The Green Light of Greed

Posted on 12/30/2007 by Jane Devin

I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s celebrations. One day rolling into the next, despite a single digit change in the date, has never caused me to want to put on a plastic party hat and revel with the masses.This year, though, I feel a pressing need to obliterate not only 2007, but much of the entire decade before it. To crush it, stomp it, and scream it out of existence. I’ll raise my glass in a toast of “never again” and mean it, both in relief and as a rock solid resolution.

Economics and the Average Jane

I don’t need an Ivy-league think tank or a swarm of economic experts to tell me what the financial status of the poor and middle-class is in this country. Having vacillated between a few classes myself, I’ve gained some pretty stunning first-hand knowledge. In 1996, I bought a small but well-kept home in a bucolic suburb of Minneapolis. I paid $69,600. My mortgage payments were $597, including taxes and insurance. That same home today, just twelve years later, would sell for $175,000 – a difference of more than 150%. However, during the same time, my wages rose only by a paltry 13%.

For the poor in this country, the cost of living goes far beyond the basics of food and shelter. The poor are also victims of mindless discriminatory practices, which seek to part them from any chance at financial betterment and disposable income – if, that is, they are lucky enough to find decent employment.

In the 1990′s, both insurance companies and employers took to using credit reports as a weapon, putting the poor in “high risk” or undesirable categories based on nothing more than their personal financial status.

I’ve yet to see a statistic that a thin checkbook causes one to be a reckless driver, but when it comes to nickel-and-diming the lower classes, predatory and often senseless practices are abundant and rarely successfully challenged.

This senselessness has extended to the employment sector, where it is now commonplace for companies to force applicants into signing a release form allowing their potential employers to view, and make employment decisions based upon, personal credit reports.

The argument that credit reports reveal something about an applicant’s skills or character is weak at its best, and broadly discriminatory at its worst. Logically, it is the employment record and accomplishments of an applicant that most speaks to his or her value in the workforce – not whether he or she has been late with their student loan payments. Ethically, the practice of preferential employment treatment for those with good credit scores is exclusionary and elitist – and a type of discrimination that’s very difficult to prove. While there might be some merit to running the personal credit reports of those who will be in charge of a company’s finances, this has not been the extent of its use. Instead, the practice has extended to nearly every sector, from factories to boardrooms.

Politics – and What the Hell Were Americans Thinking?

It appears that the right-wing brainwashing of the American public is winding down its cycle. Even Americans who swallowed the unthinking rhetoric of “with us or against us” seem to be near the point of understanding that asking reasonable questions is not, as they had been led to believe, an unpatriotic act.

It helps that the over-long reign of Bush and his greed-soaked Republican goons will soon end, but future generations will have plenty to remind them of his corrupt administration. From his WMD lies, to 3,901 dead Americans , to a soaring debt that is nearing $9,000,000,000.00, Bush and company have played fast and loose with the future of America and its children, who are now born owing approximately $30,000 as their “share” of the national debt.

Add on the costs of high rising consumer debt, including an increase in defaulted credit card and mortgage payments, and the financial situation of this country is clearly spiraling toward catastrophe.

I encourage people to get mad. Being mad is a reasonable response to being lied to, misled, used, and plundered. Here are some articles that will help you reach the appropriate state of anger if you’re not already there:

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare $1000 Trillion?

Bush Gets What He Wants — At a Cost

Only Suckers Pay Their Bills

As a Democrat, I’m often tagged with the over-used and all too convenient label of liberal. However, like so many other Americans, I don’t swing in either the far-right or far-left field, but somewhere closer to the left of center, where individual liberty, a humanitarian-based ethos, and common sense prevail.

There’s no liberty in being a debt-ridden nation, or a nation whose citizens are steeped in debt. There’s nothing humane in provoking war, especially with weaker countries, and leaving future generations to pay the social and financial costs of that war.

There’s no liberty or humanity in making health care inaccessible to millions of Americans, or in adding to the financial burdens of the poor through unreasonable insurance, lending, and employment practices.

There was a lack of common sense during the Bush administration that seemed to have a green light effect on corporate greed and impracticality. The grab-it-and-go period of banks, corporations, oil companies, and manufacturers has left Americans strapped with high housing costs, the necessity of higher taxes, and for many in the middle and lower classes, a bleak economic future.

