have
hardwood floors. Yards are a good size. I don’t hear traffic. I’m just not sure
about the suburbs. I’d like to see more of nature. A lake or something. We’ll
see. We’ll see.I see myself at the sink, in the kitchen, but I don't see myself in a neighborhood, in a particular town.
There's so much to do, too. Thirteen glass carboys, oil lamps, tools, wine making supplies, books, the remnants of a life to dispose of. It's a big job. Then I have to paint and clean and install a new fence and kitchen appliances. It's a little overwhelming. Lately I've been in a creative phase and am making retro inspired jewelry for my Etsy shop. You have to work while you are inspired. When it comes, you have to take advantage of it. That's all for now. Up to the bead room to create.
I don't usually park in back of the daycare center, but the few spaces in front were full so I drove around to the parking lot. The view past the chain link fence and the playground is of the south side of the city where we lived when we first moved to Pennsylvania. The mountains in the distance were softened by fog. It was humid, but there was a breeze and some sun after days of rain. The birds were singing. It was Friday. I was feeling happy and then as usual, I began to list the possible disasters that could befall me this weekend. I thought of two: 1. something could happen to the house in the Poconos since I had to turn off one of the circuit breakers to the baseboard heat due to over heating. 2. Something could happen to my daughter who is a heroin addict in and out of treatment for the last seven years. I had turned off the circuit breaker to the offending unit and turned the heat down to 50 degrees, so I was not particularly bothered by the house issue. It has been warm all week so not much heat would be needed. I know who I can call to fix it when I am up there next. There is nothing I can do that I haven't tried before to help my daughter who will be 40 on her next birthday. I'll keep trying when I can, when I see her, but for now there is nothing I can do. So I dropped my grandson off at daycare and went to work happy that it was Friday and it was sunny and warm and I had the weekend before me.I realized that my anxiety level has decreased significantly since my husband died. The daily worry about him falling, or getting cancer again or just waiting, waiting for that day to come when it would end is gone. The worst thing that could happen has already happened. The worst thing that could happen has already happened. The chores that I have set for myself-the painting and cleaning and de-cluttering and rearranging-will pull me through the next months and maybe over a year as I prepare to live the rest of my life without him after 42 years. The worst thing that could happen has already happened.
Cleaned up the back garden today. It's a small yard with just two strips of dirt on either side of a concrete slab. The terracotta tile stenciling is fading. I cut down the dead plants and sawed off the branches of the nuisance Rose of Sharon that is growing between the raised bed and the neighbors fence. I was getting annoyed trying to pull out the deep roots of the bronze fennel that is taking over my little gardening space. I turned to look at the back door and suddenly I started crying. He will not come to that door anymore to see what I'm doing and then go back in to fetch the correct tool for the job or a cold drink urging me to take a break. I don't know if I can live here anymore, facing season after season of the same place without him. I cleaned off his desk yesterday and found so many things: little Soviet clock in a box; our late dog, Sandy's picture ID with the note I wrote for him to give to the vet with her symptoms and the bill for the euthanasia and cremation that he had to face alone since we had no warning that she was so ill; cancelled checks for our rent on Vine St and for Orchard Park Nursery School; the credit card bill for the tile we bought in Union for the living room in our first house on Moravian. I thought as I made each room my own by moving things and storing things and painting things, I might be able to handle it. I moved my things into the top drawer of the bathroom vanity, but I keep going for the bottom drawer, still. We lived here for 17 of our 42 years together. I don't know if I can stay. I am dreading next Christmas already. It's been 15 weeks since he died and the knowledge that I will never see him again is becoming more and more real.
Bill O'Reilly's statement that the Americans who voted for Barack Obama did so because they want "stuff" that Obama can give to them, was so obviously racist that it's hard to believe he still has job. His obvious shell shock that even with all the money and power harnessed by the richest and most powerful people in the country, people came out and stood in line for hours, sometimes in the dark, to vote against the corporations. As a woman who has worked full time for most of my life, who was laid off three years ago and spent the last two years getting a master's degree in social work, but have yet to find a job, and who voted for Obama, I just want to take this opportunity to talk about the "stuff" I want and the stuff I don't want..
The “stuff” I want:
Meaningful
work at a living wage.
Safe
and decent housing.
Education,
free and true.
Help
not incarceration for substance abusers.
Freedom
to marry the person you love.
Social
Security from birth through death.
Healthcare
for all
Sustainable
agriculture
Sustainable
energy policy
Expansion
of mass transit.
Expansion
of locally grown organic food.
Expansion
of cooperatively owned local businesses.
Equal
pay
Freedom
for women to control their bodies.
An end
to war.
Reparations
Clean
air and water
Respect
for our elders
Love your
neighbor as yourself
Community
Public
television
Funding
for the arts
The “stuff” I don’t want:
1.Drones.
2.Nuclear energy.
3.Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Bailouts
of banks.
Bailouts
of corporations
Corporate
funding of paramilitaries
Oil
Killing
sharks and gorillas and tigers and wolves and anything else
Cutting
down the forests to grow palm oil
Fomenting
unrest in sovereign countries.
White
“political commentators” announcing the end of the world as we know it
because democracy worked in spite of all the money and dirty tricks that were
used to try and stop it.
Americans
who hide their money to avoid paying taxes.
I
recently saw the movie, “The Hunger Games.” The defeat on the faces of the
townspeople as they trudged to work or lined up for the lottery reminded me of
something I read about the Homestead strike in “The War
on Labor & the Left” by Patricia Cayo Sexton. In 1892 the striking workers
at the plant owned by Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick successfully fought the
Pinkerton strike breakers who arrived by boat on the Monongahela River for thirteen
hours, the governor of Pennsylvania, Robert E.
