Lasting Footprints

[This post is part of the SUMMER JUSTICE SERIES. You can start with Part 1 here.]

Part 5: Reduce Your Waste 

A couple of weeks back, Paul Lawrence saw an air conditioner sitting on a sidewalk in Queens, New York.  He decided to grab it since the thing had been left for trash.  As Lawrence placed the unit in his car, borrowed from an aunt, a city official from the Department of Sanitation approached him, slapped a $2,000 fine on him, and impounded the car.  His 73-year-old aunt was also slapped with a $2,000 fine for allowing him to use the vehicle for such a heinous crime.

One of my childhood heroes actually LIVES in garbage.

This is normally the part where I fight back an aneurysm over civilization-dooming government control but not today.  We’re past the halfway post of a series on social justice issues, and this week is about how much waste we create, whether or not it matters, and what should be done about it.  

Apparently trash on a city sidewalk is city property, and recycling is a major source of revenueso we’ll leave Mr. Lawrence to the court battle he no doubt has coming.  Call me naive, but I never realized how massive the business of garbage is in our country.  Government controls are just the tip of a trashy heap of problems connected to our waste. 

*** 

We live in a disposable world.  According to Julie Clawson–whose book Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of our Daily Choices inspired this series–the average American creates a few pounds of trash everyday.  She continues by saying: 

“…for every 100 pounds of product we acquire, 3,200 pounds of waste were created in the  manufacturing process.  This waste adds up…” 

I agree that waste adds up (check out the video below), but the impact of that waste is being debated by many different voices. 

The first argument against waste is usually the claim that we are filling landfills and running out of space.  Then I read articles with statistics saying we have way too much space to even come close to filling it all.  

Before long recycling enters the debate.  I always thought recycling was a fairly positive thing and had no idea how many problems exist worldwide as a result of saving plastics, metals, and more for reuse.  I never thought of recycling as an expensive government venture that costs states millions of dollars.  The UK found this out not long ago as entire warehouses were filled with discarded products that were supposed to be used as raw materials for future production.  That production isn’t always there so governments have to pay to store garbage.  But read a few more articles and you’ll hear how recycling creates jobs while saving the planet!    

Finally, I’ve heard that the real problem of disposable things is the pollution it creates in our rivers and oceans while harmful toxins are released into the air.  So I’m hearing a lot, but what is true?

Are Sweatshops A Necessary Evil?

[This post is part of the SUMMER JUSTICE SERIES. You can start with Part 1 here.]

Part 4: Sweatshop-Free Goods

What do you think of when you hear the word sweatshop?  What images enter your mind?  Maybe you’re picturing a dark room somewhere on the other side of the world.  What type of people are there?  What are these individuals doing?  Have you formed some kind of scene in your mind?

The ideas that inform our perspective come from many different places.  Depending on your personal view you could have envisioned women in Asia, children in Africa, illegal immigrants in the United States, or even poor white folks somewhere in Alabama.  Regardless of your view, most people immediately think of negative, perhaps evil, things.  Sweatshops are violative places where laws, rights, and sometimes even workers are abused.  You don’t need me to tell you what’s wrong with such pratices. 

Like the previous issues in this Summer Justice series, most of us would never support systems that promote injustice if we knew what they were and how to disconnect.  The problem is that the line we seek is often blurry and gray.  That’s why we’re examining the most common ways people around the world are exploited.  The existence of sweatshops gets people passionate in a hurry, but the debate includes prominent voices from all sides.

***

Sweatshops are most easily defined as places that produce goods while violating labor laws.  They are most common in developing countries but still exist in the most powerful nations on the earth.  These facilities exist in the largest cities of the world, and that includes New York and Los Angeles.  Common violations include child labor, low pay, long hours, and poor working conditions. 

One common misconception is that sweatshops have only existed in recent years.  They’ve acutally been around since the Industrial Revolution early in the 19th century.  Governments have been instituting labor laws since the 1820s and 30s.  Some groups (abolitionists) of those times fought to eliminate slavery.  Once they accomplished that objective they turned their attention to abusive labor practices.  America finally changed laws to end some of the worst of these practices in the early 20th century.