I’m not over being mad, and probably won’t be in my lifetime, but I’m hinging my hopes on the 2008 election and trusting that other fed-up Americans from all parties will step up to the plate and vote this country into brighter days.

Jonestown, Guyana: Effect & Reflections, 29 Years Later

Posted on 12/11/2007 by Jane Devin

I. The Horror of Jonestown

I was sixteen years old, and just months into an emancipation that was all at once frightening, peaceful, and confusing. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined to let experience be my teacher. After a few fits and starts in the foreign territory of Northern California, I found a decent job and a furnished apartment. I signed contracts and opened accounts – and was absolutely giddy when I received my first box of checks.

I had a charged-up kind of confidence that came from years of hopeful and escapist reading. Positive thinking mantras, bootstrap philosophies, self-informed destinies. Think it and be it. I had scars, deep ones, but I was determined that they would fade. That as an adult, I would bury those crushed and diseased layers of childhood under so much happiness, love, and positivity that they would cease to exist in any real dimension, and become only distant memories.

Then, Guyana. Jonestown. A Utopian dream for those disenfranchised or disenchanted by society – a dream that somehow went terribly wrong – leaving over 900 people dead, including 287 children.

I didn’t really believe the news when it came blaring through my tiny black and white television. Adults die, but children – we bounce back. Adults are screwed up in a thousand ways, with their alcohol, their deceptions, and their rage, but children – we know, don’t we? We run, we escape, and when we can’t – we bounce back. We hold our thoughts and dreams in a special place they can’t touch. We make promises to ourselves, and take pleasure in every new inch added to our height. Soon, we will be grown-up. We will reach the magical age, and no one will harm us anymore.

I was so mad at the media. The newscasters wouldn’t shut-up, even after hours, about the dead Congressman and the camera man, their lives, and their families. It seemed to me that the media was pronouncing that these men, who lived professional, distinguished lives, deserved to be mourned, while 900+ other people existed only as a sensational backdrop – nameless, faceless, without stories to tell, or families left behind. I needed to know: Who were they? What happened? Why? How? Did they try to run, did they struggle, did any children escape, did anyone, in a moment of revelation, scream for others to stop? How could one man, who originally led others in a quest for equality and harmony, lead them into murder and suicide?

287 children. Really dead. Not able to bounce back from the sickness of adults.

I used my bus money to buy every newspaper and magazine available, and became frustrated and obsessed with the story of Jonestown. The answers were sparse and shallow, and the children remained largely anonymous. Adult survivors who were interviewed still seemed blinded by a charismatic madman and a broken promise of Utopia. At sixteen, I found them selfish and weak, and despised them for fleeing into the woods without carrying so much as one defenseless child with them.

Jonestown was thousands of miles away from the Silicon Valley, where I, like thousands of others, spent my working hours in a sparkling clean factory filled with diodes, capacitors, and motherboards – cutting edge technologies meant to make life easier and more efficient. While the horror of Jonestown was being broadcast, cars stalled at their usual pace on crowded highways, people fought for parking space at the malls, and billboards and radio stations hawked their usual wares.

People made jokes about the “Kool-Aid drinkers” as if there really was no more to the story than a bunch of really stupid, worthless people who followed a delusional madman into a murderous pact. But there were bent and broken syringes, showing signs of struggle. Reports of parents screaming, children screaming, and being forced to swallow. Tiny teeth marks on plastic syringes tell a story very few people had the heart or mind to tell.

They took the children first. 287 of them. Agents of Jones, for the most part, led them; a few parents. They led them to the podium like little lambs – and lions – to slaughter. It was a coldly calculated move, designed to make the bereaved parents easier to manage, more willing to let themselves be killed.

The dead and dying were placed out of sight, to painfully convulse to their deaths under the warm Guyana sun. They say it took about five minutes for their hearts, even the tiniest, to stop beating.

I grew up after Guyana. I changed, my dreams changed, and my thoughts shifted outward. My introverted nature turned itself inside out, and I began to demand answers for every unfairness, injustice, and act of cruelty I saw, experienced, or heard about. I became, to some, a hellion; a thorn. Others found my passion admirable, but “too much,” too “intense”. I was urged (and often warned) to be more diplomatic, to temper my tongue, and slow my thoughts.

