WHERE DO WILD ANIMALS BELONG?

When will humanity learn?  Recently there was a tragedy involving a small child who fell into the gorilla pit at a zoo in Ohio.  Unfortunately, they had to kill the gorilla because they could not predict his behavior and were unsure if it would kill the child or severely injure it.

Some people were outraged that the gorilla was killed.  Some were angered by those outraged that the gorilla was killed.  I’m outraged by many things that make up this incident. I am outraged by the fact that we have zoos.  It is objectionable that we feel the need to take animals out of their natural habitats, and put them in confined quarters with man made amenities just so we can gawk at them close up, and the city can make a profit.  

I am outraged that the zoo in question had railing that was sufficiently spacey enough for a child to crawl under, instead of having a plexiglass or solid wall structure.  I am outraged that the parents of this child were so inattentive that because of their failure to tend to their child properly an innocent animal whose ultimate intentions we did not know was killed.  This is not the first time this type of situation happens. 

We also have situations in which animals attack their caregivers sometimes killing them.  I find that these situations are avoidable if we allow these animals to remain where they belong.   Obviously these are majestic creatures that are not running around the streets like cats and dogs that we can take home and make them our pets.  Some are endangered species.   This is what makes them so attractive, mysterious, interesting to us.

While I also find animals interesting and beautiful, I do think that if you really want to see them, you should go to them.  Go down to Africa and ride around in a jeep a watch elephants roam freely.  Don’t take them out of their homes and put them into artificial surroundings just for our viewing pleasure.  If you want the kids to know about animals of the wild, then contract Disney to recreate all these animals and have a zoo where the imitation animals can live in their imitation home for our viewing pleasure.  We can all watch the documentaries on Discovery Channel about them in  their natural surroundings. 

In my opinion, this situation has to change.  It is inhumane to continue to have all of these animals, living under these conditions, and situations such as these that continue to happen going on. 

EDUCATION OR LACK THEREOF

It never ceases to amaze me how our educational system has deteriorated and continues its downward spiral.    Children are graduating from high school unable to write a paragraph using proper language, spelling, and punctuation.  Then they go to college, and have to take remedial classes so that they can then take a college level English class.  This, after 13-14 years of education, if you count Pre-Kinder.

For many years it appears that our primary goal in education has been to make sure that testing companies make a lot of money.  Statewide standardized testing has replaced teaching in our schools.  Students are made to memorize information that will be on the test in order for them to obtain a positive result, which in turn gives the school a better grade overall, and facilitates funding.  These tests are limited to English and math.

This, to me, is ridiculous, and not conducive to any proper learning.  During these testing phases all other learning is virtually suspended in order to concentrate on the subject matter of the test.  Additionally, this adds an unnecessary burden on both the students, who want to pass the test so that they are not held back, and the teachers, who are being counted on by the administration to produce results which would allow them to receive more funding for their school.

Somewhere along the line we stopped caring about what and how our children are being taught and have allowed the government to take over.  Given the current track record they are not doing a good job.

The implementation of common core is another situation that adds to the demise of knowledge.  Common core emphasizes lack of originality.  It doesn’t leave room for an educator to educate.  It is the McDonaldization of education, and the smoldering of free thought and creativity.

If you look for the definition of education it is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university” and “an enlightening experience”.  Our educational system is neither instructive, enlightening nor giving.  It is mechanical, repetitive and designed to diminish the interest of the student.

Common core supporters think that having our kids take tests every so often automatically make them smarter, and we will be able to catch up to other nations of the world in terms of education.  Given the fact that we are a superpower and fall below most Asian countries, Russia, and Canada, that is not going to happen unless we begin to educate our children not just have them memorize things periodically for tests.

Actual learning includes the practical application of what is learned, and being able to conceptualize what you know to be able to apply it in different ways.  Presently only about 2% of students in America can do this. 

While I’m not against testing, I think that it is important for the testing to be part of the learning process not used as a periodic marker of effectiveness.  Presently we are losing most of our better educators due to the shift to common core, and their lack of being able to actually educate.  In Asian countries educators are selected based on their skill levels, and are trained and provided with opportunities for advancement in their careers.  They are encouraged to create and use their own teaching styles for better results in the classroom.  Standardized type tests are given weekly of the material learned, not once every other year, forcing information to be crammed into the students’ minds.

Definitely changes need to be made from the first year of school all the way through high school if we are to have any hope for our children’s educational futures.  

