God's Hegelian Dialect Part lII: Reaction

In Part II, I offered my understanding of, and reason for Creation. I also filled in how our human race fit into this grand design. It may be more accurately expressed, “How the grand design was tailored to fit us.” Yet, it seems that we are either improperly made or poorly installed parts in this wondrous system. Whales don't struggle with these issues, neither do axolotls (See images below). One look at this guy and you know that he'll fit in anywhere.

You may also realize that he is part of the whimsical Provision of God discussed in Part l.

Not so long ago, Christendom erroneously placed the Earth at the center of the solar system not by the testimony of Scripture, but by compiled human error and an assumption about what Scripture “should” (by human understanding) imply.

How did such a bizarre twist of reason come to be de facto Doctrine?

In the late second century, a pagan astronomer named Ptolemy of Alexandria formulated the geocentric system which placed the the earth at the center of the solar system with the sun and all other planets orbiting around us. Ptolemy's error remained “scientific” fact and was later adopted as Christian dogma which lasted into the Age of Reason. It made sense to the now powerful Christian hierarchy that God's Creation would place us at the center. The Faithful who dared question Church authority on such matters were at risk of being declared heretics and punished accordingly. It took until 1992 for the Catholic Church to own up to its mistreatment of Galileo who promoted a  heliocentric solar system which placed the sun at the center.

Throughout Church history there have been countless martyrs of science who have paid a heavy price for standing on their God given reason in opposition to Church doctrines. As a result, today there are many in the field of science who hold a grudge.

On the other side of this implied duality, many within the Body of Christ feel that science has demoted humanity from divinely created beings to mere chemical accidents. Scientists who support this worldview will claim that the ekklesia have it all wrong. In fact, it’s been a promotion for humanity from fortuitous chemical accident to quick-witted, mostly hairless descendant of apes. This has not brought solace to those who put their trust in God, and they hold a grudge, as well.

More's the pity, in my opinion.

What I find most egregious about this centuries old feud for the heart, mind, and soul of mankind is how baseless much of it is on both sides.

Scientists under the erroneous instruction of Christian theologians who misinterpreted the first few chapters of Genesis became a smoldering hot spot between these two factions. (Remember that fear and faction do not exist independently.) Genesis was never intended to be a scientific textbook for the Creation. Much of it is allegory as the Jews, who wrote it, understand. Somehow in the original schism between Jews and Christians this minor fact, which turned into major factions, was overlooked.The problems that we struggle with most as individuals, communities, and denominations are the ones we cause ourselves.

I look for harmony where there is discord between science and Scripture. For instance, the Flood story recorded in Genesis 6 correlates nicely with what anthropology calls the "population bottleneck", a time when humans nearly disappeared from the planet. Both worldviews support a near extinction event in our recent past. If we insist that it must include a man named Noah on a boat with all non-marine creatures on-board, then we have ample fodder for discord. But, if we allow the Flood to be allegory of an anthropologically supported event, which I believe it is, it resonates in both heart and mind. A “perfect pitch” I find to be exclusively reserved for God. Here is the common ground we as people of faith, reason, and reasonable faith should be seeking and taking with each other. Instead, religion and reason continue as adversaries both believing it's either one or the other.

While today in the year 2016 (or 5776 by the Hebrew calendar) we, with few holdouts, accept that the earth is not the center of the solar system. It isn’t even a very significant planet when compared to many of our local neighbors. The Earth has only one moon, no rings, no giant spots, or other immediately distinguishing features. One might say our pale blue dot of a planet is somewhat boring at first glance, but God is a Creator who focuses on content over superficial appearance. This may explain why He humbled Himself to come as a man from the rural backwater of Galilee to walk with us, His precious Creation, even when we refused to walk with Him.

Our solar system is nowhere near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. We are out in the boonies of our galaxy, nestled in an unassuming location between two notable spiral arms. Nothing seems to indicate that there is anything important here by our human conception. We'd expect to be up front and center where the Supreme Being presumably “should” have placed us. However, being a bit closer to that “prized galactic real estate” would kill us. The radiation levels near galactic center are far in excess of our capacity. The dead center is occupied by an inactive black hole that if it were active could gobble up our solar system like a snack. We are placed in what seems to be a very safe, quiet backwater, a lot like that undistinguished place called Galilee. This kind of overlooked corollary demonstrates to me that we have a much smarter God than we anticipate, appreciate, or even dare to imagine.