I did / I didn’t. I tried / I failed. I burned hot and cold, got burnt, and burned myself out for months, even years, at a time. Often, I stepped up only to get shot down. Sometimes, I rallied back, fought harder than ever, and succeeded. There are rarely any easy choices in a life that’s determined to make a difference, no matter how small, limited – or even eventually inconsequential – that difference might be.

II. Naming the Rage

I raged most, and still do, against those in positions of power and authority – including parents, religious figures, CEO’s, celebrities, media moguls, politicians, judges, and those in law enforcement – who misuse and abuse their positions and then hide behind the many protections they are afforded in order to prevent their misdeeds from being discovered or, in the case of the wealthy or powerful, to escape punishment when they are caught.

I name as my enemies those who neglect, abuse and even kill their children, leaving scars, blood and tears in the wake of their negligence or violence. Those who pilfer and steal the hard-earned money entrusted to them – those who purposely distort the news millions of people rely on – those who make shady backroom deals to line their own pockets – those who bring their personal prejudices to bear in deciding the fates of others – those sworn to uphold the law, but who hold guns to their wives heads, torment their children, or beat handcuffed citizens to a bloody pulp, and then hide behind their badges.

I name you as my moral enemy, if you are one of those who are so dazzled by the light of power or celebrity that you will invent blinders or a different set of rules for privileged others. If you are one of those who will create excuses for authority figures that you would not create for your own friends or neighbors. Those of you, for example, who would support the torture at Abu-Ghraib as a justifiable means to an end, yet loudly proclaim America to be the near-infallible and supreme promoter of Human Rights.

I name you hypocrites – those of you who would line the streets to cheer for a perverted star like Michael Jackson, but who wouldn’t hesitate to demand the harshest sentences for sex offenders in your own communities. Those of you who would make heroes out of someone like (the now-dead) Kurt Cobain, or other drug-addled stars – but who want the poverty-stricken crack addicts in your own neighborhoods locked behind bars for years. (A disease is a disease regardless of how much money or talent a person has).

I name you selfish, those of you who vote only for the lowest taxes, and the least dent in your wallet, even while you claim to care about the most defenseless among us – the poor, the children, the disabled, the elderly.

I name you cowardly, those of you who choose blinders and invent excuses for even the worst acts perpetrated by those whose talents, lives or positions – or even whose looks – you idolize. Those of you who, although fully capable, won’t stand up in the face of adversity or injustice, but instead cower when there’s any perceived threat to your time, your peace, your reputation, or your resources.

There are many violent, abusive, power-hungry, corrupt, degenerate, illogical, dishonest, and cowardly people in this world. If I have enemies, it is because I do not care to make such people my friends.

III. A Fighting Spirit, a Fighting Chance

287 children died in Jonestown on November 18, 1978. The last remnants of my childhood died with them, and out of the tattered, torn spirit of a young adult sprung the heart of a fighter. I will fight for you, I promised them. You’ll see, we’ll make it right, we’ll make it matter. We’ll show others how to bounce back.

Twenty-nine years later, I carry my own battle-worn legacy, and it’s unremarkable really, except for the strength of convictions born out of the ruins of tragedy, and the long-reach of lessons learned. The intensity of my beliefs and feelings will die with me, and even the strongest of my words will fade into oblivion or obscurity. I will one day leave the earth as most people do – as the children of Jonestown certainly did – largely anonymous, leaving behind barely a ripple. Stronger, younger, and perhaps better-situated others will pick up the sword. I hope so, and pray that they will have more success than I did. At the same time I would not wish anyone into a life of prolonged struggle.

IV. Braving the Fears

Once, when I lived in the country, I made a hesitant companion out of a lone red fox. She would often come near my porch in the early hours of morning. Fascinated, I began to set out bowls of dog food for her, and watched her from behind the window whenever she came. If I spoke, or moved too quickly, the fox would startle and take off running. I watched her then, in silence, for several months. One morning, I opened my door to find the tiny, lifeless body of a fox pup on my steps. He was still somewhat warm but had gone stiff. I could not revive him.

I never saw the mother fox again, but I thought – if even the wildest creature can brave her most ingrained fears to try to save her young – what is wrong with us?

What the hell is wrong with us?

* * * *

Megan Meier: Targeted Even After her Death

Posted on 12/09/2007 by Jane Devin

By now, most people are familiar with the story of Megan Meier, a vulnerable 13 year old girl who committed suicide after a particularly detestable internet hoax, concocted by the mother of one of her acquaintances, led to a massive online bullying session.