THE IRONIES OF LIFE

IRONY:  a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

There are many ironies in life.  There are laws, rules and regulations that are absurd.  They defy logic.  Many of these can become even a legal problem.  These are some of the ones I can think of.

1.    Head shops are permitted to sell paraphernalia in states where marijuana is illegal.  If you get arrested for possession, and have a pipe or bong, you will also be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

2.    Places that sell and install stereo systems are permitted to sell and install systems that will rattle your neighbor’s windows when you pass by, however, they violate local ordinances regarding noise pollution and disturbing the peace. 

3.   Automakers are permitted to make vehicles that can travel 150 m.p.h., or more, but the speed limits in the U.S. are half that.  If caught traveling even 35 miles over the speed limit you can be given an Arrest Form instead of a traffic citation which would require a court appearance, and it is a misdemeanor.

4.    Stores that sell auto accessories legally sell headlight covers and tag covers that are illegal to put on your car, because they impede visibility.

5.  You buy a house, and decide to fix it up and maybe upgrade it.  Once you finish your upgrades your property taxes go up.

6.  Motorcycle drivers are permitted to drive without the minimum insurance coverage required to drive a car, and yet they are more at risk for injury in an accident.

7.   Your credit card company offers you a great deal of 15% off your purchases if you use your card, but if you don’t pay it all off the first month you may end up paying 25% or more for every month that you have a balance.

8.   We spend 13 years teaching children in school English and Math skills, yet when they graduate and take a placement tests in colleges, they have to take remedial classes.

9.    You have a retirement account that you invest in, and can’t touch that money while in the meantime the bank can play with it, but yet when you need it you have to pay a penalty.

10. You pay high prices to see concerts or live sporting events, yet you end up seeing it on the jumbo screen because everyone’s head is in the way or you are too far.

SOME ISSUES OF OUR JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS SYSTEM

Having worked in the legal system for most of my life, I have had opportunity to see firsthand how our justice system works both at the processing level, and after conviction.  When compared to the judicial system in other countries, ours leaves much to be desired.  There are many issues that plague our system, despite the amount of money that is spent yearly on it. The following are some of the more prevalent ones that can be easily remedied.

Presently, too many people are convicted or negotiate pleas which leaves them with a criminal record for crimes that are minor and/or non-violent.  Once there is conviction, sealing or expunging the record becomes impossible so they are stuck with this record forever.  This becomes a problem because it hinders the ability of these people to find adequate employment, or obtain financial aid if they want to improve their life and go back to school.  It also limits where they can live, since background checks are commonplace to move into communities. 

When you are arrested and charged, your attorney will more often than not, encourage you to take a plea because the outcome is certain, and you don’t have any guarantees with a jury.  It may be recommended in some instances when you don’t have enough money to pay for a trial, which can be costly.  Other times the evidence against you is so great that there is no reasonable doubt, and a conviction would be certain.

When being sentenced you are prone to receive a longer sentence if you have prior convictions. In some states you can be sentenced to life after 3 felony convictions. Presently there are about 28 states that have the 3 strikes law or habitual offender laws.   Some states implement these laws to make sure that repeat offenders are off the streets.  However, this method can be extreme, especially for crimes that are not serious and/or non-violent.   

Once incarcerated you will be sent to a prison, either state or federal, depending on your crime.  In our present prison system there are a growing number of private facilities.  There are about 1.5 million prisoners in the United States.  Private facilities house about 6% of the current state inmate population, and about 16% of federal prisoners. This does not include the inmates held in jails.  It has been noted that some of these private facilities also have occupancy requirements, which encourages more convictions.

The conditions in many of these facilities are substandard.  Inmates are not given proper diets, medical care, or proper clothing in winter, and rainy months.  Sometimes there is overcrowding and inmates are made to sleep on the floor until there is room.  Most of these facilities are understaffed in order to increase the profit margin since they are privately owned by corporations.  This creates an unsafe environment for the inmates as well as the corrections officers.   Many of these facilities implement “lock downs” for long periods of time for any reason. During these “lock downs” inmates are not permitted to go outside.  Sometimes “lock downs” make it easier for the guards to manage the inmates since they are understaffed.

In these facilities there are a large number of inmates with mental illness.  In a National Institute of Corrections report in 2006, it was estimated that there were over 700,000 mentally ill people incarcerated in state prisons, almost 80,000 in federal facilities and about 480,000 in jails locally. That was 10 years ago, so those numbers are probably a lot higher now.

