[Peace-discuss] how do we prepare room for the poor

[Karen Medina]

Laurie,

I agree with you: > We should not be treating even the lowest animal as less

I think I used the expression to provoke thought.
Many people who have not considered the poor have a conception that
the poor are dirty, smelly, drug-addicted, and thieves.

If they are dirty, let them bathe.
If they are smelly, let them eat nutritious meals and wash their clothes.
If they are drug-addicted, help them find hope in something more than
the next high.
If they are thieves, consider why they might be driven to steal.

To the drug addiction thing, I'll just mention that I went through a
tough time where self-medicating was something I absent-mindedly found
myself almost doing. Luckily, I had insurance and access to counseling
services. While my particular counselor was not all that helpful, the
services did make me look for more information. I had access to
various information sources including the fliers at the counseling
center, a library card, Internet access, and I could talk to other
people (I wasn't on the fridge of society), and I also had 40 years of
experience watching others (including visiting people in mental
wards). I worked it out because I had access to resources.*

-karen medina
* I'll just throw in the fact that I was literate. Literacy is really
really really important. The best way to keep a people down is to keep
them from becoming literate.

On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 12:37 PM, LAURIE SOLOMON<LAURIE at advancenet.net> wrote:
>> A society is tested by how it treats its members. So far, we treat the
>>poor worse than the lowest animal. But they are human.
>
> I think two comments are in order here.
>
> 1) A society is tested not only how it treats it members but how it treats
> outsiders and non-members as well.
> 2) Following in part from this, I fail to see why being human should be a
> special exemption.  We should not be treating even the lowest animal as less
> than a human just because they are from a different species and society than
> the human one.  It is true that as a society, we treat the poor badly; but
> we also treat many animals badly as well, regarding them as possessions or
> things that only have worth as instruments in benefit of humans to be
> treated badly or killed for our needs and pleasure.  Why should anyone
> expect such a society to treat its poor and unwanted members any differently
> than they do other species of animal.  It is all part of the human arrogance
> and superiority complex brought home to their fellow mankind.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
> [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Karen Medina
> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:51 AM
> To: OEF discussion list; Peace-discuss List
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] how do we prepare room for the poor
>
> I've been thinking, how do we prepare room for the poor? So far, the
> midwest has seen very little of the economic downturn, yet my hometown
> cannot even seem to handle the bit we have seen.
>
> In some ways, Mexico may be a bit more humane. In Mexico, the poor can
> be in the streets, here we try to kick them out of everywhere. As if
> we can get rid of them by not having to see them. But where should
> they go?
>
> Was it Ogden Nash who said "Everyone has the right to sleep under a
> bridge"? Most of us choose not to.
>
> We are only as good as our weakest members. If the poor don't have
> access to medical care, nutritious meals, clean water, and clean
> clothes then disease will set in. Diseases will spread.
>
> A society is tested by how it treats its members. So far, we treat the
> poor worse than the lowest animal. But they are human.
>
> We will pay for not caring for the poor.
>
> -karen medina
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