|
A couple of years ago I spent a brief time as a community organizer. I walked door-to-door in some of the poorest, most crime-riddled, drug-infested neighborhoods around. My family was horrified that I was working in such a dangerous environment. I was even warned by the host family with whom I was staying that a "white boy" like me might attract the wrong kind of attention. See, the gang-bangers and drug dealers like it when a community lives in fear; when people are afraid to contact the police, afraid to let their kids outside, afraid to do anything that might staunch the flow of drugs into the community and stem the flow of cash into their pockets. So when a community organizer comes in and stirs things up, that is a direct threat to their business. In fact, while I was in that community, a gangland execution took place - the shooter(s) never caught.
For the neighborhood where I worked, the immediate goal was modest. The people on the street wanted a speed limit sign replaced which had long since fallen (or was stolen) off a telephone pole. They also wanted a sign alerting drivers that there were children present in the neighborhood. The street served as a connector between two larger roads, and drivers weren't always vigilant in maintaining a safe speed or keeping an eye out for kids. All of these people wanted the same things, but had never had the courage or the interest to talk to their neighbors and find out what they had in common. When they discovered that others in the community shared their concerns and were willing to meet to try to do something about it, they become emboldened.
A few weeks and dozens of phone calls to city officials later, word came that new signs would be placed at the end of the street. We all pitched in and had a neighborhood barbecue. In the afternoon along came a truck with a couple of city workers. They went to work putting up a spiffy new 25 MPH speed limit sign and the familiar image of a silhouetted child on a yellow sign warning: SLOW - Children at play. The parents of the neighborhood cheered as each sign was put into place. When they were finished, we invited the men to join us for a burger and a lemonade. One guy told me it was the first time in years a citizen had thanked him for doing a job. It was a victory for the people in that community. Not because of a couple of signs, but because they realized they could work together to improve their situations. Together, they had a power that they could never have conceived when they were scattered, isolated individuals. The next mission was to clean up the vacant lot in the neighborhood and build a playground for those kids.
Looking back on that job, it seemed like perhaps the most significant achievement of my young life. The looks in the faces of the parents, seeing the kids outside playing, feeling that I had actually made a difference to these people...it was amazing.
But after listening to Mayor Rudy and Governor Hockey Mom this week, I realize what a waste of time it all was. Rather than squander my talents working in the community, I should have been working in a company, fattening my own wallet and helping to make rich people richer. I didn't really make a difference in their lives, it was all a Socialist mirage. They'd be better off still afraid to let their kids venture outside, afraid of their neighbors and still believing that they had no power to change anything. I thank these visionary leaders for pointing out the error of my ways. I join them in encouraging all college students and others to heed their warning and not get involved in community service. If you want to make America a better place, either join corporate America or haul ass to Iraq. There isn't a damn thing you can or should do to help people here at home.
The Republicans have it right. Why, if you go into a neighborhood and organize there; and then go to the next neighborhood and organize there; and the next and the next and the next...pretty soon you've organized a whole bunch of people. And that is when it gets really dangerous. Sure, it's innocent if all you're doing is cleaning up a neighborhood, but if you organize whole communities together you can start to affect real change, and that leads to Bad Things like an increased minimum wage, paid sick leave laws and other social changes which will eventually destroy America.
Thank you Hockey Mom, for alerting us to the dangers of community organizing. I hope everyone gets the message and sees just how dangerous it can be...to your type of people. :)
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
