Maybe I'd also have trouble in a co-op system? I did live in a graduate co-op
during my first year of social work school at the University of Michigan. I
didn't find it too restrictive, but I moved to an apartment with three other
people for the third semester, and then to an apartment by myself for the last
semester. I think that having all of those people around was a problem for me.
I do like my privacy. But if we're talking about sustainable systems for the
future, the one we have, clearly isn't working and people are going to have to
live and work together cooperatively to make it work.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2019 1:46 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Isolating the Elderly: Is It an act of kindness?
or just good business.
I remember thinking, from a distance, that the kibbutzim seemed a step in the
right direction. My coworker, Walter Kiksmann, returned to Germany, to his
home town, taking his wife and mother-in-law, in order to take advantage of an
offer by the German government to pay a monthly pension to those Jews who moved
home. But he wrote me saying that "home" was not the same as when they had
fled back in 1937, so they were moving to Israel to a kibbutzim. About two or
maybe three years later Walter called me. He and his wife, her mother had
died, were now back in Seattle at the Nettleton Apartments, where they had
lived for so many years. When I asked why the kibbutzim did not satisfy them,
he said there were too many restrictive rules.
I think of Walter from time to time, when I'm singing the praises of Co-ops.
As a person who could not live buy the rules of any Church Institution, the
Democratic Party, the National Federation of the Blind, Capitalism or Marxist
government, I have to wonder why life would be better in a co-op system.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/20/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So after I wrote the last message on this subject, I began thinking
about when the State of Israel was first proclaimed. One of the
reasons that it was beloved by Leftists, was its kibbutzim which were
self sustaining agricultural communes. So here's a vision to add to
that Green New Deal video that I forwarded to the list the other day.
Communes in which people live together, work together to fill their
needs, and care for the children, the elderly, and the disabled,
communally. State Socialism has never particularly appealed to me, but
small commonly owned businesses and socialist communities seem to be
where we should be going. The only way to rid ourselves of impersonal,
uncaring systems is to go small and socialist.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2019 12:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Jennifer Ford <dandjford88@xxxxxxxx>; jamesjarvis98
<jamesjarvis98@xxxxxxxxx>; brianandrenae@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Isolating the Elderly: Is It an act of
kindness? or just good business.
Absolutely right, Miriam.
While our imaginations have us back in the late 1800's, down on the
farm, small town USA, extended families, over the river and through
the woods to grandmother's house we go, our real world has changed to
the point that many of our basic values, once believed to be handed to
us by God Almighty, no longer apply.
When I first entered college in 1954, my Sociology professor talked
about the shift from the "Extended Family", to the "Nuclear Family".
That began with a mother, a father and 3.5 children. In a quick move
that nuclear family became, A Parent or Guardian and those for whom
they are responsible.
Today we have trimmed down to a definition of a single unit. The
Libertarian. I'm for me, First, Last and Always Me! Self Serving.
"Get it while the getting's good". "Them what has, gets".
And so what appears to be an act of kindness and generosity, building
a pretty prison for our Seniors, turns out to be linked to our move
toward Isolated Libertarian ism.
Of course it's a complex situation, not clear cut. Since we are
driven by our Capitalistic Culture, it is important that we place a
monetary value on everything. We exploit our children, our health,
and our Seniors. At the rate we're changing, the day will come when
we will simply dispose of any part of our population that cannot generate
profit.
But back to those long forgotten days of the 40's and 50's when
grandma or grandpa had a back bedroom in the family house. And often
times it was actually their own house. But they were a problem,
cleaning up after them, feeding them, listening to them bitch and
complain. We convinced ourselves that it was for their own good to
move into a "Senior's Center", where they could "enjoy" retirement
with other folks of similar age. Financial investors saw this as an
opportunity to turn a buck. Build a fancy facility and then put it on
the market. Large corporations began to figure how to squeeze profit
out of these Elder Care Facilities by cutting corners just a
little...at first. We've seen, over the past 25 years, beautiful,
well staffed facilities trimmed back to bare bones. Light housekeeping
extended from weekly, to twice a month. Activity
directors terminated. Office staff reduced to part time. Dining
room servers replaced by volunteer high school students. The list
goes on, anywhere a corner can be cut. But worst of all is the fact
that these Seniors have been placed outside of their communities.
