Activism

Should we continue to remind people of what an evil, manipulating and dangerous sociopath Donald Trump is? His followers will never accept any form of truth and the rest of us are living in fear of him becoming President again.

I was reminded of the statement by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller. At first he sympathized with many of the ideas in Nazi Germany, but when Hitler came to power he became a critic and ended up in prison. His words are as relevant today as they were in Nazi Germany.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It goes in cycles. The public conscience gets activated and politicians and policymakers talk about the crisis of homelessness and about how something needs to be done about it. There is a lot of talk, a few stories by major media outlets for a few weeks or months, and then not much changes.

To be fair, there are a number of programs around the country that create housing for homeless people and they do make life better for people as long as there is solid case management support and motivation for people to improve their lives. Brattleboro, Vermont has a number of organizations serving the homeless and, despite growing in capacity and comprehensiveness over the years, they are faced with a Sisyphean task.

Sadly, Vermont has the second highest rate of homelessness in the country. We have a severe shortage of affordable housing, prices for homes that are too high and high property taxes that make it difficult for too many people to stay in their homes as they age and try to live on fixed incomes.

Are you one of the 902?

We are working with Crime Research Group (CRG) on a study funded by the National Institute of Justice to help find people willing to participate in a study about the experiences of defendants of color in Southern Vermont criminal courts. Researchers are looking to speak with people over the age of 18 who have at least one closed criminal case since 2019 that was handled in Bennington, Rutland, Windham, and/or Windsor County. Participants will be interviewed about their experience before, during, and after court.

Our society needs to have a broad-ranging and serious discussion about the issue of when a person might be too old to take on specific responsibilities. We have been tinkering around the edges and the topic comes up more frequently now that the media has started to recognize the fact that the average age of U.S. senators is 65 and that of representatives 58.

Perhaps the most talked about age issue is that relating to President Biden who is 80 and would be 86 at the end of his next term in office. Leading candidate Trump is 77. Most of the leadership in the Senate is well over the 65 average and the infirmity of some members has been noted recently.

Some people might be inclined to rush to judgment when it comes to age and say that there should be absolute age limits for certain public offices. Other people argue that term limits would solve the problem without having to discriminate against people because of their age.

The Sackler family (primarily the Machiavellian Richard Sackler) the people who owned Purdue Pharma the company that promoted and pushed Oxycontin, have evaded criminal prosecution so far. They became big time drug dealers and pimps with a stable of sales whores as they created the opioid epidemic that persists.

A 2020 New York Times article cites a study by the Economic Research Bureau noting that, “And 65 percent of the growth in overdose death rates between 1996 and 2017 could be attributed to the introduction and marketing of OxyContin.” Oxycontin was put on the market in 1996 and it was aggressively marketed by people who showered doctors and other prescribers with gifts and a lot of misinformation to persuade them to give the drug to their patients.

The Sacklers were directly involved in all of the unethical and immoral tactics that surrounded the marketing of Oxycontin. All accounts make it clear that all they cared about was making a lot of money and they cared little for the lives they were ruining in the process.

This is the summer that climate change got real for me, and after reading Richard Davis’ piece a few days ago, I realize I’m not the only one.  It may not be possible for us to solve all the problems of climate change (and environmental damage) that are underway now, but it’s been occurring to that even if the chances seem to be nil, I still owe it to the planet to care and to try to do my best to help out, or at least, not be part of the problem.  And yet, even setting the bar this low, it’s still hard to believe our efforts matter.  

But there’s impetus in numbers, and I was happy to see that the Vermont Progressive Party has decided to start organizing people to work together on the issue of climate change.  Their current project is focused on the state agency of transportation, VTRANS, in an effort to influence their thinking on climate change and how they spend $7 million in federal funds.

I have always felt uneasy watching fireworks displays to celebrate a holiday or a special event. The only reason I have gone to these events is because people close to me enjoyed them. Standing at a spot to view the aerial artistry has made me feel like I am in the middle of a war zone and that is not the way I want to feel participating in a celebration.

I can understand why people love the display of pyrotechnics. The people who put these show on are highly accomplished artisans and it is a tradition that has been with us for thousands of years.

According to the web site 75APA, “Many historians believe that fireworks originally were developed in the second century B.C. in ancient Liuyang, China. It is believed that the first natural “firecrackers” were bamboo stalks that when thrown in a fire, would explode with a bang because of the overheating of the hollow air pockets in the bamboo. The Chinese believed these natural “firecrackers” would ward off evil spirits.

The Windham County Heat Fund, an IRS non-profit, was started in 2005 by me and Daryl Pillsbury. We never intended to create a fund that would keep going for so long but the need never decreases. So we raise money every year and rely on a generous community to do the heavy lifting for us. They always come through and we, and the people we help, are grateful for the support.

This past heating season 81 individuals and a number of local businesses and churches donated a total of $55,542. Daryl and I continue to work for the fund without compensation and we have almost no administrative expenses. The money we raise goes directly to fuel companies.

Though the selectboard knew the motel funding would end, they did no planning. Instead now they are talking about thinking about proposing something.  

BCS has promoted emergency homeless shelters in RVs and campers since last summer. We’ve been saying to the selectboard basically, “We have started a decentralized homeless shelter.  It’s a simple solution to the homeless crisis, but it doesn’t fit any current permitting process. Can you help? ”. They said nothing. In February they began prosecuting us. Now the news says they are proposing the same thing and calling it “dispersed camping”.

Americans with guns are becoming more creative in their pursuit of killing and maiming people. It is an inevitable progression that will only get worse because lawmakers will never enact legislation to put limits on gun ownership. In fact, we may see this country go in the opposite direction as long as minority rule by right wing Republicans rules the day in the courts and in congress.

This year, to date, there have been 160 incidents where four or more people were killed or injured. Last year that number was 647. These numbers have no effect on the people who have the power to change this horrific situation because of the way that our political system works. If you give politicians a lot of money they will do what you want. That is why the gun lobby is so powerful.

When horrific tragedies happen we try to make sense of things. There are never easy answers and the pain of loss lingers for a long time. The recent murder of Leah Rosin-Pritchard, a social worker at Morningside homeless shelter in Brattleboro, creates a sense of loss for an entire community, even for people who did not know her.

She was a caring individual who was trying to make the world a better place. There will never be enough people like her because there are so many problems in our society that need attention. Homelessness is a societal problem that has been around for almost as long as there have been humans on the planet. The faces and the circumstances change but the basic problems remain.

So one thing we can do with the tragedy in our community is to honor Leah Rosin-Pritchard by shining a light on homelessness in our community and in the larger society with the hope that by speaking out we can make little changes that will make a difference in the lives of people who struggle to simply make a home for themselves.