Pattison, and a Democrat, sent 8000 National Guardsman to Homestead and declared
Marshall Law. The Guardsman protected the strike breakers and the plant was
reopened with scab labor. The company then pressed charges against the strikers
for murder and conspiracy although no charges were pressed against the strike
breakers. Although the juries would not convict the strikers, the union
crumbled under the costs of the trials and the presence of strikebreakers in
the plant. Strike leaders and the Mayor of Homestead were blacklisted and lost
their homes. The returning men had their rates cut in half and the 12 hour,
seven day week remained the standard for the steel industry. International
reaction overwhelmingly condemned Carnegie and the use of government forces and
mercenaries against the workers. The workers who remained in the broken down
town were described as “discouraged and sullen” in 1894 by the American writer
Hamlin Garland. (Sexton, 1991.)
Multiply this scenario through the
years of labor history before and after the Homestead strike. Multiply
the poverty of the workers contrasted with the wealth of the owners. Multiply
the dead fallen in battle against mercenaries and military and then add in
those killed in industrial accidents, disease and hunger. Combine the workers
dead and defeated with the enslaved human beings who built much of the wealth
of the wealthy and the Native Americans who continue to be denied their rights
while the scraps of lands they are allowed to keep continue to be polluted with
toxic waste. Add in those who died fighting prejudice and racism and those who
are victims of racism today. Aside from the enormous human cost, how much
money-government money, tax dollars- is spent on our own repression? How much
money is spent to keep us down? We are unarmed for the most part, mostly
untrained in the art of violence. We have nothing but our minds and bodies to
fight with and yet, millions if not billions of dollars are spent to make sure
we do not stand up like human beings.
In the October 16-31 issue of
CounterPunch, there’s an article by Daniel Kovalik called, “The Blood Toll of
Plan Colombia.” In speaking about the presence of multinational corporations in
Columbia, he writes, “the rise of right wing paramilitaries in areas designated
for multi-national exploitation is a common one…the best documented example of
this grim phenomenon…involves North Carolina based Chiquita Banana which
actually admitted, in a criminal case brought by the US Justice Department, to
paying paramilitary forces $1.7 million and running them 3,000 kalishnikov
rifles between 1997 and 2004.” Who was the defense lawyer for Chiquita? Eric
Holder.Also from this article are the
following facts from a report by Peace Brigades International, “Mining in Columbia: At What Cost?”
“In the past
10 years 40% of all Colombian land has been awarded to or solicited by
mining and crude oil companies.”
“80 % of the
human rights abuses of the past 10 years were committed in mining and
energy producing regions.”
“87% of Colombia’s displaced
population originates from these areas.” (Kovalik, 2012.)
According to a BBC
article, the US has spent $6 billion dollars allegedly trying to
stop the drug trade with Plan Colombia. (BBC, 2012)
All over the world, through
centuries common people have been subjected to inhuman violence. Most of us in
the US have not seen or
experienced this violence but it is coming closer and closer. I do not believe
the Democratic Party or Barak Obama will change this course, but I do believe
that if Romney and Ryan win the election with their attitude of corporate
entitlement – everything that contains life, anything than can be exploited for
personal and corporate gain belongs to the corporation – things will get worse
faster.
One man does not run the country and
one man or woman cannot change or stop the evil that is so intertwined with
racism and sexism to the point where the cradle of civilization is being
routinely bombed, where the birthplace of all human beings is being routinely
and violently exploited, where the bountiful earth is being raped and polluted
with chemicals, where the waters are filled with toxic and nuclear waste, where
the diversity and uniqueness of our planet is being destroyed by the madness of
men who want everything to be tasteless, odorless, colorless and dressed in a
three piece suit. They’ll keep a stable of women. They’ll look out over the dying planet
with puffed up chests and smile at their metal and plastic world.
We can at least slow that down.
Voting doesn’t stop anyone from doing anything more. We’ve already seen so much
evidence of voter suppression over the past few elections that it’s clear that
those who are suppressing the vote do not believe in democracy. We may not have
actually existing democracy and Barak Obama may not be bringing it along, but
voting for those who openly express contempt for the majority of Americans is
irresponsible. Some people want to be on what they think of as the winning
team. They want to stand next to the important person. They want to be rich and
brush against fame. But most of us are not rich or famous, we are the
majority and we can make a difference if we recognize who we are and act
together for our own interests instead of against them.
References
BBC.
Q&A Colombia’s civil conflict. August 28, 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12447532
Kovalik,
D. CounterPunch. Vol. 19, No. 18. p 2,3. October 16-31, 2012.
Sexton,
P. The war on labor and the left. Understanding America’s unique
conservatism. San Francisco, 1991, Westview
Press, p 80-84
While voter fraud by individuals is rare, preventing
legitimate registered voters from casting their ballots has become common. Studies
by the California and
Massachusetts Institutes of Technology found that 4-6 million votes went
uncounted in the Florida 2000 Presidential election.
2000
36,000
newly registered voters were not added to the rolls.
State
Troopers search voter’s cars, delaying them from getting to the polls on
time.
Ballot
boxes went missing or were uncollected, particularly in African-American
districts.
Polling
places close early in some Democratic districts.
Legitimate
voters were purged from the rolls.
2004
Tens
of thousands of voters were purged from the rolls.
In Ohio,
particularly in African American neighborhoods, people waited for 4-7
hours to vote due to insufficient number of voting machines and
breakdowns.
In one
Ohio precinct, the polls
never opened because the key to the office with the voting machines was
lost.
In two
Ohio counties there were more
votes for Bush than registered voters.
