I find that for the first time in my life, I have nothing profound to say. I will turn 66 on Friday. I am closer to an ending than a beginning. Yet I believe age is only a number. Sixty-six is not a high number in the scheme of things. Sixty-six dollars will not buy two weeks worth of groceries. It will not fill a cavity, repair a car, pay a health care deductible, or even come close to a house payment. It will not cover the cost of a college text book or credit hour. Sixty-six is an even number with no real value except that it falls along the line between one (1) and infinity.
In my mind, I do not feel older. I feel young. The irony of aging is that the body zooms along towards decrepitude while the mind that is active, remains at its peak. Many would disagree with the latter part of that statement, but it is true for me. I am still unendingly curious. I bike, I write, I dream. I continue to believe in the ability of human beings to be compassionate, loving and visionary. I believe that most of us care for the greater good of our world, but that we too often allow ourselves to get bogged down with survival. I believe that when one tire goes flat in life, we pump it up or replace it. We go on. Humans go on. We trip, we fall, we forget, we remember. We learn, we cry, we laugh, we blame, we forgive.
On this the eve of my 66th year, I wish all others who share November 19th as their birth date, a happy, happy day! Happiness is a state of mind. It is not a possession, nor can it be found somewhere outside ourselves or purchased online. If you can read this, you are alive. If you are alive, celebrate! You made it to this day. You scrambled over boulders ten-times your size, you braved life's blizzards and hurricanes (real and imaginary), you picked yourself up and got on with it. You did it! Awesome!
It is a pleasure to share this day with you, whoever you are, wherever you are. Thank you!
© 2010
The Journey ahead is about all of us.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Thoughts for a new world . . .
Trust, until there is nothing left but Trust.
Forgive, until all is forgiven.
Love, until there is nothing left but Love.
Copyright L.Lee 2010
Make Peace wherever you are, until Peace is everywhere.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
If not you, who? If not now, when?
Who will change our world for the better? How long will we wait? Who is best equipped to take us into the future?
Our leaders, scientists, teachers, intelligentsia, military, philosophers? The most educated? The most enlightened?
What is the role of the average man and woman? Billions of them.
Let's do a little "time travel" and measure the progress of "waiting" for the first set of individuals to change our world.
In 2005 . . .
--5.15 billion people (80%) earned less than $10 a day.
--Nearly 1 billion people were illiterate.
--One in two children in our world lived in poverty.
--The poorest 40% of the world’s population accounted for 5% of our global income, while the richest 20% accounted for 75%.
--According to UNICEF, 25,000 children died in poverty each day.
--The wealthiest 20% consumed 76.7% of the world's resources, while the 20% consumed only 1.5%.
The greatest question of our time is not how to stop the gap between rich and poor, but why that gap continues to exist.
We can:
--Map the human gene
--Stand on the Moon
--Send cameras to Mars
--Annihilate the world's people with one misplaced flick of a switch
--Cure the once incurable
--Implant artificial limbs and even replace the human heart
--Control the means of communication and entertainment in a handheld device
But we cannot end poverty. It is on our lips and on our minds, but it is not on our agenda.
How long should we wait? A day, a month, a year? Ten years? Another century?
A new program that gives loans to individuals in poor regions requires each applicant to save $50. Once saved, this money is matched by progam funds. It took one woman five years to save $50. This woman also dreamed of becoming a doctor. She has settled instead to help care for Aids patients.
What part of that last paragraph stands out in your mind? In mine, it's the fact that she had to wait five years to save her money and that her dream of becoming a doctor was not possible.
The thing that stands out in my mind is that this set of circumstances is deplorable! Intolerable!
Our leaders will not save us. But we continue to wait and hope.
Our leaders, scientists, teachers, intelligentsia, military, philosophers? The most educated? The most enlightened?
What is the role of the average man and woman? Billions of them.
Let's do a little "time travel" and measure the progress of "waiting" for the first set of individuals to change our world.
In 2005 . . .
--5.15 billion people (80%) earned less than $10 a day.
--Nearly 1 billion people were illiterate.
--One in two children in our world lived in poverty.
--The poorest 40% of the world’s population accounted for 5% of our global income, while the richest 20% accounted for 75%.
--According to UNICEF, 25,000 children died in poverty each day.
--The wealthiest 20% consumed 76.7% of the world's resources, while the 20% consumed only 1.5%.
The greatest question of our time is not how to stop the gap between rich and poor, but why that gap continues to exist.
We can:
--Map the human gene
--Stand on the Moon
--Send cameras to Mars
--Annihilate the world's people with one misplaced flick of a switch
--Cure the once incurable
--Implant artificial limbs and even replace the human heart
--Control the means of communication and entertainment in a handheld device
But we cannot end poverty. It is on our lips and on our minds, but it is not on our agenda.
How long should we wait? A day, a month, a year? Ten years? Another century?
A new program that gives loans to individuals in poor regions requires each applicant to save $50. Once saved, this money is matched by progam funds. It took one woman five years to save $50. This woman also dreamed of becoming a doctor. She has settled instead to help care for Aids patients.
What part of that last paragraph stands out in your mind? In mine, it's the fact that she had to wait five years to save her money and that her dream of becoming a doctor was not possible.
The thing that stands out in my mind is that this set of circumstances is deplorable! Intolerable!
Our leaders will not save us. But we continue to wait and hope.
I saw a bumper sticker today with a picture of Obama on it. Under it was the word “Hope”.
Hope is a wish for . . .
Hope is a plea for better times . . .
Hope swells up from the pit of despair . . .
But hope is not action. Hope is not movement forward. Hope is the cry of the anguished.
Have we not cried enough? Have we not hoped enough? Have we not waited long enough?
“One minute,” my mother once said, “is a long time for someone in agony.”
Now is the only action that matters.
Now is the only action that delivers on its promises.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Imagine a new economic paradigm
The first circles we humans pondered must have been the sun and moon. For eons we pondered them, even gave them special names and powers. The circle has been with us from the beginning. It can overpower us with its girth or disappear into the invisible building blocks of the universe. The circle is self-contained, meaning that everything that it is, is held within its boundaries. You cannot be both in the circle and outside the circle at the same time.
