Monday Musings...
Wow...we had thunderstorms last night..helped melt a lot of the snow we got last week, but we're still looking at some SNOW showers later today.
Welcome to INDIANA, where the weather changes drastically BY THE HOUR!
(and that's on a GOOD day)
You know, there are those mornings where you just can't seem to figure out WHERE the hell to begin.
I usually have some idea of what I want to blog about, but this morning has got me a bit confounded.
There is SO much to choose from, and I could never get it ALL posted, so I have to be a bit more "selective".
And yet, through all the articles and stories there DOES seem to always have something that "jumps" out at you (like that rattlesnake hiding between those shaded rocks).
*** Case in point, THIS little gem in yesterday's local paper:
"DIVERSE IS THE NEW NORMAL OF THE SOUTHEAST SIDE"
Here's the link to the entire article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110227/LOCAL/302279907
(*rolls eyes*)
It's a decent read...IF you happen to NOT live down here.
It's paints a wonderfully nice picture of how social diversity is actually a really GOOD thing, and how everyone seemingly "gets along". Like I said, as long as you don't LIVE down here, it tracks nice.
MY slice of the ghettohood is not ALL that "diverse", UNLESS you're talking about the numerous ways that a large number of a specific class of people manage to "take over" a once nice area, and send it down the crapper.
Merriam-Webster defines the word DIVERSE as:
1: Differing from one another : UNLIKE
2: Composed of DISTINCT or UNLIKE ELEMENTS or QUALITIES
Synonyms include: disparate, distant, dissimilar.
Interesting that the word DISPARATE means:
1: Composed or made of up of fundamentally INCONGRUOUS elements
2: Markedly DISTINCT in quality or character.
Now, we could take a longer trip through our vocab today, but I think you're starting to see a pattern here, and perhaps it's not as "rosy" a pattern as we might be led to believe.
Diversity is GOOD...some of the time.
When people working on a similar problem bring a DIVERSE number of possible SOLUTIONS to the table, everyone benefits.
But when a number of people find DIVERSE methods for defrauding the government, or DIVERSE excuses for NOT being a productive citizen, the same word takes on a much darker tone.
The SOUTH EAST side of Fort Wayne used to be an area of working class people from DIVERSE backgrounds.
They all went to work, had families, paid taxes, and were pretty much the regular people that made up a lot of our cities for decades.
Diversity had it's own relevance, and it was the fact that so many of those people worked in diverse occupations.
These days, that same SOUTH EAST side of town is a whole other beast.
Through "careful" manipulation by city leaders over the last 40 years, THIS same part of Fort Wayne that USED to be thriving, is barely holding on by the skin of it's teeth. And yes, it WAS by design.
Now, I've only lived in this city for slightly longer than a baker's dozen years, but I come from a city that has a LOT more history, with a lot more neighborhoods that have gone before mine right here.
But, I DO know how to look things up, and see what the PAST for this part of town used to be like.
I don't turn that blind eye to the past (as others have done), because we're supposed to LEARN from it.
This part of town has been the most densely populated for ages...and that was due to all the working stiffs that USED to live down here.
Now, although we're still more densely populated than any of the other 3 quadrants, it's the PEOPLE that have grown DENSE themselves along the way.
Sure, we might have more "nationalities" down here than we had in times past...or DO we?
Did this city NOT have just as many DIVERSE nationalities...Italians, Irish, German, Polish, etc?
Oh, wait...they were all of a similar "race"...they were all Caucasian!
Now, I get it. (and so do you)
Today, it's about how many different RACES we have, and not so much the country of origin...or is it?
Well, we DO have the largest Burmese population THIS side of Burma (Myanmar), and we have a double-digit growth in the HISPANIC community (even surpassing the black community, which has them looking over THEIR shoulder).
Now, if you look back in your history books, you see in larger cities like NYC that when you had such a conglomeration of ETHNICITIES in one place, it was usually referred to as...(hope you're all sitting down)....A GHETTO.
And you had the obligatory "struggles for power" within these micro-communities.
Gee, and with the SOUTH EAST side having the HIGHEST CRIME RATE...that sort of follows right in step, doesn't it?
We do know the largest number of crimes is perpetrated by the minority classes, but when you have SO MANY minorities in ONE place, what else can you expect? Geez, you'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of WHITE crime down here (because of the lack of white people), with the exception of those whites that are either making meth, or are involved with one or more OF those minorities...simple as that.
As I've stated here numerous times, the city maintains that the SOUTH EAST part of Fort Wayne also has the SECOND-HIGHEST level of disposable income, which translates to buying power. The only area with a greater level of disposable income is the RICHER areas to the NW.
Now, I have to ask the question as to HOW can this be?
The SOUTH EAST has the HIGHEST unemployment rates, the HIGHEST number of welfare recipients, and the HIGHEST number of violent crimes.
How does THAT translate to disposable income (sounds more like disposable PEOPLE)?
I mean the Missus and I are far from wealthy (in the monetary and tangible realm), but we still do okay, so WE can't be shoring up the REST of this part of town! And if you're counting the MONEY made from DRUG SALES (we're talking the street-pharmaceuticals here) that's just plain SKEWING those figures from the city, right? I'm just not seeing the TRUTH from these city leaders (again).
What I DO see is a total lack of working people around here, and to ME, being able to work produces INCOME, ergo MONEY TO SPEND on stuff.
(don't forget TAX revenue for the city)
Now, who's lying to who?
And why is this being touted as "diversity" being such a good thing?
I've always felt that if you take a number of people from DIVERSE backgrounds, plunk them down in a bad part of town with all the other useless and lazy people, they will "attune" themselves to the nature (and people) of the area, and perform in a like manner as those living there before them.
It's always been easier to DEVOLVE than to EVOLVE, because evolving means pushing YOURSELF harder and further to achieve something better than you were or had. Better to let someone else take care of the problem, rather than finding YOUR OWN solution (which doesn't involve anything illegal or unlawful).
So you have to forgive me when I want to upchuck in my shorts every time I hear the word DIVERSITY being bandied about.
Diversity doesn't mean what it USED to...that's for sure.
It's almost as bad as blurring the lines between RIGHTS and PRIVILEGES.
(which this society has done to the point of nausea as well)
Is there REAL hope for reclaiming the SOUTH EAST part of town once again, making it a thriving place to live and work?
It depends on whether you want diversity for diversity's sake, or you want to bring diversity to solving the problems that truly plague this part of Fort Wayne.
Doesn't matter what the hell skin color you are, or what damn country you came from...what REALLY matters is whether or not you want to be part of the SOLUTION in making this part of town better (again) for everyone.
Because if you don't, you're only part OF THE PROBLEM, and that's also color-blind and never recognizes your nation of origin.
Personally, I much prefer being part of the solution, as I'm sure you all do.
Being anything less diminishes us all as a society, and diminishes me in ways I can't imagine.
(...and I can imagine quite a bit, as Han Solo would say)
Diversity used to mean an amalgam...the melting pot of this nation, and it was from that societal "stew" that we achieved so much.
But that diversity was never always thrust in our faces as a reminder...we were busy setting about making this nation prosper.
Hell, when it comes down to brass tacks, we are ALL diverse one from another...none of us are EXACTLY THE SAME.
Funny, how we NEVER hear about THAT aspect of our humanity, isn't it?
Maybe, we should remind those that stick all this diversity crap in our faces about THAT, hmm?
The only thing we ALL have in common is that we're all ONE race - the HUMAN race.
And it happens to be the best one to be part of these days.
Just a little something to think about...
Have yourselves a great week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.