I Am Not a Piece of Plastic

About 40 years or so ago, while I was earning my Master of Science in Social Work degree at the University of Louisville’s Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work, one of the ongoing dialogues regarded the unjust nature of the “plastic society” that was and is the norm of the United States.

Plastic, as you know, is inexpensive and therefore disposable. So we dispose of all sorts of containers made of plastic, easily broken toys we give to our children, bags in which we carry our purchases, etc. American society has so bought it to the idea that things are disposable that we create even automobiles, appliances, houses, and much more that are made not to be permanent but to be used up and subsequently disposed of as trash. Sentient beings such as pets and even we ourselves have come to be seen as disposable once our society judges them (us) as no longer having intrinsic value.

We Americans have exported this concept that everything and everyone is disposable to the entire world—a world culture that is based on the monetary worth of things—all things—including human beings.

As I have grown older I have come to realize that I am seen as a plastic “thing.” For example, the United States Veterans Affairs bureaucracy has treated me as a commodity negating my humanity. I qualify this statement by emphasizing that, for the most part, this is not true of VA medical staff. It is quite true of those bureaucrats with whom veterans must deal in order to obtain the promised medical care. One of the ongoing “jokes” I have encountered since I began my association with Veterans Affairs goes:

Thank you for serving. Now, how can we fuck you today?

I have experiences of having my humanity denied, of being treated as a commodity by the Department of Veterans Affairs; I have heard many stories from and about other veterans who have experienced similar treatment.

Many of us have sought justice within the VA. The usual result is that our pleas to be recognized as human beings have been ignored. “Rules” are more important to the bureaucrats than justice, compassion, and humanity.

This injustice and dehumanization goes far beyond the federal bureaucracy of the United States. It is in the corporations of this world, using up their workers and then disposing of them like pieces of trash. It is intrinsic to capitalism and the class system of the United States that has been exported to the entire planet. It is a basic cause of poverty; of genocide and slavery; of the abuse of women, children, the elderly, the physically and emotionally ill; of people smuggling; of racism; of every form of human exploitation.  

My request—my plea—is simple: recognize that we are human beings, not things to be manipulated and disposed of like pieces of plastic. This plea is on behalf of all sentient creatures on the earth. We need a prophet to deliver us from injustice and slavery!

(YHWH) said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” ~ Exodus 3.6-10

Here am I, Lord. Send me.

Do You Remember Chaney, Goodman & Schwerner: 48 Years Ago

I wonder how many of us  remember that yesterday (June 21) was the 48th anniversary of the night that three young civil rights/voting rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were brutally murdered in Mississippi.

Have you heard of their murders? Do you remember the incident?  Does it make a difference that again today, the same type of right wingers are trying their best to prevent folks from voting? They -- the right wing -- do not like or trust democracy; thus they are  doing every thing they can to keep people from voting. 

Note the voter suppression measured used by the GOP in the past year: 2011.


If you are a "true American" and support the Constitution (something the right wingers say they and do are but aren't and don't) then help us assure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to exercise her/his voting rights.

Do something! Join with Sometimes Saintly Nick, the NAACP, CORE, and the American Civil Liberties Union to oppose voter suppression:

Click HERE

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. ~  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Amen!

This film was based, in part, on the disappearance of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner:

On Being an Activist

You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea. ~ Medgar Evers

I have been a social and political activist since I was 17 years old. My activism began on the evening of June 12, 1963, while I was at a church camp at Lincoln State Park in Indiana. I can be specific about the date because it was the day that civil rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated.

That evening we built a large bonfire around which all of the campers and staff sat in a circle. A couple of the staff had gone to a local town to buy marshmellows for toasting. While they were away from the camp (which had no radios or TVs), they learned of the murder of Mr. Evers, who was shot down in the driveway of his home in Mississippi. They announced the news to all of us who were sitting around the camp fire.

I did not know anything about Medgar Evers. All I knew of the Civil Rights movement came from watching TV and reading newspapers. At the church camp, however, several of the staff had been directly involved in the Civil Rights movement. They were all seminary students. Two of the staff knew, and had worked with, Medgar Evers.They shared their memories of him along with stories of their involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Other seminary students also shared the stories of their work for civil rights. I soon found that I had tears in my eyes and a commitment in my heart.

I became a social activist that night as we all held hands around that fire and sang Go Down Moses and We Shall Overcome.

Through the years I have marched with other activists, spoken words of justice and peace, organized and chaired organizations, written letters and articles, and made telephone calls. Today my health prevents me from doing much that I did in the past. However, I can still write letters and articles and make phone calls to Congress. And, I can blog.

In the next two months there are two opportunities for activist bloggers to join together regarding (1) climate change and (2) world peace. I invite you to follow the links below and join me in taking action.

October 15, 2009
Blog Action Day 2009: Registration & Information

November 5, 2009
The Peace Globe Gallery

My 2009 Peace Globe