Log In | Register
This afternoon a woman used the human microphone to tell the over 3000 (my estimate watching the livestream) people in that sea of people at the New York occupation, that the people she represents, and I'm paraphrasing here, have known this kind of 'treatment' everyday. She referred to the way protesters have been treated at the hands of the NYPD. And I heard her. I've seen, known and been one of the people who have experienced this kind of treatment. It is not new to many Americans. So, the outrage is sometimes a chuckle for some of us. The outcry and shock, kind of a point of contention if you will, for many who have lived with it daily.
We cry out and find no one is paying attention. We search for the resources we need in many different ways and in many different places. We tolerate the looks we get when we are among those who know 'acceptance'. And, we must at every minute, be mindful of the way we feel when we get home. Tired and exhausted by defending our actions, our purpose, our condition, our ill attired little selves. We are the 99%. Or, are we?
If I am to be honest, and I try very hard to be honest as a way of teaching others about who I am, where i live, and how i got here, .... then i have to admit to you that I am crying. I cry for the losses we have endured as the gap has grown exponentially without pause. I cry for the distance that grows between a people who share the same principal. It is the principal my parents taught me and yours taught you, the one you teach your children. It once gave us a center, a place where we held commonality in value. We were Americans together.
We didn't have to always accept one another, and honestly we are still learning how to do that, decade after decade, and generation after generation. But, we used to try. It seems as the question rises, is there enough for each need to be met, we answer to ourselves that there may not be. We look around and assess if our own individual need can be met. We stop thinking about those who have even less. Rationalize if you must, but at least acknowledge that when born, we are born into a collective. We can't live without each other. Really. The ability to see that connection was recently voiced in a manner, by Elizabeth Warren, I think her name is. She said that corporations did not do it alone. She is right, and i would add to it that the human condition grows or is diminished by how we conduct ourselves as a collective. The people who are weakest, the human beings who struggle to be 'self sufficient' are sacrificed in full view of all. They are left alone. Few try to bridge that gap, even when their intentions are good.
I recently tried to explain a concept. And, given my thoughts about sharing one's story, (only to be used by the voices at the front, and then forgotten)... I explained anyway and let some of my personal story slip. So, i will try to recap here without being untrue to the revelation i have found, and using that piece of my own personal story.
For decades now we as a nation have pushed forward into a place that moves so quickly, many, and I mean many, live their lives in pain. They face a deluge of misery the likes few can imagine. they live without heat, they live without food, they live without safety, they live without comfort, they live without love, they live without a doctor, they live without a friend, they live without a pair of shoes, and no one around them notices. On occasion some are noticed. They have been deemed worthy of help, and that help has been enlisted to address that little bit of misery they managed to notice. And that isn't a bad thing, don't misunderstand me. it's good. Now, I've got to ask myself, how do those who are unworthy and unnoticed, get help with their pain, their illness, their suffering? And i found an answer, for me.
It is simple really, for me anyway.
I have a lump. It sits just below the bone we use to measure two fingers up for CPR. It seems to be a bit larger then when i first found it. I try not to talk about it. It's personal and, you see, I might just be considered worthy of help. I might receive that ever popular desire to help me, someone worthy. And I will be part of the system that continues to go about its business while people suffer, go hungry and some die because they can't see a doctor. The list of needs is long, isn't it?
I don't want to be a part of that anymore. I believe its time to say, "If we all can't go, I won't go". Its kind of like a hunger strike if you know what I mean. In the long run, when i die (and we all die) if i die because I couldn't see a doctor, couldn't receive a diagnosis, couldn't talk about a treatment (if necessary) and couldn't receive that treatment, couldn't pay for the prescriptions, and couldn't keep looking for a job all at the same time... then I want you to remember me and commit to work diligently to make a stand of your own. Remember, that I would go without everyone. I wouldn't save myself and let someone else who was made to look unworthy, remain behind.
A stand that allows us to grow rarely feels good. A stand that says we are all valuable costs something. We have to become wiling to pay that price.
We are all worthy. We all have to face something in our lives that makes us who we are... let's get to know each other right now, during this rebellion against those who take everything we have worked for. Against those who have built this unfair and un-American standard by which we now live, that says we will take care of our self and screw everyone else. Say to yourself I will not stand at the grave of another forgotten member of the 99% without first saying to myself, all for one, and one for all when it comes to life's necessities.
We go together, or we don't go. We hang back and take care of each other. I won't go without you, is loving. I won't accept something that isn't available to everyone. These are some of the military's most cherished concepts are they not? So why is it that when i say this... It is so difficult to accept?
It is very difficult to undo what the 1% has done to the way we live. It is about more then just money my friends. And, it has been for some time now.
So, I'll cry and then i will continue to take care of myself the best i can with what I have to do that with. And I'll see you tomorrow. Until i don't.
Peace.
