During the last
few months, it has been a struggle for me to keep this blog going. My personal
interest in it has been waning, partly due to my disdain for the role politics
has played in social media, and the desire to remove myself from the animosity
that’s around every virtual corner. It’s
difficult to like being online anymore.
I’ve almost given up a few times, telling myself that it’s time to move
on, but having the blog is goal-driven for me, so it lingers. An anniversary…six years this month. However, keeping it fresh and updated is
getting tougher.
I’ve rewritten the
beginning of this post several times, unsure as to how far I might go with the
words I wish to share. I know what I want to say, but how to express myself
without making people angry is what’s nagging at me. The fact that I worry about this is frustrating. Part of the reason I’ve wished to discontinue
the blog is due to what social media has become: a self-serving, disrespectful,
judgmental and vitriolic place. And this
is where I have the greatest disdain. There isn’t much care if I’m offended or
angered. And I’ve been both quite a bit
lately.
The world’s population
recently reached 7.6 billion people, yet according to the finger-pointing,
fist-shaking virtual world, each unique individual is categorized and
compartmentalized. We’re labeled this or that, either/or, good or bad, liberal
or conservative, right or wrong (this, of course, depends on who is yelling the
loudest at the time); we’re lumped into sameness when we share nothing in
common; we’re stifled from expressing an opinion or asking a question out of
fear of being unfairly pegged something we aren’t; we’re told, not heard. When did people become irrelevant as human
beings?
Things seem to
matter only if they meet certain criteria; a person’s death is tragic only if
the life is lost in a questionable manner; causes are embraced in the heat of
the moment, then abandoned when the next bandwagon rolls in. Making assumptions to support the popular
cause of the day runs rampant: if a person thinks a certain way, then that
person must be (fill in the blank). It seems as if we’re all judged by that
checklist of life, deemed worthy or not as to how we’re generalized to be. That broad brush of acceptance, if it’s given,
holds little substance for me since real need is overlooked in favor of causes
driven by our political climate.
How can we think
need, suffering, neglect, or any level of pain is determined by a checklist?
Hunger pains that tear at a person’s belly aren’t lessened or greater based on
criteria. Poverty, homelessness, illness, and disabilities affect many people
of different walks of life, and are tragic regardless of who is touched or
where they live, yet genuine compassion is lost to the movement of the moment. How shallow and hypocritical our world has
become.
An interesting
Chicago
Tribune commentary (
What Chicago's South, West Sides and Appalachia have in Common) details the
similarities in poverty, unemployment and violence that plague the areas, but cites
the biggest thing they have in common is despair. It’s the writer’s belief that the overall
population in the areas voted differently not because of any party loyalty, but
because they wanted to have dignity once again. Politicians had failed them,
and I tend to agree with him. Yet, the people of these areas are judged and
ridiculed for how they voted, when each one of them generally wants the same things:
a better life and opportunities for their families. The American Dream.
 |
| Native Americans living in poverty |
Additionally,
there are over 300 Native American Tribal Lands (Indian Reservations, Pueblos,
Colonies, RancherÃas) in the United States, and the living conditions have been
described as “compatible to third world” countries (
www.nativepartnership.org);
Native Americans have a higher poverty and unemployment rate when compared to
the national average. Visit or drive
through one of them; poverty at its ugliest is glaring. Why aren’t the masses “rising up” about
this? Why aren’t there marches and
demands for change?
 |
| Capitol Crawl - 1990 |
The Americans with
Disabilities Act became law in 1990 (
www.ada.gov), but those with disabilities still
don’t always have access to basic services.
Some pro-business commentators at the time who were against the act said
that the ADA “was an expensive headache to millions that would not necessarily
improve the lives of people with disabilities.” No doubt the doubters had great
headaches seeing the “Capitol Crawl” of 1990, when disability rights activists
ditched their wheelchairs, canes, walkers and crutches, and crawled up the steps
of the capitol in protest, demanding their voices be heard. Yet, sometimes those who march for other
things today don’t seem to mind too much about parking in a “Handicapped
Parking” space just to be closer; or take no notice that a person in a
wheelchair doesn’t have access to a public restroom, restaurant, movie theatre,
art gallery, or football stadium. Where
is the anger?
Then there is
this: the silence regarding daily gun violence. The site
www.gunviolencearchive.org collects annual statistics regarding victims of gun crime. In the last four
years, the incidents and deaths have increased yearly:
·
(2014)
Incidents – 51,862; Deaths – 12,558; Mass Shootings – 271
·
(2015)
Incidents – 53,723; Deaths – 13,513; Mass Shootings – 333
·
(2016)
Incidents – 58,834; Deaths – 15,089; Mass Shootings – 383
·
(2017) Incidents
– 61,437; Deaths – 15,584; Mass Shootings – 345
According to a
New
York Times article (
Comparing the Las Vegas Attack with Daily Gun Deaths in U.S. Cities), while 58 were killed in the mass
attack in Las Vegas, Chicago had the same number of deaths in a span of 28 days
that started two days before the incident in Las Vegas. All of these incidents, deaths and shootings
are relevant and important. All of these lives matter. Where is the outcry?
I think the times
were better when we didn’t know how anyone voted. It used to be a private right, kept close to
the vest. People went to the polls on
election day, cast their ballots and moved on with their lives. Since social media exploded with “authorities”
behind every keyboard and smartphone, it’s made life online an unpleasant place
to be. Dictating demands, yelling (via
all caps, of course), ridicule and general rudeness have replaced common decency. There’s a lot of talking but little doing.
A balm, in which
to heal the festering anger, might be to disconnect. Turn it off.
Walk away from the virtual world (or at least reduce the time spent
there), find a cause that isn’t politically driven or motivated, and actively
make a difference. Find the need; it’s
there. Then listen to it and hear it. I’m trying.
And the blog? It continues…at least until next time.
