Student Alliance For Earth - Opinion Corner
All views expressed herein represent the opinions of the respective author(s). These opinions in no way represent Student Alliance For Earth, College of the Canyons, or any of their associates. Readers are encouraged to submit differing viewpoints.
The United States government has been engaged in a hidden
war against the people of Iraq for almost a decade. As a result
of sanctions imposed by the US and United Nations, over 1 million
Iraqis have died since August 6, 1990. The embargo denies
delivery of such items as baby food, school books, soap,
medicine, and medical supplies. In letters to the United Nations,
former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, urged an end to the
sanctions stating they are "…affecting 2.4 million Iraqi
children, 600,000 pregnant women, and hundreds of thousands of
elderly people."
The facts:
· Over 1.2 million people have died as a result of medical shortages during more than seven years of UN trade sanctions against Iraq. -United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
· "One out of every 4 Iraqi children is malnourished. More than 750,000 children are suffering from malnutrition." -UNICEF and World Food Program
· "More than 4,500 children under the age of 5 are dying each month from hunger and disease." -UNICEF
· "Since the onset of sanctions, there has been a six-fold increase in the mortality rate for children under five and the majority of the country's population has been on a semi-starvation diet." -World Health Organization
· "This is one of the most efficient distribution systems we've ever seen with 98 to 99 percent of all food and medicine available being evenly distributed to the general population." -Father Simon Harak
· The blockade is in violation of the Geneva Convention, UN Charter, Constitution of the World Health Organization, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States. According to the US legal code Title 18 2331, the blockade on the people of Iraq is also an act of international terrorism.
In all instances, we must prohibit ourselves from basing our definition of terrorism subjectively. Whether one is a terrorist is not determined by which side one is fighting on, but rather with the methods used. In fact, it's perfectly possible to be a terrorist and a freedom fighter at the same time - for the simple reason that it is possible to use bad methods for good purposes. There are many among us content to view those of a different culture, religion, language, and skin color as sub-human; immediately undeserving of the most basic human rights. The campaign of counter-population warfare being waged by the United States reflects this view.
Americans are faced with a moral dilemma that can't be solved with smart bombs and high-tech jet fighters. It is a fact that 4,500 Iraqi children under the age of five die each month as a result of US imposed sanctions. My personal moral code will not allow me to overlook the murder of infants to strengthen US corporate and military interests. I urge all Americans to demand an end to non-military sanctions against the Iraqi people.
There are killers loose on our campus. Their touch can be devastating. They are heartless, fleshless, and fearless, but they can be stopped. They are anorexia nervosa and bulimia, and they are murdering our friends.
These two eating disorders are not confined to any racial, religious, or economic boundaries, but about 90-95 percent of the victims are female. There is no stereotypic anorexic or bulimic. They may be outgoing students, successful professionals, or anyone you pass on the sidewalk. Regardless, they all share the same curse-a feeling of desperate isolation and the emotional agony accompanying it.
People suffering from anorexia nervosa restrict their eating, sometimes to the point of emaciation. The effects may include malnutrition, hair loss, and loss of the menstrual period. Two out of every ten people suffering from anorexia nervosa die, and another 60 percent become bulimic.
Bulimia is characterized by binge-eating, followed by self-induced vomiting. Those suffering from bulimia may develop heart and kidney damage, digestive problems, a torn esophagus, and tooth deterioration.
Even if no permanent damage is done to the body, victims face overwhelming feelings of helplessness, anxiety, and low self esteem. Most feel incapable of seeking assistance and are imprisoned by feelings of absolute isolation. They do not know where to turn for support and are often too ashamed to ask.
A friend of mine had this to say about her fight with bulimia: "I thought I had everything under control. At first, I did it to meet my weight loss goals, but, after a while, no matter how much I lost, I saw myself as fat and ugly. I became a recluse and lost my friends because I was ashamed of myself. Even then, I didn't want to admit I had a problem."