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”, rings as true today as when it was first written. When we look at the empirical data, we have a most (fasten your seat-belts, please) anthropocentric Universe. (Both cosmologists and animal rights activists just found a new common enemy in me. Ah harmony!)

Consider, what this Universe offers us, it meets our every human need from simple matter (which is far from simple) to awesome wonder (quantum levels of complexity beyond the “simple” stuff.) Here we sit perched atop the Animal Kingdom, not by a slim margin but head and shoulders above our nearest intellectual rival. (Animal rights activists hate me even more and evolutionary biologist are now signed on), I feel perfectly capable of pointing out to my loyal opposition that humans are the only species capable of taking offense at my comments. Prove me wrong, but until then…

Q.E.D.

Rather than working with science, many of the cloth have turned against science. Many of the lab coat have turned against a God of seeming irrationality and increasingly scant probability. That is our reaction. We are divided by our beliefs. Partisanship is the glue which divides Theists and Atheists, Catholics and Protestants, Creationists and Evolutionists, Blacks and Whites, Republicans and Democrats, Capitalists and Communists, Monists and Dualists, Christians and Jews, us and all. This is a very poor reaction.

While we may disagree on God or an afterlife, we can surely agree that we will all pass through the great equalizer, the final harmonizer we call death. Maybe we should just "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."* Along the way we might recall that Jesus often evoked quarrelsome reactions from His disciples by providing the right answer to their wrong question.

* The origin of the quote, "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle" is a matter of great controversy attributed from another alumni of Alexandria, Philo of Alexandria, or maybe it was Plato, or John Watson, or Ian MacLaren which is John Watson's real name? 

"Oh, bother!"  ~ Winnie the Pooh (for sure!)

God's Hegelian Dialect Part II: Our Problem

In Part One, I covered The Problem as if the issue were solved, which it is. Both The Problem and The Solution were foregone conclusions an eternity before anything in Creation came to be. They were “known knowns” as Donald Rumsfeld would have redundantly categorized this matter. 

The Fall of Man, as recorded in the third chapter of Genesis, was not only expected, but... (You may want to brace yourself. Fair warning)... necessary. 

Yes, that’s right, I said, “necessary”. The Fall of Man was incontrovertibly, inexorably, and categorically unavoidable. It was an essential part of God's Plan. Now, before you start warming up a burning stake for me to occupy, allow me to explain…

However, for the benefit of the less reactionary readers among us, few though they may be...

• The Tree of Knowledge wasn't placed conveniently within Eve's reach by some design flaw on God's part.

• The “craftiest of all the creatures” didn't appear by parthenogenesis, nor was his craftiness the result of happenstance.

• Eve didn't just happen to be as gullible as she was by chance.

• Adam wasn't so easily influenced by his wife by a role of the dice.

• God wasn't incommunicado whilst the Serpent plied his trade.

If the Fall narrative is true in fact or merely allegory, this leaves us with only one reasonable option, it was planned. So precisely well planned by the Ancient of Days, Himself, that He begot the Solution prior to the Problem, our Problem. 

Now, before you curse God for The Fall of Man, which might have been more appropriately named, “The Trip of Man”, consider what this means. Moreover, consider the Nature of the Supreme Being that Created this most beautiful Universe with perfectly balanced chemistry, physics, and geology to produce our galaxy. Then, consider this God, this Almighty God who placed our solar system out of harm's way at the outside edge of a spiral arm a long distance from galactic center. Contemplate this awe inspiring God who waited the 12.75 billion years for all to be perfect for us to inhabit the place we call home, planet Earth. Mull over this God of Love and Forgiveness and  Provision and Protection, and when you have thoroughly reviewed all of these Works of the Almighty ask yourself, “What's His purpose for all of this, this Creation?”

Are you Stumped? 

Okay, I'll give you the answer…

As any proud parent, He made our nursery beautiful…

Spacious too...

Deep as well...

Plenty of headroom to grow...

We can have company…

Or make it just you and me…

God will be there too. Guaranteed!

All of these wonderful features and everything else we know and love is right here in God's nursery. 

God did a great job, did He?

So, here we are in the safety and comfort of Our Father's beautifully prepared physical nursery for spiritual beings. We are so well provided for that we can envy, covet, and become jealous of each other just like a toddler who always want the other child's toy even when holding an identical toy. We all know that type of selfish, greedy, self-centered child. They are so easy to identify, especially when it's your toy at risk, but somehow when we are that demanding brat we have a hard time taking that blame.