In New
Mexico, there were more votes counted than cast
in half the counties.
In New
Mexico, John Kerry lost in all precincts
utilizing touch screen technology.
2006
A
Democratic candidate in Florida
lost the election after 18,000 ballots were lost due to glitches in touch
screen voting machines.
The voter
ID law comes from the bowels of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a collaboration
of legislators and corporations that incubates “model” bills and uses elected
officials in state after state to peddle a corporate agenda. There have been no
documented cases of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
The bill is a diversion. Its sole purpose is to stop historically democratic
voters from being counted and bring “our” country back to a time when only
white men of property could vote.
African Americans face a number of obstacles even though it has been nearly a hundred and fifty years since the end of the Civil War. According to the American Psychological Association:
•African American children are three times more likely than Caucasian children to live in poverty.
•Unemployment rates for African Americans are typically double those of Caucasian Americans. African American men working full time earn 72 percent of the average earnings of comparable Caucasian men and 85 percent of the earnings of Caucasian women (American Psychological Association, 2012, para. 4)
The ecological perspective takes into consideration the social environment in which people live. This includes their homes, their type of work and all of the systems they interact with. It includes the way the person in environment interacts with other systems including the legal system. More African American men are involved in the legal system than were enslaved before the Civil War. (Price, nd)
In addition to the economic issues that are facing almost everyone in this climate, African Americans face institutional racism even when the practice is legal. Changes to the drug laws in the 1970’s have resulted in a 500% increase of American’s in prison. Nine-hundred thousand of these 2.2 million people are African American (Mauer & King, 2007). Understanding the difference between what is legal and what is just is important to the person-in-environment perspective. We do not live in a post racial era, but we do live in an era where the media frames our vision of the past and with few, if any, exceptions leaves out the terror and violence that occurred from the post-reconstruction period to the Civil Rights era and beyond.
The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley held a meeting with a representative of Governor Corbett outlining the proposed budget cuts to social service agencies. The United Way 2011 Non-Profit Budget Survey found that although 69% of agencies had their funding cut, 80% of agencies saw an increased demand for services. Funding from donations and foundations have either remained flat for 36% of agencies or decreased for 38%. Twenty percent of agencies saw their state funding cut by 77%. Twenty one to thirty percent saw their funding cut by 9% and thirty one or more percent saw their funding cut by 14%. The cuts resulted in 52% of agencies laying off staff; 32% cutting programs; 46% cutting program hours and 45% expanding their waiting lists for services. Those affected are the least powerful members of our society: neglected and abused children, the mentally disabled, the homeless and the physically disabled (The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, 2012). The panelists at the meeting who represented major social service and educational interests in the area pointed out that prevention programs save money while incarceration, hospitalization and institutionalization cost more money. The only budget not being cut, according to the representatives power point was the prison budget.
This meeting exposed the fact that financial crisis is not the main issue. The crisis is a conflict of values between people and profits. Warehousing people diverts funding from social services that employ social workers “to enhance human well being and help meet the human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty” (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2008, para. 1) to increasingly privatized institutions of incarceration.
•Between 1990 and 2009 the number of people in private prisons increased by 1600%.
•6% of state prisoners, 16% of federal prisoners, and, according to one report, nearly half of all immigrants detained by the federal government are housed in private prisons.
•The federal government is in the midst of a private prison expansion spree, driven primarily by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency that locks up roughly 400,000 immigrants each year and spends over $1.9 billion annually on custody operations. ICE now intends to create a new network of massive immigration detention centers, managed largely by private companies, in states including New Jersey, Texas, Florida, California and Illinois (ACLU, 2011, p. 5).
•In 2011, a Pennsylvania judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison after being convicted of taking bribes and kickbacks for sentencing juveniles to a private prison (Peralta, 2011).
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) stated in their 2010 Annual Report that:
“The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws… any changes with respect to drugs…or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them...Similarly, reductions in crime rates or resources dedicated to prevent and enforce crime could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities” (ACLU, 2011, p. 12).
GEO Group made a similar statement in their Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
“Our growth depends on our ability to secure contracts to develop and manage new correctional, detention and mental health facilities, the demand for which is outside our control …. Any changes with respect to the decriminalization of drugs and controlled substances could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, sentenced and incarcerated…Similarly, reductions in crime rates could lead to reductions in arrests… requiring incarceration at correctional facilities. Immigration reform laws … could materially adversely impact us.” (ACLU, 2011, p. 13)
These two corporations are the first and second largest private prison corporations in the country. They also both support the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that brings state legislators and industry together to draft model legislation favorable to corporations (ACLU, 2011). ALEC has promoted legislation like the “truth in sentencing” law that requires inmates to serve up to 90% of their time before being eligible for parole and the “three strikes” law which requires a sentence of 25 years to life after the commitment of a third felony by an individual. In addition to this, private prisons divert local money when they receive government subsides, tax exemptions and utilize water and sewer services. Private prison lobbyists from both CCA and GEO are working in many states including the state of Pennsylvania (ACLU, 2011, p. 38). Both corporations receive major subsidies from the federal government. One study reported that “78 percent of CCA's and 69 percent of GEO's prisons were subsidized” (Fisher, 2011, p. 1).
In a time of record unemployment, prisoners are being paid as little as twenty cents an hour to produce everything from food for school lunches to guided missile parts, a picture far removed from the image of Rosie the Riveter during WWII. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) introduced the Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program that allows private industry to partner with prisons to manufacture everything from office furniture to rocking horses. (Sloan, 2012)
In order to understand why programs that help people and create a better social system are being cut we have to understand power. “Families may not fare well, and their needs may not be addressed, if money and power interests define the agenda…the persons and groups who are able to name and frame the issues, and control the discourse, have the power” (Briar-Lawson et al., 2001, p. 261).
