Monthly Archives: July 2023

America Has a Problem, and We Refuse to Face It

Healthcare, News, Politics, , ,
licensed from Adobe Stock

On June 30th of this year, America achieved a milestone that set this year apart from previous years. And no, it had nothing to do with eating contests or Celebrity Jeopardy. No, this had everything to do with how many mass killings we achieved in the first half ot this year. We had 28 mass killings (more than four deaths in one instance) wheras in 2006, we had 27.

27 of those deaths involved guns (4 of which involved AR-15s) and one involved an arson, so this could easily be one of those articles about how guns are out of control. But I’m going to spare you from that. Instead, I want to talk about something more important, a factor that we should have been talking about a long time ago.

I’m talking about mental health.

One thing I’ve always found to be interesting is that after one of these minor massacres, politicians tend to stake them out on specific platforms. Liberals will generally commit themselves to the idea that guns need to either be removed or regulated while conservatives will pretend guns don’t exist at all and say either we need more thoughts and prayers or they will talk about the need for mental health focus.

And then they’ll never mention mental health again.

The reality is that we need mental health coverage and focus for a lot of people who have been targeted as needing such coverage, but in reality that costs money, and one thing conservatives won’t do is spend money, unless it’s to cover defense spending.

And while liberals are generally for mental health coverage, they’re generally not interested in focusing on it as long as their energy is centered on controlling or eliminating guns.

The biggest problem we seem to be facing is that neither side is capable of focusing on more than one issue at a time. But it shouldn’t be hard to see that if we started to focusing on mental health, we might solve one of the bigger problems that has reared in American society.

Let’s look at mental health in recent history: In 1967, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act allowed for those struggling with mental health to be placed in mental hospitals in hopes of improving their mental health. But there were a lot of problems during this period, including horrible methods of treating those in custody. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter created a presidential commission on mental health with the idea of reforming a lot of these procedures. In 1981, when Ronald Reagan became president, he ended the Lanterman-Petris Short Act and pretty much kicked all of the people with mental health issues back onto the streets. Today, we don’t have much of a process with dealing with mental health issues unless police or medical officials can get a patient to admit that he or she intended to cause someone else or themselves some type of bodily harm. Then, and only then, can they admit someone into a medical facility as a danger to themselves.

That’s where we are today and why police services have such a hard time handling risky cases of potential mass killings. Their hands are tied, and the citizens are left fending for themselves.

Unfortunately, the only way to solve this is to either be viligent all the time (which is practically impossible) or for our elected leaders to do something to protect the people. Either this has to happen from Congress, which is the entity that in all theoretical terms should be the one to make such a thing happen. However, the president can do so as well through executive order, although ironically such an order would be constitutionally appealed by members of Congress and then sent to the Supreme Court, which in today’s environment, would probably reject the order on those grounds. That would leave a challenge to the Supreme Court, but if there’s no court case that is making the grounds to the Supreme Court, then they have no grounds to hear one. It is doubtful another fanciful cake bakery case would make its way to the Supreme Court covering this issue, so that’s not an option either.

In the old days we’d argue that if we wanted to get such a thing done, you’d need to write your member of Congress, but our country now exists within a vacuum, meaning that our representatives rarely respond to our interests any more these days, so one can only wonder if the second half of 2023 is going to lead us to reach another zenith in numbers of mass killing deaths.

For context, in 2019, there were 46 mass killings. We’re now at 28, which means we’re 18 away. I hope we don’t continue this trend. But all I have is hope, which isn’t much considering both hopes and prayers haven’t helped us in the first six months of this year.

America’s Values Are Competing With Our Desires

Economics, News, Politics, , , , ,
Licensed by Adobe Stock

Years back, I was wandering down Powell Street in San Francisco. If you’re not aware of the nuances of San Francisco, Powell Street serves as the Bart connection for most people in the corridor between downtown and the financial district. When the homeless situation started to get out of control in the city, you would expect this corridor would also serve as their hangout as well.

I remember a couple of suits walking down the street when one of the homeless confronted them, asking for money. One of the men seemed flabbergasted that one of the city’s homeless had addressed him and turned to his friend for encouragement after he cursed at the homeless guy. His friend turned back to him and said, not even waiting to take a breath: “When did people become so callous towards other people?”

I’ve often remembered that conversation because I think it was the last time that I heard someone actually evoke concern for those living on the street. Oh, sure, I’ve heard aid organizations talk about needing to help the homeless, but that was the last time I heard it said out loud by someone on the street. Nowadays, if someone tends to see a homeless person, or any person in need, I see them avoid that person, even to the point of crossing the street, if that will help avoid that encounter.