They are in a pretty prison. A few "busy" activities, but no real
purpose in life. Just waiting for the grim reaper to wander through.
One day Cathy and I entered the Willows, an upper end Senior Apartment
Facility, with all the amenities, and we beheld the most beautiful
display of quilts. It was the culmination of a quilting contest. At
the time I said to Cathy, "next thing you know, they'll be selling the
quilts to pay for some of the "free" services." About ten years later
we entered the same building and beheld the display of quilts and
other home made items, with price tags on them. The money from the
sales of these items would go toward paying the building's van driver.
This service had been provided as part of the huge rent folks paid,
but had to be cut back because of the cost. One client told us that
she had been there for five years, and each year her rent had gone up
$50 a month. In five years she was paying $250 per month more than
her original rent. But her fixed income had barely increased. She
feared she would not be able to afford another increase.
And here's the sad news. Many of these folks living in the Senior
Apartments are good, lifelong Republicans.
My grandma Ludwig(1892-1985)proudly said, "I'm an Abraham Lincoln
Republican". But old Abe had been dead 27 years prior to Grandma's birth.
Abe would not have recognized the world Grandma lived in.
Which reminds me, I just deleted a Spam Message telling me that FBI
statistics show that States with laws permitting concealed weapons,
have 8.5% lower crime rates than those States without such laws. Of
course the note was placed by a company selling me hand guns and
ammunition via the internet.
What a delightful plan! We really ought to drop any age limits to
purchasing guns. After all, it seems that Idiocy knows no age limits.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/20/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
Those luxury facilities for the elderly which you mention and which,
immediately deteriorate because of lack of funding, they are the
symbol of how our society feels about the elderly. Everyone else is
so busy making a living, trying to care for themselves and their
children, that segregating old people has seemed like a perfect
answer. That doesn't happen in traditional cultures and it never used
to happen here. Jusst as children were integrated into families, so
were the elderly. Now we talk about child care and elder care. It's a
sign of the times. It's a whole change in family kinship systems. And
what kind of work do we honor? We honor tech experts and experts in
finance. We don't honor people who care for our children or our
elderly or our sick. Yes doctors, the people who look at our charts
on computers, but not so much nurses or nurses' aides.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 10:10 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attempted murder
Hi Miriam,
Yes. I do understand. But I'm also driven to do what I can do to
prevent our clients from killing themselves, or others.
Because of our Capitalist System, we are constantly struggling to
make gains in conditions for older folks. We gain a little ground,
and some corporation swallows it up and triples the cost, or shuts it
down as unwanted competiition.
We arrived where we are today, as much through Greed as through
Compassion.
One day we enter a new senior facility full of all sorts of amenities.
A couple of yuears pass buy and some national corporation buys the
facility and begins cutting services iuntil the building is falling
into disrepair and the staff only work part time.
We fight for door to door transportation. We finally begin to see a
system that meets the basic needs of Seniors and Disabled folks.
Then the next budget cuts funding, and it becomes harder and harder
to arrange for basic transportation. But we got ourselves into this
mess, and we'll need to be the ones to get us out. The Ruling Class
finds ways of diverting our tax dollars, insisting that we can take
care of our own special needs. Let churches and volunteer services
pick up the services being cut from our budgets.
It's taken many years to come to such a social mess. It's going to
take a long time to get out of it...if we have enough time.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/19/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
The thing is that we have a society which has been organized to
depend on individually owned vehicles. Becoming old, finding that
one's health isn't as good as it was, losing some eyesight, some
hearing, becoming forgetful, all of that is terribly hard for people
in a world which worships youth and beauty. And then their
independence is taken away. Being unable to drive in our world means
for most people that that you are like a dependent child. I
understand why they will hold onto driving for as long as they can.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2019 8:20 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attempted murder
Roger and Miriam,
I'm assuming that your adventure happened at the time you still had
decent vision.