Today I would like to speak about what I call the "circle of civilization". The circle that defines our world. I would also like to talk abut a "circle of civilization" that might better serve our world simply by moving two of its parts to different locations.
Circle One: This circle is governed by its core, Money. Dollars and cents. Daily labor for daily bread. Everything around the core depends upon Money for its existence: people, environment, private business, government, healthcare, education, and food/housing. By over-stressing one of the members of the circle, Money becomes scarce. Money holders and lenders, the underpinning of the core, suffer. Therefore, every effort is made to assure that all the parts of the wheel work together to serve Money.
Circle Two: This circle is governed by its core, People. The welfare of all the People all the time. Everything in the circle works to support the core. By over-stressing one of the members of the wheel, the People suffer. Therefore, every effort is made to assure that all the members of the wheel work together to care for the core.
Imagine. Imagine. Imagine. We are fast approaching a time when no matter how healthy our economy, there will not be enough jobs for everyone. We have already reached the point where homes, healthcare (all facets), home and car repairs, education, travel, and a whole host of other costs are unaffordable for the majority of people on this planet. Only by taking on debt, much of it long term, can we survive. We live in a Money world. Money has no ethic. It cannot care. It is a thing. It takes up space, but it does not feel, bleed, suffer, or die.
Imagine a new world. Imagine Circle number Two.
Today I would like to speak about what I call the "circle of civilization". The circle that defines our world. I would also like to talk abut a "circle of civilization" that might better serve our world simply by moving two of its parts to different locations.
Circle One: This circle is governed by its core, Money. Dollars and cents. Daily labor for daily bread. Everything around the core depends upon Money for its existence: people, environment, private business, government, healthcare, education, and food/housing. By over-stressing one of the members of the circle, Money becomes scarce. Money holders and lenders, the underpinning of the core, suffer. Therefore, every effort is made to assure that all the parts of the wheel work together to serve Money.
Circle Two: This circle is governed by its core, People. The welfare of all the People all the time. Everything in the circle works to support the core. By over-stressing one of the members of the wheel, the People suffer. Therefore, every effort is made to assure that all the members of the wheel work together to care for the core.
Imagine. Imagine. Imagine. We are fast approaching a time when no matter how healthy our economy, there will not be enough jobs for everyone. We have already reached the point where homes, healthcare (all facets), home and car repairs, education, travel, and a whole host of other costs are unaffordable for the majority of people on this planet. Only by taking on debt, much of it long term, can we survive. We live in a Money world. Money has no ethic. It cannot care. It is a thing. It takes up space, but it does not feel, bleed, suffer, or die.
Imagine a new world. Imagine Circle number Two.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Imagine a "people" centered world
I am days behind in my posting. Life sometimes gets in the way. I've had company--my oldest son and his family. We picnicked, we hiked, we swam, we went to the play ground, we had ice cream. All the things you do when a three and five year-old are involved. In short, we had a grand time.
Now it's Monday and I'm playing catch up while my son heads off on the next phase of his vacation.
Today, I must return to a "people" world. It is on my mind all the time. On my mind because somehow, somewhere, at some point in our history we set people aside for things, possessions, wealth, advancement, one-upmanship. Somewhere along the way we hitched a ride on the wrong train with the best of intentions, thinking that if we went where everyone else was going we'd surely be in a better place.
The train was driven by someone else, designed by someone else. It was a complex train. Great "engineers" built it. It took centuries. Sometimes its workings came together almost by accident. Like a puzzle that's missing only one piece and suddenly you find it. A lot of thought went into this train and a lot of modifications occurred along the way. Today this train, in one fashion on another, monopolizes all the "transport" in our world. And this train has brought us to today. August 9, 2010. The Twenty-First Century.
All of us with enough life experience have ideas about this century. Where we're going and what the outcome might be. But one thing is certain, the train we've all been riding on has not brought us to the destination we envisioned when we entrusted ourselves to its designers. To be sure, there have been many sights along the way, many adventures, many good and important experiences. But in the end, we did not arrive at abundance for all. We did not arrive at security for all, health care for all, affordable education for all, housing for all. Our final train stop dropped us on the platform of "pay or perish".
I could add to that last statement, but in truth it is the only one that matters. The time has come to reroute our train. We must design a new model, one that considers the person first and takes in all aspects of that person from birth to death. I.e., natural resources and the health of the environment that sustain human life. Income security. Health security. Educational security. Shelter (home) security. Never must or should any of these be neglected for any reason. Not for any reason. No one goes without. This is not about entitlement programs or social welfare. This is about a new system. This is about turning capitalism (the making of product and profit) to people-ism, if you will. It's about using the design, but changing its destination.
How you say? Not how, I answer, but when!!
Now it's Monday and I'm playing catch up while my son heads off on the next phase of his vacation.
Today, I must return to a "people" world. It is on my mind all the time. On my mind because somehow, somewhere, at some point in our history we set people aside for things, possessions, wealth, advancement, one-upmanship. Somewhere along the way we hitched a ride on the wrong train with the best of intentions, thinking that if we went where everyone else was going we'd surely be in a better place.
The train was driven by someone else, designed by someone else. It was a complex train. Great "engineers" built it. It took centuries. Sometimes its workings came together almost by accident. Like a puzzle that's missing only one piece and suddenly you find it. A lot of thought went into this train and a lot of modifications occurred along the way. Today this train, in one fashion on another, monopolizes all the "transport" in our world. And this train has brought us to today. August 9, 2010. The Twenty-First Century.
All of us with enough life experience have ideas about this century. Where we're going and what the outcome might be. But one thing is certain, the train we've all been riding on has not brought us to the destination we envisioned when we entrusted ourselves to its designers. To be sure, there have been many sights along the way, many adventures, many good and important experiences. But in the end, we did not arrive at abundance for all. We did not arrive at security for all, health care for all, affordable education for all, housing for all. Our final train stop dropped us on the platform of "pay or perish".