Yesterday, in the New York Times, there was an article about how the heat wave has been affecting Texas. I figured it was probably getting hot in a number of states, but they also reported that 10 people had died in Texas the other day, all because they didn’t have access to air conditioners. I seriously thought about driving to Lowe’s and buy ten air conditioners and drive them to Laredo, TX, the place where the 10 had died. And then I read more. Some of them had air conditoners but were scared to turn them on because of the prohibitive cost. The others just couldn’t afford air conditioners and roasted in their homes with air fans on, not realizing that it just wouldn’t be enough.

But here’s what caused me to want to write this article: Tano Tijerina, the county judge for Webb County (where Laredo exists) said about handing out air conditioners to citizens: “If you’re going to start giving out air conditioners, where do you stop?” he said. “We are an aid, we will help, we’ll assist.” But he added, “we’re talking about people’s tax dollars here.”

And that’s the problem right there. It’s a problem that has been growing for about as long as the United States has been a country.

You see, before the U.S. came along, most countries were monarchies or empires, and it was through their benevolence that they bestowed charity upon those they ruled over. When we came along, we promised to be a rule of the people, for the people and by the people. If you unpack that, what we promised was that our government would be ruled by the people and that those people would take care of the rest of the people.

But notice, that promise didn’t come from the original founding fathers, even if they might have meant it. Those words didn’t come into a hundred years after our nation was formed, from a speech given by Abraham Lincoln, detailing a new America after the Civil War. While his intention may have been that no people should be enslaving other people, he also meant that people with means should look after those who have needs.

And for many years, the country has moved in that general direction, but throughout all of those times, there has always been a group of people with resources who have tried to stand in the way of helping anyone who has needed assistance. Years back, they argued that people should lift themselves up by their bootstraps, even though those of means rarely ever had to lift any bootstraps; they were lifted long ago by families that were rich that allowed them to inherit immense wealth.

Throughout our history, whenever those in power have tried to give a lift to those in need, there has been that swift boot of injustice that tries to intercede and stop it from happening. During the Depression, when many were destitute, there were those who had wealth that did everything to stop FDR from enacting programs to help those in need. They used the Supreme Court to stop every move FDR made. And then FDR threatened to pack the Supreme Court, which caused the very rich to realize that all of the gains they had achieved from a favorable Supreme Court might end, so the Supreme Court allowed FDR’s reforms to go through.

So, why am I talking about something nearly a century ago? Because those people never went away. Oh, sure, they’re different people, but they are acting in the same ways their fathers and grandfathers did. That county judge shows us that those people are still around.

What’s important to think about is what do we consider to be important to the American system of values? On one hand, we have those people who honestly believe that profit is more important than the well-being of our fellow citizens. We’ve been fighting this battle as long as most of us have been alive. It’s so convoluted that at times those with wealth have figured out ways to pitch the fights between groups of people without anything, so that the majority of the attention is spent on irrelevant fights while those with everything laugh while they’re counting their money.

As long as citizens of the United States care more for money than they do their fellow citizens, the point of the United States is irrelevant. We could be any location on the planet and it wouldn’t mean a single thing. People sailed to this country in hopes of starting a new and wondrous life. They didn’t do it because there was new land across the ocean. They risked their lives for something greater than that.

And for centuries, that’s just what we offered them. Now, not so much.

And that concerns me.

The Problems We Solve Are the Problems We Don’t Have to Face

News, Uncategorized, , , ,
Licensed from Adobe Stock

There was an article today in the New York Times titled, “For Ex-Prisoners, ‘Second-Chance’ Jobs Can Be Hard to Come By”, and I think it’s something important enough for us to discuss now, so instead of focusing on billionaires in sinking submarines near the Titanic or on international affairs/wars like in Syria or Ukraine, let’s focus on something a little closer to home, and something that may affect each and everyone of us.

Now, the chances of any of you reading this ending up in jail is pretty slim. Actually, I’m being kind of nice. Statistics from the Brennan Center for Justice indicate that one out of every three adults in America has a prison record. Yeah, I double checked that on another site, and it was correct. Doing some math myself, about a quarter of those arrests were for felonies, which means we have a lot of ex-cons in this country, and if you read this particular article, that’s a real problem.

