Do we see and hear when people are hurting?
Do we pay attention or look away?
Do we even care?
Do we do anything about it?
As queen Marie-Antoinette said when told that her people were starving and had no bread, what did she say?
Let them eat cake!
Pray that we are better than that. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
America is a great country.
The freedom, rights, and opportunities we have is exceptional and enviable in the world and history.
But the disparity between rich and poor, majorities and minorities is grotesque.
On one side of the street are the mansions, and on the other are the slums.
One on side of the train station are those going off to work, and on the other side are the homeless lying in the gutter.
On one side of the scale are people fat with money and power, and on the other side are people hungry and decaying.
Wealth is overflowing for those that are the fortunate, but also corruption runs systematically deep.
This isn’t an issue of political party, but one of the righteousness of men’s hearts.
G-d watches and man disappoints, but the the future is still wide open. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Continued to be appalled at the unlivable “living conditions” of the homeless in the Capital.
Makeshift tents line up and down under the train tracks to Union Station.
Spikes overhead make this an extra frightening looking arrangement.
People walking by and to/from work–after a while, is there a mixture of acceptance and indifference?
It’s freezing outside and this is NO WAY for any human being to have to live.
Can we put partisan politics aside for any period of time to deal with the very harsh problems facing real people? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I had to drive into downtown Washington D.C.
Along the way, I saw this colorful artistic rooster.
I appreciate this quick pick-me-up from this.
Yet, all around the streets were homeless people.
One was literally collapsed on a narrow island between the opposing lanes of traffic.
Some horrible-looking food, rags of clothes, and two bottles of liquor lay next to him and one of his arm hang almost into the moving traffic.
This was just one of many that I saw in abject poverty and desperation.
So I really feel conflicted looking at this colorful rooster.
What good is it when the people are homeless, sick, and starving? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was a funny title for a book:
“Sh*t Happens So Get Over It.”
There are no perfect lives out there.
I reminded again this week how everyone has something: Mark Herd, Co-CEO of Oracle, died at 62 and and Elijah Cummings, elected to 12 terms in the House of Representatives, died at 68.
All the success int he world on the surface doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of schlimazel (misfortune) under the surface.
Unfortunately, sh*t definitely happens in life and we can get all spun up over it or we can take everything in faith and stride.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
What does kill takes us to the next phase of existence.
All you can do is your best, the rest is in the hands of the Almighty above. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
I really had to take a second look at this.
From a distance, it looked like another homeless person sleeping on the bench in Washington., D.C.
But as I got closer, I realized this was a statue of a homeless person.
And the only thing real about it was the empty cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee next to it.
Honestly, I am not sure what the point of this statue is.
There are enough REAL homeless people to remind us of their serious plight and the critical need to help them.
The money that went into creating this monument would’ve been far better spent on helping these real people in need. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
(Source Video: Dossy Blumenthal)
So the plight of the homeless in Washington, DC and other large cities like NY and LA is despicable.
This photo is taken not far from the Capitol building in DC.
The homeless are not living in tents in the dead of Winter.
As the people pass by, under this particular overpass were no less than 4 tents.
While millionaires and billionaires splurge on themselves, so many people continue to go without adequate food, shelter, clothing, plumbing, healthcare, education, and jobs in America.
When G-d looks down and see the unsympathetic wealthy next to the downtrodden poor–and many of the wealthy act like insatiable pigs, while the poor go hungry and cold–shall the L-rd that judges all the earth not do justly?
Yes, there should be incentives for people to work hard and contribute, but when the wealth is skewed so that more than 50% of all the wealth is owned by just the top 1% of people and the top 1% own more than the bottom 90% of the population–we have a system that is not just broken, but grossly unjust and inhumane.
Corruption is alive and well, and who is there among our leaders to stand up and say and do what is right by G-d children?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
We went to the art galleries in Rockville Town Center today.
They had this video called “Neighbor” by Kanat Akar.
It’s about the life of a 13-year old refugee boy from Alleppo, Syria who migrated to Anakara, Turkey.
The video is eerie and hypnotic as it walks you through the eyes of this little boy and the misery of his life.
While to me it represents the dark side of life, there is so much to be explored and felt from it.
You can’t watch this without feeling like you are there on this dirty, squalor of a road to nowhere, but wanting desperately to know where it ends. 😉
(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
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