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Vigil tonight at Jamaica Plain church
By adamg on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:20am
The First Church in Jamaica Plain, at Centre and Eliot streets, will be open between 6 and 8 p.m. today "for people to pray, mediate, talk about the recent killings in the neighborhood," Minister Terry Burke says.
A local group, Neighbors for Neighbors, has planned a "lunch-in" in support of the Same Old Place tomorrow between noon and 2 p.m.
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Comments
Action needed
A vigil is OK but we need to work with disaffected youth and figure out what they need and what motivates them to join gangs.
I agree. I will meet you on
I agree. I will meet you on Humboldt Ave later today.
"disaffected youth"?
What do you mean by "disaffected youth" and "motivates"?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a Lord of the Flies issue?
Isn't banding together into gangs, tribes, raiding parties, whatever, the natural state of human adolescent men in the absence of a discipline structure imposed by fathers and other members of the older generation?
I would think the question should be, what stops non gang members from joining gangs, and how can that be made more universal.
Violence makes sense if that's what you know.
A smart physician who worked on youth issues in Boston before decamping to another state once said, "There is no such thing as a senseless crime. It made sense to somebody." At the apex of this picture is our politics, nationally and then locally. I refer to decisions we make on national priorities. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a great slogan I hear on WBUR all the time. It captures a lot in a few words. I believe this is it: "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to ensure that all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives." The teens and 20-somethings who join gangs, pack guns and shoot them at each other literally have nothing better to do. That may sound hard to fathom but, to them, there's nothing better to do, otherwise they'd be doing whatever was better. Young people - all of us - need to have a vision of the future with ourselves in the picture. We need to see a future where we have some degree of love, self-esteem, competence. Where we make a difference. It can be through family, work, church, love, creative expression. Kids are lectured to grow up and act right. But some really can't see a future picture of a successful life with them in the picture. Maybe their parents were absent or unemployed or worse. When you grow up like that, you may not have been exposed to much good in life and feel much self-esteem and you may not be able to see yourself in a happy future. So there may be literally be, in your mind, nothing better to do. A country that doesn't make sure that everyone has health care and doesn't make sure that everyone who wants a job has one is a country that has made political choices to favor entrenched wealthy and powerful interests over lifting up common people. We have that situation now and it's getting worse.
I'm reminded . . .
. . . of that line from "Fight Club"- a movie I didn't get at the time- but I watched recently again- and I found new meaning in it - when the Brad Pitt character gave a little speech in which he said that we are all lead to believe that if we all just work hard enough we will all be millionaires and rock stars and movie actors and have three houses and 5 cars and two vacation homes . . . well that isn't a healthy self image for any culture.
It feels to me like this is a country of 300 million people all just trying to "get theirs" and screw everyone else. We are divided up into these wholly artificial tribes that are not even real- that we actually are encouraged to identify with. Everyone joining up to their little tribe- forming their own code word languages- creating totems and sacred cows and shibboleths- conducting purity purges of our little cult groups and the "ism" of our choice.
I"m basically at the point where I think ALL political ideology is a social disease- a pathology- a delusion of granduer (especially among us men). Anyone who thinks their "ism" has even one percent of the "answers" is insane. I think it is insanity on a mass scale.
What we call "political participation" in this country is actually little more than us sitting around a TeeVee tube watching "ism" dopes debate some narrow parameter of idiocy about fake issues that matter nothing to no one real- and then we get into arguments with people about this nonsense? Allow this crap that isn't real- has nothing to do with our actual lives in any real way divide us? Ever notice how the more local you go in an election the less of that "ism" crap there is? How little it comes into play?
How are things at home?
Local is right. Life is local. The criterion ought to be whether the average person / family is able to have a decent standard of living, i.e. education, health care, food, work, a place to live, a vacation. We are seeing those basics of life pulled out from under millions of us now. Yet corporate America and Wall Street bankers are raking it in. Hmmmm... how can that be?