I could add to that last statement, but in truth it is the only one that matters. The time has come to reroute our train. We must design a new model, one that considers the person first and takes in all aspects of that person from birth to death. I.e., natural resources and the health of the environment that sustain human life. Income security. Health security. Educational security. Shelter (home) security. Never must or should any of these be neglected for any reason. Not for any reason. No one goes without. This is not about entitlement programs or social welfare. This is about a new system. This is about turning capitalism (the making of product and profit) to people-ism, if you will. It's about using the design, but changing its destination.
How you say? Not how, I answer, but when!!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Has all the killing stopped the killing?
The big news story for the past two days has been the contract out on an American citizen taking refuge in Yemen. He's tied to terrorist activities in the U.S.
In the past, we knew that America killed people. The CIA has a covert reputation for taking undesirables out one way or the other. In the past, we "knew", but no one admitted it publicly.
However, whether we hide it or reveal it is not the direction of today's blog.
Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and a long list of other tyrants killed undesirables. "No mercy" would have been a fine slogan for their regimes.
Most of these misguided people are dead now and history has been merciless in its criticism and denouncement of them.
When, I ask, did it become acceptable to kill one's enemies on purpose while they're riding in their cars, eating in their homes, or traveling from one place to another.
Honored officials and dignitaries are assassinated, undesirables are killed. One we consider a crime, the other a necessity.
Today's question for pondering: When a person is killed and they are not threatening your life with a weapon, where do you draw the line? What happened to due process? Saddam Hussein had due process and then they hung him. How do you determine to whom you give a fair trial to and who you just outright shoot?
Has all the killing stopped all the killing? Is there another way?
Yes, of course there is. Why don't we pursue it? Perhaps because in a supposedly faith- filled nation we still seem to cling to an "eye for an eye" as true justice for those we deem irredeemable.
In the past, we knew that America killed people. The CIA has a covert reputation for taking undesirables out one way or the other. In the past, we "knew", but no one admitted it publicly.
However, whether we hide it or reveal it is not the direction of today's blog.
Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and a long list of other tyrants killed undesirables. "No mercy" would have been a fine slogan for their regimes.
Most of these misguided people are dead now and history has been merciless in its criticism and denouncement of them.
When, I ask, did it become acceptable to kill one's enemies on purpose while they're riding in their cars, eating in their homes, or traveling from one place to another.
Honored officials and dignitaries are assassinated, undesirables are killed. One we consider a crime, the other a necessity.
Today's question for pondering: When a person is killed and they are not threatening your life with a weapon, where do you draw the line? What happened to due process? Saddam Hussein had due process and then they hung him. How do you determine to whom you give a fair trial to and who you just outright shoot?
Has all the killing stopped all the killing? Is there another way?
Yes, of course there is. Why don't we pursue it? Perhaps because in a supposedly faith- filled nation we still seem to cling to an "eye for an eye" as true justice for those we deem irredeemable.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
I'm a Nomad - by C. S. Lee
I’m a Nomad
I’m a nomad
In a nomad’s land,
A shifting pebble
On the shifting sand.
I’m a wanderer
In a pilgrim’s robe,
Disguised as a beggar
In a painted cloak.
I’m a sinner,
A schemer,
A purveyor of dreams,
Winter’s first chill,
Evening’s first breeze.
I’m an aimless soul
On an arid plane,
Bereft of sail
Or benevolent rain.
I’m a foreigner
In the land of my birth,
Bearing everyman’s ruse
And everyman’s worth.
I’m a prickly splinter
And a driving spike,
Lucid, day moons
And long, black nights.
I’m the all,
Nature’s sum,
Born of many,
Known by one.
I’m a nomad
In a nomad’s land,
A shifting pebble
On the shifting sand.
C. S. Lee
Copyright 2003
Homeless - a poem by C. S. Lee
Asleep am I
In a field of dreams,
Untouched and unseen,
Here and nowhere,
Everyday,
All day,
Without end.
I am
castaway
To your alleys,
Parks,
Shelters,
And soup kitchens.
I am forever among,
But never a part of you.
My name is “Homeless”,
In numbers unmeasured
And unsung.
C. S. Lee
Copyright 2007
The cost of Fear
Today I would like to talk about Fear. The kind that paralyzes the brain and sometimes the body. The kind of fear that all of us know and none of us say we want.
This will be a short Blog. Sometimes, as my daughter often reminds me, more is less.
Fear creates the space for wars, ethnic clensing, bigotry, name-calling, acts of violence, poverty, and a resistance to change.
The opposite of Fear is Trust. Trust cannot emberace war, hate, inequality, and resistance to change.
This is what I would like for you to ponder today. Why is there so much fear? Why is there so little trust?
Have a good day regardless of how much or how little of it remains.
This will be a short Blog. Sometimes, as my daughter often reminds me, more is less.
Fear creates the space for wars, ethnic clensing, bigotry, name-calling, acts of violence, poverty, and a resistance to change.
The opposite of Fear is Trust. Trust cannot emberace war, hate, inequality, and resistance to change.
This is what I would like for you to ponder today. Why is there so much fear? Why is there so little trust?
Have a good day regardless of how much or how little of it remains.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Life is not about what was . . .
Thoughts from New Mexico, May 19, 2010
I vacationed near Santa Fe in mid-May. My first trip to the deep southwest. Since I quasi-camped, I had much time to think and write.
I believe that along the way of our lives there will be many events. For none of them will we be fully prepared. Some we will remember; many more we will forget. We'll cling most tenaciously to the painful days, because in some way that seems most human, they are the ones that rendered us most awake.
In time and with the passing of years, our minds will have difficulty retreiving the tidbits of our life. In our remembering, we will find ourselves adding a line here and deleting one there, until it dawns on the aging mind that only the present is real and even that is an interpretation.
The past happened. It happened to us. But only in fiction can we travel backwards to change or alter it. If it was good, it was very good; and if it was bad, it was very bad. To live in the past is to miss the road ahead. Life is not about what was. It's about what is, here and now. As long as you are present, you have all you need to move forward.
