the jimmymac attack!

It is amazing that in a rich country such as Canada there are people living on the streets and ravines. On the streets and parks of the county's richest, largest city poor people sleep and live day in and day out. And little or nothing is done about it. Society just accepts it as being normal. Martin Luther King Jr had a dream for the black people of America. I think we should have a new dream for the poor people of America. A dream to have no more homelessness. It is amazing to see the number of poor people. European tourists find it so amazing they sometimes take pictures. And as bad as it is in Canada I think it is worse in the USA. The richest country in the world has an appalling amount of poverty. How is it possible? Only because it is not a priority for the society and the government.
I think homelessness and poverty should be made a health care issue and given highest priority. Good health involves physical, mental and emotional well being. It also requires a physical, financial aspect. By definition no one could enjoy good health if they do not have a home and safe, secure place to live. Can you imagine being a healthy, well adjusted person if you were sleeping in a city park? It's impossible. Therefore homelessness should be made a health care issue and all people in poverty should be given the help and support necessary to have secure, stable living conditions. Education is mandatory for all children. Homes should also be a requirement for all people. Poverty hurts everyone because it also leads to more sickness, disease and crime. I hope we can adopt this dream and make poverty and homelessness history.

It was nice to see people such as Oprah and John Travolta and George W fly into New Orleans to help the poor people suffering from Hurricane Katrina. John flew in on his own private jet. Oprah is the first black, woman billionaire in America. And if anyone deserves to be a billionaire it is Oprah. She has done a lot for a lot of people. However I wonder if these super rich people realize that they are part of the problem? Less than 10% of the people have most of the wealth in America and the world. This means 90% of the people must share all the rest. While a few people have a lot, many people have little or nothing. About 20 to 30 % of the population must live on very, very little. This huge disparity in wealth is the reason so many people in New Orleans went from barely hanging on to homeless and destitute in a day. The wealthy and middle class just jumped in their cars and airplanes and left town. The poor people were literally left behind.
The hurricane drove the whole problem onto the front pages but every day in communities all over America the same huge disparity in wealth exists. Being the rich and powerful the Haves must take action to fix this problem. Oprah, John, Bono and George must work on the long term, permanent solutions to this. There are people suffering in Africa and Asia of course but there are also people in poverty in the USA and Canada. To benefit the poor and our societies as a whole everyone must be given hope and opportunity to do better. I hope the Haves will understand this will benefit everybody and they take some real positive action to change the inequity.

CEO's who lose their jobs for poor performance get $20 million in payouts. Executive salaries and bonuses go up every year. The minimum wage and welfare benefits stay the same despite inflation. People on welfare are called lazy and 'welfare bums'. But executives getting overpaid are 'worth it'. An inquiry in Toronto just declared several Toronto bureaucrats and politicians to be on the take - one guy who ran for mayor took a bribe of $25,000 cash. That is only what they know for sure. He was there for many years and who knows what he really got. He will not spend one day in jail. He will not be asked to return the money or give it to the city. The poorest people on welfare are regularly harassed and told they will be cut off and they've been overpaid. The welfare office has bullet proof glass and security guards. A single person in Toronto on welfare gets about $7,000 per year to live on. To pay for rent, clothing, food, transportation etc. If they work their benefits will be reduced or cut off. If anyone else in society makes extra money on the side they are called inventive and industrious. Poor people are called cheats and scammers. The corrupt bureaucrats and politicians are getting paid through the same tax base that the welfare people are but they do not get cut off.

Social Services and welfare exist for these reasons:
1. To give the poor just enough crumbs so they will not revolt, go postal and start attacking or killing people.
2. To give a lot of government employees and bureaucrats good, well paying jobs with security and benefits.
3. To serve (very poorly) the people who need help. They are given barely enough to try to survive on. They are also given a lot of harassment, shame and assaults on any self esteem they might possess.

Big news in Toronto this summer is the record number of murders by hand guns. Most of them are young black men shooting other young black men. Other common factors include gangs, drugs and low income families. More social problems festering into major social tragedy. Today the news reported another murder on the streets of Toronto. This one was different. A fifty-nine year old homeless man was killed on a downtown street corner. Not by a gun. He was beaten and kicked to death. Not by black gang members. He was brutally killed by three young men who are part of the Canadian militia. How could something so violent and senseless happen? Only because it is a common view that poor, homeless people are less than worthy human beings. They are useless, despicable scum that don't deserve to live. I suppose these young men must have thought something like this when they beat and kicked the man to death. And what is the bottom line? One man living in poverty is gone. I hope he is in a better place in heaven. And the promising lives of three young men are ruined. Three lives and their families are forever negatively affected. Because poor, homeless people don't deserve the respect that normal human beings deserve. Our community and society are less because of the systemic disregard for the poor. When will things change? How many lives must be lost or ruined before we decide to do something about it?

Traveling is wonderful for so many reasons. It is great to see new places. It's great to experience new cultures and people and language. And another plus is coming home again. Going to another country always makes you look at your own country a little differently. In the 1990's the UN voted Canada the best place to live in the world for about eight years. Our Prime Minister was very proud of this and liked to boast about it. I'm sure Canada is probably one of the best countries to live in if you are not one of the unfortunate Canadians living in poverty. In Toronto there are so many homeless and poor people that tourists take pictures of them to show friends back in Europe and other places. Canada could be the best place in the world if some priorities were changed. The biggest news these days is the price of gas. Gas, cars, material things are far more important to average Canadians than the plight of the poor. It is a common view of average Canadians that poor people are lazy, stupid, dishonest and deserve their fate. I wish there could be a sea change shift in this view. I don't think anyone deserves to be homeless or live in poverty. It's true many of them do drugs and alcohol. This is one way they try to cope with the desperation and it's part of the vicious circle. Drugs and alcohol lead to more problems of course. Others suffer from mental health problems. Others have emotional or physical problems. Imagine if Canada put the health and well being of EVERY person ahead of every other prioity. No more new $20 million Opera Houses. No more Aquariums costing millions of $. No more additions to the Royal Ontario Museum. No more renovations to the Art Gallery of Ontario. No more extra, unessential frills until every Canadian has a home and some useful work or program to help them become healthier, happier Canadians. It would be good for everyone. Imagine all those people helping to contribute to Canada instead of being a drain on the economy. It would be better economically in the long run. And of course it would make Canada a more humane, healthier place in so many ways.