A Plea For Compassion

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Day after day, I wake up to one mind-numbingly tragic shooting incident after another, immediately followed by politicians and civic leaders giving their speeches. The give their inevitable soundbites, standing in front of makeshift flower-laden memorials, about stopping the epidemic of violence in America. They always talk about the need for better police training, more police officers, gun control, more prisons; in short, the rhetoric dances around the symptoms, tacitly avoiding any mention of the true root causes of these tragedies.
I stand with both American police officers and citizens who are victims of senseless brutality and killing. Each group also must contend with being part of a system that pits one group against the other, defining an agenda of division rather than the unity which must exist for our nation to truly solve these problems. Every time there is an incident of violence, we either blame one group or the other.
We talk symptoms.
Political and civic leaders don’t speak enough about the root causes that create the conditions for this violent behavior.

Environment is a major factor in determining the behavior and decisions that people make. Police in a highly toxic and unstable environment work under great stress and are prone to overreact and make poor judgments. Citizens living in these conditions often do the same. Ask any soldier in a war zone about reacting to persistent danger. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not limited to the stress of the battlefield alone. An environment of chronic violence or toxic stress can also lead to PTSD. Regardless of the cause, PTSD often generates impulsive, destructive overreaction.
I applaud the vast majority of police who work under difficult circumstances and dedicate themselves to their job. I also applaud the vast majority of responsible law-abiding people residing in areas of great adversity, often struggling simply to survive. In fact, I am surprised at how the vast majority of police and civilians manage to function effectively and decently under such miserable conditions. To approach these problems without focusing upon the deepest root causes is a disservice to both police and the communities they serve.
Every sociological and psychological research study that I have ever come across concludes that environment is a major factor in determining outcomes. If the goal is to change behavior and have people take responsibility, then we must change living conditions in order to change behavior. Some of the factors that can alter the environment are affordable housing, healthcare, prenatal care, day care, better education and a living wage, thereby changing the causes and conditions that result in crime, poverty, and addiction.
Government ensuring that all citizens are provided with good housing, safe communities, equal education and healthcare rights, frightens people who have been conditioned to be afraid of the word “socialism” or the phrase “welfare state.” Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution authorizes Congress to raise taxes in order to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the people.
The term “general welfare” is part of our Constitution.
The Black Lives Matter movement is not saying that only black lives matter. It implies that all lives matter, including black lives, which historically have been at an extreme disadvantage in America. I recently received an email from a friend in Ghana, a 20-year-old student: “I look around here in my country and we don’t live in constant fear of being killed, but out there in America our brothers’ and sisters’ lives are at risk. Our great-grandfathers were taken away from us to America; now they are being killed for nothing.”
There are many people with different agendas who very cleverly misdirect our attention by pointing fingers, blaming, scapegoating and pitting one group against the other. When we blame the police or groups of citizens categorized by class, race, ethnicity or religion, we justify our prejudices and hatred. If we agree that all lives matter, then let us come together in a spirit of love and compassion to create conditions where all people have the opportunity to live and thrive in a secure, happy and safe environment.
Mahatma Gandhi said, “An enlightened society is that which is willing to uplift its lowest.”
The fundamental values and morals common among the various major belief systems are rooted in the notion that all lives do matter without exception. It is not limited to only those who are of the same faith, race, or ethnicity. I truly am my brother’s keeper. We are morally called to work together to create a more loving, compassionate, and peaceful world. “All Lives Matter” and “Black Lives Matter” are not mutually exclusive statements. We allow people in seats of power to divide us and pit us against each other because of their own self interests.
Are the powers of fear, greed, and hate stronger than the power of love, forgiveness, and empowerment?
The answer is in our hands. Trying to understand why people engage in unlawful or violent behavior is not the same as justifying that behavior. We try to understand a person’s behavior in an effort to understand what factors make a person act in a certain way. We do this to deepen our understanding of what makes us tick as human beings.
In the real world, problems and solutions are often not reducible to one simple equation; there are shades of grey. Wherever you are on the political spectrum, there is some truth and validity to your position. Beneath the surface of all our differing opinions and views is one common denominator that defines us all: our humanity and natural inclination to thrive. Once you decide that only your “team” has all the truth, you shut down the dialectic and dialogue that could truly and substantively address and solve problems that we all share.
Of course there are those who will rightfully say that reason doesn’t always win the day. There are sometimes circumstances when self defense is necessary. There exist abusive police, hardened criminals, and other people or groups who would do us harm despite our efforts to solve differences peacefully; they need to be challenged forcefully at times. We need to be very cognizant that there are also other entities that need to take responsibility, including polluters of our environment, cheaters and scammers, hate mongers and war mongers, and perpetrators of corporate greed and deception.
Let us not leave the responsibility of these people out of the public discourse. We are all players in the same game and we all need to take responsibility, no matter where we are on the economic spectrum, no matter our race or ethnicity. These issues stand a better chance of being resolved when we employ our natural gift of reason in order to collaborate, negotiate and communicate.
Addressing the troubling symptoms that manifest in our society, rather than working together intelligently to prevent the development of these problems at the root, only perpetuates the seemingly endless cycle of frustration and despair regarding America’s social ills.
Our lives are a journey. Along the way there are obstacles, challenges and adversity, as well as joy, love and fulfillment. We derive our values and truths from our own experiences, both good and bad; yet when we are able to step outside of our own experiences and into the shoes of others, we leave judgmental thinking behind and walk side by side, together, with empathy and compassion.
 