Those who do not make the headlines, but save the world
I spoke with a friend today. She recently moved to Wisconsin to be near her family. She's starting her life over again. She is a brave and remarkable person with an even more amazing heart. People with heart are our caregivers. They lighten our loads, often at the expense of their own needs. Oddly, this doesn't seem to trouble them at all.
My ex husband passed away suddenly in March of this year. He left behind four wonderful children and dozens of people who knew him personally, and undoubtedly hundreds of others whose lives he graced along the way. He was a "holy" man when the concept of holy is falling out of favor. We were divorced far longer then we were married, but we raised four children together, across the miles in later years, he in Illinois and I in Colorado. He was never "not" there for me or for anyone in need. The day of his funeral the Catholic church that had become his home away from home after retirement, was full. The eighth graders from the attached school asked to attend the mass. The visitation was held in the vestibule of the church. We had to bring it to a close before the line ended.
Larry was human thru and thru. Imperfect like all of us and constantly trying to smooth out his rough edges up to the time of his death. On the other hand, he was the volunteer who got up in the middle of night to serve at a soup kitchen, took the wheelchair and otherwise housebound to church and out to a meal, and visited local retirement homes to talk about his passion, flowers and plants. He cooked constantly. His meals were legendary.
He was a family man. Family was everything to him. He was the glue that held us all together. He never judged, never felt better than, never nitpicked over the small stuff, and drove a thousand miles across country at the drop of a hat when I broke my arm and whenever any emergency called for his big bear hug, cranberry chicken, and secret coleslaw. Christmas always arrived with a giant box of gifts, all carefully chosen and lovingly sent.
This man of Illinois never stood on the world stage, but his impact on his corner of our planet was and remains immense.
Of such as he the world is made and because of him and others like him, it rotates safely on its axis. This post today is in honor of Larry who never looked for praise, who thought record keeping was for his music CDs (of which he had quite a collection), that religion was for doing, and that love was free to all open to receive it.
Thank you, Larry. Wherever you are, know that you are deeply loved now and forever.
My ex husband passed away suddenly in March of this year. He left behind four wonderful children and dozens of people who knew him personally, and undoubtedly hundreds of others whose lives he graced along the way. He was a "holy" man when the concept of holy is falling out of favor. We were divorced far longer then we were married, but we raised four children together, across the miles in later years, he in Illinois and I in Colorado. He was never "not" there for me or for anyone in need. The day of his funeral the Catholic church that had become his home away from home after retirement, was full. The eighth graders from the attached school asked to attend the mass. The visitation was held in the vestibule of the church. We had to bring it to a close before the line ended.
Larry was human thru and thru. Imperfect like all of us and constantly trying to smooth out his rough edges up to the time of his death. On the other hand, he was the volunteer who got up in the middle of night to serve at a soup kitchen, took the wheelchair and otherwise housebound to church and out to a meal, and visited local retirement homes to talk about his passion, flowers and plants. He cooked constantly. His meals were legendary.
He was a family man. Family was everything to him. He was the glue that held us all together. He never judged, never felt better than, never nitpicked over the small stuff, and drove a thousand miles across country at the drop of a hat when I broke my arm and whenever any emergency called for his big bear hug, cranberry chicken, and secret coleslaw. Christmas always arrived with a giant box of gifts, all carefully chosen and lovingly sent.
This man of Illinois never stood on the world stage, but his impact on his corner of our planet was and remains immense.
Of such as he the world is made and because of him and others like him, it rotates safely on its axis. This post today is in honor of Larry who never looked for praise, who thought record keeping was for his music CDs (of which he had quite a collection), that religion was for doing, and that love was free to all open to receive it.
Thank you, Larry. Wherever you are, know that you are deeply loved now and forever.
How many hungry children are too many?
In my post of July 27th, I talked about the number of children in American who don't have enough to eat. If you recall, it was 18%. This post is an expansion on that subject.
While waiting for my daughter to complete an errand, I did some math in my head. I've always loved math. Actually, anything I can do with my hands that also engages my brain is fun for me.
Since 18% is so close to 20%, I will make the following statement: Nearly one in five children is financially supported by the other four children's families or caregivers.
According to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau for years 2006-2008, there were 301,237,703 (million) people in the U.S. Of this number 24.5% were children ages Zero to 17.
Breaking that down further, of that 24.5 %, the under five age group was 6.9%, the five to fourteen were 13.3 %, and the fifteen to seventeen were 4.3%.
The actual number of children in the above groups were @75 million. Of this number 18% or 13.5 million do not have enough to eat and undoubtedly get help with other necessities as well. For if food is absent, it would be foolish to suggest that everything else is in abundance.
More simply put, for every person unable to provide any one of the necessities of life--food, clothing, shelter, health care, education--those able to provide it for themselves and their dependents bear the "cannots" debt as well.
While you may think that I'm voting for those who can against those who can't, I am not. In fact, I am not voting for anyone. I am simply telling it like I see it.
It would take a bit of time to determine how many parents or caregivers are attached to the hungry children. The number probably exists somewhere. But numbers just show us "how many", as if we have to reach a threshold before the problem is bad enough to address it.
I propose that one hungry person, young, middle of the road, or elderly, is too many! One is too many! It is not okay that these individuals and children must meet their needs through food banks, better- off relatives, soup kitchens, or food cards.
The last two sentences are the heart and soul of my beliefs.
If the above assistance groups and programs eliminated poverty, then I would be wasting good brain cells. But the above organizations and programs have not scratched the surface. Their efforts are laudable; and over the years have no doubt saved many a life. These generous hearts and spirits keep the poor from drowning outright. They understand that something has to be done and they do it.
But listen folks, in the end, you've only provided the man, woman or child crossing the endless desert with enough water to hallucinate after the next mirage. When they finally see it, they are still poor. Nothing has changed in their lives, not even the mirage.