There are as many causes of these disorders as there are sufferers. However, two principal reasons are a desire to establish personal independence and pressure to conform to the illusory perception of attractiveness spread by media. Some individuals literally starve themselves to death trying to imitate the artificial images seen on television and in magazines.
Rarely do family and friends understand the seriousness of their loved ones dilemma. They often belittle the situation with phrases like "You're fine just the way you are." or orders to "Just eat!" Few people, including those suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia, realize that special help is required to relieve the potentially lethal condition.
So, before we set off with our silver bullets, stakes, and holy water to excise the demons from our loved ones, stop. Take a deep breath. Listen. If you have anorexia nervosa or bulimia, or if you know, or think you know, someone with an eating disorder, please, get help. You can call, e-mail, or tap out a message in Morse code, but, whatever you do, don't ignore the problem. The best course of action is to contact a specialist. There are many caring professionals and volunteers waiting to help. You are not alone.
Assistance is available to College of the Canyons students by contacting the Student Health Center. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders, at (847) 831-3438, offers free help to individuals, families, or anyone wanting more information.
As Americans, our worth is based on a ratings system intent on selling us products that make us more beautiful, more handsome, more valuable. Sometimes, the price of "fitting in" is paid for with human lives. How much suffering is required before we, as the intelligent creatures we claim to be, figure out that the popular culture we embrace is costing us more than it's worth?
Maria wakes at 4:30AM, this morning no different from any other. She strains to see her husband pulling on his work boots in the early morning darkness. He reaches over their two sleeping children and places a hand on her shoulder. "Buenos dias, mi amor." Maria begins her day with a smile.
She helps prepare a breakfast of eggs, tortillas, orange juice and coffee for the eleven other people that live in the three bedroom apartment. She wakes her children, folds the blankets that made their bed, dresses them, feeds them and wipes the sleep from their eyes. Maria then walks them to an elderly neighbor woman who will tend as many as fifteen children until their parents return from the fields.
At 5:53AM, Maria and her husband arrive at the strawberry farm in the back of a pickup truck. A short time later, she marches into the fields with forty others. They walk past signs, posted in English only, that read: "DANGER! KEEP OUT! Field sprayed with METHYL BROMIDE - Known Carcinogen."
At 9:30AM, the workers are allowed fifteen minutes to leave the field for water and to use the portable toilet. The water from the cooler is warm and the toilet reeks because it has not been emptied for a month but long lines form at each. The workers are silent and move quickly so that everyone can be back in the field on time. Those returning late are frequently fired.
One hour later, Maria offers what she has picked to the farm owner's brother. He sifts through the strawberries sorting the greenest from the rest. When he is finished he points to a pile of dirty berries. "These are too green! You can eat 'em, or you can visit me in the office." He winks and slides his thumbs into his pockets. Maria, who speaks little English, understands what he is saying. She eats two of the green strawberries and returns to the field.
With the blistering noontime sun hanging overhead, the sweltering workers slowly straighten their backs and leave the open field to rest and eat lunch under the shade of an oak tree. Maria joins the water line. As she reaches the cooler, the water is almost gone. She knows she will not have another drink until she gets home. She takes a sip and tilts the cooler for the person behind her.
At 6:19PM, Maria sits in the back of the crowded pickup with her husband, watching the sun sink as they drive away from the farm. She looks forward to seeing her children, eating dinner and going to bed, but she knows that in less than twelve hours she will be back down this road again.
For the first time in history, a human made ecological dilemma affecting the quality of life worldwide is upon us. While this dilemma transcends the boundaries of nation, race, religion, and social class, the primary sacrifice is made by the poor inhabitants of underdeveloped countries. Industrialized nations have adopted the theological and philosophical world view that the Earth is an endless resource, immune to exploitation and abuse. Early examples of this attitude can be found in the Christian Bible,
"Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth."
as well as in the Islamic Qur'an,
"The heavens and the earth were ordered rightly, and were made subservient to man, including the sun, the moon, the stars and day and night."
The belief that planet Earth and its inhabitants are a disposable resource for wealthy nations has contributed to world hunger, rampant pollution, and the abuse of the populace and environment in less affluent countries.