It is difficult to know what most people think about the current situation. Political commentators and local business owners are frequently published in the local newspaper. Their views are mostly pro-business and pro-budget cuts. I feel that many people are fighting over crumbs. Ethnic issues also come into play with many long term Allentown residents and residents of the surrounding suburbs. If you read, as I do, the comments from readers of The Morning Call, many have very intense feelings about minorities that they have no hesitation to express anonymously with monikers like “Staberdeath” and “sick of crime.”
I also don’t think there is enough community organizing of those of us who are outside the social service family. Citizens who want safe neighborhoods, good schools and a vital neighborhood could be organized to do a number of things including making sure that all members of their communities have a valid picture ID to vote in the upcoming elections. I don’t believe that most people are aware of the money saved by prevention as opposed to incarceration. I don’t believe they are aware of the various kinds of subsidies businesses receive to come into a community. I don’t believe they are aware of the types of low paying service jobs that do not pay a living wage and that will only put more of a burden on social service agencies that do not have adequate funding.
References
ACLU. (2011, November 2). Banking on bondage: Private prisons and mass incarceration. ACLU. doi:http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/bankingonbondage_20111102.pdf
American Psychological Association. (2012). Ethnic and racial minorities & socioeconomic status. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/factsheet-erm.aspx
Briar-Lawson, K., Lawson, H. A., Hennon, C. B., & Jones, A. R. (2001). Family-centered policies and practices: International implications. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.
Fisher, W. (2011). The corrupt corporate incarceration complex. Retrieved from http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1905:the-corrupt-corporate-incarceration-complex
Kirst-Ashman, K., & Hull, Jr., G. H. (2009). Generalist practice with organizations with organizations and communities (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, Jr, G. H. (2009). Understanding generalist practice (5th ed.). Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.
Mauer, M., & King, R. S. (2007, July). Uneven justice: Rates of incarceration my race and ethnicity. The Sentencing Project. doi:http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf
National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Code of ethics of the national association of social workers. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp
Peralta, E. (2011). PA judge sentenced to 28 years in massive juvenile justice bribery scandal. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/11
/139536686/pa-judge-sentenced-to-28-years-in-massive-juvenile-justice-bribery-scandal
Price, D. (nd). More black men now in prison system than enslaved in 1850. Retrieved from http://www.laprogressive.com/black-men-prison-system/
Sloan, B. (2012). The prison industries enhancement system Why everyone should be concerned. Retrieved from https://www.prisonlegalnews.org
/%28S%28ecx1bqfnc5bdvwudrukj3zip%29%29/displayArticle.aspx?articleid=22190&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. (2012). 2012 Pennsylvania budget analysis. Retrieved from http://www.unitedwayglv.org/Home/Advocate/PA-Budget-Forum.aspx
Bumpy bitter melon hangs from the vine,
Roses nod their red velvet heads
as I pluck beetles from scented petals
and tuck them into a glass jar.
I ride city busses and a subway with wooden seats;
Play in parks with lakes and cherry blossoms,
Shop in bakeries with onion rolls, miniature danish and knishes,
Walk through the museum and sit in the library, marble quiet cool and calm
while the streets outside rumble with rebellion.
There’s a raggedy yellow teddy bear sign at the corner auto repair shop.
Cardboard Coca Cola Santa’s hang from the ceiling of the corner store.
Speedy Alka Seltzer’s on TV, Good Humor men sell ice cream from bicycles and the Sinclair Dinosaur sign hangs at the gas station.
Pastel pink and lavender Thunderbirds park like butterflies on crowded streets.
The twelve o’clock whistle signals the end of Saturday cartoons and the TV shouts, “Out of the blue of the western sky, comes Sky King.”
“Lazy hazy crazy days of summer” and “Sukiyaki” play on the radio while
women at the lake with petaled organza kerchiefs covering their pink rollers
lie on blankets to tan, smothered in Coppertone.
We sing in the back seat of a blue and white Buick Special,
“Michael Row the Boat Ashore” and “Soldier Boy.”
“The M.T.A” and the” Merry Minuet” my bothers and sister,
mother and father on the long ride from Newark to Williamstown on Friday night
after taking rolls of wrapped coins to Vic’s candy store to
trade for bills so we can buy the gas to go.
During South Jersey summers before the casino’s come
we eat Sotanghan and Pancit,.
can peaches and pick blueberries.
Moths flutter around the back door light,
as we try to dance the tinikling without smashing our ankles between sticks of bamboo.
We sing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents
long into the night
while my uncle plays the guitar
We catch frogs in the swamp near
the ruins of an old scout camp in the woods,
Dig for blue mason jars
and bits of broken plates at a long abandoned dump
and find an inkwell
with a metal top. My sister still has it.
Back home in the city,
I play Double Dutch and clapping games.
Sing the Sanctus and Agnus Dei at mass,
but only boys are allowed in the choir.
Nuns who teach us everything we know at school,
in church just deck the altar with flowers
while the priests run the show.
My first phone number is Bigelow 3-7452
and the Pope’s is Et Cum Spiri 220.
Before Mr. Zip moved the mail I lived in Zone 8.
Abad’s, Acutanza’s, Balot’s, Carbonel’s,
Dimacali’s and Europa’s.
Leonen’s, Monsalud’s
Quilban’s, and Relova’s. Filipino family names
by way of the four Gallagher girls.
