Yeah, it's messy but it serves it's purpose...

Hope for the impoverished.

Living life without hope is not a life worth living, yet thousands of people live such lives. Until I began my work in the poorest sections of St. Louis, Missouri, I had never bore witness to such poverty and hopelessness. Generations perpetuating a cycle of destitution, hunger, illiteracy, and violence. While their plight, on the surface, would appear easily remedied, factors such as socioeconomic, racism, fear, and a feeling of powerlessness permeates their culture. For the many, there is no solution; for the many, there is no hope.

The issues pertaining to, or having do with, the poorest areas of St. Louis are multifaceted and compounded by circumstances outside the focus of this writing. The focus of this writing is to enlighten the reader to the fact that those persons living within these means are by no means living without a desire for a brighter future; namely a home.

Mayor

Gov of Missouri

Homeless agencies

What can be done to fix the issue?

Can the issue of poverty be resolved in St. Louis? What city agencies are doing. What non-profites are doing?

Is Housing a Basic Human Right? (Essay #2)

Based upon what I have read from "Perverted Justice", I am offering my own opinions and views about the injustices within our justice system and I have written my own examples to illustrate my viewpoint.

"Ridiculous!" is what comes to my mind when I think of how I might be serving a "life sentence" in prison if I were held accountable for all the absurdities I have committed! To think that I could have become a victim of our legal system, in all it's ass-backwardness, because my intent was misinterpreted! But that is the very crux of the problem; . So, I pose the question; what becomes more important, intent or interpretation? For myself, intent is more important. For example, if a child reaches up into a glass cookie jar to get a cookie, but as he is taking the cookie, the jar the falls to the floor and breaks. Clearly the child's intent wasn't for the jar to crash to the floor, yet there are those who would punish the child for breaking the glass jar. Punishing the child is unfair justice.


Now, let's suppose that a foreign man, who is accustomed to all beaches being "nude beaches" arrives in the U.S. on a hot summer day and decides he wants to go the beach. When the foreign man arrives at the beach he removes his swim-trunks in front of 9 ladies and 1 man, the 9 ladies giggle at the sight but are not offended, yet the one man takes offense to exposed foreigner and decides to press charges. Presume that the foreign man is found guilty of a "sex offense" due to his exposure, and is forever deemed a "sex offender". But was it the foreign man's intent to offend anyone? I would say "no, it wasn't the foreigners intent to offend anyone." Again, punishing the foreigner is unfair justice.


I am not suggesting that those who commit vile sex offenses, such as rape or child molestation, shouldn't be punished! In fact, I believe those who do such things should get the "shit kicked" out of them! However, we must uphold justice and not lose humaneness in the process of delivering justice. Nor, must we deny those who have committed offenses their basic human rights.


By definition a basic human right, believed to belong to every person as such, must not be denied based on fear or prejudice. Housing should be a basic human right, something that cannot be taken away because of one's gender, race, or religion. In addition, if society begins to deny basic human rights to those who we deem to be "unworthy" then society, as human beings, become less than human ourselves.


The world is gripped by fear rather than love and compassion. Fear begets fear just as easily as love and compassion will; our focus determines our reality. All negative thoughts and actions stem from fear. When everything but one's own words and actions are out of one's control why try to assert control over the uncontrollable? What sense is there in worrying about what might happen when the only thing we can control is what we do ourselves? It is how one chooses to react to the actions of others that defines who we are. If one chooses to react with anger, fear, prejudice or hate then we have lost our true "human" characteristics of people's better qualities, such as kindness or sensitivity.


It has been suggested that sex offenders should be denied housing as a basic human right due to the nature of their crime. It has been suggested that sex offenders must be monitored at all times and it has also been suggested that all sex offenders should be taken to a remote island, or a place far from "civilized" society. However, this is a dangerous line of thinking because it is based on fear.


While I agree that sex offenders have committed a horrendous act upon their victims, to allow hate, anger, fear and prejudice is to lose myself and become something that I do not want to become; less than than human. I choose to believe in justice. A justice that balances punishment and fairness. A justice that one is held accountable for their actions, punished accordingly, but that punishment ends when their "time is served", no matter how egregious the nature of a crime.