Here, we learn the cost of sin in its fullness. One painful lesson or more at a time. The syllabus covers important subjects like the folly of deception, the sting of betrayal, the bitter fruit of narcissism, the emptiness that a life built on consumerism provides to the dying, and all the other nasty stuff that our broken human nature entails. These are the types and kinds of experiences and feelings that we will need to be complete beings, our finished product, capable and worthy co-rulers with Christ.

Today, there are many Christians praying for the Rapture. They will tell you that they want to leave this wicked, sinful world because they just can't wait to be with Jesus. However, I think that they we're the kind of kids who couldn't wait until summer vacation, or the weekend, or whatever else was off in the future and not happening right now. They miss a lot of life waiting for it to happen. They forget or perhaps never understood that our physical lives are not trivial, they are essential specifically to God. 

The time we spend as a corporeal seed may be ephemeral but it is absolutely vital to our purpose. The horrors we witness, the beauty we experience, the evil we endure, the warmth we share, the pain and the pleasure we feel are all teaching tools for our benefit. The negative experiences; horror, evil, pain, and so many others are often cited as evidence that there is no God or if there is, then He must be a malevolent deity. However, all of these maligned experiences provide us with the most valuable lessons we will ever receive. The lessons we learn through suffering are those we best remember. Indeed, if we never suffered injury, injustice, or betrayal, how would we ever learn forgive?

Today, suffering is something our modern paradigm urges us to avoid at nearly all cost. Pain avoidance is the primary focus of many human endeavors; healthcare, liability insurance, government bailouts, welfare programs, and even copper bracelets with bio-magnets sold on late night television infomercials. All are devised to eliminate or attenuate some form of suffering and all are all based at least partially on fraud. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Pain avoidance is dry-labbing a critical lesson. Without having truly suffered in our lives, how would we ever learn compassion?

Without evil in all its manifestations, how would we be able to comprehend good in all of its far more abundant forms?

Without knowing loneliness, how could we understand what it means to be in relationship, and to desire it?

Without the loss of your life's love, how would we know how to cherish every moment together?

How could we know much of anything that really matters unless we had suffered what it is to lack those very things?

So, that's our Problem. This is our homework problem assigned by the God who is the Solution here in the nursery He built for and with us.

May He bless you for and in all of your work on Our Problem.

God's Hegelian Dialect Part I: The Problem

The Problem

Our relationship with God began with Provision, the stuff of life. You know, the things and stuff that we cannot live without. Stuff like our bodies made of atoms arranged in molecules. None of those bonded atoms forming molecules have ever been alive, but all of them are you, and you are alive. That's not a chemical accident, and neither are you. That is the miracle of Provision, along with food, clothing, cute waitresses, hot tubs, Lamborghinis, and all the other necessities of life.

Okay, I don't really need the Lamborghini. I just want it. Hot tubs, too. The remainder is non-negotiable, and so is Provision. Without Provision, we are and have nothing. Provision is absolutely necessary and all Provision comes from God, even the most negotiable. From the unnecessary and the frivolous to the substance of you, all Provided by the Undivided.

Consider how many atoms you have created from a formless void. None. Everything you and I have, or ever will have is, was, and will be an act of God’s Provision. But why would He do such a thing? What's His angle? What do we owe Him in return? Where is the quid pro quo? That's our human nature at work. Always doubting, always on the defense, always fearing the coup de grace, the killing blow that concludes the negotiation. That is what the human form of grace looks like. We're looking for the price tag, the hook, and eventually the sting. It is God's  Nature to Create each of us as both provided (for others) and provided for (others for us),  the sum of which is our human Provision. The human family which crosses all races, all genders, all ethnicity, all borders, and every other superficial difference which separates thee from me. The whole being greater than the sum of its parts. That is a trademark of God.

Our relationship with God has one more element, another trademark of God. Our Father's desire for our happiness. That desire is called, Lovingkindness. Yes, Lovingkindness is a real word, but unfortunately we find very few applications for it in our modern world. We might feel something similar to Lovingkindness for our children, but our kids are also a point of personal pride for a parent. 


Lovingkindness embodies perfect selfless love, but we are not fully capable of true selflessness. It's not that we don't try or don't desire the experience, but we lack the ability to dispense perfect selfless love. Lovingkindness is not something that we possess in our rather limited collection of “gazoftiks”. Yes, gazoftiks is a real word, too. A real word that my father made up. It means “improvised tools”.  There is an old saying, “If the only tool you have is a hammer suddenly all your problems look like nails.” You don't accomplish much but you're destructive as can be. The Romans and the Temple apparatchik thought their problem could be solved by nails. Three of them to be specific. That's a human trademark.