One of the problems in America is that we’re not a very forgiving country. Oh, we say we are, but we’re not. You spend time in jail, and America kind of turns its back on you, kind of like the Klingons did to Worf when he was banished from Klingon space. Yes, that moment hit me hard, almost as hard as when I realized going for humor in a very serious piece is definitely reading the room wrong. If I was a Klingon, you’d be turning your backs on me and waiting until I left the room. Please don’t do that.

Getting back to seriousness, mainly because this issue is quite serious, I would like to ask the generalized question of “what should we do about this?”

One thing I’ve noticed from a lot of the pieces written and distributed on this site is that people have a tendency to complain about something that’s wrong and then advocate for nothing. Or worse, they advocate for something that’s ludicrous, as in something that’s never going to get done. I read an article the other day that argued that men tend to treat women horribly in relationships; then the writer advocated for all men to be nicer. Really? That was the solution?d I’m sure all those bad boys out there doing bad boy stuff are thinking about cleaning up their acts now.

One of my favorite moments in the Marvel movie Ant Man was when he got out of prison and took a job at Baskin Robbins, serving ice cream. And then he was fired once they discovered his prison record. His friends kept saying “Baskin Robbins always finds out.” And we in the audience all laughed.

I wonder if any ex-cons were in the audience and laughed as well. Well, they probably did because it was absurdly funny, but after some time I started thinking that perhaps there’s something wrong with the way we do things in our society.

The idea of prison is that it is punishment for transgressions. When your sentence is up, you are released and your crime is considered paid for. Sure, there might be probation and all that, but if they let you out of prison, it’s supposed to mean your debt to society has been paid.

But it doesn’t work out that way. Whenever you apply for a job, there’s almost always that section you start to fill out that starts to ask you if you’ve ever been arrested for a misdemeanor or a felony. And if you’ve been lucky enough to not have ever been arrested, I’ve even seen applications that ask if you’ve ever been accused of a felony or a misdemeanor.

I’m waiting for the application that asks me if I’ve ever imagined doing something that might land me a felony or a misdemeanor.

The point is: If you’ve paid your penalty, the punishment should be over. There are very productive citizens who had been locked up for years who are released and find themselves in situations that are impossible to improve. Not everyone comes across a reclusive millionaire who gives him an antman costume to fight crime. No, most ex-cons end up in situations where they can’t even find a job, so the most obvious next step for them is to do exactly what they did that got them the felony in the first place.

So, they end up back in jail.

What deranged mind thought through a system like this that makes it inevitable that someone who commits a crime is always going to end up in a vicious cycle that keeps that person in prison for life? There are some ex-cons who immediately commit another crime that is easy to solve, just so they can get back into prison, a place they at least know how to maneuver with some modicum of success.

And what this problem has led to is an overpopulation of prisoners across the country. And that has led to something extremely unique to the American prison system: For-profit prisons. Realizing that we have so many prisoners, independent contractors made their own prisons and farm their space out to cities, counties and states. Not only that, but they use the prisoners to conduct for-profit labor (the profit going to the guys that own these prisons). Had these prisoners been released into society upon the conclusion of their first incarceration, and been able to find productive jobs, they might never have seen the inside of a prison again, and they might be productive members of society again.

But America isn’t about forgiveness. Just watch an election debate, and you will see both sides of the political spectrum arguing to convince the voters how rough they will make life on prisoners and anyone who transgresses upon anyone. If one candidate talks about reforming the prison system, it’s instant political suicide, and you will never see that candidate again.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase: “Doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same bad result.” Usually, they add that this is the definition of insanity. They’ll also say it’s a quote from Albert Einstein. Well, he never actually said that, but if people keep repeating the same lie over and over again, people start to believe it, which is kind of similar to the quotation in the first place.

The problem isn’t that we do the same thing over and over again, get the same result, and then repeat the sequence. The problem is that we do the same thing over and over again and then never check on the progress, cause if we did, we would realize that our prison system doesn’t work and needs reform.

So who can we turn to if our politicians can’t fix it without being run out of office? For that, I suspect the answer is awareness that there’s a problem because I don’t think people are even cognizant that there’s a problem in the first place.

But there is a problem. So what do we do?

Tom

Uncategorized

I first met Tom in college. But I’ll get back to that in a second.

It was the first day of when I was to attend San Francisco State University. My previous foray into education was a decade prior, and now I was about to do it all over again. Only, this time I decided I was going to do the whole college experience, including living in the dorms, something you didn’t really get when your first run through college was at one of the military service academies.

Anyway, this time they were going to set me up with a roommate, and as it goes, the roommate was going to come as a complete surprise. And boy, did it ever. My roommate showed up and that’s immediately when sparks started to fly. Well, let me explain.