Potato pancakes and sugar cookies in the house
Where a WWI vet named George Sackmann sings
With tears in his eyes, “There’s a long, long trail a winding into the land of my dreams,”
with me on his knee. He takes me for walks to look for money
on the street. (we always find some.)
I read Taro Yashima’s Momo, the little girl who got rain boots and an umbrella
for her birthday and waited and waited for the rain to come
and when it did it was the first day she walked to school
without holding either her mother or her father’s hand.
Wanda Swoboda and the girl with only one dress to wear
to school but a hundred dresses wallpapering her bedroom walls.
Thomas Wolfe’s, “You Can’t Go Home Again”
no matter how many times you try (‘cause it isn’t there anymore)
and Tennessee Williams who understands
that human beings as fragile as we may seem
have an almost limitless capacity to endure pain and still live.
“Look,” he wrote, “'The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks!'
Friday, June 10, 2011
Policy Analysis of the National Environmental Policy Act
A. The National Environmental Policy Act
The first policy written in the United States to address environmental issues was the National Environmental Policy created by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the subsequent creation of the Environmental; Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. B. The Purpose of the Policy
The act states in section 101 that Congress recognizes the impact of man’s activity especially population growth, urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation and the importance of restoring and maintaining the environment. In section 102 it states that Congress authorizes that policies, regulations and public laws should use an interdisciplinary approach to identify and develop ways of ensuring that major actions that could significantly affect the quality of the environment should first detail the impact of the action, list any adverse affects, list alternatives, state the relationship between short term use and long term productivity, state any irreversible commitments of resources. (NEPA, 1969).
C. The History of the policy and the problems it addressed.
After World War II with the establishment of the nuclear and chemical age, the environment and people began to be exposed to new and deadly substances. The United States Government began dumping nuclear waste into the oceans in 1946. (Leopold, 2000). Oil companies that previously produced lubricants, gas and oil diversified into petrochemicals including chemical fertilizer. The American people became very aware of environmental issues. Because of the boom in home building in the suburbs, the expansion in the ownership of automobiles for transportation and the need to build superhighways to accommodate the cars, pollution became more visible and harder to ignore. (Dukakis, 1999). In addition to air and water pollution from smog and waste, Americans were made aware of the dangers of pesticides like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) with the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring in 1962. The book generated a lot of interest from the public as well as opposition from the chemical industry. Carson did not call for the immediate banning of all pesticides. She pointed out the need for science to explore natural ways of controlling pests and increasing food production. (Graham, 1978) The chemical industry attacked Carson, which generated more publicity for her book, but although more people became aware of environmental issues and DDT was banned in the United States, pesticide production has increased from 124 million pounds in 1947 to 638 million pounds in 1960 to 1.4 billion pounds in 1985. Along with this, cancer rates are also increasing. (Epstein & Briggs, 1987) These facts are at the heart of the lack of effectiveness of the EPA. There is a constant struggle between those who profit from exploiting the environment and those who want to develop it sustainably. The chemical industry uses various tactics to hide the effects of chemicals on humans and the environment. They have hidden reports from the EPA, harassed, criticized and tried to discredit ecologists, epidemiologists and researchers who do not agree with them and they along with other industries that oppose government regulation have suppressed reports that expose practices that are harmful to the environment.
D. What are the benefits, eligibility criteria and the beneficiaries of the policy/program?
Everyone who lives and breathes in the world is experiencing the problem. Cancer rates are going up not just because people are getting older. Chemicals are in our food, air and water. The effect on our bodies and the environment even when they are documented and studied are often hidden from the public. The people who experience a problem may not even be aware of the origin of the problem Efforts to prove that one particular chemical causes a particular illness or disease have not been successful in the US. On the other hand many grassroots groups and organizations are aware of the issues and work very hard to inform the general public about unsafe environmental practices. NEPA is a federal act and the will to enforce it should come from the federal level. There is no way to stop what happens in one state from affecting the air and water supply of another state. I believe the precautionary principal adopted by some European countries is a good one. It would force chemical companies to do testing at their expense. This would force them to find the safest solution, not the short term cheapest solution for them which has the end result of being a very expensive solution for the public for health reasons as well as for environmental clean up. All of us living on the planet would be beneficiaries.
E. What level of government is responsible for its administration and financing?
The EPA and the PA DEP are funded and administered by the Federal and State Government with taxpayer dollars. This year’s federal budget proposes a cut of $1.49 billion from last year. (Restuccia, 2011) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has had its budget cut over the past five years to 59% of what it was in 2000-2001. (Bauers, 2011)
F. Some of the issues and problems with implementation
Implementation is an issue for a number of reasons. The main reason is that the interests of industry usually come before the interests of the environment of the public. The chemical industry of which oil and gas is a part, experienced great growth after World War II mostly because of the development of synthetic organic petroleum based compounds like DDT and vinyl chloride based plastics like PVC and CPVC piping. (Herman, 2007) The side effects of these chemical-based products on people and the environment were not obvious at first. Because they were effective as pest control and relatively cheap they were widely sold and used. By the time scientists discovered the side effects a large network of interrelated industries was in place. Industries that required the chemicals, farmers now dependent on pesticides, scientists employed by the industry, and the agriculture departments of both state and the federal government allowed the grandfathering of the use of some products so business as usual could continue. In addition to this the burden of proof to link any chemical to any illness is on the public. In the early years after the passage of NEPA under the administration of William D. Ruckelshaus people and responsibilities were transferred from different departments to the EPA. Before reorganization, the registration of pesticides was regulated by the Department of Agriculture; the pesticide label review was regulated by the Department of the Interior; Air, Solid Waste, Radiological Health, Water Hygiene, and Pesticide Tolerance were regulated by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Transferring these responsibilities to the EPA enabled the agency to enact the Federal Environmental Pesticides Control Act (1972); Safety Standards for Farmworkers (1974); regulation of land use (1972); and significantly revise water pollution legislation (1972). Regarding the regulation of water pollution, the EPA changed the focus from the quality of water to restricting effluent discharge with the goal of reaching zero discharge. Thousands of rules and regulations were modified or enacted during this period. (Wismer, 1985)
During the oil crisis in 1973, the EPA and Congress modified the Clean Air Act to allow for more use of coal and eased automobile emissions standards to allow for greater fuel economy. Under the administration of Douglas M. Costle from 1977 to 1981, the major problem was chemical dumping at sites like Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York. The Hooker Chemical Company owned and operated a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite that was covered over with dirt and sold to the city for one dollar in 1953. Homes were built on the site, but in the late 1970’s after a hard rain drums of chemical began to surface and the chemical soup leached into yards, homes, playgrounds and the school. The entire community was evacuated. (Beck, 1979) In response to this in December 1980 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) also known as the Superfund Act was passed. The act required oil and chemical companies to pay into a fund to clean up toxic waste sites. It expired in 1995. Pennsylvania has more than 100 Superfund sites, the second highest in the nation. There are also 1000 hazardous waste sites around the state. (Penn Environment, n.d.)
