Bird Droppings September 4, 2010
Why do we not consider people first?

You would think that with a three day weekend I could get caught up do some writing and perhaps even get a bit of work done for school but unforeseen events always seem to crop up. Saturday was predominantly family time and a reception for one of my sister’s sons was included along with the first time in a while all of my kids were home so we all ate dinner together. Mesquite grilled chicken, herb stuffed pork loin and a couple pieces of good beef along with some fresh corn which was the best of the year so far made a meal fit for a king.
Thinking I could get sort of caught up Sunday went by the way side as I drove my son back to Florence South Carolina five hundred sixty miles round trip and was sort of tired when I got home. A piece of my youngest son’s birthday cake I forgot that was this weekend as well and I crashed. Hard to believe I did not log on a computer yesterday. As I thought about directions for my morning sojourn several conversations from the past week popped in my head and several continuing discussion with some friends from New York State. Prior to any other events in our lives politics, religion, education, and most any other human contrivance you can come up with we are first and foremost human beings. In Native American culture often times when describing themselves they would simple say the people or human beings. Perhaps I am impressed with the simplicity of Native American philosophy and thought. I fond myself drawn back looking for answers within the circle of life.

“Good words cannot give me back my children. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves.” Chief Joseph

It has been many years since I first learned of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho and Washington States. The story of there escape and eventual surrender is one books and movies are made of. As I read through several now famous speeches Chief Joseph made after surrendering one comment caught my heart. He stated as he spoke that if he could exchange his life for all of those who died he would in a heart beat. Chief Joseph was a man of character. His last request of Washington DC was to return to the Walawalla Valley in Washington State to die. President Teddy Roosevelt refused his request.
Teaching in special education over the years has given me insights into the nature of man that perhaps others never have a chance of understanding. A small fellow about four years old many years ago showed me a different way to see students. Artie Cohen was an autistic student of mine in 1970. According to the Philadelphia Institute of Autism he was the most classic autistic child they have ever worked with. When he was born he was considered normal and progressed until his little sister was born and then he withdrew in his autism. He went from being very vocal to nonverbal and from potty trained to diapers. His behaviors were classic autism. As I would sit and talk and interact with Artie it hit me I was seeing the world in my eyes and perception. What was his? I started approaching students with how were they seeing the world instead of making them see the world my way.
As this idea grew with me it developed and became an integral aspect of my philosophy of education and of life in general. Being a fan of John Dewey and the concept of a democratic class room I try and provide ample opportunity for students input into the day and class. Along with this I became more involved in Native American philosophy and thought. Over the years I have acquired several books by Vine Deloria. DeLoria was considered to be an activist, theologian, author, philosopher and leader in removing the myth from the white mans view of Native American’s. In 1969, Deloria published his first of more than twenty books, entitled Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, I recall getting my first copy in 1972 while at Mercer University in Macon Georgia.

“We Indians have a more human philosophy of life. We Indians will show this country how to act human. Someday this country will revise its constitution, its laws, in terms of human beings instead of property. If Red Power is to be a power in this country it has to be ideological….. What is the ultimate use of a mans life? That is the question.” Vine DeLoria

As I drove back from Florence South Carolina alone I found the solitude comforting and enjoyed the ride. I was nearly home before I cranked up a few tunes from Neil Young. In my thinking as I drove I noticed I was not lonely I was simply alone. I was observing as I drove noting mile markers and places and things I would see. Watching the people who passed me or I passed as I drove along Interstate 20 west towards Atlanta.

“Solitude is a condition of peace that stands in direct opposition to loneliness. Loneliness is like sitting in an empty room and being aware of the space around you. It is a condition of separateness. Solitude is becoming one with the space around you. It is a condition of union. Loneliness is small, solitude is large. Loneliness closes in around you; solitude expands toward the infinite. Loneliness has its roots in words, in an internal conversation that nobody answers; solitude has its roots in the great silence of eternity.” Kent Nerburn

I started reading Kent Nerburn many years ago and seriously recommend his writing and books. Periodically I will reference in my daily journaling and in research papers his philosophy and views on life and Native Americans.

“In a perfect world perhaps we would all see more clearly. But this is not a perfect world, and it is enough to hope that each of us will share our talents, and find the balance between greed and benevolence that will allow us to live and thrive and help the world around us grow.” Kent Nerburn

One of the discussions my son and I got into along our trip yesterday as I took him back to Florence South Carolina was ethical capitalism. He was addressing the fact a battery company unionized in the next town over. They employed nearly a thousand workers and with two weeks of unionizing moved the plant and lay off all the workers. The plant went to a nonunion part of Alabama. Granted the sum total of profit that would have been impacted by the unionization was minimal it was a family owned business and they did not want to be told how to run their plant. My sons plant a large polyester mill raised hourly waged forty cents an hour across the board and remained without a union. I approached my son about ethical capitalism and his feelings were everyone is essentially out for themselves be it workers or companies in the US.
I thought back to my own home town in Coatesville where unions were all powerful. The United Steel Workers were always back then one of the most powerful unions in the nation. I can recall plant workers who had summer homes on the Chesapeake Bay and whose families live on the Chesapeake all summer or at one of New Jerseys beaches. Pay was excellent back in the day. I graduated from high school in 1967 and anyone whose father was a steel worker literally knew they had a job as soon as they were out of high school. IN 1978 or so I returned to Coatesville on a Safety Inspection for a consulting firm. The company was still in business and producing more at a significantly higher profit that 1967 however with one fifth the employees. Modernization had taken place and electric furnaces took over for coal fired open hearth furnaces. Production was up and faster than ever.
I received an email perhaps eight or so years ago Lukens Steel Mill had been sold to another and they in turn were sold to US Steel and US went under. All the retired steel workers lost everything in their retirements as most were linked to the companies stocks. When I was in my home town in 2007 for a reunion it is a totally different place. Huge Steel mill buildings sit vacant and much of Main Street is boarded up. A few stores are open and some parts of town are familiar but no industry is left. Sadly if you check most steel is now coming from China and Japan very little is still made in the United States. Check history a bit further and you will find that for the first time that we ever were at war jobs were being lost not gained. Previously we needed workers in the mills and industry of our country to replace soldiers going to fight. Now most of those jobs millions of jobs have gone over seas. The actual count is considerably higher than jobs we have lost. Our economy simply moved and we were left holding almost nothing. So on this Labor Day keep those who are in harms way seeking work and seeking peace on your mind and in your hearts.
namaste
bird