If we searched for the human face of Lovingkindness, Mother Theresa and Gandhi come close to filling the order, at least our idealized versions of these saints. In my understanding, my worldview, only Jesus Christ makes the grade. In my picture book dictionary the entry for Lovingkindness has a picture of Jesus on the Cross in the moment He said,

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

I neglected to mention that my picture book dictionary has audio. Pretty cool, huh?

Lovingkindness holds forgiveness, as well. It isn't the type of forgiveness which we are familiar with in our legalistic system, our increasingly legalistic families, or our increasingly disparent churches. The Lovingkindness form of forgiveness is preemptive. God has Provided the solution for the problem before the problem existed. That Solution is named Jesus Christ.


So, there is The Solution. Yes, I know I didn't write much about The Problem, but that's how God works. He's pre-emtive. He provides The Solution before The Problem exists. That's another trademark of God.

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES

Okay Addictions???

How much are you earning now? How much do you need to be making five years from now? Have you been working with your banker, accountant, or financial advisor towards a plan. Are you investment ratios right for this stage of your financial planning life? Is your insurance coverage adequate? How many years before the kids are going away to college? How long before you have to retire? What will the nursing home cost? Are you happy?

I bet your feeling a bit queasy, aren't you? It's alright, go ahead and take a few minutes to unclench that sphincter muscle and normalize your respiration. Think blue water, green rolling hills, and warm summer nights. Better now?

Money is an obsession. An approved obsession, but an obsession none the less. If you think about it a great deal and are fairly good at handling the green stuff, it's even considered a laudable preoccupation. Should you be one of those rare gems that eat, sleep, and dream cold hard cash but can multiply it like a magic act, you are practically worshipped.

Money or any other material wealth is an okay addiction, because we love it, we need it, and we cannot live without it. It's just that simple, isn't it?

Ever looked at your brother-in-laws mansion, boat, and BMW, and feel envy? Ever considered how your sister was so lucky to marry the plastic surgeon when you got the plumber, and felt that twinge of jealousy that visits occasionally?  Sure, we almost all have, that's called "covetousness".

What? Yes, it is the sin of coveting. It isn't the money that committed the sin, just your love of it. We live in a time and culture when coveting is called "inspiration", "motivation ", and "visualization". Keeping up with the Joneses, Browns, Bakers, and don't forget those real housewives and the Kardashians is a litmus test by which we judge how (and who) we are in the hierarchy of society. It's just a tool, that's all, isn't it?

Nope, but it's still an acceptable, excusable, and reasonable sin today, so that makes it okay. It's for a good cause, the ends justify the means, and it really can't hurt anything. Covetousness would be illegal if it were bad, so what's the difference?

How could you prove it in court? That would be a hell of a prosecution to convince even one juror that the accused coveted, maybe it was simple lifestyle enhancement. Perhaps a coincidence that two neighbors also bought increasingly flashy and expensive custom ski-racks for their identical, consecutive model year Mercedes Benz. It's possible.

Sure it is, but that doesn't change what it is, it's coveting and that's a sin. Oh, it is a socially acceptable sin because we live in a consumption based world and we also have a mortgage to pay.

Is it really that important?

God put it in the Top Ten, so tame your addiction or if you have figured it out, let God do the taming and be receptive to His Work. You may discover your ski-racks don't need Kevlar jacketed GPS and Forwards Looking Infrared Radar.

You may even find a little time to be happy.

On Islam

Terrorism and Islamic extremists have become a staple in the nightly news, White House sound bites, and newspaper headlines. We always seem to be just about there with putting these handful of nutty Jihadis out of business permanently. Just about there. Any time now. Almost done, and then the lull.

Massive explosions shook downtown Someplace, Somewhere. The Allah Al-Akbar Waka-Muslim game starts all over again. New strategies, new weapons deals, and a new "moderate" Muslim ally we can count on to quell the oddly Al-Queda like junior varsity extremists cadre. It's Groundhog Day in or around the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of misguided preoccupation.