In the past century companies have continued to receive goods, finished and raw, from facilities where the overhead is low enough to increase profits.  Everybody talks about “made in China” but you’ll find goods made in Honduras, Bangladesh, Jordan, Taiwan, and beyond.  I just saw hacky sacks at the mall made in Guatemala.  In America we swim through millions of products made cheaply in a variety of ways in countries all over the world. 

The system is not going to change.  Globalization is not going to end.  So what are we to do?  Some people tell us to stop buying clothing and goods made in sweatshops, but that’s easier said than done when you consider the confusion over the origins of our products and the amount of cheap labor involved in our national marketplace.  We’ve already established that we consume too much, but that doesn’t mean we will never consume.

The average person can’t always afford to buy from companies offering a sweatshop-free guarantee.  In some ways, you’ll do just as much good buying your goods second-hand.  March with me fellow thrift-shoppers and we’ll change the world! 

Blood Chocolate?

[This post is part of the SUMMER JUSTICE SERIES. You can start with Part 1 here.]

Part 3: Slave-Free Chocolate

How many of us really think about child slavery when we grab a candy bar?  Most of us just don’t; that doesn’t make us bad people.  What is slave chocolate?  I set out to learn if any of my snack money could possibly be going to companies  that are operating a business on the backs of children falling victims to human trafficking.

To be honest, I didn’t know very much about the exploitation of people to produce one of our favorite treats, but I’ve been eager to learn more for some time.  This issue is one of the main reasons I chose to focus on what is often called social justice for these few short weeks. 

In case you’re not sure how this works, chocolate comes from cocoa beans.  Most of the world’s chocolate originates from the Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast in Africa.  Chocolate became all the rage in Europe by the 1600s after the Spaniards discovered it as a favored treat of Aztec royalty.  Moctezuma was a huge fan, a total chocoholic by modern standards. 

Although centuries have passed, reports indicate that our basest cruelty instincts persist.  Let’s establish two straight-forward aspects here.  First, what kind of abuse is reportedly taking place in pursuit of “brown gold” as it’s called around the globe?  Secondly, are we supporting companies that offer products tainted by these terrible practices?

“The Bitter Truth”

The involvement of slave labor in chocolate production became a major issue about a decade ago.  Since then, international community leaders including the U.S. Congress have been setting threatening deadlines warning the global chocolate industry to avoid all involvement with child slavery.

Nothing pierces the heart like some of the first-hand accounts of young people who have escaped or been rescued from these farms.  A recent entry on Tropic Post details a small bit of the experiences of these children, usually boys but sometimes girls between ages 11-16.

“The children work under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse, working with sharp machetes and poisonous sprays, from 6 in the morning, till 6 at night…One ex-child slave said 18 children were locked into a 24 X 20 foot room, sleeping on a wooden plank.  A small hole was just big enough to let in some air, but they were forced to urinate in a can.”

The article goes onto say the kids were too afraid to attempt escape after others were caught and brutally beaten for attempting to do so.

At this point, slave chocolate gets a lot more attention in other parts of the world than here in the states.  BBC News produced this short video on child cocoa workers in 2007.  More recently, Paul Kenyon went undercover for a BBC Panorama investigation called Chocolate: The Bitter Truth.  He discovered plenty of injustices still occuring in West Africa.

Is Fair Trade A Farce?

[This post is part of the SUMMER JUSTICE SERIES. You can start with Part 1 here.]

Part 2: Coffee and Commies and Nazis, Oh My!

When Adolf Hitler’s name is dropped, you probably don’t immediately think of Starbucks.  Don’t worry latte lovers, I don’t have any secret demons to reveal about the top coffee establishment in the world.  You may be surprised, however, to learn the interesting tale that bridges the gap between Nazi Germany and your favorite Frappuccino. 

