The Right To Living

Everyone loves this statement: "We are endowed by our creator certain unalienable human rights: The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Something like that. It's a great statement because it gets down to what we all want. We all want the ability to survive (we don't want anyone killing us for any old reason); we all want freedom to live as we feel we should (we can't always get what we want, but we can try...); and we all want the freedom to go after our own kind of happiness (to get drunk after Rachel turned us down for a date, for example).

But we need to realize that this statement is, or should be, qualified. Not that these rights aren't all cool, or the statement isn't true, but that we all should realize that life is a little bit more important than the pursuit of happiness. And even liberty, when it comes down to that. We are all free when we are dead. But when we are dead, let's say that we can't really appreciate our freedom quite as much. There is no happiness when you are dead, so it's awfully tough to pursue. It's hard to pursue anything. Even Rachel.

So life seems to be the basis for any other right. If we don't have life, we really don't have anything. Really. This means that life should be a right more than any other. Again, not to say that the other issues aren't important, but life is just that little bit more important.

Now you may expect me to start talking about abortion or the death penalty or war because when we talk about life issues those subjects inevitably come up. Instead I want to talk about a subject we don't usually discuss when talking about the right to life-- that is, sustaining life.

Life is complicated, if you are human. Or any kind of mammal, but let's stick to humans. To sustain life you have to eat and drink everyday. And it matters what kind of food and drink you have because if it's poison-- like, for instance, cyanide in your water-- well, you don't live long. Also, if someone is going around beating you up on a regular basis, its tough to keep alive. Just as well, if you are so sick that you die... well, you're dead. And perhaps you are stuck overnight in a snowstorm without shoes. Or a shirt. That would certainly limit your chances of living.

This means that the right to life is not just no one coming in your bedroom to kill you, but it means having the ability to sustain one's life. To keep it going. Staying alive is a tough job and we have to do it every day. Without exception.

And everyone needs this, and, in our charter statement there, everyone deserves this. A human right is what we deserve just by being human. Just by being alive. Because we are human and we are alive, we deserve to live. This means that we deserve to have what is necessary to keep living.

And this is without exception. Sure, a newborn baby deserves to live and we'll pour thousands of dollars to make sure the baby lives. But a thief deserves to live as well. And the irritating neighbor. And the scary meth addict who lives down the street. And the bully who beat up your kid. Now, in your more angry moments you may think that some of these folks don't deserve to live. But in your heart of hearts you know that's not true. You'd feel the pain of the meth addict you know being knifed just as much as your cool neighbor (not the one who irritates you).

And so, if these folks deserve to have life, then they deserve to have their life sustained. Everyone, without exception, deserves to eat and drink everyday. Everyone deserves to have access to health care to keep them alive. Maybe not to see a doctor when they have a cold, but when they have a serious injury or illness, they should have health care. Everyone deserves to be free from violence. Everyone deserves to have shelter, especially when the weather is scary. Everyone.

Societally, we understand this (sometimes). When we throw someone into prison, we don't throw them into a damp hole with no roof and no heat in the winter. We make sure they are fed everyday, have clean water, some health care, shelter, safety from (most) violence, and more. We recognize a prisoner's right to keep living, even if we don't recognize their right for liberty. Even though for society's sake it was determined that some must be locked up, yet these at the bottom of societal ladder are given that which is necessary to keep living. The same with those in locked down mental institutions. They are even protected from themselves, if necessary, in order to sustain the life.

But we don't apply this to everyone. If you are homeless, then you may not have the right to go to the bathroom in a safe environment. If you are on welfare, you may not have the right to feed your kids enough. If you have a minimum wage job, you do not have the right to sustain yourself. If you have an undiagnosed mental illness, you do not have the right to have shelter. If you have a severe social issue (for instance, an excess of testosterone that causes uncontrollable anger at times) then you do not have the right to have a sustainable income. And if you live in certain places in India or Africa you do not have the right to clean drinking water. You do not have the right to immunizations that will keep your children well. You do not have the right to have medication that will keep your AIDS under control.

It isn't that there isn't enough help for you. There's plenty. There is so many resources in the world that humans have access to, sustainable life is something that could be available to everyone. But it isn't because for those who have access to the most resources, the right to life isn't as important as their personal right to pursue happiness.

And, in the end, that is the worst wrong in the world.

A Law Against Making Homelessness Illegal

Right now, almost all urban areas in the United States have some kind of anti-camping ordinance, a city ordinance that does not allow the homeless to sit or lie down on a public sidewalk or there are police policies to "clean up" the homeless a few times a year, especially during this season, Spring. The homeless are also targeted as being potential criminals for the police and so they are often asked for i.d., and sometimes harassed.