Those who have more, either because of inheritance or occupation (forget all the other ways money is made; it starts with cash from a source and that source is not important), pay for the those who can't. It is simple math. Family 1 needs emergency care, but can't afford it. Families 2, 3, 4, and 5 have health care. The hospital must go on, the staff must be paid, supplies replaced. The missing twenty percent is added to the costs of those who can pay.
Oh, by the way, poverty is not the fault of the poor, just as wealth is not the fault of the well-to-do. It's not about fault; it's about people. Very few people choose to live on the streets or in poverty just for the heck of it. Certainly not the 13.5 million children living in it now! And this number is skewed by a government formula that designates the "poverty level." Nobody can live on the "poverty" dividing line or even several thousand dollars a year beyond it.
Those better off often bemoan the rising cost of entitlement programs that help the poor; they also bemoan their rising taxes. Why, they say, do I work so hard and see less and less? It's like running a calculator in reverse.
Nobody wins. Nobody. Think about it. Every problem has a solution. One that can benefit all. Why have we not solved this one?
While waiting for my daughter to complete an errand, I did some math in my head. I've always loved math. Actually, anything I can do with my hands that also engages my brain is fun for me.
Since 18% is so close to 20%, I will make the following statement: Nearly one in five children is financially supported by the other four children's families or caregivers.
According to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau for years 2006-2008, there were 301,237,703 (million) people in the U.S. Of this number 24.5% were children ages Zero to 17.
Breaking that down further, of that 24.5 %, the under five age group was 6.9%, the five to fourteen were 13.3 %, and the fifteen to seventeen were 4.3%.
The actual number of children in the above groups were @75 million. Of this number 18% or 13.5 million do not have enough to eat and undoubtedly get help with other necessities as well. For if food is absent, it would be foolish to suggest that everything else is in abundance.
More simply put, for every person unable to provide any one of the necessities of life--food, clothing, shelter, health care, education--those able to provide it for themselves and their dependents bear the "cannots" debt as well.
While you may think that I'm voting for those who can against those who can't, I am not. In fact, I am not voting for anyone. I am simply telling it like I see it.
It would take a bit of time to determine how many parents or caregivers are attached to the hungry children. The number probably exists somewhere. But numbers just show us "how many", as if we have to reach a threshold before the problem is bad enough to address it.
I propose that one hungry person, young, middle of the road, or elderly, is too many! One is too many! It is not okay that these individuals and children must meet their needs through food banks, better- off relatives, soup kitchens, or food cards.
The last two sentences are the heart and soul of my beliefs.
If the above assistance groups and programs eliminated poverty, then I would be wasting good brain cells. But the above organizations and programs have not scratched the surface. Their efforts are laudable; and over the years have no doubt saved many a life. These generous hearts and spirits keep the poor from drowning outright. They understand that something has to be done and they do it.
But listen folks, in the end, you've only provided the man, woman or child crossing the endless desert with enough water to hallucinate after the next mirage. When they finally see it, they are still poor. Nothing has changed in their lives, not even the mirage.
Those who have more, either because of inheritance or occupation (forget all the other ways money is made; it starts with cash from a source and that source is not important), pay for the those who can't. It is simple math. Family 1 needs emergency care, but can't afford it. Families 2, 3, 4, and 5 have health care. The hospital must go on, the staff must be paid, supplies replaced. The missing twenty percent is added to the costs of those who can pay.
Oh, by the way, poverty is not the fault of the poor, just as wealth is not the fault of the well-to-do. It's not about fault; it's about people. Very few people choose to live on the streets or in poverty just for the heck of it. Certainly not the 13.5 million children living in it now! And this number is skewed by a government formula that designates the "poverty level." Nobody can live on the "poverty" dividing line or even several thousand dollars a year beyond it.
Those better off often bemoan the rising cost of entitlement programs that help the poor; they also bemoan their rising taxes. Why, they say, do I work so hard and see less and less? It's like running a calculator in reverse.
Nobody wins. Nobody. Think about it. Every problem has a solution. One that can benefit all. Why have we not solved this one?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Take a moment to look, listen and feel
It is a warm cloudy day today. August quickly approaches. Soon a new school year will begin.
I was raised Catholic in Illinois. Raised at a time when every question had an answer supplied by someone else. I was a gullible child, much like a sponge that you kept filling up and wringing our now and then so that you could pour more in.
My gulliblness lead me through the first 37 years of my life and then I made decisions that forced me to leave my "scripted" life behind. I did everything everybody said I was supposed to do and then one morning I woke up and realized that I had not been truly "present" in my own life at all.
Life is a strange place sometimes. Strange in the sense that you think you see and hear what's going on around you, but truth is, you don't.
To "open ones eyes" is to see beyond the obvious; to hear what another says, is to listen beyond the words; to understand another person, you must set aside all you've learned from others and start anew.
The world ahead will be filled with people, just like it is now. But I believe that those people must see, hear, and get to know each other differently than we do today.
When my past ways of doing things no longer worked, I fumbled in the "dark" for years, slipping back into shoulds every other moment. I'm still not rid of all the thoughts that were never my own, but I'm getting there.
The next time you see a stranger, or better still, someone you think you know, step back a moment and really see, listen and most of all feel. Open yourself to the other person and set yourself aside. "Walk" for a moment in their world.
To live is to engage in and give to the world about you. One action allows and the other shares.
Have a wonderful day.
I was raised Catholic in Illinois. Raised at a time when every question had an answer supplied by someone else. I was a gullible child, much like a sponge that you kept filling up and wringing our now and then so that you could pour more in.
My gulliblness lead me through the first 37 years of my life and then I made decisions that forced me to leave my "scripted" life behind. I did everything everybody said I was supposed to do and then one morning I woke up and realized that I had not been truly "present" in my own life at all.
Life is a strange place sometimes. Strange in the sense that you think you see and hear what's going on around you, but truth is, you don't.
To "open ones eyes" is to see beyond the obvious; to hear what another says, is to listen beyond the words; to understand another person, you must set aside all you've learned from others and start anew.
The world ahead will be filled with people, just like it is now. But I believe that those people must see, hear, and get to know each other differently than we do today.