Some people are of the opinion that if a person commits a criminal act, it is an evil act against humanity, and there should be no empathy.  That these people should be locked away to rot somewhere and forgotten.  However, not everyone in prison is a violent offender.   Being incarcerated in itself is the loss of the freedoms we all take for granted.  Abuse, lack of medical care, and not providing proper nutrition are not part of that deal. 

In order for our prison system to work in a more efficient manner I think changes have to be implemented   at the sentencing level.  Alternative programs for non-violent offenders would achieve a better result than traditional incarceration.  Allowing non-violent offenders with not many convictions to seal their records after completing their sentences would also allow them become gainfully employed or obtain financial aid to go to school.  Prisons should revert to being state owned, with no profit margin to watch over.  Mental health assessments should be performed on each inmate, prior to being sent to any facility in order to determine the capacity of that future inmate to cohabitate with other inmates.  A larger focus needs to be made, especially for the non-violent offender, and it should be focused on rehabilitating the inmate for future reintegration into society not just punishing him. This requires re-education, and assistance, not abuse, and neglect.  We already spend more money than any other country to house all of these individuals, many for over a decade, why not take the time to make the system one that would decrease the rate of recidivism.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE DECLINE OF THE WORK ETHIC

I have observed in the recent years that there is a general “laissez faire” attitude about work, and the performance of duties in the workplace. 

I thought it was only a phenomenon that happened where I worked, but it appears to be a rampant issue across all types of businesses.  It may be a South Florida thing, so if you read this and it is happening in your neck of the woods reach out, and tell me. 

The typical workday for an office is 9 am to 5 pm.  People usually come in and it takes about an hour before everyone settles down to work because there is chit chat, breakfast ordering or preparation, then obviously eating, which many do at their desks, but this isn’t even the problem.

The problem arises when it’s time to do actual work.  People seem to have this mentality of “this is not what I was told I was going to do when I was hired”, or “these are not part of my job duties”.  This non-teamwork mentality is counterproductive, yet it runs rampant in today’s businesses.  It is a general lack of motivation to do a bit more.  It is what I call the “rule of the least effort”.  Which is something like, if I can get paid to put forth minimal effort, and no one complains.  I still get whatever bonuses and benefits everyone else gets, then why should I ever go that extra mile?  Why should I stay 15 minutes more?  Why should I notice something that needs to be done, and do it?  Let someone else take care of it, and if it doesn’t get done, then too bad.

I’ve met so many people with this attitude that it is disturbing.  I hear friends that own businesses, are in management or in HR, and they all complain about the same issue.  So I’ve tried to figure out why this is happening.  Some of the ideas I came up with are the following:

a.    Social media and technology.  Technology keeps us connected to the point where it is an addiction.  People are constantly on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and anything else they can get on.  It is incredible.  When I go home, and go on Facebook I look at my feed, and people that I know are employed full time are constantly posting one thing or another.  I can understand taking your lunch break, and doing that, but all day long? There is a time stamp on everything and they literally post hourly.  When does any work get done?  Some companies have blocked access to social media or even the internet from their computers, but everyone has a cell phone.

b.   The second problem is a factor that has become more prevalent in these weird economic times we are experiencing.   Work is a means to an end. There is no thought of being anywhere too long.  Jobs are as disposable, and temporary as relationships and car leases. Today you are an administrative assistant, tomorrow you are selling real estate, or taking care of babies at home.  There is zero job stability or the expectation of it.

c.    Another issue is that employers are not giving raises, bonuses have declined, and we’ve even lost some Federal holiday days off.    Many employers do not pay for benefits at 100% such as health insurance, few offer retirement plans or pensions.  The decline of what is seen as the appreciation of the employee has had catastrophic effects on the quality of work product being put out, and any additional effort.  Many employers have reduced their staff or workers, and expect the ones left to pick up the slack at the same pay.

It is somewhat similar as to what communist countries such as Cuba experienced with their workers.  In Cuba, for example most people get paid similar salaries.  The salary was enough to survive.  You were not permitted to buy 50 underwear if you wanted to because everything was rationed.  So the Cuban worker lost interest in excelling in their field of work because there was no point or benefit to it. 

Whichever way you look at it, just with these three things you have a bad recipe. 

THE NEW AMERICAN WOMAN

Since the 1960’s women have been struggling for their place in society.  For the right to vote, for equal pay, for the right to make choices about their bodies.  We’ve been treated like “girls” in the workplace.  We’ve had to endure all kinds of sexist remarks and jokes.  The entire time sucking it up just to hold our own in the world we lived in, a man’s world, just to earn their respect because of what we can bring to the table. 

