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Peace of Mine · 09-18-2008, 06:11 AM

When I bike around the local neighborhoods here, I see grass growing out of bounds, newspapers piling up around driveways, and vacant houses row after row. It is foreclosure city, second highest area in the USA.

Jobs have disappeared. People cope behind closed doors. There is no "community" in place to help with anything. Food pantries are overwhelmed. Volunteers use TV to beg for any help from any quarter.

None of my neighbors have gardens. If they wanted to grow one, or string a sheet in their yard instead of using the dryer, the "rules" wouldn't let them.

How different is the situation in Ecuador. Lovely farmer's markets overflow with bounty, raised by locals with plenty to share. Shelter is reasonable. Adobe bricks are made in place at new house sites. Rammed earth is advertised by a builder, a simple, inexpensive alternative taken for granted

My point is this: Ecuador does not need my help building "community." But my neighbors do. They need food, shelter, answers for how to handle fraudulent banks who have robbed them of their wealth. Or bully cops who fill prisons so the real criminals can make more and more money on more and more misery.

It is a daunting task. My neighbors do little to help themselves or each other.

"Our government wouldn't do THAT!" My niece, happy in her cocoon of abundance and denial, doesn't notice or care who has to live on Ramen Noodles.

"Don't bother me with your silly alternatives. My doctor knows best. Besides, he got it in time." My friend does not question why cancer-free lymph nodes were hacked off along with the breast and the miniscule cyst described as non life-threatening. Is it fear that keeps her willfully ignorant? Her stressful life, where 80-hour work weeks are the norm? Or the two hours spent listening to Neo-Con Free Market propaganda on the way home?

How much chaos will it take before my neighbors wake-up to the reality of what has overtaken America? What will happen when they finally get it? Is it too late to stop this on-rushing train wreck?

I hear the Siren's Song of Ecuador. My heart insists that we have been called together to rise to this occasion.

My head wages war with my heart.

09-18-2008, 06:11 AM	#7
Peace of Mine Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 23	In the middle of the Foreclosure Belt When I bike around the local neighborhoods here, I see grass growing out of bounds, newspapers piling up around driveways, and vacant houses row after row. It is foreclosure city, second highest area in the USA. Jobs have disappeared. People cope behind closed doors. There is no "community" in place to help with anything. Food pantries are overwhelmed. Volunteers use TV to beg for any help from any quarter. None of my neighbors have gardens. If they wanted to grow one, or string a sheet in their yard instead of using the dryer, the "rules" wouldn't let them. How different is the situation in Ecuador. Lovely farmer's markets overflow with bounty, raised by locals with plenty to share. Shelter is reasonable. Adobe bricks are made in place at new house sites. Rammed earth is advertised by a builder, a simple, inexpensive alternative taken for granted My point is this: Ecuador does not need my help building "community." But my neighbors do. They need food, shelter, answers for how to handle fraudulent banks who have robbed them of their wealth. Or bully cops who fill prisons so the real criminals can make more and more money on more and more misery. It is a daunting task. My neighbors do little to help themselves or each other. "Our government wouldn't do THAT!" My niece, happy in her cocoon of abundance and denial, doesn't notice or care who has to live on Ramen Noodles. "Don't bother me with your silly alternatives. My doctor knows best. Besides, he got it in time." My friend does not question why cancer-free lymph nodes were hacked off along with the breast and the miniscule cyst described as non life-threatening. Is it fear that keeps her willfully ignorant? Her stressful life, where 80-hour work weeks are the norm? Or the two hours spent listening to Neo-Con Free Market propaganda on the way home? How much chaos will it take before my neighbors wake-up to the reality of what has overtaken America? What will happen when they finally get it? Is it too late to stop this on-rushing train wreck? I hear the Siren's Song of Ecuador. My heart insists that we have been called together to rise to this occasion. My head wages war with my heart.