We’re in part 2 of a series and following some ideas by Julie Clawson, author of last year’s Everyday Justice (IVP), a book about the impact our decisions can have on folks all over the world.

You might not think of coffee as a world changer, but individuals all over the planet believe this hot commodity to actually be a consistent cause of injustice.  After pouring over some facts, I’m not so sure about that.  Regardless, we should examine what we know with open minds. 

Many right-leaning folks assume that topics like fair trade and social justice are simply machinations of the left.  Many lefties just want to find injustice everywhere they turn, so they have an excuse to tell rich people why they’re so terrible.  Either way, this issue warrants investigation.  After oil, coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity. 

***

Many of you have probably seen the Fair Trade label on coffee products.  The stated goal of that movement is to provide coffee farmers with a decent income for their work.  Most of these poor farmers toil in Latin America, but they didn’t always struggle to earn a decent wage.

For most of the 20th century, Western nations abided by agreements to ensure good wages for coffee farmers.  An International American Coffee Agreement (IACA) was established way back during World War II.  The fear was that if poor people weren’t paid they might turn to Nazi Germany or some other fascist group for help.  The IACA was dead by 1948, and coffee prices declined into the 1950s. 

Cold War fears of communism became all too real by 1959 when Fidel Castro took power in nearby Cuba.  By that time, African nations were also pressuring the international community for help.  JFK took office and America began backing the International Coffee Agreement (ICA), another attempt to fix prices in order to prevent instability in Third World nations that could turn to communist powers if they got desperate enough. 

The ICA had a sorted history and plenty of problems to go around yet kept prices up enough until 1989 when communism proved to be one of the worst failures in human history and the Soviet Union fell apart.  That was great news for Eastern Europeans and freedom lovers, but without any type of agreement coffee prices soon took another swan dive.  Those poor coffee farmers again faced the challenge of getting paid a fair price for their labor.

Enter Fair Trade Certified Coffee.

***

The goal of Fair Trade Coffee is to ensure a good living wage by assuring a floor for coffee prices.  Think of it as coffee insurance.  The program involves other things like access to credit and more.  In the past decade, a lot of big money has gotten behind the fair trade label.  Retailers such as Starbucks, Sam’s Club, Green Mountain, McDonald’s and many more include coffee products with the guarantee to assist struggling farmers. 

The alleged moral dilemma comes in when someone tells you that if you drink coffee without a fair trade label you are actually endorsing evil practices of big companies who cheat laborers out of their profits.  If we want to alleviate the pain of some 25 million bean growers worldwide, they say, be sure to purchase the Fair Trade label.

That might be true if we knew the system worked, but critics of Fair Trade have emerged from both sides of the political spectrum.

EduClaytion Vacation!

I’ve been launched deep into the wilderness for a midsummer week’s dream.  So as I take a break from a new Friday post, link over to the One Year Anniversary Extravaganza.  You can find a bunch of the best pieces from within. 

We’re back on track next Friday with Part 2 of having us some Summer Justice.  Much love to you all.  

Doing “Small Things With Great Love”

SUMMER JUSTICE SERIES

PART 1: Do With Less

Can you do something today that will change the life of someone on the other side of the planet?  The choices we make everyday impact people–many of them desperately poor–all over the world.  We need to recognize the consequences that result from our decisions.  We may be the land of the free, but as Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 

The world is changed one decision at a time.  Our focus here is often how to impact lives around us, but what about thousands in far away lands?  Many of us in the West see pictures and hear stories of poverty and hunger around the globe but feel helpless to do anything about it.  Throughout the summer, this site will look at ways we can help improve the lives of needy men, women, and children across the Earth. 

And we can start right now.

***        

Earlier this year, Relevant Magazine ran a piece by Texan author Julie Clawson which is based on her 2009 book Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices.  She has highlighted ways our lifestyles and purchases impact our neighbors around the world. 