Jeff Grande taught history and sociology to inner city students in Hartford Connecticut for over 35 years. He is now retired and remains committed to improving the lives of young people.

8 thoughts on “A Plea For Compassion

  1. The PBS vidio from the 60s goes to the heart of this post. The vidio “Class Divided,” illustrates people respond by how they are treated.

  2. In our pyramidic system of classes and elites who we give our power and trust to, all true human values get lost on the brutal, competitive way to the top. As long as we believe that the rich and powerful retain their humanity and will share their wealth with the masses we are doomed to remain dependent on their whims.
    We keep forgetting that out-sized accumulations of power and riches themselves corrupt. Only balanced living and sensible, reasonable accumulations succeed in creating balanced living with fairly distributed wealth.
    Only in societies where each member has enough power to make a difference can there be room for equal treatment.
    When we stop giving our power away to anyone who knows how to fool us into believing they can ‘save’ us, there will be true change. When we stop believing the lies and deceits of power-mongering manipulators, we will retain power ourselves and only then have power to change reality. When we stop ‘believing in’ all the magical, illogical myths that one ‘special’ person or group are our ‘saviors’, and start saving OURSELVES together with the ‘every-day’ people we live with in our neighborhoods and communities, change will come.
    Nobody will do it for us. We have to do the job ourselves, as imperfect as it may look. It only looks imperfect because it’s real, and real is always imperfect. (Those who APPEAR perfect are the liars and showmen who decieve and never deliver.)

    • “When we stop giving our power away to anyone who knows how to fool us into believing they can ‘save’ us, ”
      I assume you are talking about those who make more than you… and for those below… it’s aint my problem. The other problem is that if everybody is taxed who make a million dollars a year… the amount would be about 800 B…. that will run our government for 8-9 months… than what? Who will have a job? I just mention this… I’m a realist… idealism sucks and doesn’t work., only destroys.
      Do you make more money than your boss. I sure as hell don’t. but I’m thrilled that he has more money, and that gives me a job. I have been working since the fourth grade… 30 cents an hour… and still working at 74. Historically, this Manichean battle was first set down in word by Plato the idealist, and Aristotle, the realist.. and I’m sure verbally existed since the beginning of man. Just my opinion… As my mother always said to us sibs… “We are not peas in a pod.” 3/13/17

    • “When we stop giving our power away to anyone who knows how to fool us into believing they can ‘save’ us, ”
      I assume you are talking about those who make more than you… and for those below… it’s aint my problem. The other problem is that if everybody is taxed who make a million dollars a year… the amount would be about 800 B…. that will run our government for 8-9 months… than what? Who will have a job? I just mention this… I’m a realist… idealism sucks and doesn’t work., only destroys.
      Do you make more money than your boss. I sure as hell don’t. but I’m thrilled that he has more money, and that gives me a job. I have been working since the fourth grade… 30 cents an hour… and still working at 74. Historically, this Manichean battle was first set down in word by Plato the idealist, and Aristotle, the realist.. and I’m sure verbally existed since the beginning of man.