Finally after what seemed to be a break, after seeing women reach positions of importance in government, communications, science and business, we seem to be spiraling back to the dark ages.

In the recent years the new generation has been pushing women back to a time when we were just sex objects, and homemakers, only now its worse.  The new generation only want to be seen as sex objects.  They have no intention of being homemakers.  Their offerings are physical. Perky breasts, shapely butts, flat abs, puffy lips, eyebrows “on fleek”, and anything else that makes them look like a centerfold.  Nothing of real substance or permanent, just the visuals. 

Rappers refer to them as “bitches and hos” and incredibly enough they refer to each other, and themselves the same way. They accept this as a compliment, or their reality.  Pitbull sings about slapping their ass and having them rub up against him, they love it and eat it up.  Their clothes are revealing to show off all their wares.  There is no need for anything on a mental level because “ain’t nobody got time for dat”.

At what point did these young women lose their self-respect?  Where did the situation take a turn for the worse?  Many of these women were raised by strong single moms who worked and were the bread winners for their families. 

In my opinion this loss of self-respect is partially a product of what is presented to our society by Hollywood.   Hollywood has been at the forefront of liberalism for a long time, if not always.  New ideas, new concepts, any thoughts and changes that need to be entertained are brought to us in our living rooms and big screens over and over each night.  I refer to it as the brainwashing of America. There are positives and negatives to this.  I think the negatives outweigh positives.  I think we need to look towards the ulterior motives for everything that is presented to us as a society.

The glamorization of drug use was brought to us by Hollywood through movies and shows like Scarface and Miami Vice, among others.  The oversexualization of women was presented to us through music videos showing young women shaking everything while the rappers and hip hop artists felt them up in their videos treating them like tasty treats to have at their beck and call.

Despite the ads on television warning of the dangers of AIDS and the easy transmission of STDs, sexual activity with multiple partners continued to be portrayed in a progressively more graphic manner on television shows.  Sex became an open topic and the more you had, the better.  All the progress made by strong, self-reliant women is slowly disappearing, and again the upcoming generation is pushing things back to square one.

RACISM, AN OUTSIDER'S VIEW

Racism has been an ongoing issue forever.  

I have different views on racism, depending on what aspect of racism we are addressing.  It is an issue that is complex and intertwined with many other social issues.  Here I address one aspect of racism.

As some may have read in my previous blog entries, I was born in Cuba and came to the United States when I was five.   My parents, while not racists, were separatists in the sense that they did not believe that different races should intermarry and have children.  I remember constantly arguing with them about this growing up because I didn’t see what the big deal was.  We all have the same body parts and we bleed the same color.   Their main arguments were that society did not treat children who were a product of a bi-racial union the same, and the concern about which race would bi-racial children identify with.  My response was always “who cares what society thinks?”.  The injustice and unfairness of it all made me defend my stance on this subject.  Interestingly enough they had black friends who visited our home, and some relatives on each side who married blacks and Asians, and had children.

Something that is different from other cultures to the Cuban culture is that to most Cubans, black Cubans are not considered “black”.  They are considered Cuban.  They may refer to them as “el negro”, but its used as an affectionate, and friendly term much like how the term “gordita” is used to address an overweight or fat woman in an affectionate manner.  Translated to English “gordita” is the equivalent of “fatty” that has a totally negative connotation. 

As a young adult, I would watch the news and read articles about the demonstrations and protests by the blacks against racial issues.  Being a white person it was really difficult to see what the need for any of this was. Blacks could live anywhere, and had the same freedom, and opportunities, so what was the problem?  

      

Through the years I had more interactions on a closer social basis with blacks from many different countries, not just Americans, and my suspicions were right.  They are like everyone else.  I also had the opportunity to ask questions, which is second nature to me because I’m very inquisitive.  I asked some of my friends if they ever felt discriminated, and if so why or how.  I received several examples of how they experienced “feeling different” or singled out in their daily lives. Even the black Cubans.   Most indicated they were watched in stores while they were shopping, or had been passed over for a job by someone who was less qualified but white.  I think what  I expected was more severe examples, actions that would enrage anyone into wanting to protest out in the streets.  What I learned is that the subtle instances that go imperceptible to those of us who are not black are what eventually nag at you when they are directed at you.  So I got it.  I understood the anger and feeling of helplessness and unfairness at being singled out, even in an almost imperceptible manner.