The roommate who showed up was someone with green hair. That should have been my first warning. The second warning was that she was a she. And boy, did that make her angry.

Even though the roommate “choice” was a crapshoot, and none of the roommates actually chose each other, she lit off like a firecracker. Well, more like a firecracker that explodes over and over again.

She immediately blamed me and started yelling at me nonstop, like I had secretly arranged this with my patriarchal cousins who were obviously snickering nextdoor, just out of earshot of her.

This went on for about half an hour before I left the room to retrieve the dorm manager downstairs, and as the two of us came back to the room, she was still yelling. At whom until he returned, neither of us knew, but she continued to be red mad.

So, the dorm manager took her out of the room, at which she started screaming that the guy (me) should have to leave, not her, even though all of my stuff was unpacked and her stuff was still in suitcases ready to be moved to wherever they needed to go.

So, for the first night, I had no roommate. The second night, my new roommate arrived, and that’s when I met Tom.

For my second roommate, they decided to link him with me because the two of us were veterans. He was a former Marine and I was former Army. There was an age difference; he had fought in Vietnam, and my time was Grenada, Panama and the first Gulf War.

Because the timeframe of our first nights on campus coincided with huge bouts of noise on campus, on one evening after lights out the campus band and glee team was practicing at what had to be after midnight in some impromptu blast of music. I just assumed this was a normal thing and struggled to get back to sleep, but then like a bolt of lightning, Tom came rushing out of his room and straight out the door of our dorm. The next thing I heard, he was yelling at the leader of the band, and someone yelled back at him from out there, and then there was dead silence.

Then Tom came back to the room and said, “They’ll shut up now.” And then he went to bed. I never heard another sound from the band again. As no police units showed up knocking on our door, I assumed he settled that problem without any violence.

Over the years, Tom and I bonded as most roommates do when they get along and have a common frame of reference. A few years into our friendship journey, one of my debate partners and I decided we were interested in starting a radio program with the school Broadcasting Department, even though we weren’t part of the Broadcasting Department.

But we couldn’t even get the Broadcast Department to give us an opportunity to try out. But when Tom overheard us talking about the failure of our plan, he said that he knows the director of the Broadcasting Department, and he’d talk to him. We kind of took it half-heartedly but then a few days later, he handed me a piece of paper with the director’s name, a date and a time, saying that he would see us then.

So, my friend and I put together or best elevator pitch and presented it. Next thing we knew, we were told we had some studio time to create our vision and then we could present that as proof that we could do the job.

When we got to the studio, we encountered the first bit of politics in the Broadcasting Department. Everyone in that department was competing for airtime, and as outsiders, we were infringing on their territory. But the director had told them to give us access and one of them took that obligation to actually show us the ropes. So, we finished the demo tape and then had to present our elevator pitch to the students who ran the radio station. They heard us out and then said no.

We were devestated, and Tom listened to our entire group commiserate over how we gave it our best shot, and unknown to us, Tom took the demo tape to the director so he could hear what we had done. The next day, we were given air time and the students running the station hated us forever after that day.

But we had our air time.

Years later, Tom and I remained good friends, and after I published one of my novels, Thompson’s Bounty, about a Coast Guard crew that gets pulled through time to the age of pirates, Tom called me and said that he loved that book and felt it needed to be a movie.

You see, after Tom graduated, he got into the movie industry and was a huge advocate of science fiction. He wasn’t high up in the industry, nor was he ever working to get up high into it. He took those types of jobs that are necessary, but most people don’t generally acknowledge. In other words, if there’s a guy who drives around on movie sets and takes the director around, or picks up the luggage for a cast member, he was that guy.

But being in that position, he was always talking with people who made movies, and he hyped my novel to some of the biggest names, itching for me to send him a screenplay, so he could pass it onto someone who had asked for it.

To put it simply, Tom was my biggest fan, and when you’re a writer, that is such a great thing to have. Every couple of months, he would call me, or send me a message, and he would love to talk about something I had written, depending on what kind of movie he was working on at the time.

I just received a Facebook message that his funeral has been announced and will occur in a few days. I didn’t even know he was sick. Only that I hadn’t talked to him for awhile. And I’m really sad about that. If there was any consistency in the universe, it was that Tom could brighten your day in a few seconds of a conversation. I don’t really mean to make it about me, but I really needed those moments. And now they’re gone.

Well, at least the San Francisco State University drill team can practice at midnight without the fear of some guy from the dorms scaring them half to death.