When my past ways of doing things no longer worked, I fumbled in the "dark" for years, slipping back into shoulds every other moment. I'm still not rid of all the thoughts that were never my own, but I'm getting there.
The next time you see a stranger, or better still, someone you think you know, step back a moment and really see, listen and most of all feel. Open yourself to the other person and set yourself aside. "Walk" for a moment in their world.
To live is to engage in and give to the world about you. One action allows and the other shares.
Have a wonderful day.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What is the price of a life?
Over the past few days (it happens quite regularly actually) I listened to a couple of news stories that made me reflect upon the role of money in our lives.
The first news story on NPR--I am a longtime listener--was about a small town doctor who said that she was unable to buy whooping cough vaccine for her patients because she couldn't afford the upfront outlay of cash. Being "allergic to debt," as she put it, she decided not to offer the immunizations. Her office is in California, which is experiencing a nasty rash of whooping cough cases that have resulted in deaths of youngsters.
The second story had to do with a rise in the numbers of poor children in Colorado. The story was quick to point out that the data was from 2008 and it was unknown if it had changed favorably or unfavorably since then. The story said that on the upside, we have fewer teen pregnancies and our students fair better than some of their counterparts in other parts of the country. Overall, the report concluded, 18 percent of American children live in poverty. Eighteen percent. In America. This percentage also includes parents and caregivers, which would expand that number even more.
Today I would like to ask you this? When did money become more important than people? Is poverty unsolvable? Will it always be with us? I propose that poverty exists because we allow it to exist. While I applaud soup kitchens, food pantries, Medicaid, WIC, food stamp cards, and non-profits that address poverty and the poor, these are just a band aid, a way of settling for something that the great genius of this world could solve in a heartbeat?
Does it not trouble you that you have no real job security anywhere? That, as our recent economic woes point out, we are all at the mercy of the market and the dollar, or Euro, or Yen, or Ruble, or whatever currency you carry?
Think about it. What kind of world would you like to live in? What would it take? People first? Cost last?
The first news story on NPR--I am a longtime listener--was about a small town doctor who said that she was unable to buy whooping cough vaccine for her patients because she couldn't afford the upfront outlay of cash. Being "allergic to debt," as she put it, she decided not to offer the immunizations. Her office is in California, which is experiencing a nasty rash of whooping cough cases that have resulted in deaths of youngsters.
The second story had to do with a rise in the numbers of poor children in Colorado. The story was quick to point out that the data was from 2008 and it was unknown if it had changed favorably or unfavorably since then. The story said that on the upside, we have fewer teen pregnancies and our students fair better than some of their counterparts in other parts of the country. Overall, the report concluded, 18 percent of American children live in poverty. Eighteen percent. In America. This percentage also includes parents and caregivers, which would expand that number even more.
Today I would like to ask you this? When did money become more important than people? Is poverty unsolvable? Will it always be with us? I propose that poverty exists because we allow it to exist. While I applaud soup kitchens, food pantries, Medicaid, WIC, food stamp cards, and non-profits that address poverty and the poor, these are just a band aid, a way of settling for something that the great genius of this world could solve in a heartbeat?
Does it not trouble you that you have no real job security anywhere? That, as our recent economic woes point out, we are all at the mercy of the market and the dollar, or Euro, or Yen, or Ruble, or whatever currency you carry?
Think about it. What kind of world would you like to live in? What would it take? People first? Cost last?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Why are we still choosing War?
Good morning! It looks to be a beautiful day in Colorado. High blue skies and not a breath of breeze. I'm predicting a warm one. 'Tis summer and there's no going back.
Today I am going to go to war. Not in the real sense, but in the rhetorical sense--words and pictures only.
War has been with us forever. We humans know no other "format" for achieving our goals when our goals are at odds with our neighbor's. For centuries men, women and children have lived through and died in war. No matter how much we may hate it, it continues.
I ask why? And I reply, it's because it’s what we know. It's what we've always done. But again, I ask why? Here the answer is not so easily given.
How do we stop war? Do we really want to stop war? Therein may the answer lie.
You say: of course we want to stop war. It's awful.
I myself grew up during Vietnam. I watched it on the nightly news. I saw the Vietnamese monks set themselves aflame. I saw our soldiers come home to anti-war and anti-military parades, sitins and riots. Many of those veterans have yet to recover their sense of self and self worth.
War is hell on earth! There is no other way to describe it, and yet we continue on. We invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. The World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane that dropped from the sky in Pennsylvania demanded it. It's what we do. Seven years later it's what we're still doing. Four thousand lives have been lost on the side of the invading force. Ten of thousands of Iraqis and innocent bystanders have lost their lives as well.
There are many views about war. All of them valid. All of them true at one time or the other. World War I should never have happened, and once started, should never have continued. World War II grew out of the need to punish Germany at Versailles. WW II had to go forward. Hitler had to be stopped.
As I draw this day's posting to a close, I would like for you to think not about whether or not there were times in history when war was inevitable, but why now, with all we know and have seen and experienced, it continues still. Why nations spend lives, soldiers and civilians alike, forget the trillions of dollars that follow them to the grave.
Below is a poem I wrote. I was inspired to write it when I saw a Civil War Statue in a local cemetery. So stark was the young man's fatigue and sadness that I could not move on until I'd tried to capture it in words. This poem speaks to the fallen warriors of all times.
Today I am going to go to war. Not in the real sense, but in the rhetorical sense--words and pictures only.
War has been with us forever. We humans know no other "format" for achieving our goals when our goals are at odds with our neighbor's. For centuries men, women and children have lived through and died in war. No matter how much we may hate it, it continues.
I ask why? And I reply, it's because it’s what we know. It's what we've always done. But again, I ask why? Here the answer is not so easily given.
How do we stop war? Do we really want to stop war? Therein may the answer lie.
You say: of course we want to stop war. It's awful.
I myself grew up during Vietnam. I watched it on the nightly news. I saw the Vietnamese monks set themselves aflame. I saw our soldiers come home to anti-war and anti-military parades, sitins and riots. Many of those veterans have yet to recover their sense of self and self worth.
