Hopelessness in the United States
The Chicken or the egg
Between 1999 and 2018 288,000 United States while males committed suicide with guns. I found conflicting reports when searching for gun violence via race. I did find reports that poverty, exposure to violence, drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment and other social ills were more likely to affect rates of gun violence. i also found reports that a larger percentage of black people are in favor of restrictionson gun ownership that are white people. (What the ‘black on black crime’ fallacy misses about race and gun deaths by Shirley Cardswell, July 20, 1920 Washington Post.
Various reports indicate black people are as much as 3 times more likely to suffer fatal shootings by police. Many reports indicate the level of identified crime is higher in poor communities. For example, police in the small city of Wheeling, WV reported last year that a significant percentage of calls regarding criminal activity came from homeless camps. Are we really surprised that when living in open survival mode that one is not at one’s best? Are we surprised that living in such open proximity to each other may make us more vulnerable to our own worst behavior and ensure that behavior is more visible? Is domestic violence in protected neighborhoods less present or less visible; less likely to be reported? Call for police response (from?) was used as justification for destroying homeless camps in Wheeling and other cities.
Recent research suggests that overall level of violence in the world, including in the United States, is lower than it has ever been although there are specific areas and historical times when violence increases. This year in the United States the number of gun related injuries and death is astonishing high.
Most addicts, all those who are suicidal, and those who are not willing to work for minimum wage seem to have one thing in common: a feeling of hopelessness and not belonging. It seems in the past there were more people who believed in the “American dream”; that they could work hard and be financially better off than their parents. Thia seems to no longer be the case. Studies for many years have indicated an overwhelming majority of young people in the United States are in college to learn skills or gain credentials which will allow them to make money. The percentage who say they are in college to create a better world for themselves and their families is very low.
Obviously, one can find statistics or “documents” to support a variety of opinions about the extent and causes of violence, including gun violence. One can also “point fingers” at the seeming attachment in the United States to separating people into good and bad people, the pattern of blaming and treating the symptoms instead of the disease, and the seemingly sharp divide between the “love it or leave it” philosophy and the call to face our past sins as well as our accomplishment as a nation. One can also point fingers at parents or others for the loss of faith in a god which is exclusionary of all except true believers.
Perhaps it is time to quit the blame game or attempting to figure out if the chicken or the egg came first and focus on exploring for and with each other the larger philosophical and ethical issues of the world we want to create and leave our children. Defining one’s worth or success in terms of externals such as money, power or possession works for a limited time and then only if one limits one inner circle to those who are searching for meaning and purpose in a similar manner. Dividing ourselves and others into the “righteous and sinful” camps is not helpful. Blaming violence on those reacting to the history of oppression is not helpful. Treating the oppressor or the oppressed as if they can be defined by their worse selves is not helpful. We should be able to agree of some positive goals which include:
· Ending racism, sexism and all forms of oppression. Not defining worth in comparative, socially constructed or material terms.
· Ensuring that all schools are equally well funded.
· Ensuring that all teaches are paid a decent wage.
· Ensuring that all have uncomplicated equal access to safe, affordable housing, utilities, nutritious, affordable food, quality health care, fair and equal access to the protection of a judicial system, the right to be treated for illness and not symptoms, and an environment which is not in the process of being destroyed.
· Ensuring that all have the right to equal, just protection of government services including police, fire department, IRS and others.
· Ensuring that all jobs are equally valued and honored - teacher, parent, janitor, doctor, nurse, factory worker, construction worker.
These are achievable goals to which we can all agree. We have proven in these United States and in other countries that we are perfectly capable of achieving goals when we work as one. Let’s agree on the goals without any attachment to emotionally burdened labels - economic, gender, religious, or professional. We can each contribute our best talents and achieve these goals.
Written July 8, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
The Chicken or the egg
Between 1999 and 2018 288,000 United States while males committed suicide with guns. I found conflicting reports when searching for gun violence via race. I did find reports that poverty, exposure to violence, drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment and other social ills were more likely to affect rates of gun violence. i also found reports that a larger percentage of black people are in favor of restrictionson gun ownership that are white people. (What the ‘black on black crime’ fallacy misses about race and gun deaths by Shirley Cardswell, July 20, 1920 Washington Post.
Various reports indicate black people are as much as 3 times more likely to suffer fatal shootings by police. Many reports indicate the level of identified crime is higher in poor communities. For example, police in the small city of Wheeling, WV reported last year that a significant percentage of calls regarding criminal activity came from homeless camps. Are we really surprised that when living in open survival mode that one is not at one’s best? Are we surprised that living in such open proximity to each other may make us more vulnerable to our own worst behavior and ensure that behavior is more visible? Is domestic violence in protected neighborhoods less present or less visible; less likely to be reported? Call for police response (from?) was used as justification for destroying homeless camps in Wheeling and other cities.
Recent research suggests that overall level of violence in the world, including in the United States, is lower than it has ever been although there are specific areas and historical times when violence increases. This year in the United States the number of gun related injuries and death is astonishing high.
Most addicts, all those who are suicidal, and those who are not willing to work for minimum wage seem to have one thing in common: a feeling of hopelessness and not belonging. It seems in the past there were more people who believed in the “American dream”; that they could work hard and be financially better off than their parents. Thia seems to no longer be the case. Studies for many years have indicated an overwhelming majority of young people in the United States are in college to learn skills or gain credentials which will allow them to make money. The percentage who say they are in college to create a better world for themselves and their families is very low.
Obviously, one can find statistics or “documents” to support a variety of opinions about the extent and causes of violence, including gun violence. One can also “point fingers” at the seeming attachment in the United States to separating people into good and bad people, the pattern of blaming and treating the symptoms instead of the disease, and the seemingly sharp divide between the “love it or leave it” philosophy and the call to face our past sins as well as our accomplishment as a nation. One can also point fingers at parents or others for the loss of faith in a god which is exclusionary of all except true believers.
Perhaps it is time to quit the blame game or attempting to figure out if the chicken or the egg came first and focus on exploring for and with each other the larger philosophical and ethical issues of the world we want to create and leave our children. Defining one’s worth or success in terms of externals such as money, power or possession works for a limited time and then only if one limits one inner circle to those who are searching for meaning and purpose in a similar manner. Dividing ourselves and others into the “righteous and sinful” camps is not helpful. Blaming violence on those reacting to the history of oppression is not helpful. Treating the oppressor or the oppressed as if they can be defined by their worse selves is not helpful. We should be able to agree of some positive goals which include:
· Ending racism, sexism and all forms of oppression. Not defining worth in comparative, socially constructed or material terms.
· Ensuring that all schools are equally well funded.
· Ensuring that all teaches are paid a decent wage.
· Ensuring that all have uncomplicated equal access to safe, affordable housing, utilities, nutritious, affordable food, quality health care, fair and equal access to the protection of a judicial system, the right to be treated for illness and not symptoms, and an environment which is not in the process of being destroyed.
· Ensuring that all have the right to equal, just protection of government services including police, fire department, IRS and others.
· Ensuring that all jobs are equally valued and honored - teacher, parent, janitor, doctor, nurse, factory worker, construction worker.
These are achievable goals to which we can all agree. We have proven in these United States and in other countries that we are perfectly capable of achieving goals when we work as one. Let’s agree on the goals without any attachment to emotionally burdened labels - economic, gender, religious, or professional. We can each contribute our best talents and achieve these goals.
Written July 8, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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