America took up the banner of being the Arsenal of Democracy after World War II. In truth, we manufactured the banner, staff, and the occupation on our own. However, we did not live up to our lofty job title. We jumped between the sheets with every two-bit thug with a national check book at his disposal. If there wasn't one, we'd depose the elected government and install one we found to be more "democratic and freedom oriented" whatever covered our covert intentions.

We pay for the sins of our ancestors, sometimes immediate ancestors, or elected office predecessors. We don't always live up to our own expectations.

Moderate Islam is portrayed as a religion of peace, tolerance, and is accredited with giving us numerals we can easily multiply. Oprah gave it a thumbs up and so does every politician and U.S. Government, Corp. compensated public relations speaker. Yea Allah!

But don't you draw Muhammad or these peaceful, tolerant, numerate devotees will #%$&ing kill you en mass at the market and car bomb you at the disco. Yea Allah!

The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Does this Right cover any and all actions of Religion? No! For instance, some religions may call for human sacrifice and such an exercise is not covered under the "free exercise thereof" clause. Yet, the faithful of Islam are called by their prophet, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, to do precisely this kind of exercise in the practice of Islam (Arabic for "submission").

Does this Right cover political action, sedition, and economic subversion? Obviously not. However, these things are part and parcel within the practice of Islam. The Islamic republic is the model of what Islam seeks to achieve world wide. It is called Dar al-Islam, and that is the intended goal of Muslims. Individuals may disagree on how to implement and achieve Dar al-Islam, but make no mistake this is their goal.

Painting Islam as just another religion of peace is a disservice to understanding the threat that our Constitution, our nation, and our beliefs face. It's like fighting Communism while claiming Communism is great.

There is apparently no shortage of "Islamic extremists" because Islam is inherently extreme. While one hand calls for tolerance and peace the other supports Jihad as we seek to support the "moderates" in this desert of the extreme.

Islam in both theory and practice calls for the subjugation of all non-Muslim believers. This constitutes a call to arms among Muslims who practice what their prophet preached and their illah (god) commands. There is no middle ground for the moderates we hear so much about to occupy. The Koranic landscape allows for only dominance or submission.

The all-encompassing nature of Sharia law reveals the true nature of Islam as a political, judicial, and economic ideology wrapped in a viel (perhaps "burka, is a more appropriate analogy) of religion.

Are Muslims evil? No! Again NO! They are the children of God who are being misled in believing that Allah is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Ishmael. They are kept ignorant of the caustic nature of Islam, and we should be reaching out to them. This is a difficult task since as a part of the Islamic ideology the adherent is warned never to question or examine their faith and conversion (apostasy) is punishable by death.

Remember what gentle Jesus said,

 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." -Matthew 7:15-20

Occam in Action

The simplest solution is best.

In my previous post I advanced the idea of community response as the primary method of prevention and cure for homelessness. I know this goes against the grain of our contemporary mindset which dictates, all problems are solved with government by fully funding (insert program here).

I understand this is a generally accepted truism among both Republicrats and Demopulicans who vehemently argue over whether (insert program here) or (insert program here) is the correct solution to fully fund. The most impassioned arguments take place between two factions who are both wrong. The right answer is thinking small. So, just do that. Problem solved.

You need a bigger answer? Alright, but you're already screwing up the principle. The reason I provided a small answer is because small is comprehensible, memorable, affordable, personal, practical, responsible, manageable, applicable and a whole bunch of positive stuff that the alternative to small isn't. The inverse is also true. Small lacks all the negative stuff that big is. While Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber are vehemently arguing over whether (insert program here) or (insert program here) is the correct solution to fully fund, I will go and do what needs to be done. That is thinking small. It's not a panacea because nothing is. Magic wands are perennially in short supply and never perform as expected. So, rather than waiting for someone to reinvent the guy who invented the wheel to roll in some colossal, magical problem panacea from wherever they are manufactured, I'll just go chip away at it with a small idea and a modest action. Just me. Maybe you can come too. Bring a friend. Hey look at that! We have 50% more people applying a solution than wrongly arguing over if (insert program here) or (insert program here) should be fully funded. Viola and Bob's your uncle!

Capeesh? Comprende? Verstehen?

Still a little unclear? Okay it's a little, and we can fix a little, unclear. Big unclear is incomprehensible, unmemorable, unaffordable, impersonal, impractical, irresponsible, unmanageable, and a whole bunch of other stuff that we can't possibly fix. We'd be back to two wrong headed people arguing over which program should be fully funded again. People being who they are take sides in heated arguments because that's human nature. We enter the fray and the only thing which becomes clear is nothing got done.

