It’s 3:23 in the morning and I’m awake because my great grandchildren won’t let me sleep.
My great grandchildren ask me in dreams “What did you do while the planet was plundered?
What did you do when the Earth was unraveling?
Surely you did something when the seasons started failing,
As the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying.
Did you fill the streets with protest when democracy was stolen?
What did you do once you knew?”
Drew Del
Actually, it is 1:37 in the morning and I am writing, because that is what I can do. Does it make a difference…I ask myself that question when I awake in the early morning hours like today with the faces and stories of people that I have talked with over the last two years filling my head and breaking my heart.
October 21, 2007 is an easy date to remember…my 58th birthday; I was sitting in my home in Escondido with the strong Santa Ana winds blowing and the knowing that fire was a natural part of those winds. I looked around my home, asking myself what I would take if I was forced to evacuate and at that moment realized that it was just “stuff.”
The next morning, I arose to red skies as the firestorm came down the hills and burned through Escondido. At one point there were three fires encircling San Diego County with the Pacific Ocean on the fourth side. Not having a television in my home, I took that time to get in touch with my personal fear and get “real” with my purpose and what was mine to do.
I made the decision and commitment to go “on the road” for two years looking for a “forever home” where I would settle down permanently. The “on the road” part was not new to me as I had moved over forty times during my adult life and each time I had set up temporary roots with my organic gardening and composting in pots.
The “forever home” part was more difficult because it has been my nature to always have an “exit strategy” in place for when I get what my daughter Jessi calls “itchy feet syndrom” and ready to move on. Permanent home to me means zero energy, environmentally sustainable with land for gardens and animals in an area where my neighbors are at peace with nature and each other.
The past two years have taken me on a journey into the heart and mind of the different cultures that make up this country while constantly reminding me that we are only a small part of nature on one Earth.
Traveling in my beloved well worn older model Honda which my grandson refers to as “that piece of crap” reminds me of how people are classified and their worth as humans is often determined by the appearance of their possessions. Those without a “home” are called “homeless” inferring that their housing status reflects their human value.
I refer to myself as “home-free” or a “traveling gypsy” which brings up the vision of Cher singing “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves…we hear if from the people in the towns…They call us Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.” I went into not only the physical but also the mental conditions of being part of the economically challenged as temporary transients (ECATTs) as I talked with people.
I talked with people in my age group who had done everything right…college degrees, careers, etc. The only thing they did wrong was get old and have an economic setback which left them without an income and unable to keep their home. I talked with parents who do not earn enough for childcare therefore they leave their children at home alone sleeping while they work. I talked with people who work in corporate sweat shops and sleep in their cars several nights each week. I worked side by side with people who know their paychecks will not sustain their family’s needs much less their wants. And their wants are many because our society tells us that our human value is based on what size television screen we have or what model cell phone we own.
I talked with students in a financially challenged middle school who can’t read and yet they have dreams of becoming rock stars and game designers. These children are computer literate (my space), video game savvy and they can text blindly yet they do not know how to use a dictionary. Books, dictionaries and proper grammar are completely foreign to their culture. These children can’t recognize fruits and vegetables because they have never eaten anything except artificial processed junk food but they can tell you what is “going on” in the world of reality show television and videos.
There was one belief that the second and third generation economically challenged have in common that the first generation doesn’t necessarily hold. Those born into the culture of the economically challenged have no concept of human value or self potential. They are carriers of the superior-inferior belief system and victim mentality. Their heritage is a belief system which craves instant gratification and thinks that money can fill their hopelessness and take away their fear. They live in a world where weapons and violence make them superior.
I attended “Conferences, Workshops and Summits” where highly educated experts talk to their financially privileged peer group about “Diversity” and “Racism” and “Education” and “Equality” and “Healthcare” and “Homelessness” and how keep “those people” out of their sight. Their solutions consist mainly of how to give handouts and hand me downs to “those poor people.” These experts who are getting paid to give the solutions have never experienced the culture and I often wondered how they would react if 50 or 100 of the financially challenged were to show up and be part of the group discussion. It was at these events that I learned the true meaning of Classism and the difference between talking with people and talking to or about “those people.”
Another realization I have come to over the past two years is that we have developed a disposable mentality with our material consumerism. Everything is disposable from the plastic packages and containers we get our food in to the electronic equipment and plastic toys we buy our children to the plastic and electronic automobiles we drive to our bodies which we have turned over to medical technology for chemical and drug testing.
We certainly have the mentality of disposable people…or do we just have more than our share of the Earth’s criminals? There are more people locked away in jails in the United States than any other country in the world. I have been more spiritually fed and felt more love sitting in a prison visitation hall than I have ever felt in a Church service. In our justice system the meaning of Classism comes through. Economic status plays a huge part in determining who goes to jail just as economic status plays a huge part in determining who joins the military.
While traveling across the country, one of the major challenges I faced was food. Being a nutritionist, I was used to going to the market several times a week and buying locally grown organic food which I prepared in my kitchen. My friends usually kept me stocked with lemons, limes, avocados, etc. and I grew peppers and herbs in my garden pots. I had not been in a commercial grocery store since moving from Las Vegas in 2004 and even in Las Vegas, I shopped at Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
Finding real food at a reasonable price has been probably the most difficult part of the journey. When I talk with people who grow and produce real food I find out why the cost is so high for organic and clean food. There is no demand. The vast majority of Americans are addicted to the chemicals and toxins in their artificial food supply and will not eat real food. This addiction is so strong that people will die before they will give up their “foods” of choice.
Television shows are a prime example of artificial food addiction. Millions of people watch food preparation shows without really looking at the health and appearance of the people preparing the artificial food. These are the same people watching drug advertisements and “asking their doctor” to prescribe chemicals that have side effects such as liver damage, blindness or an an 18 hour erection.
Food and drug addiction is an equal opportunity area without regard to economic status or social class. The only difference is how much is paid for the food or drug of choice…whether the food is purchased from an expensive restaurant or the fast food joint on every corner…whether the drug is made by a large pharmaceutical company or in a local meth lab.
Which brings me back to the original question…what did you do when you knew…
That our food supply has been replaced with artificial addictive chemicals
That our homes are built and filled with toxic materials
That our drinking water and the air we breathe is polluted with toxins
That technology and education have replaced human value
That freedom depends on economic status
I write, I talk and then I write some more…does anyone read it…does anyone listen…does anyone care. My two years on the road is over…but my path as an advocate and activist is just beginning…why…because I care.
Love, Light & Lots of Laughter…Joa
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