While the homeless are being told to leave or have their camps thrown away and having to pay hundreds-- sometimes thousands-- of dollars in fines, do something positive for them. Encourage your state legislators to make it illegal to make homelessness illegal.

It should be against state law to have local laws or policies that target people simply because they are without housing. This includes camping ordinances, sit/lie ordinances, dumping of camps and police targeting—whether moving the homeless on or specifically checking on someone because they “look homeless”. It should be done for the following reasons:

1. Our state should refuse to be a participant in the dehumanization of any people, but as long as these laws are allowed, then the process of dehumanization of the homeless will continue. See the following website for more information on this: http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/howarethehomelessdehumanized.html

2. No government should make life more difficult for any people simply because they are among the economically weak. History will judge any government that targets the poor for being poor. On the other hand, history will acknowledge the justice of any government that recognizes any possible injustice of the past and works to eliminate it. And while helping the poor in a good way is justice to refuse to oppress the poor is a more foundational justice.

3. To target certain segments of the poor for continued punishment is to place additional economic hardship on them, making their economic recovery that much harder to accomplish. To have to move every day, to have to pay fines, or to spend time in court or jail is to cause one’s economic situation to deteriorate even more, preventing one from looking for work. As long as this economic segment is targeted, it makes a state economic recovery more difficult.

4. A segment of society that is legally targeted for economic reasons has a right to feel oppressed, and thus separated from “normal” citizens. Such a segment of society, because they are already judged, feels justified to do actions that would justify legal judgment. This society would also not listen to arguments of the community good, for they have already been legally discounted as a part of the community that is to obtain that “good”. This creates a rebellious segment of society that acts not in the interest of the community, thus the laws and policies in opposition of the homeless are a self-fulfilling prophecy.

5. To disallow such laws and policies opens up more public focus on solving the social problems rather than placing blame on those who suffer from it. To move the public discussion from eliminating homeless people to eliminating homelessness is a positive social step.

Please encourage state legislators to pass laws to prevent the targeting of the homeless as illegal group.

Sleeping Homeless

 

Pics like this makes people think that the homeless are lazy. People see the homeless sleeping on benches, in churches, at meals, and they think, "No wonder these people are homeless! They sleep all the time and never get off their butts to work!"

What most people don't know is that when the homeless sleep, it's because they're tired.

Sleep is one of the hardest things to do when you are homeless. The police roust you in the middle of the night on occasion, but even when they don't you are listening for them. Or for kids who want to beat you up. Or for stray animals. Or whatever else that might harm you. Or it just might be really cold and you don't have adequate warmth.

The point of being homeless is that you don't have four walls and a roof. This automatically means less security than a housed person and less protection from the weather. That's a given. Well, this also means less sleep. It's hard to rest when you don't feel safe, when you might get rousted at any time of the night. It's hard to sleep when your bed is wet. It's hard to sleep when the ground you're sleeping on is so cold that your body temperature drops.

So the homeless often catch up on sleep during the day. Which makes them look lazy. But many of them are just trying to not go insane. Some of them succeed.

Pic was taken by Portland Monthly Magazine

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/issues/archives/articles/0409-holy-diver/

Rights of the Homeless

(Based on the Homeless Constitution by Mack Mavrick)

We, the homeless of the United States, are citizen of this country. As citizens, we declare that we should be treated as full citizens and not as outcasts. We have the right—as every other citizen—to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

A. We have the right to be treated equally with every other citizen regardless of income, race, religion, political opinion, sexuality, appearance, mental illness, handicaps or disabilities (even when self-inflicted).

B. We have the right to sleep, as all citizens have the right to do what is necessary to ensure their own survival.

C. We have the right and need to use public restrooms for public health reasons. We request that sanitation stations be erected in each major city of the United States for public health.

D. We have the right, as guaranteed by the Constitution, to gather together in public spaces, such as parks, sidewalks, and opens spaces for public use.

E. We have the right not to have our possessions taken from us by the government without due process.

F. We have the right not to be unduly harassed by state or local police. If the police see us involved in illegal activity, then they have the responsibility to question us, but if we just “look homeless” then we insist that we have the right to be left alone

G. We have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, just as any other citizen. Strangers or passersby calling out “get a job” or “bum” is the equivalent of a racial slur.

Please check out the website about the dehumanization of the homeless on http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/dehumanization.html