The Reagan Administration in an effort to relieve the burden that these regulations imposed on the business community appointed a task force headed by George H.W. Bush to review existing regulations and streamline the bureaucracy. Of 176 regulations, the task force revised or eliminated 76. They also added a new regulation. Executive Order 12291, issued February 17, 1981, states that any government agency proposing new regulations had to consider the cost benefit. Reagan also cut the EPA’s staff by 11% and its budget by 12%. By 1984, the EPA staff cuts totaled 29% and the budget was cut 44% from what it was in 1980. (Sandhu, 1988). H.R. 564 the Superfund reinvestment Act of 2009 has been introduced by Representative Earl Blumenauer D-OR but has not been passed. That bill would reinstate the Hazardous Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax until 2018. There are two related bills, the Superfund Polluter Pays Act introduced by Senator Bill Nelson D-FL and the Polluter Pays Restoration Act introduced by Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ. (Open Congress, n.d.). When laws are enforced, rather than protecting the environment, companies pay fines related to the violation if the violation is caught. In the case of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale for example the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association reports 1614 violations by gas drillers in Pennsylvania alone since 2008. (Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, 2011) From 2005 through February 1, 2011 the total dollar amount of the fines imposed by the PA DEP was at least $2,106,318. The average fine however was $23,666 which is low enough for a company to pay without hurting their bottom line. (Hamill, 2011)
G. Is the program successful? Who says so?
The policy can be effective or not effective depending on the political climate and whether it favors business or the people. Currently the program is not successful. The public can be manipulated by industry misinformation and advertising. In the case of Rachel Carson, the public, the press and the President were all sympathetic to her message. Her book was published soon after the thalidomide scare when pregnant women who took the drug for morning sickness produced children with severe birth defects of the limbs. (National Toxicology Project, 2010) People were concerned with the effects of chemicals on humans and the environment. The New Yorker Magazine published an excerpt of the book and CBS aired a documentary on Carson and the book even though some of the sponsors dropped out of the show. Ten to fifteen million people watched the interview. In spite of this fact pesticide use on farms, for lawn care and in households has consistently grown. (Herman, 2007) Why and how can this be?
Part of the problem is that we use chemicals everyday in many ways. In addition to gasoline for our cars, we use soap, shampoo, cleaning products, weed killers, plant food, plastic food containers, diet foods, non-stick coatings, medicines and many other products. It’s difficult for us to believe that they are harmful if we buy them in supermarkets and bring them home. It’s almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without antibacterial soap or toothpaste. The chemical industry counts on this normalized acceptance of chemicals. Scientists who criticize a product or a policy do not always project the same physical appearance as corporate sponsors or newscasters. They may have a less polished appearance than an industry spokesperson. They may look like you or me. The information they impart may not fit into a sound bite between commercials. In addition to this, the chemical industry deliberately creates doubt and confusion about scientific findings when they do not align with industry policy. The term “junk science” is applied by the industry to environmentalists, researchers, critics of the industry and lawyers who sue on behalf of clients. According to Consumers Union the publisher of Consumer Reports, “the phrase "junk science" has been coined by those practicing public relations and lobbying activities on behalf of some companies in certain industries--particularly the plastics, chemical, biotechnology, and pesticide industries. While its coiners may have legitimate grounds for debate on some issues, the phrase has been used far too often to discredit honest public interest organizations and legitimate scientists who express concerns about consumer safety and environmental risks.” (Wagner, 1999). When the industry funds scientific research and experts, the media accepts them without criticism. Often there is little separation between what is still called independent media and chemical companies. The Washington Post has an executive of Johnson and Johnson on its board of directors as well as a few investment bankers. The Chicago Tribune has a CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, two insurance company executives, and one from an electric utility. All of these industries oppose government regulation. The same corporate culture and class consciousness applies to the advertising industry. According to Herman (2007), of the 100 largest national advertisers 31 are chemical companies. Auto companies use chemicals like oil and gas and are concerned with regulation of those goods. If you add the food industry and their relationship to chemicals, the print industry that produces toxic waste in paper production, you may not have a conspiracy, but you do have a business plan that does not include the health of people or the health of the planet. (Herman, 2007) These companies also depend on a short public memory. Although dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was banned in the US and many other countries, there is a campaign endorsed by the World Health Organization to bring it back to “save African babies” from malaria. (Schaffer, 2006)