We have big egos, big ideas, big plans with big dividends, and we will make (and leave) a big stink about them or there will be big trouble!

Big is Bad.

Small is sufficient.

Clear?

Apply this small solution. It doesn't take much. Just a little bit, but do it often and early.

Oh, what's the "solution"? Well, I only have a little bit of that because you have the rest. That's "you" in the third person.

Where do you want to start?

I'll bring a little help.


An Afterthought:

Occam's Razor is depicted above as a double-sided* blade, which led me to think about the other side if the issue, and I came up to more benefits...

Community action promotes relationships and relationships, not programs, are how people help other people. Programs are what machines, like bureaucracies, use to operate. People aren't machines. Strong relationships in turn build strong communities. That's called a positive feedback loop.

In relationships people get to know each other, their strengths and weaknesses, their dreams and delusions, their talents and their not so goods. These allow us the ability to help when, where, and how they individually need the help. That's called efficiency.

I'm sure there are more benefits, but I've done enough overstating the obvious on this topic. On to the next...


* - Actually, there are way more, just like a two-sided sheet of paper has six sides. This reveals the inherent flaw in a "two-party" system. Think about it.

Emerald City or Tent City?

Who would you rather have as a neighbor, Tent City or your Congressman? After reading this, you may change your mind. 

I am not an advocate of the Tent City system as a means of addressing homelessness. We have an affordable housing crisis. While custom homes starting in the low $570's are profitable, they are NOT affordable. The median income in the United States is $54,000 per year, which translates into a house costing $190,000 or less to be affordable. However, most are not fortunate enough to earn the median income. A truly affordable home is in the low $120's, which is feasible but I will save the how of that for another post. This post is about the problems with Tent Cities as currently administered, and how the Credit Crisis of 2008 connects to one of those problems.

Foremost, Tent Cities provide an "out of sight, out of mind" paradigm for many of the communities which have abandoned or exiled these homegrown non-residents. It's like Pilate washing his hands, and pretending he bears no guilt. Pilate also had political motives in mind. If you retain the taxpayers (income) and throw out the homeless (expense), you can more easily balance a budget or a surplus for fun stuff; like festivals or even to fund a massive government center as a monument to one's own greatness. After all, you are entitled to it, aren't you?

It's a matter of simple economics, cut costs where there is no tax revenue or lost votes. Ah, yes, the homeless! I'm a budgetary genius!

Of course, if other municipalities are following this shrewd (pronounced "screwed") budgetary policy, you end up with a large number of displaced homeless and the need for a quick fix. Something along the order of a tent city will do, as long as it is not in my town.

Wow! I'm quite the social engineer, too! How many million for that government center?

This is exactly what we have done.

I know the argument, "They aren't from here. They should go back to where they came from" and in many cases this is true. However, what of the cases where it is not true? What about those homegrown homeless? Therein lay the problem of the large group of displaced homeless necessitating a quick fix. So, we legislate, harass, or otherwise "encourage" the indigenous non-resident (aka- transients) population to go to a Tent City or anywhere else they have "the resources", which is anywhere but here. The place they came from.

Ah, we have arrived!

Sure, they may have grown up here, and perhaps their parents did, too. Yes, their grandparents were some of the first to settle this area back when we didn't have to worry about transients like them. We are doing fine and we can't imagine a time when medical bills or losing an income would make us an unwelcome transient in the community we have lived in and loved all, or much, of our lives. We can never imagine being told that we have to leave what little support network we have and go where they have "the resources".

Perhaps you were picturing something like this...

Fire resistant, temperature controlled tents maintained in good condition because we are allegedly the richest country in the world, are we not?

No, we are not!

The resources are a freezing cold nylon tent in a muddy field a long way from anything or anyone you know. It is a two-mile hike to the nearest bus stop, not that the few personal belongings you still have are safe to leave in this castaway place, this leper colony of modernity filled with strangers you can't trust which looks like this...

We never have to worry about that. We are doing great and we pay your taxes! We pay thousands for welfare for the bum who can't get a job, or has a job but can't afford a home starting in the low 570's. What is it to you that the junkie needs rehab, or the mentally ill  needs whatever it is those people need. You work or worked damn hard and it's not your problem!

The welfare state allows us to soothe our consciences with the mantra of, "I pay my taxes" and shirk the personal responsibility to help those in needs, to do what we can, to do unto others, to love thy neighbor as the Master we talk about in church on Sundays taught... and He did.