Recently, prosecutors announced that there would be no charges filed against Lori Drew , her eighteen year old employee, or her teenager, who all participated in an online game that seemed purposely designed to do emotional harm to Meier, whom Drew knew was already being treated for depression.

Drew’s claim of moral and legal innocence is that she didn’t create the fake MySpace profile of “Josh” as an act of cruelty, but instead simply to “monitor” what Meier may have been saying about her own daughter online. She perpetrated the hoax, she claimed, not to be cruel, but to “protect her daughter.” However, the topic of conversation between Meier and Drew’s fictional character was not about Drew’s daughter. Instead, “Josh” began a campaign of compliments and adoration that played to the young victim’s insecurities.

Megan, who was on her way back up after recovering from a miserable seventh grade year, in which she was derided for being overweight, seemed to take solace in her new internet romance — a solace that abruptly ended when “Josh” told her that the world would be better off without her, and called her “fat” and a “slut.” After the two engaged in an online fight, the MySpace friends of the fictional boy joined the fray, adding their abusive messages to Megan in the comments section of Josh’s MySpace page.

Shortly afterwards, Megan Meier hung herself in her bedroom closet. Lori Drew busied herself with warning the participants in this online tragedy not to talk. Drew and her family attended Meier’s funeral, and kept up a pretense of sympathy and friendship with the Meier family. Drew even asked them if she could store some Christmas presents in their garage. Tina and Ron Meier agreed.

A neighborhood girl who was aware of the hoax perpetrated by Drew then stepped forward and informed the Meiers’ of the truth. In a fit of hurt and rage, Ron Meier smashed the Drew’s Christmas presents. When the Drew’s complained to police, Lori Drew’s involvement in the internet hoax was confirmed.

For a year, the Meier family kept silent as the FBI investigated. In the end, laws governing the internet were not adequate or substantial enough to charge Lori Drew and her accomplices with a crime. A New York Times article quotes the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Lt. Craig McGuire, as saying what Drew did “might’ve been rude, it might’ve been immature, but it wasn’t illegal.”

Many people don’t understand that position, given that there are laws meant to address cyber-stalking and internet harassment, both federally and under Missouri state law. However, according to attorneys specializing in the internet, the few laws that are in place are vague, subjective, and widely open to interpretation. Further, many law enforcement agencies are not well-versed in or trained to handle internet cases, which tend to cross jurisdictional lines, and may involve multiple states. While there are reporting mechanisms in place, such as the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center , people who have have filed reports complain that there is rarely a response, and that the ICCC is more geared towards handling multiple complaints of online fraud, rather than individual cases of internet harassment.

Adding more burden to those victimized, most complainants end up being referred to civil court for resolution, which can be a long, cost-prohibitive and unreasonably burdensome process.

Megan’s hometown of Dardenne Prairie, MO recently passed its own law in response to the deficiency of Federal and State laws, making internet harassment in their community a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500.

The ordinance makes it illegal for an adult to contact a minor in a way that would cause a reasonable parent to fear for the child’s safety. Anyone engaging in a pattern of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer “substantial emotional distress” would also be charged with harassment.

In an ironic twist, Newsday is reporting that the first beneficiary of Dardenne Prairie’s new ordinance against internet harassment may be none other than Lori Drew.

A blog entitled “Megan Had it Coming” appeared on the internet on November 18, 2007, purportedly written by an acquaintance of Megan’s who called herself “Kristen”. However, on the third and last posting on the site, written December 3, 2007, the author proclaims herself to be Lori Drew, and explains that she began the blog because she was “so angry at the world for being so unfair, especially when it came to my daughter whom I had sworn to protect from all of this. I took a low blow at Megan’s memory because I desperately wanted the world to at least get a glimpse of the truth.”

Questioned by reporters, Drew vehemently insists that those low blows, which included calling Megan a “bitch”, “a total psycho”, and a “monster”, didn’t come from her but an imposter. While neither Drew nor her family asked for an investigation into the matter, St. Charles County prosecutor Jack Banas is determined to find out who is behind the vengeful blog about the deceased child. Both the Drew family and the Meiers, who have recently separated, told reporters that they welcome the investigation.