War is hell on earth! There is no other way to describe it, and yet we continue on. We invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. The World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane that dropped from the sky in Pennsylvania demanded it. It's what we do. Seven years later it's what we're still doing. Four thousand lives have been lost on the side of the invading force. Ten of thousands of Iraqis and innocent bystanders have lost their lives as well.
There are many views about war. All of them valid. All of them true at one time or the other. World War I should never have happened, and once started, should never have continued. World War II grew out of the need to punish Germany at Versailles. WW II had to go forward. Hitler had to be stopped.
As I draw this day's posting to a close, I would like for you to think not about whether or not there were times in history when war was inevitable, but why now, with all we know and have seen and experienced, it continues still. Why nations spend lives, soldiers and civilians alike, forget the trillions of dollars that follow them to the grave.
Below is a poem I wrote. I was inspired to write it when I saw a Civil War Statue in a local cemetery. So stark was the young man's fatigue and sadness that I could not move on until I'd tried to capture it in words. This poem speaks to the fallen warriors of all times.
 |
| The Soldier "Death has passed thru mine eyes and rid my soul of false beliefs" Naked I am, Though Clothed I be, Where resides The once was, Me? I am the ghost In grassy fields, ‘side monuments Where mourners kneel. I am your conscience And your dreams, Promises made, Yet unredeemed. I am the soldier Gone to war, Bronzed in blood, Paled by gore, The once was youth That is no more. I am the sum, The might have beens, And now, The never be. I am the soldier Cast in stone For all eternity. C. S. Lee Copyright 2009 The end to war is possible. It begins with you and me. |
Sunday, July 25, 2010
A more hospitable and kindly planet
I spent the afternoon working on those documents we all think about but try to put off as long as possible. I am speaking of last wills and testaments, powers of attorney, living wills, and what you'd like your funeral to look like when you're no longer around to give directions.
I proffer the above with a bit of "tongue in cheek", but the truth is, these documents are a major undertaking. I've spent hours going over the wording, thinking and then rethinking what I want while I'm alive and what I want when I'm not.
I'm old enough to see death as a real possibility and not just something that happens to others instead of me. The recent death of a former spouse caught me by surprise and not too gently told me "it was time."
This Blog, however, is not about wills, or powers of attorney, or DNR orders. It's about the future, yours and mine, for as long as we're here and, in truth, after we're gone. Simply put: Did we leave behind a hospitable and kindly planet?
I've made a promise to myself to write in my blog every chance I get. I write for me, as all writers do, even those who won't admit it. It's a way to clear my head of its constant influx of thoughts. You might say that my brain is on 24/7 and you are the lucky or unluky recipient of its overflow.
Today, while taking my Sunday walk, I passed a young couple weeding their garden, which was actually their front yard. They smiled and said hi, and I replied in kind. It was the second front yard garden I'd experienced in three days.
Amazing people make up our world. The majority of which are decent, hardworking, kind hearted people. I'm not saying that gardening in and of itself will transform the world, but I am saying that there are a lot of individuals and families out there working to make our world a better place. Doing things that never make the news, never even make it beyond their neighborhoods or front doors.
I like to think that the world ahead is going to be a more compassionate place. I choose to believe that we're beginning to see that we're not just one country or continent, but that we're one world and we're all in this together.
Imagine if we saw ourselves simply as World Citizens and national boundaries dissolved. Who would we go to war with? If it were World Debt and not U.S. or Greek, or U.K. debt, who would we go to for salvation? Maybe we'd have to all pull together as a whole, instead of each country trying to do it on its own.
Anyway. It's Sunday evening and I've rambled in your presence long enough. Have a good week. Find the sun behind the clouds--it's there. Be on the lookout for the good news--it's there too.
I proffer the above with a bit of "tongue in cheek", but the truth is, these documents are a major undertaking. I've spent hours going over the wording, thinking and then rethinking what I want while I'm alive and what I want when I'm not.
I'm old enough to see death as a real possibility and not just something that happens to others instead of me. The recent death of a former spouse caught me by surprise and not too gently told me "it was time."
This Blog, however, is not about wills, or powers of attorney, or DNR orders. It's about the future, yours and mine, for as long as we're here and, in truth, after we're gone. Simply put: Did we leave behind a hospitable and kindly planet?
I've made a promise to myself to write in my blog every chance I get. I write for me, as all writers do, even those who won't admit it. It's a way to clear my head of its constant influx of thoughts. You might say that my brain is on 24/7 and you are the lucky or unluky recipient of its overflow.
Today, while taking my Sunday walk, I passed a young couple weeding their garden, which was actually their front yard. They smiled and said hi, and I replied in kind. It was the second front yard garden I'd experienced in three days.
Amazing people make up our world. The majority of which are decent, hardworking, kind hearted people. I'm not saying that gardening in and of itself will transform the world, but I am saying that there are a lot of individuals and families out there working to make our world a better place. Doing things that never make the news, never even make it beyond their neighborhoods or front doors.
I like to think that the world ahead is going to be a more compassionate place. I choose to believe that we're beginning to see that we're not just one country or continent, but that we're one world and we're all in this together.
Imagine if we saw ourselves simply as World Citizens and national boundaries dissolved. Who would we go to war with? If it were World Debt and not U.S. or Greek, or U.K. debt, who would we go to for salvation? Maybe we'd have to all pull together as a whole, instead of each country trying to do it on its own.
Anyway. It's Sunday evening and I've rambled in your presence long enough. Have a good week. Find the sun behind the clouds--it's there. Be on the lookout for the good news--it's there too.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Speak your Mind
It is 4:00AM, give or take a few seconds. The birds are not yet awake, but will be soon. Darkness is great at night for sleeping, but not so great when one has a bit of insomnia.
The moths are returning to Colorado. Not the ones that ate holes in wool sweaters in Illinois when I was a child. The kind that just jump out at you from behind curtains and coats, as skittish as you are made skittish by them.