Hunger and malnutrition in underdeveloped countries is a consequence of the greedy appetites of an affluent minority of nations. The immediate cause of world hunger is largely due to inefficient food distribution rather than lack of food production. Millions of acres in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which once were devoted to subsistence farming, have been taken over for the raising of cash crops for export to satisfy needs in developed countries for such commodities as coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, and beef. Those who had farmed the land for their own food are uprooted, often to urban areas that offer no opportunity for employment, or to rural areas that are not suited for farming. Every day, as tens of thousands of lives end due to starvation, the United States throws away eighty-five million dollars worth of edible food.
Industrialized nations intentionally discharge pollutants which produce harmful ecological consequences worldwide. The United States releases over five billion tons of toxic chemicals into the environment annually. Almost four million metric tons of oil contaminate the sea each year, half of which is dumped deliberately. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, which killed as many as 645,000 birds, 5,500 otters, 300 seals, and 23 whales, was thirty-five thousand tons. Occasionally, due to relaxed safety regulations, accidents occur that rival natural disasters. In Bhopal, India, a release of methyl isocyanate from an urban Union Carbide plant, caused as many as fifteen-thousand deaths and seriously injured two-hundred thousand others. Protective measures against such problems as the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer are taken only when the consequences pose a threat to the environmental security of wealthy nations.
Materialistic practices of the consumer nations have led to the abuse of inhabitants and misuse of natural resources in underdeveloped countries. Such is the case when wealthy nations support dictators in poor countries that are sympathetic to foreign industry, yet hostile to their own region's population. This support is given unofficially in the form of payments for raw or non-renewable resources stripped from the environment. Little, if any, of this revenue returns to the local public. Indigenous laborers that work for foreign companies often earn less annually than the average American earns in a week. In Bolivia, Quechua Indians mine tin for export and earn the equivalent of one United States dollar a day. Very few live more than seven years after beginning their career in the mines.
The fact that either by conscious decision, or by default of ignorance, many accept the use of this planet, and the children, women, and men who live upon its fragile surface, as a resource for commercial gain is revolting. The problems discussed above can only be solved by changing the way we view our surroundings and by placing a high value on all life. Many contemporary voices have called for a change in our global perspective, but the late Carl Sagan summarized the overall need when he wrote:
"If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth. Many of those who run the nations will find this idea unpleasant. They will fear the loss of power. We will hear much about treason and disloyalty. Rich nation-states will have to share their wealth with the poor ones. But the choice, as H.G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing."
Every child, woman, and man is entitled to adequate nourishment, housing, education, medical care, and to an environment free of hazard due to pollution. No nation has the right to condemn another to poverty, hunger, and hardship for the sake of its own indulgence. The time has come for industrialized nations to stop asking whether our actions are economically practical and instead question whether they are morally acceptable.
As toy soldiers chase ballerinas across the lawns of America, the familiar echoes of Halloween night flutter upon the warm breeze. Proud parents follow-not too close, not too far-their deformed and extravagantly clad kids with strangely sad smiles of remembrance etched upon their fixed faces. These are the days few and far between and, unfortunately, like the warm days of Summer, they are waning.
Perhaps I'm an old timer, but back in my heyday, round about 1979, any able-bodied house not passing out candy was due for an unpleasant surprise the next morning. This was the law, and it was upheld, not only as tradition, but also as a means of punishing those who refused to be a part of the community. Candy was more than just a privilege, it was a right.
Now, in my neighborhood, any house passing out treats is the exception. While there is no shortage of pirates, goblins, and clowns, few porch lights are on to welcome them. But then, why should they be? Who has time for such childish nonsense?
This crummy attitude, held by many adult Americans, is made evident by their stingy Halloween behavior. Many have no sense of community and, for whatever reason, have forgotten the importance of Halloween to children. In a number of years, as many of the adults of today are retiring and dependent upon the American system, the little bag-toting demons will be calling the shots. Are they going to have a healthy sense of community?