Notes of Mourning
The latest outbreak of violence in the States saw 27-year-old Stephen Kazmierczak dead by his own hand before it was over. Dressed all in black, Kazmierczak stepped out yesterday afternoon from behind a curtain on the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, and opened fire with a shotgun. He fired repeatedly, 20 times or more according to eyewitnesses, killing five and wounding fifteen, before he turned his weapon on himself. This morning, a sixth victim succumbed to the wounds inflicted by the murderous Kazmierczak.
Now, the sorrowful vigils and the memorials begin. Universitites across the continent will check on their security systems and beef them up where the need is perceived, but who will move to address the problem at its actual roots? There is something increasingly wrong with a society that produces more and more Kazmierczaks. I doubt there will be an answer to the problem until we, as a whole, begin to rethink our approach to life. We assign value and worth to so much that is worthless, but too frequently we assign so little to the things we really need to treasure. The problem is complex, as is the answer, but beefing up security is only a stopgap. It will do little to stop those determined to kill.
Those determined to take lives leave devastation in their wake; consequences that can last for a lifetime and more. The families of yesterday's shooting victims now have to face the horrendous task of continuing their day-to-day lives in spite of the gaping hole left by senseless death. They share an unwanted solidarity with families a whole world away from them, in Viet Nam. Many people there, too, are desperately seeking a way forward from the aftermath of violence. That outbreak of taking lives was officially over decades ago, however, unlike the shooting at the university. The Viet Nam citizens trying to leave behind the war are facing a far more insidious enemy than one wielding a gun. They are living with agent orange, still. They are the children born with defects caused by this dioxin-laden herbicide and defoliant; to parents who had no idea of the devestation that would be visited on their loved ones, the same as the parents now grieving in Illinois.
The little girl, Van, five years old in 2006 when she was profiled in the Washington Post, stands for every one of the victims still coming forth to be added to the toll wreaked by agent orange. Anthony Faiola, writing in the Post on Nov. 13, 2006, said this about the little one: "Van, 5, spends her days at home, playing by herself on the concrete floor because local school officials say her appearance frightens other children. She has an oversize head and a severely deformed mouth, and her upper body is covered in a rash so severe her skin appears to have been boiled. According to Vietnamese medical authorities, she is part of a new generation of Agent Orange victims, forever scarred by the U.S.-made herbicide containing dioxin, one of the world's most toxic pollutants." The clean-up that needs to be done will take an estimated $60 million U.S. Of course, it has to be kept in mind that the clean-up is what we think it will be possible to do. No-one really knows for sure, yet, what will and will not be possible when we are talking such a pollutant; such an instrument of mass destruction.
How many North Americans are even aware of the plight facing parents of children like Van? How many prayer vigils will be held for her and the others like her? Maybe, if we could join together in making Van and the others in her situation more important than the purchase of the latest must-have electronic equipment, the number of incidents like yesterday's shooting at Northern Illinois might actually decrease. The U.S. government denies responsibility for the havoc created by agent orange, saying that there is insufficient proof that the defects are directly attributable to the defoliant they used. American vets are still seeking compensation from the government for themselves and their children. Those vets understand. They say the government is just waiting for them all to die and end the pesty claims that way. How can a society governed by official bodies displaying such attitudes hope to do much better than to exhibit the same indifference to the value of life, and suffer tha malaise that accompanies such a disconnect from reality?
Maybe if we, as a whole, could decide that life is the most important possession for all of us, and that sharing it with every other one of our species is a guaranteed way to find happiness; maybe then we could stop doing such horrendous things to each other.
On a related note, a death knell is sounding today in Toronto for the clothing line produced by Linda Lundstrom. For me, it sounds a note similar to the mournful tones of the Illinois University shooting and the children still falling victime to agent orange in Viet Nam, because so much of our complacent indifference to the plight of others is based on the dollar sign. Pursuit thereof and the disinclination to share it with others is right in the middle of every one of our planet's major problems. Lundstron ran her clothing factory on the principles of environmental stewardship. She believed in corporate accountability, and proved it by taking such steps as giving stock overages to women's shelters rather than selling them to discounters, and using bamboo grown without pesticides to make some of her fashion line. She has found, however, that environmentalism lacks importance for too many people. She has found that while so many pay lip service to caring for others, few are willing to put their words into actions, especially if it is perceived as being unprofitable. While Lundstrom did run afoul of more than one causal factor in her company's bankruptcy, like the strength of the loonie against the american buck, she has also refused to close her north american production and switch to sweatshop production elsewhere. She is suffering the consequences of having a global awareness that places her in the
minority of those who actively care about the plight of others. If everyone would stop buying sweatshop products, manufacturers would soon change their ways. After all, the dollar sign is the bottom line for them.
We could do it. We could make the world a friendly place for every one of us, if we got out priorities straight.
What is stopping us?