The focus of this summer series is often called social justice, although I would call it The Golden Rule globalized.  Most of us decry suffering when we see it, but it’s easy to feel distanced from far away problems.  We may not be directly doing anything wrong or hurting anybody, but we’re often unaware of the price that’s paid elsewhere so that we can have great items at a low-cost.  As we’ll see, the cost is often higher than we’ve ever known.

Clawson covers some important issues.  Each week I’m going to expand on one of these.  If we can change the lives of people who are hurting by simply altering our daily habits yet don’t, do we become complicit in the suffering of others?  Knowledge is power but must be unleashed through action.  What can you do for “the least of these?”  There’s only one place to begin.

To The Class of 2010 (and Helen Thomas)

I was recently surprised to learn that Helen Thomas was still alive.  The great irony here is that I learned this as she was killing her career.  No, I’m not making crass zombie jokes.  When I think of a trailblazing woman who became White House Press Corps royalty and covered over 10 presidents, the name that comes to mind is Sarah McClendon (read her book Mr. President, Mr. President! ).

But alas, we’ve been stuck with Helen Thomas, front and center on the seating chart but oh-so-left otherwise, in recent years at presidential press conferences.  Until now.  Thomas went too far last week.

In case you didn’t know or care, Thomas–the so-called “dean” of reporters–destroyed her career by providing a succinct, anti-Semitic soundbite in front of a recording camera.  She feels that Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go back to Germany or Poland or America.  You know, places where they should be.  Matter of fact, why did the Jews even leave in the first place?  Ooh…

Robert Byrd: Available but call soon

But this article is about students not Thomas who was dumped from giving a commencement address at Walt Whitman High in Maryland this month.  I have been working with teenagers for years and have no clue what 18-year-old would want to hear a speech from the curmudgeony 89-year-old Thomas.  Those graduating seniors can let out a big sigh because the replacement has been chosen and it’s, ooh…, Bob Schieffer of CBS who comes in at a spry 73 years of age and was five years into AARP membership when these kids were born.  Good Lord!  Was Robert Byrd unavailable?  Sorry gang.

Here’s what I can do for you.  It’s not much but how about a few words of encouragement right here?  It’s short notice, but at least I come within 9 generations of you, and my face and cheeks actually move when I smile.  Right then, here goes.  Ahem…

***

Dear Attention Behold! Yo Seniors of the class of 2010:

Today, as you reflect on days gone by we look to the future.  Congratulations on your achievements.  You have survived clueless parents, spotty cell phone service, and the American public education system, even at a school that actually wanted Helen Thomas to be here speaking to you tonight. 

Should Muslims Get A Mosque At Ground Zero?

Should New York build an Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center site in Manhattan?  Amidst economic crisis, oil catastrophe, and the plummeting popularity of a president this heated debate has exploded onto the scene in recent weeks.  Folks keep asking me what I think, so I figured I should formulate some kind of educlayted opinion.

The argument has already gotten pretty nasty since the announcement of the project.  The issue remained somewhat quiet until a recent vote by Community Board 1 came down 29-1 in favor of the worship/community center.  A quarter of the board members abstained.

This issue comes down to two main questions.  Should Muslim leaders pursue this project?  Do they have a right to build a mosque there?  Everything beyond those two factors falls into the camp of emotions, lots of emotion.  As one protestor stated at the board hearing: “This house of evil will be the birthplace of the next terrorist event.”

***

A recent caller to a talk show on a radio station which I will leave unnamed objected to the project with this statement: “Would they build a monument for Hitler next to Auschwitz?”  That’s an intense reaction.  Some folks find that comparison incredibly offensive while others find it accurate.  Nazism was short-lived and brutal.  These days the beliefs and symbols of Hitler’s regime are outlawed in Germany.  I find the Holocaust comparison somewhat off for this debate.   

Perhaps a better example would be the Japanese-American conflict of the 1940s.  It’s hard for this generation to understand the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941, but that event felt a lot like 9/11 and cost a comparable number of lives.  What would you say about a project to build a Shinto temple a few hundred yards from where the U.S.S. Arizona was sunk by Japanese fighters?