But it brings to mind many, many stories Cathy and I have heard from
older clients who just can't face the fact that their sight has
dimmed to the point that they should quit driving. Because of never
having had decent vision, I grew up knowing that driving after dark,
or at dusk, or on grey rainy days, would endanger both myself and
anyone within striking range. So I seldom drove, and as a result I
did not miss the freedom which so many of our clients missed. Even
so, because I learned to drive with only one eye, it took a great
deal of energy to "see" all that was going on around me.
Also it took considerable luck.
"Oh, I can see distances just fine," they tell us. "It's just up
real close that things get fuzzy." We patiently explain the impact
on the Retina, and how our brain can trick us into believing we're
seeing more than we really do see, but they are wanting to believe
that they are the exception. "Even if you do see distances well
enough", I insist, "what you miss is the ability to see quickly
enough to avoid disaster in an emergency". And in today's heavy
traffic that is a daily event.
One dark winter evening a year ago, Cathy and I were coming home
after a rather long day. We came off highway 101, onto Snow Creek
Road, our county gravel road, and made the long sweeping right hand
curve up a steep hill.
Suddenly Cathy hit the brakes. I felt the thump. "Oh God!" Cathy
groaned, "I hit a deer. It just jumped from the hill right into our
path". After driving that road since 1987, this was the first
encounter we'd had with a deer...or anything other than a suicidal
bird. As many miles as she's driven, and as sharp as her night
vision is, there was no way of avoiding that deer. Our headlights
confused it and it bolted for the far side of the road, and the
safety of the forest. It rolled and then jumped up and dashed into
the brush.
Hopefully it was just bruised, not damaged fatally.
But our new Toyota Tacoma had over $1,000 damage to the grill. That
repair, which, thankfully, was covered, reminded me of how cheaply
today's vehicles are put together. Inside our truck we feel safe.
But when one bump can cause so much damage, what would we look like
if we'd struck an oncoming vehicle at 25 miles an hour, each?
Carl Jarvis
On 4/19/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I didn't hit him. He jumped out of the way just in time. That image
of him that I have burnt into my brain was the sight of him in mid
leap.
---
Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed
without evidence. ”
― Christopher Hitchens,
On 4/19/2019 9:18 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Other people might not have laughed in that situation. I've never
driven a car, but if it were me, I'd have been horrified that I'd
inadvertently hit someone whom I hadn't seen, relieved that he
wasn't hurt, and terrified about being arrested. I suspect that if
you were African American, he probably would have arrested you for
attempted murder, and you might not be here to tell the tale.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2019 10:10 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Attempted murder
Since I was using attempted murder as an example of how one could
be charged with a crime when the intended crime was not committed
I reminded myself of the time a cop threatened to arrest me for
attempted murder. I tell you this only because I thought you might
find it amusing. In retrospect I do. I was driving along once at
night. I came up to an elementary school on my left and sitting in
the parking lot was a police car with its blue lights flashing,
its headlights on and a door standing open. There was no cop in it
nor outside of it that I could see. That made me curious and so I
was looking at it wondering what was going on. As I passed it I
returned my eyes to the road just in time to see the cop. The
image I saw was burned into my brain and I still recall it in detail.
Right there in my headlights was an airborne cop. He was actually
in the air above the road with arms and legs spread out, with a
flashlight also in the air and detached from his right hand by
several inches, and a look on his face that could only be utter
panic. I hit my brakes just in time to avoid hitting the stopped
car that was partially in the road and partially in a deep ditch.
I could see that the car was stuck and that the cop had been
directing traffic around it, but because I was distracted by his
cop car with all of its lights flashing I did not see him until
too late. It was his leap that I caught part of in my headlights
that saved him, not my application of the brakes. The application
of the brakes only saved me from hitting the car. Once I had
stopped here came the cop from the foliage that he had leaped
into. From his mouth came a flurry of invectives each of which was
preceded by the words god damn. It was god damn idiot, god damn
moron, god damn fool and god damn everything else.
Between the god damns he threatened to arrest me for reckless
driving, attempted murder and numerous attempted other crimes.
Even while all this name calling and threats were going on I was
hard pressed to not laugh.
What struck me as so funny were all the leaves and twigs adorning
his uniform and his hair too. He must have landed in a real thicket.
Amazingly enough, though, he finally said that he had other things
to deal with other than me and he told me to get out of there
before he really did arrest me. I left without even a ticket.