As I watched one flit to and fro across my window blinds, I wondered if they wander into the house when you open a door or window or if they just lay their eggs somewhere and hatch at will.
When one is up before the sun, one tends to ramble. So ramble I do. However, since this blog is actually about something, something important from my point of view, I will move on to other more poignant thoughts.
A couple of days ago a colleague of my commented on the recently passed extension on unemployment benefits. He suggested that it might be better if the bill had not passed. "There are plenty of jobs out there," he said. He went on to add that unemployment checks don't motivate people to look for jobs in the same way that their absence does. He also mentioned "entitlement" programs. Those federal, state and local programs that give money in one form or other to the down and out.
Although I am a person with strong opinions, I will refrain here from voicing mine. What I really would like to know is what is your opinion? Are you unemployed? How long? Does unemployment pay the bills? Do you prefer to get a check and take a little "vacation" from the work world? Are there really jobs out there? And would you take any job offered, even if it were not enough to feed you or your family (should you have one)? And what about entitlement programs? Food stamps? Medicaid? WIC? SSI and SSD? and so forth?
My conversation with my colleague made me realize that we live in a complex world with many views. That the change each of us wants to see one day has, in the past, often come at the expense of another who did not agree. That opinions and ideas are the fire that lights the flame that keeps us going as a civilization. The more opinions the better, perhaps.
When I was small, my mother hung her laundry out on the line, summer, spring, winter and fall. It baked in the heat and humidity of summer and froze in the cold and humidity of winter. But, oh, how fresh it smelled, even if the towels were a bit stiff.
I applaud my colleague for his forthrightness. He was being honest and sincere. The truth is, we all have thoughts about the world around us. Not just the politicians on the world stage, but each and every one of us.
I encourage you to speak your mind (and here is where I inject a personal suggestion) as long as you leave the weapons, anger and judgment behind. I also might add that it pays to listen, really listen to what others are saying. Sometimes in that moment of silence we hear for the very first time.
The moths are returning to Colorado. Not the ones that ate holes in wool sweaters in Illinois when I was a child. The kind that just jump out at you from behind curtains and coats, as skittish as you are made skittish by them.
As I watched one flit to and fro across my window blinds, I wondered if they wander into the house when you open a door or window or if they just lay their eggs somewhere and hatch at will.
When one is up before the sun, one tends to ramble. So ramble I do. However, since this blog is actually about something, something important from my point of view, I will move on to other more poignant thoughts.
A couple of days ago a colleague of my commented on the recently passed extension on unemployment benefits. He suggested that it might be better if the bill had not passed. "There are plenty of jobs out there," he said. He went on to add that unemployment checks don't motivate people to look for jobs in the same way that their absence does. He also mentioned "entitlement" programs. Those federal, state and local programs that give money in one form or other to the down and out.
Although I am a person with strong opinions, I will refrain here from voicing mine. What I really would like to know is what is your opinion? Are you unemployed? How long? Does unemployment pay the bills? Do you prefer to get a check and take a little "vacation" from the work world? Are there really jobs out there? And would you take any job offered, even if it were not enough to feed you or your family (should you have one)? And what about entitlement programs? Food stamps? Medicaid? WIC? SSI and SSD? and so forth?
My conversation with my colleague made me realize that we live in a complex world with many views. That the change each of us wants to see one day has, in the past, often come at the expense of another who did not agree. That opinions and ideas are the fire that lights the flame that keeps us going as a civilization. The more opinions the better, perhaps.
When I was small, my mother hung her laundry out on the line, summer, spring, winter and fall. It baked in the heat and humidity of summer and froze in the cold and humidity of winter. But, oh, how fresh it smelled, even if the towels were a bit stiff.
I applaud my colleague for his forthrightness. He was being honest and sincere. The truth is, we all have thoughts about the world around us. Not just the politicians on the world stage, but each and every one of us.
I encourage you to speak your mind (and here is where I inject a personal suggestion) as long as you leave the weapons, anger and judgment behind. I also might add that it pays to listen, really listen to what others are saying. Sometimes in that moment of silence we hear for the very first time.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Blog One - An Introduction to the "Philosophy of Choice"
Good morning! It's a beautiful day in Colorado. Light, wispy clouds and pale blue skies. A slight breeze rustles through the large tree outside my living room window. The grass is green; the shadows of of the early morning sun working their way west to the mountains.
It is a morning of abundance. It cost me not a cent to look out my window and take in the view. To feel the air weaving its way through my screen. To watch the sun rise and settle in.
Today is also the first day of my Blog. I just finished watching "Julie and Julia", the movie. I was inspired. Like Julie, I have written, but am yet unpublished. However, unlike Julie, I am a writer and an author even though I can be found on no book list.
And so begins my real purpose here. The reason for this particular blog at this particular place in time.
I am who I am, not because someone out there tells me it's so, but because I know it to be true inside me. At the core of me.
The world according to L. Lee (that's me) believes that our future has the potential to be an amazing place. It begins with choice. Personal choice--yours and mine--and collective choice, hand in hand with the nearly 7 billion people who share this earth with us.
So, for today, think about Choice. Life is all about Choice. And our future is ONLY about Choice. Everyone is included. No one is excluded.
It is a morning of abundance. It cost me not a cent to look out my window and take in the view. To feel the air weaving its way through my screen. To watch the sun rise and settle in.
Today is also the first day of my Blog. I just finished watching "Julie and Julia", the movie. I was inspired. Like Julie, I have written, but am yet unpublished. However, unlike Julie, I am a writer and an author even though I can be found on no book list.
And so begins my real purpose here. The reason for this particular blog at this particular place in time.
I am who I am, not because someone out there tells me it's so, but because I know it to be true inside me. At the core of me.
The world according to L. Lee (that's me) believes that our future has the potential to be an amazing place. It begins with choice. Personal choice--yours and mine--and collective choice, hand in hand with the nearly 7 billion people who share this earth with us.
So, for today, think about Choice. Life is all about Choice. And our future is ONLY about Choice. Everyone is included. No one is excluded.
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