Nearly a decade after Pearl Harbor, Japan and the U.S. were building a healthy relationship.  Could you imagine a Shinto priest pushing for a facility in that spot?  How would Americans have reacted then?  Let’s flip the scenario.  How do you think Japanese people would have felt about a big, ol’ catholic church right on the doorstep to the Hiroshima memorial?  Why would any American even promote such a plan?  Sounds like a slap in the face.

Allow me one more distinction between 1941 and 2011.  Pearl Harbor was a military facility staffed by men and women serving their country.  The World Trade Center was filled with civilians just working and trying to live out their free lives.

Islam is accepted by our pluralistic society, as are many other beliefs.  We tolerate opposing beliefs, but we’re under no obligation to celebrate them.  Muslims who want this facility have rights in America because heroes of this nation have shed blood by the millions to guarantee freedom.  To mere suggestion of this facility does not seem like the workings of peace but a stirring of conflict.  Lots of folks say, “Build a mosque, just NOT THERE!”  Yet there’s another significant fact that warrants incredulity. 

The Imam and company claiming a desire to “bridge the gap” between Muslims and the rest of America want to break ground on this facility to celebrate Islam on September 11, 2011–the 10th anniversary of the attack. 

Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones

Memorial Day: Honoring Sacrifice

Some lives are lost, and some lives are taken. Others are given. This weekend we pause our schedules as a nation to remember and honor the sacrifice of those who decided to commit their lives to our freedom, our future, our way of life.

These heroes, never to be forgotten, left classrooms and workplaces and loved ones to get on buses and planes. They arrived in camps to be transformed through grueling training. Millions of those soldiers then landed in unknown combat zones halfway around the world where conditions were often so horrendous they could only be described as hell on earth, realities terrifying enough that some anticipated death as a release.

Since the opening of the American Revolution, over 1 million have been mortally wounded in service to our country. More than that have survived wounds. The stories of these men and women may often go unrealized but are impossible to ignore once they are encountered. As time rolls on we lose many of these accounts to the vacuum of history. Yet new conflicts unfold, and new heroes rise up, leaders willing to stand in the gap between freedom and tyranny for you and me.

In the 21st century, phrases like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty often bring to mind hi-tech video games. The appeal of these games is the intensity of the action, the conviction that there are bad guys battling for evil, and the desire to be a hero. Gamers inherently understand these things, but screen graphics are enjoyable and pose no threat. The true stories that captivate and stir us are borne of pain and love.

***

The highest tribute a soldier can receive is the Medal of Honor. Recipients of this exclusive recognition perform feats summed up this way by their nation.

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of  life above and beyond the call of duty.”

That specific language has evolved since George Washington began awarding a Badge of Military Merit in 1782. You may have recently seen the HBO series The Pacific. I’m fascinated by the events of that dreadful theater and the sacrifices of so many. I often wonder who in our time is continuing this proud legacy of heroism. Who will be portrayed in movies about Iraq and the War on Terrorism decades from now?

Consider what these modern heroes have done and how their actions powerfully match the meaning of the Medal of Honor description. 

Young America, Job Hunting, & Desperation

ARE COLLEGE DEGREES WORTHLESS?

Hey there college crowd, raise your hand if you’ve earned a bachelor’s degree.  Now put your hand down if you’ve found a position in the career you were shooting for.  According to an article on Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday, more and more of you still have your arm raised and may be throwing both hands up in total desperation.

What’s going on?  I’m an optimist but also a realist, and truthfulness demands taking a hard look at some tough facts lest we bury our heads like the ostrich who finally looked up only to see the rest of the pack had moved on.

THE SITUATION

The youth unemployment rate is nearing a whopping 20% these days.  That’s the highest number since the Department of Labor began compiling the data in 1948.  I said 1948!  Let’s clear up two quick points here.  First, the age bracket for youth unemployment is generally considered 16-24 years old.  Second, the 20% figure is unemployment which means people trying to find work yet unable to do so.  The number of 16-24 year olds without jobs is way higher, somewhere over 50% in recent weeks.  We haven’t seen this many young Americans without jobs since World War II.