H. Identify gaps and unmet needs and solutions.
Where is the EPA in this picture? Severely under funded and subject to the agenda of several decades of Republican industry friendly rule, the EPA is portrayed as a part of big government thwarting the progress of industry. Unfortunately they have not been able to even regulate the majority of chemical substances they were tasked with in 1976. Seventy to seventy five percent of toxic chemicals in use have not been tested. In the case of Monsanto and Santogard, an anti-scorching chemical used in the rubber industry, the EPA found a report on the negative effects of the product that Monsanto did not give to them as the law required. Monsanto was fined $196,000 (by law the fine should have been 19.7 million) and asked if they had any more hidden reports. 164 were found. The company was fined $648,000 for those. Knowing that other chemical companies must have done the same thing, the EPA granted an amnesty to the industry with nominal fines for the next three years. The industry produced over 11,000 documents. (Herman, 2007) No business was thwarted by the EPA.
After the chemical accident in Bophal India in 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act which directed chemical companies to inform the public of releases of 654 known chemicals into the environment. The disclosure showed that several billion pounds of toxic chemicals were spewed into the air each year. There was virtually no media coverage of the Toxic Release Inventory. Since then, twenty four states have passed “audit privilege laws” allowing companies to conduct their own audits and correct their own issues. (Herman, 2007) Knowing the history of the industry this does not seem like a good solution for people or the planet.
Albatross chicks die every year from eating tiny pieces of plastic that they mistake for food. While consumers are responsible for some of the plastics in the ocean, the small pellets from which plastics are made come from industrial waste. Fishing nets which once were made of plant fiber are now made of plastic adding to the problem. (Azzarello, M. & Van Fleet, E. 1987)
Proposed Solutions
In order to effect any real enforcement of this policy which proposes to protect the environment from the influences of human activity and restore and maintain it so man and nature can coexist in healthy and pleasing surroundings maximizing the use of the environment without harm while preserving it, maintaining diversity, expanding renewable resources and recycling depleted ones there will have to be some changes in the awareness and the will of the people of the country.
According to the Mt Sinai Medical Center “Over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released by industry into the nation's environment each year, including 72 million pounds of recognized carcinogens” and “of the top 20 chemicals discharged to the environment, nearly 75% are known or suspected to be toxic to the developing human brain.” The hospital has launched an environmental health education campaign in Queens, NY that includes a workshop on alternatives to plastic. (Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 2001)
J. Compare policy position with Social Work Speaks.
Social Works Speaks Environmental Policy quotes part of an op-ed article. The article begins by asking the question, “If everyone were mentally ill, how would we know whom to treat?” (1995, Berger). He calls our participation in harming the environment, “habitat destruction syndrome” and compares it to a mass mental illness. Berger states that although we are surrounded by information regarding the impact of environmental degradation over the past 50 years, as a society we do little about it. Because the changes are gradual and because we are not as conscious of nature due to our lack of contact with it, we don’t see this issue as a crisis. Because we are inundated with crisis messages through email and social networking sites from a myriad of organizations, we feel overwhelmed and unable to choose which issues we should prioritize or act on.
According to Social Work Speaks, social workers have a “professional obligation” to educate ourselves on environmental issues, to support enforcement of the EPA, to support the use of non-toxic products in schools and the general society and to support the regulation of chemicals through the EPA and other agencies. Social Work Speaks calls the environmental crisis a “major public policy issue that will influence all future human development.” It also goes on to say that there is a solution to the crisis if we act in a timely manner. The concerns of social workers go beyond concerns for the environment to include the health issues that people face including increased rates of cancer, respiratory issues and illnesses linked to the continued use of pesticides. Communities of color are especially vulnerable to be host to chemical plants and toxic waste dumps nationally and internationally. We may face opposition perhaps even in the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits that are filed against regular people who participate in public dialogue with government agencies in reacting to or reporting among other things, reporting environmental violations. (Potter, 2008)
The current economic crisis can also be a time of opportunity. For some of us, being laid off or underemployed can give us the chance to follow in the footsteps of our grandparents who had victory gardens and grow our own food. We can use more glass containers than plastic. We can walk more than drive. We can read more about the crisis and think more about what we can do about it. We can write to and call our legislators and the companies that produce offending products or packaging. We can go to local meetings of environmental groups. We can make our own cleaners from simple materials at home. We can use power strips and turn our appliances off when not in use. We can put tap water in the refrigerator instead of buying bottled water. We can use cloth bags when we shop. How many chemicals are essential to your daily life? How do you profit from their production and their use? Is your financial future tied to the debasement of the environment through stock ownership or a 401K? If so divest of these interests. These sound like small steps but any act, no matter how small helps to change us as individuals and our relationship with the larger world around us. It’s the first step to becoming politically active outside of the voting booth. Engagement is essential to our continued survival as a free people and to a sustainable planet.
I. Identify available agencies, services or programs available in your area or your hometown including addresses and telephone numbers.
DEP Northeast Regional Office Bethlehem
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-1915 4530 Bath Pike
Business Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bethlehem, PA 18017
570-826-2511 (24 hours/day) Business Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Regional Director: Michael Bedrin 610 861-2070
24 Hour area hotline 570-826-2511
Azzarello, M. & Van Fleet, E. (1987, May 6) Marine birds and plastic pollution. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 37, 295 – 303. Retrieved from http://www.int- res.com/articles/meps/37/m037p295.pdf
Bauers, S. (2011, March 24). PA DEP Budget: halved in a decade. Philly.com. Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/PA-DEP-budget-has- dropped-.html
Beck. E. (1979, January). The Love canal tragedy. EPA Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm
Berger, R. (1995, July) Habitat Destruction System. Social Work 40, 4, 441-443
Dukakis, M. (1996, November) Environmental politics in post-World War II America Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 18, 5-9
Epstein, S. & Briggs, S. (2007, June). If Rachel Carson Were Writing Today: Silent Spring in Retrospect. Environmental Law Reporter Vol. 17.