You see, welfare systems not only benefit the recipient, they help us to avoid that nagging sense, to assuage our guilt to do something more. While, the recipient is often trapped into bartering a life for existence, abundance for subsistence, and their lifelong Values for a monthly value, we are at peace. They have just enough in cash and benefits to remain at the subsistence level of existence. A subsistance that would be ripped away the moment they attempt to work their way higher.

This system serves the welfare administration bureaucrats who derive their substantially higher level of compensation from managing and maintaining a desperate, obliged group under their oversight. It doesn't take long before critical links that promote motivation, independent thought, creative problem solving, and augments self-esteem which is crucial for human development are broken.

My Productively = Pay

My Performance = Rewards

The entitlement mentality’s only link is My Existence = My Contribution.

Tent Cities provide nothing in the way of human reclamation. Nothing in the way of teaching people that they have a God-given Right to something more, that they have expectations placed upon them, and that to meet those expectations that must do at least one thing every day of which they can be proud. We are not requiring anyone be perfect, merely continuous improvement.

Instead, they languish with no transportation, no education, and no way to secure and maintain employment. The only certainty is moving every few months to a place called "To Be Announced.” It's the Warsaw ghetto American style. These are "the resources" our third-generation "transients" are exiled from our/their community to enjoy. And we wonder why they lack motivation?

Many great thinkers have said, "A crisis is an opportunity in disguise!" This may be true, but in the Tent City system, the resident’s crises of stagnation and idle desperation are an opportunity for exploitation as a constant pool of disenfranchised and fractious demonstrators for certain political agendas, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement.

©Alexander Chamas

©Alexander Chamas

 ©Alexander Chamas

While I strongly support the Right to Assemble and Petition for redress of grievances, Occupy is "petitioning" with the wrong grievances and "assembling" before the wrong institution. We do not vote for corporate officers on Wall Street, nor do those corporate officers write the laws by which all business is conducted. We vote for our elected representatives to write the laws by which we are governed, including the corporate officers who were supposedly "drunk at the wheel" when they drove the economy into a ravine.

My question is who provided the alcohol? Washington DC is where the financial crisis moonshine was distilled, and the Federal Reserve kept the still cooking with low-interest rates and lax regulations such as No-Income /No-Assets mortgages, called "NINA loans".

Washington DC was busy over-serving the big banks, mortgage firms, insurance companies, and anyone else with deep campaign contribution pockets while basking in praise for stoking an overheated "borrow and spend" economy into a conflagration fueled entirely with hot air.

Then blaming all the destroyed credit ashes of millions of American families who were sold a pipe dream of home ownership for all even when housing prices are rising exponentially on an unelected, unaccountable, and non-specific Wall Street boogeyman who was drunk.

While Occupy burned the "corporate culprit" in effigy, the banks and insurance companies were bailed out immediately, and the foreclosed families were offered a badly packaged and even poorly implemented government mortgage restructuring program that only addressed a small percentage of those harmed by very system the "people's representatives" designed. The system our elected representatives built while under the influence of the big campaign contribution narcotics of the very same big banks, mortgage firms, and insurance companies that they so swiftly and so fully rescued from harm.

These are, by no small coincidence, the very same big banks, mortgage firms, and insurance companies which Occupy impotently protests while the elected representatives impatiently step around the protesters to kiss the ring of their real constituents who also just happen to reside on Wall Street. Tent City is both the manure used to fertilize the fields of government-sponsored enterprise and the bitter harvest of enterprise sponsored government.

It is an educational anomaly that those who reside in Tent Cities are too poorly educated by either of these infectious behemoths to understand how exploited and abandoned they have been by both.

Those of us who enjoy the comfort of housing, regular meals, indoor plumbing, heated or air-conditioned bedrooms, and all the other comforts of life may be satiated by the fact that "We pay our taxes".

Yes, we do. All the above should tell us that we should re-examine what is being done with those revenues, and ask what is being done by our elected representatives who drink from the gushing revenue stream we provide. Perhaps, the elected representatives need to be held personally responsible and accountable for their actions. As above so below.

Perhaps, we might offer a sip of water to those who languish in the remote, disconnected Bedouin ghettos we call Tent Cities. Perhaps, we could be demonstrating OUR sense of personal responsibility and accountability to the people we sent by indifference to these Tent Cities. The same people whom we too quickly accuse of being bereft of these virtues.