  3. “If the goal is to change behavior and have people take responsibility, then we must change living conditions in order to change behavior. ”
    The problem with social science research is that there are too many controls one needs, to elicit the correct answer of probable validity. To say that the consensus is the environment… is measuring the good environment with a bad environment. This basically is comparing “A” to “B”… if there is statistical correlation… so what… it may exist but is not necessarily cause and effect. The problem is that the research is excluding ‘C” “D”… etc… and these too must be controlled.
    The second problem is most often in the discussions… the authors suggest that these data are valid. A suggestion… eventually becomes “fact”… or “Truth”. Both by the way do not convey absolutes… Both can equally be false. Ie, cholera is caused by fog and smog. That was a fact for 30 years… accepted as fact… and the results was that many people died needlessly during that time frame.
    There are many examples in the history of science…. ie, the sun rotates around the earth…
    Let back track to the environment causes… If this is valid, how does one explain that during the depression…. this was not the case. So, perhaps… it was the stable family … revulsion taking welfare… religious education… etc.
    The author talks about compassion… whose compassion? I wonder… Ask this question… does entitlements and handouts… actually have the opposite effect… Why can’t it be that these actually defeat the purpose of independence. One might call this defecto- slavery… The receiver owes his life to the givers. The more one receives… the more enslaved. The solution mentioned… spend more money… yet the problem increased… feel compassion… didn’t work. But consider this… poverty is the responsibility of the individual. He has a choice… It is no different than alcoholism, excess drug use,
    This is not a novel idea… Genesis 4/7…Hebrew Bible, Thou may triumph over sin. It’s 2500 years old. G.D gives man a choice.
    The last issue… what happens when a country over spends and the result is social economic collapse. Who is hurt the post… the rich… Hell no, the poorer of the poor. The proposals presented… is a recipe for disaster. Rlh 3.13.17

    • I don’t think we are in conflict here. It sounds like you’ve been working hard all your life to survive and maybe also thrive (sometimes more, sometimes less?)………so the ideas and ideologies of government handing out money to destitute people is counter-productive in your opinion.
      I didn’t put out the suggestion that government support the poor here.
      My message here was different: Unfortunately, and historically, all mass accumulation of extreme wealth and military force has been disasterous for everyone. Such extreme situations trigger envy and competition from other people wanting that massive power……..thus creating distrust and more deceptive actions to achieve the ‘prize’………often at any cost, regardless of morality and conscience.
      Also, the wealthy and powerful tend to disconnect from the poor, even if they are tax-paying, hard-working members of the same society; even if those ‘poor’ and disadvantaged were the ones who voted the powerful into office.
      THAT’S where I see the danger: disconnection, mutual blame and dislike…….
      Powerful leaders who derive that power from those poor and disadvantaged tend to forget that THOSE POOR are a large part of the armies and service-workers needed to keep any state economy alive………
      THOSE POOR are among the volunteers for combat in the army……….they are the ones who work all hours for indecent wages to tend agricultural fields, pick our vegetables and fruit, and clean our homes……often for minimal wages and reduced benefits.
      The REAL tragedy i see is class hatred, negative judgmentalism, and disconnecting from associating and respecting cultural and educational differences.
      THAT is where government needs to help: to reduce animosity between different sectors of its citizens; to help the disadvantage get the quality education and environment needed to foster connection and mutual respect among citizens. Otherwise we have our own country full of ‘enemy’ groups and class hatred and divisions.
      We don’t need or want our own country full of ‘enemy’ citzens’ groups vying for control; we want a cooperating society where every member is respected and participating in improving the quality of our nation’s life-style.
      Don’t you agree?

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