Now, the sorrowful vigils and the memorials begin. Universitites across the continent will check on their security systems and beef them up where the need is perceived, but who will move to address the problem at its actual roots? There is something increasingly wrong with a society that produces more and more Kazmierczaks. I doubt there will be an answer to the problem until we, as a whole, begin to rethink our approach to life. We assign value and worth to so much that is worthless, but too frequently we assign so little to the things we really need to treasure. The problem is complex, as is the answer, but beefing up security is only a stopgap. It will do little to stop those determined to kill.
Those determined to take lives leave devastation in their wake; consequences that can last for a lifetime and more. The families of yesterday's shooting victims now have to face the horrendous task of continuing their day-to-day lives in spite of the gaping hole left by senseless death. They share an unwanted solidarity with families a whole world away from them, in Viet Nam. Many people there, too, are desperately seeking a way forward from the aftermath of violence. That outbreak of taking lives was officially over decades ago, however, unlike the shooting at the university. The Viet Nam citizens trying to leave behind the war are facing a far more insidious enemy than one wielding a gun. They are living with agent orange, still. They are the children born with defects caused by this dioxin-laden herbicide and defoliant; to parents who had no idea of the devestation that would be visited on their loved ones, the same as the parents now grieving in Illinois.
The little girl, Van, five years old in 2006 when she was profiled in the Washington Post, stands for every one of the victims still coming forth to be added to the toll wreaked by agent orange. Anthony Faiola, writing in the Post on Nov. 13, 2006, said this about the little one: "Van, 5, spends her days at home, playing by herself on the concrete floor because local school officials say her appearance frightens other children. She has an oversize head and a severely deformed mouth, and her upper body is covered in a rash so severe her skin appears to have been boiled. According to Vietnamese medical authorities, she is part of a new generation of Agent Orange victims, forever scarred by the U.S.-made herbicide containing dioxin, one of the world's most toxic pollutants." The clean-up that needs to be done will take an estimated $60 million U.S. Of course, it has to be kept in mind that the clean-up is what we think it will be possible to do. No-one really knows for sure, yet, what will and will not be possible when we are talking such a pollutant; such an instrument of mass destruction.
How many North Americans are even aware of the plight facing parents of children like Van? How many prayer vigils will be held for her and the others like her? Maybe, if we could join together in making Van and the others in her situation more important than the purchase of the latest must-have electronic equipment, the number of incidents like yesterday's shooting at Northern Illinois might actually decrease. The U.S. government denies responsibility for the havoc created by agent orange, saying that there is insufficient proof that the defects are directly attributable to the defoliant they used. American vets are still seeking compensation from the government for themselves and their children. Those vets understand. They say the government is just waiting for them all to die and end the pesty claims that way. How can a society governed by official bodies displaying such attitudes hope to do much better than to exhibit the same indifference to the value of life, and suffer tha malaise that accompanies such a disconnect from reality?
Maybe if we, as a whole, could decide that life is the most important possession for all of us, and that sharing it with every other one of our species is a guaranteed way to find happiness; maybe then we could stop doing such horrendous things to each other.
On a related note, a death knell is sounding today in Toronto for the clothing line produced by Linda Lundstrom. For me, it sounds a note similar to the mournful tones of the Illinois University shooting and the children still falling victime to agent orange in Viet Nam, because so much of our complacent indifference to the plight of others is based on the dollar sign. Pursuit thereof and the disinclination to share it with others is right in the middle of every one of our planet's major problems. Lundstron ran her clothing factory on the principles of environmental stewardship. She believed in corporate accountability, and proved it by taking such steps as giving stock overages to women's shelters rather than selling them to discounters, and using bamboo grown without pesticides to make some of her fashion line. She has found, however, that environmentalism lacks importance for too many people. She has found that while so many pay lip service to caring for others, few are willing to put their words into actions, especially if it is perceived as being unprofitable. While Lundstrom did run afoul of more than one causal factor in her company's bankruptcy, like the strength of the loonie against the american buck, she has also refused to close her north american production and switch to sweatshop production elsewhere. She is suffering the consequences of having a global awareness that places her in the
minority of those who actively care about the plight of others. If everyone would stop buying sweatshop products, manufacturers would soon change their ways. After all, the dollar sign is the bottom line for them.
We could do it. We could make the world a friendly place for every one of us, if we got out priorities straight.
What is stopping us?
posted by aka.alias @ 12:18 PM 2 Comments 
2 Comments:
To answer your last question: what's stopping us is plain greed and personal gratification. Nothing else matters it seems ... unless more people can find personal gratification in doing good. That would take effort however, and for our couch-potato nation, that would be a challenge.
You write very eloquently on the stories of Van and Linda Lundstrom. I wish that the subject could be as pleasant, but alas, you are writing on topics that many others choose to ignore. More of us should take our lead from you.
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