Safehouse
I went with Mom yesterday to a shelter/center for mentally handicapped children - in part because I wanted to see the sorts of things she does, and in part just because I wanted to be involved. Basically, when she and the people from her organization go to this shelter they inform the people in charge how many volunteers will be coming beforehand, which will then determine how many children get pushed out on wheelchairs for a stroll around the city. It's important to get the numbers right because there have been incidents where not enough volunteers showed up, and some kids had to be wheeled back in. That's got to hurt a lot.
I think my kid was a girl - looked like she would have been in second grade if she wasn't mentally handicapped, and was very skinny. One of the things I was thinking about while taking these kids out for a walk was the reaction of the people on the street. Most people don't want to think about this sort of thing - about people who have to go through life essentially paralyzed.
And like always, my thoughts turned to politics - we've been occupying Iraq for 5 years now, and due to the wonders of modern medicine, people who would have been in body bags in conflicts years ago are instead merely maimed and disabled. But how many legless veterans do I see around Ann Arbor, or Michigan? Given our poor economic situation, there ought to definitely be a fair amount. We've got a great hospital, and a veteran's affairs office. When I asked about it, a lady working there told me they've received less than double digits. Iraq vets are for the most part being hospitalized in Europe, or shitholes like Walter Reed. I'd say people would be forced to think about what this occupation means for them, what it means for humanity when they actually see the human costs of armed conflict.
Additionally, I thought of Safehouse. That was a project I did with AIV in the beginning of sophomore year - essentially, we went and volunteered at a shelter for battered women and their children, doing whatever needed be done such as washing their van, vacuuming floors, organizing toys, etc. They *really* needed us to volunteer, because they were unable to pay us. In fact, they had a hard time maintaining the place with enough staff because of insufficient funding. Now, I've heard many times that the free market is the answer to everything. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ron Paul. If there's legitimate competition, as a company you will make your products better and cheaper right? The desire for profit will pull us up together as humanity.
Yet there is no profit in Safehouse or the shelter I went to with Mom yesterday. None at all. If it weren't for our tax dollars pooled together I believe that this sort of place would not exist. Sure, there are charitable people and I am deeply grateful that they have this sort of heart. But you simply can't depend on charity - the numbers show easily that it's nowhere near enough.
So yeah, that's one reason why I'll never vote for Ron Paul. Yeah, he wants to cut government programs, because he feels they're unnecessary. But no, we shouldn't cut the military (the biggest budget hog), because that's essential and important. How the hell are you supposed to legitimately and effectively shrink government when you're ignoring the biggest elephant (in more ways than one) in the room? How is it essential that we basically spend as much as the rest of the world put together, in this age of nuclear weapons?
I think my kid was a girl - looked like she would have been in second grade if she wasn't mentally handicapped, and was very skinny. One of the things I was thinking about while taking these kids out for a walk was the reaction of the people on the street. Most people don't want to think about this sort of thing - about people who have to go through life essentially paralyzed.
And like always, my thoughts turned to politics - we've been occupying Iraq for 5 years now, and due to the wonders of modern medicine, people who would have been in body bags in conflicts years ago are instead merely maimed and disabled. But how many legless veterans do I see around Ann Arbor, or Michigan? Given our poor economic situation, there ought to definitely be a fair amount. We've got a great hospital, and a veteran's affairs office. When I asked about it, a lady working there told me they've received less than double digits. Iraq vets are for the most part being hospitalized in Europe, or shitholes like Walter Reed. I'd say people would be forced to think about what this occupation means for them, what it means for humanity when they actually see the human costs of armed conflict.
Additionally, I thought of Safehouse. That was a project I did with AIV in the beginning of sophomore year - essentially, we went and volunteered at a shelter for battered women and their children, doing whatever needed be done such as washing their van, vacuuming floors, organizing toys, etc. They *really* needed us to volunteer, because they were unable to pay us. In fact, they had a hard time maintaining the place with enough staff because of insufficient funding. Now, I've heard many times that the free market is the answer to everything. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ron Paul. If there's legitimate competition, as a company you will make your products better and cheaper right? The desire for profit will pull us up together as humanity.
Yet there is no profit in Safehouse or the shelter I went to with Mom yesterday. None at all. If it weren't for our tax dollars pooled together I believe that this sort of place would not exist. Sure, there are charitable people and I am deeply grateful that they have this sort of heart. But you simply can't depend on charity - the numbers show easily that it's nowhere near enough.
So yeah, that's one reason why I'll never vote for Ron Paul. Yeah, he wants to cut government programs, because he feels they're unnecessary. But no, we shouldn't cut the military (the biggest budget hog), because that's essential and important. How the hell are you supposed to legitimately and effectively shrink government when you're ignoring the biggest elephant (in more ways than one) in the room? How is it essential that we basically spend as much as the rest of the world put together, in this age of nuclear weapons?
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