THE CAUSE

An estimated 7 million jobs worked by young people have disappeared during the current economic downturn.  Basic economics explains much of this shortage of opportunities, but there’s another factor that can’t be ignored.  We have never seen this type of competition for entry-level jobs between young and older workers in America.

Older Americans are themselves facing a jobs crisis.  Pensions have been devastated, securities threatened.  More folks over the age of 55 are working now than before the recession as spousal incomes and home values decline.  When these workers get laid off they enter the same race for work already packed with so many young job seekers.

Another challenge is increasing competition among cohorts of recent graduating classes.  The current class is competing with grads from ’09, ’08, and so on.

THE OUTLOOK

Let me submit to you three major impacts we’ll likely see from this trend.

1. Tougher future.

Future job and earning prospects are hurt by this current downturn.  The Bloomberg article notes that two recessions in the early 80s created wage losses for the next 15 years for those who entered that bad job market.  Their initial entry positions were lowered, their wages less, their skills slower developing.  We are hovering around that same unemployment level now, so the future may not be as bright for new workers as it was 5 or 10 years ago.

Put simply, the quicker you get out of the gate the better, and right now the gate is jammed for a lot of entry-level seekers.

2. Deeper Debt.

There’s no end in sight to our skyrocketing debt (personal and national) in an age of continued consumption.  The average college debt is now over $23,ooo up from around $18,000 in the mid-late 90s.  Incomes are down, living and education costs are up, and financial discipline disappeared somewhere back there behind that broken starting gate.

Overall credit card debt in the United States increased around 18% in 2009 with some states seeing a rise as much as 30%!  The plastic cards are double-edged swords indeed.  Plenty of those charges go towards living expenses, but you know many of the purchases are for non-essential items.  Too often being broke and out of work is no longer an excuse to deprive ourselves of what we just gotta have.  After all, we deserve it right?

Susan G. Komen Foundation Controversy

I was recently taken back when someone placed an order of KFC food before me. No, I wasn’t staring at the ridiculous new Double Down, a ghastly collection of dead pig and yellow slop resting between two pieces of boneless so-called chicken. Let’s spare that for now as I’m sure Jim Gaffigan is somewhere feverishly writing one-liners for a future standup act.

The surprise that got me thinking during mashed potatoes and gravy came from the pink lid on the familiar KFC bucket o’chicken. The company is now tied to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure, the ubiquitous cancer-fighting organization most recognizable by “pinking” everything from the equipment of professional athletes to the gushing waters of the fountain in Pittsburgh’s Point State Park.

The first thing that struck me–other than the irony of KFC promoting an organization most certainly supportive of healthy dietary choices–was how huge this pinking movement has become. Who was Susan G. Komen anyway?

I wasn’t surprised to learn that Ms. Komen had suffered and been taken (in 1980) by the very cancer her namesake organization combats. Her sister, Nancy Brinker, promised to do everything she could to end breast cancer forever.

Fight Cancer & Offend Chickens

According to their website, they’ve invested nearly $1.5 billion in cancer research since 1982. That’s a whole lotta pink ribbons, but what would you expect from “the largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.”

I was, however, a bit surprised by how much controversy has surrounded the Komen foundation in recent years. Of course there’s no way an organization with so many hands and money involved could ever escape conflict, especially one driven by passionate activists. The interesting thing is the amount of heat burning against these passionate pinkos from every direction. In short, they’ve managed to anger folks on all sides of the political spectrum.

*~*~*~*

The very idea of partnering with KFC, which you’ll remember stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, offended many folks right off the bat. The Washington Post produced the clearest and most useful piece on this debate. In short, the protestors argue about the wisdom of the Komen foundation locking arms with an organization known for producing less than healthy food which, by the way, usually begins with some kind of intense chicken slaughter. See how quickly you can unite medical professionals with the animal rights crowd?

