We absolutely have to remember that although suffering unites, but so does joy. Joyful experiences are as powerful, I think. We just tend to overlook them. I think we need a way to promote joy! Or maybe, promote awareness of joy. We need to celebrate life, and recognize that there are moments of great sorrow and suffering, rather than focus on the pain and see life as sorrow, with a few high points. I guess that's where I hope I'll end up as we move through this process.
The problem, as I understand it, is that sorrow attracts more sorrow. Being victimized sets up a mind-pattern that allows it to happen again. We don't know how to protect ourselves, and we feel like we deserve it.
I did.
I felt like I deserved to be hurt, like I was sub-human, not worthy.
Reading Jan de Hartog has got me thinking about violence, perhaps it's another face of violence. I have been thinking about prison reform a lot lately. Then today I read an article about a 14 year old boy who wore an NRA T-shirt to school. According to the article, this is not against school policy. But a teacher demanded he take it off. The boy refused. He was suspended. The day he returned to school, he wore the same T-shirt, as did many of his classmates - in a show of solidarity. The boy was arrested and faces up to a year in prison.
The corporate prison industry has gotten out of hand. Our authorities spend too much time feeding and enriching the corporation. Perhaps we don't house people 100 feet below ground anymore, but we are back to imprisoning children, and destroying their lives for no reason, except to support the wealthy...
The other problem I have with this is that even though it is about the right to free speech, it reminds me that my attitude toward gun control is changing and making me very uncomfortable.
I have always been a proper liberal and supported gun control. But a few things have made me step back, and think. I'm sharing because I trust your opinion, and because it might help if I see this in writing...
I read something about the government disarming the Indians. That screamed at me. Then I saw a quote about the way the Nazis disarmed their citizens. It bothered me and so I played with it until I came to a few conclusions. First, I don't have any problems with a country having a defensive army. What is morally wrong is an imperial army. The imperial army is why all the countries need a defensive army! The imperial army is out collecting whatever it wants, enriching itself, or its country, no - really, enriching its leaders. On a smaller scale, we have wealthy families functioning as mini-empires. Just as countries arm themselves against our country, we arm ourselves against each other. So it comes back to wealth disparity, and writing laws to protect the rich, and self-defense.
I have finally come to an opinion...the government should not ask us to do anything they will not do. The people should disarm, but so should the government, or the authorities. As long as the rich and powerful are armed with weapons and laws, I can understand why the people feel a need to be armed...
I'm not sure how clear I'm being, but I feel better!
Wondering about the questionnaire, and the balance of fill in the circles versus essay questions. How do we get as much information as possible without making it too difficult to collate data? This is your realm, Sister Scientist!
I love you,
Clare
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