Your Life Matters and my Life Matters
(Black, Latino, Irish, Puerto Rican, indigenous, poor…) our lives matter. It is important not to lose sight of the broader implications of the Black Lives Matter Movement. The movement is about the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. for all his successes, did not eradicate racism. The issues that the death of George Floyd has reawakened are many. responding instantly is the last thing we need to do. But we need to do many things.
1. Demilitarize the police. We should return the military equipment to the military and find those police departments that are successfully “Serving and Protecting” their communities and export those ideas to the rest of the country. There are many successes involving community policing, where policemen walk the neighborhoods, so we know them. Removing funding for the police does not seem like an outstanding idea. The problems run deep and require thoughtful dialogue and training.
2. Reform the Justice system. It isn’t just the police that requires changes, although they provided the catalyst. The entire system of justice must improve so that regardless of who you are, how much money you have, or the color of your skin, it treats you equally. Our system of public defenders must change and become more effective. Perhaps we need to allow a defendant to choose any lawyer he wants and let the government pick up the cost that the defendant can’t. The system is skewed in favor of those who have money.
3. Discuss ways to solve poverty and economic disparity. We must break the cycle of poverty. This may be through providing better access to the internet and computers in community centers. We may need to bring back an apprenticeship concept to instill the work ethic in our youth. We know there is a lot of work needed on our infrastructure and there are many people who need work. It seems like we could figure this out. How about taking the skills in our military construction specialties and build groups of trained builders matched with people wanting jobs and needing to learn the building skills?
4. Begin a national campaign to emphasize that being different isn’t wrong. We have to work on building positive thinking around the idea that if you look or think differently you aren’t bad. Remember, this country became powerful because we allowed diverse groups of people to enter and join the American melting pot.
5. Reform the education system so that all students get equal access to the same tools. We need to market the positives of education. We can build a marketing campaign to show the value of education. This has to start at an early age. But we also have to provide a living wage for teachers and let them teach instead of loading them down with a myriad of administrative duties.
6. Begin a national dialogue on equality and the sanctity of all life. This may be the most important. We have to understand each other and find common solutions. This won’t happen overnight. We all need to commit to the change necessary to build the country envisioned by our founding fathers.
7. Begin a national dialogue on the right to medicine, medical treatment, and food for all. This is an enormous problem. If we deprive you of food and medical treatment, you will not see a way to be a contributor to a society that is making you hungry and sick. I can hear the comments now- let them work for it as I did. Those that can work should do so if we as a society have given them the education and tools to support working.
8. Add your own ideas to this list and send them to me at bob@enlightenedproductiveyou.com. I am looking forward to hearing from you, especially if you don’t agree with me. We need to work with each other to make things better.
9. Begin accepting responsibility for how we treat others and how others around us are being treated. Be aware of the problems and work on them at the community level. If we all fixed our communities, then suddenly the country would be a better place.
