Life today can feel like living on a high wire, walking carefully across, with no balancing bar and with no net. It can be challenging given all the “Presidential Executive Orders,” and frustrating inaction we see from many of our national political leaders. Even in the State of Connecticut we find reluctance to act, to act boldly, to serve mindful of the least and most needy of our citizens. It seems that at the heart of their decision making, the goal is to put more grease on the wire, rather that creating sure footing for those in harm’s way. Budgets struggle to balance but when they do, it is often on the backs of those who can least afford to absorb the cuts being doled out.
We celebrated the 4th of July recently, but in this land of the free and home of the brave, gun violence is still a blood-soaked stain upon the American spirit. More than a dozen have died on Hartford streets this year so far. It should alarm all of us. Still our prisons have far too many people of color in them, locked up for crimes that non-colored folks would only receive a slap on the wrist. Health care is proposed that wants to snatch coverage from many, so a hearty tax cut can benefit the wealthiest among us. Our Connecticut cities need real financial helps too, especially our own City of Hartford. Some Hartford based corporations are making financial decisions to move rather than making careful consideration as to the impact their moves and how they affect an already struggling city. How many billions is really enough profit to make, before the equation changes? Does the result of their decisions matter to the corporate giants as cities suffer in the aftermath? The need is really not for a hand out, but a hand up from the historic mess that has been created or the financial neglect that has finally come home to roost. It seems that the mantra is “every person or city for themselves in this region,” rather than the rolling up our collective sleeves and working together to figure out viable solutions to these tough community problems.
Let’s develop a thinking that begins to exhibit behavior and action that further a hope that all can receive a real sense of justice in our society. A just society will mean we will have to find ways to put down petty differences, put on the shelves any notion that it is my way or the highway and begin to build a society that is just for all rather than simply for some of us. Another world is possible but it will take a real shift in our community mindset and in the way, we interact, and reach decisions. The benefit will be justice for all. Saber rattling nationally, pessimism statewide and unbridled frustration locally, will not solve our concerns. Hard work will, and working together must be our watchword for these days. It takes a lot of fortitude to walk upon the wire, to not lose hope, to stay balanced, but let’s walk boldly and with perseverance. Just maybe we too can get to the other side, and get there together. Or maybe we can build a net that is safe, where together none of us falls into the abyss.
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