Sure, KFC tosses in fifty cents for the cure with every pink bucket sold, but couldn’t the Komen group find a more sensible alternative? Personally, nothing in this debate really affects me, but as far as business decisions go we might have to qualify this one as not so bright.

While the doctors pitching in on the debate are as close to an apolitical group as we’ll find, the rest of the controversy surrounding Komen For The Cure revolves around front line issues of contention in the neverending culture wars.

Besides mechanized (or any kind of) animal slaughter, some lefties are up in arms over the fact that Komen For The Cure uses Hadassah Lieberman as a paid spokesman. If you don’t recognize the first name, you probably know the last is the same as one Senator Joseph Lieberman, the one time vice presidential candidate for the Democratic party. As most Dems will tell you, Lieberman might be the antichrist, so what would you expect from his wife right? Her sins are many, but she actually speaks on behalf of other companies like Pfizer which oppose healthcare reform. Gasp!

Vivien Leigh & Gone With The Wind

Tough week as the old computer crashed and burned.  Be back on track soon, but here’s  a little something to chew on in the meantime.

On May 3, 1937, the novel Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  I really don’t care about the award, but why not exploit a chance to show Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in the role for which she won an Oscar as best actress.  Again, these awards couldn’t be more meaningless, but it gives the kids something to shoot for. 

Anyway, here’s Ms. Leigh doing her best imitation of a modern politician with their head in the sand about the reality of our world.

Meaning Amidst The Violence

Today is the anniversary of one of the most shocking events of my lifetime. On this day in 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold carried out their sickening assault at Columbine High School. Last year, upon the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the massacre, President Bill Clinton said the events at that school in Colorado “changed us forever.” 

I wonder what that change has looked like for us. There are plenty of different perspectives after an event of this magnitude. Some people are closer than others, some always seem to see things more clearly, and some are perpetually clueless. Now that eleven years have passed, there’s a large segment of the population who weren’t old enough to notice the worst public school shooting in American history.

Change comes in a lot of forms. The harshest form reshaped the lives of the families of the 15 people who died, two dozen wounded, and countless others in that devastated community. Some folks used the shootings to pump up the gun control debate. A lot of people threw their hands in the air and saw no hope. Many more, especially those inspired by the character of Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott, found light in the midst of darkness, meaning amidst the monstrous.

I think if we’re honest, a lot of us hear about these hellish tragedies and thank God that it didn’t happen to us. Then we go on with our lives hoping that nothing like that ever will.

We always want everything to make sense but sometimes life just doesn’t. So what do we do with a story like this?  How are we supposed to commemorate what took place in Littleton, Colorado? The short answer is that we live purposefully, intending to make a positive difference in the world around us everyday.

If you could, would you reach out to one of the parents whose child was slaughtered while they were at school? Most of us would. Then who is around us today, even right now maybe, and hurting? What person in your life needs a soft word of encouragement or a few minutes of your time?

What about those victims? Would you love to go back in time and tell them what was coming? I think we all wish we could go back and prevent some terrible things that have happened. Of course we can’t, but the future is coming. How much of it do you have left?  What if tomorrow is your day? What if it’s today? Are you ready? None of us want to face that reality right now, but could you if you had to? Cassie and Rachel did.

The last one is toughest of all. What about those two young guys who planned the rampage and never looked back? Why did they hate? What did they need? We’ll never have all the answers, but wouldn’t you like to go back to the point in their lives when they ran so far from the main path? I wonder if maybe they were pushed a little from that path, from the crowd. I bet they were pushed a lot.

Charlie Chaplin Day

He was born on April 16, 1889 and lived until Christmas Day 1977.  He saw the world change from grimy cities of the horse and buggy days to men walking on the moon.  His brilliant satire reflected the challenges in society all along the way.  Groucho Marx called him the funniest entertainer he had ever seen. 

Youtuber Lone6gn has put together the best Chaplin montage I’ve ever seen.  There isn’t a comedian you enjoy today who hasn’t been influenced by the original master, Charlie Chaplin.