Graham Jr., F. (1978, November/December) Rachel Carson. EPA Journal. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/carson.htm
Hamill, S. (2011, April 17). What fines reveal about drilling in state. Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11107/1139961-503- 0.stm?cmpid=marcellusshale.xml
Herman, E. (2009, January 5). Corporate Sovereignty and (Junk) Science and Media. Z Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/11316515/Edward-S- Herman-Corporate-Sovereignty-and-Junk-Science-and-Media-3-Articles
Leopold, E. (May 2000). Seeing the Forest and the Trees:
The Politics of Rachel Carson The Monthly Review. 52 01 Retrieved from http://www.monthlyreview.org/500leopo.htm
Melchor, S. (2000, February 17.) European Commission approves precautionary principle guidelines .Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News. Retrieved from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-59578792/european-commission- approves-precautionary.html
National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2006) Social Work Speaks: National association of social workers policy statements. environmental policy. Washington, DC: NASW Press
National Environmental Policy Act (1969). Retrieved from http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm
National Environmental Policy Act. (1970, January 1) National Environmental Policy Act, Retrieved January 24, 2011, from
http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm
National Toxicology Project (2010, November 12). Retrieved from http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/common/thalidomide.html
Open Congress (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111- s3164/show
Penn Environment. (n.d.) Cleaning up toxic waste sites. Retrieved from http://www.pennenvironment.org/healthy-communities/cleaning-up-toxic-waste- sites
Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (2011) Marcellus Shale drillers in PA amass 1614 violations since 2008. Retrieved from http://conserveland.org/violationsrpt
Potter, Lori. (2008, December). Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Overview. Retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/petition/topic.aspx?topic=slapp
Restuccia, A. (2011, April 12.) Spending bill cuts EPA funding, delists wolves, limits funding for Interior 'wild lands' policy. The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/155425-spending-agreement-cuts- energy-and-water-programs-by-five-percent-from-fy2010-levels
Sandhu, J. (1988). The Environmental Protection Agency in the 1980s. Retrieved from http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/fenlewis/epa.htm
Schaffer, K. (December 2006) What’s behind the DDT comeback? Pesticides News No.74, page 4
Wagner, L. (1999, December) Consumers Union statement about consumer distorts. Consumers Union. Retrieved from http://www.consumersunion.org/products/distortsopi1299.htm
Wisman, P. (1985, November). EPA History (1970-1985). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/epa/15b.htm
I hear it moving under the earth,
tremors so slight I’m not quite sure
they shook the earth under my feet.
There’s an odor in the summer air,
suddenly strong, as suddenly gone.
On the fringes of my world
the evil has overwhelmed the light.
Its thunderous step has stamped out all song.
Its blackness has eliminated all color
but the one that runs like water in the streets,
the one that soaks the earth
the one that obliterates the difference
in the color of the skin,
the difference in language,
the separate historical condition,
of each time and place.
The color of blood.
The color under which we will fight
the blackness of death.
The evil began so long ago
that it has no distinct beginning
in our consciousness.
It has always been with us
at times a whisper,
at times a shout.
Sometimes it is crushed for a while,
but the struggle against it
leaves the victor near death,
unable to nourish itself,
unable to flourish.
In the high places,
the struggle against it is barely noticeable
as people go about their lives
painting,
singing,
laughing.
working.
At times a great horror pierced through
the invisible wall.
People stop their individual noises and turn to watch.
They cry out in sorrow and give money for a while,
but soon it’s Christmas or summer or Halloween
and the happiness of children with the world at their fingertips
and bright futures before them takes precedence over the distant sorrow.
Within the high places
always there are those who fight the evil at its source,
but the blows they strike are toothpicks hurled at a Goliath,
an annoyance easily crushed by tricks and laws.
The fighters grow old and die and are born again
Battles ebb and low and ebb
as those who would be soldiers marry,
bear children work and live the everyday lives of the privileged,
lives of safety.
As the people in the outlands farm
increasingly smaller
more meager plots of soil
for more meager rations
the high places bloom with the products of the world.
Fruits and vegetables in many forms
From every corner of the world
are always available to those who can pay.
Then even in the high places,
the trouble begins to spread.
An entire population of those seen
only in the outlands begins to grow
within the cities of the high places.
Their eyes recede into their sockets.
Their bellies growl with hunger.
They sleep in the streets and
scavenge food and clothing.
They watch as the privileged drive by
in cars that cost more than two years wages
or walk by in sneakers that cost as much
as it would to feed a family of four for a month.
City buildings stand empty while hundreds of thousands are homeless.
Country fields lie fallow as farmers are driven from the land.
The net of safety we believed existed, has turned into a web.
During the years of prosperity
The people in the high places never asked
Where their coffee beans,
pineapples,
ginger,
tangerines,
teas,
raspberries came from.
On the part of the privileged
whose ancestors had fled poverty and persecution
there was no question,
no curiosity of life in the outlands.
No knowledge, no want of knowledge
for any world other than their own.
As world conditions worsened
the people of the high places
are seen as the enemy.
They are murdered
by desperate people who would die alone
or take one person with them
touching the people of the high places
with a fraction of the terror
and sorrow they live with all their lives.
Now, the armies of the world stand ready,
parading their weapons on land, sea and air.
Will this be the beginning of the end of the planet earth?