Then I thought about shootings and gang related deaths, they usually take place in inner city neighborhoods where even the police don’t want to go.  Whose fault are these?  Is it the white man that is coming in, and taking over, and selling the drugs to black kids or creating gangs?  No, it’s black men who are doing this.  It is black men who are making the wrong choices to be criminals, to be drug dealers, to put black children’s lives at risk over, and over again. It’s their choice to belong to gangs, to not go to school, and to want an “easy” way out, by selling drugs or engaging in other illegal activities.  They do nothing to improve their situation.  You can call it stereotypical and racist to portray a black man this way, but it is not.  It’s not because there are whites, Latinos, and Asians that engage in similar behavior, and there is no excuse for it. But you don’t see whites, Latinos and Asians protesting about their lot in life, they accept that their choice to be losers is why they have done nothing in their life, they don’t blame black people or any other race or cultural group for their lack of motivation and bad choices. 

The reality is that slavery can’t continue to be blamed.   Discrimination and racism at this point are just excuses used by black opportunists like Al Sharpton to promote race versus race problems in this country.  I find it offensive that every time a black man dies in an incident related to gun violence people like Sharpton come out of the woodwork, and start protesting.  Where are they when these kids are growing up in impoverished areas?  Why aren’t they supporting their fellow blacks to improve their situation instead of constantly complaining about it on the national news?  People like Sharpton make me sick because all they are is opportunists who really don’t care about other people, only their own agenda.  And yet, he has the gall to equate himself to Martin Luther King, and call himself a civil rights leader, when all he wants to do is continue to promote hatred, and separation.  If he invested as much time helping black children, and black men succeed as he does in getting them riled up, and keeping them down by filling them with anger, resentment and an unreasonable feeling of never ending entitlement, then all blacks living in those circumstances would be in a better place, not burning up and destroying their own neighborhoods, and ending up arrested.

Instead of being a motivational speaker, they are demotivating their fellow black Americans by making them believe that they should be receiving entitlements because their ancestors had to endure slavery, and that white men owe them something.  Unfortunately it is easy to influence those who are angry, and feel that they are owed something.  Look what happened to Cuba with Castro, and look where it got them.

So definitely awareness of the issue is important for conscientious change.  But is that enough to solve the racial problem?  No.  In my life whenever anyone has ever told me that they have a problem, or even when I have had a problem, I have always tended not to focus on the problem, but to immediately focus on solutions.  I strongly believe that as humans and as Americans we need to become less problem focused and more solution oriented or we will never move out of the current mindset.

So, in my solution oriented mind, I think to resolve the racism issue in this country and the divisiveness that exists we have to first get to the bottom of the actual problem.  Getting to the bottom is not rehashing slavery, ad nauseam.  So that needs to be put to the side, and not addressed as a present issue, because the reality is, it is not.

As time has gone by we have seen a great majority of black Americans succeeding in life, graduating from universities, being gainfully employed at good jobs, owning their own businesses, acquiring wealth, basically living the American dream.  Why were these black Americans able to excel and fulfill their goals?  They are not genetically different.  They were not born into rich families. They are just average Americans taking control of their own lives and achieving their goals.  This demonstrates that there is opportunity.  This demonstrates that racism isn’t such a detrimental factor that you can’t overcome whatever racism you feel you are experiencing to accomplish your goals.

Since our focus here is to change things the first place I would start to make changes is in our neighborhoods and schools.  Money definitely needs to be allocated to improve inner city schools, that is a given.  Another important move would be incorporating black history into regular American History.  There is no reason why the contributions of every single person whether black, white, Latino or Asian should not be incorporated into American History, and taught in our school system.  We need to have a sense of unity as a country.  Something I find counterproductive is everyone’s hyphenated nationality. At this point in time, if your parents were not born in Africa, then you are not African-American. You are an American.  Same applies to everyone else. 

As Americans we also need to loosen up and accept that each race and cultural group living in this country has their basic differences, and that in order to respect each other, and see each other as equals we have to acknowledge the differences, be able to joke about the differences without being offended, and embrace the differences. 

I listen to Power 96, a local radio station in Miami.  They have 3 morning radio hosts.  One black man, a woman of Cuban descent, and a man also of Hispanic descent, who were all born in this country so they are American. They have this segment called “Black, White, Hispanic or Other”. During this segment they read an article about someone who committed a crime of some sort and were arrested. Most of the crimes involved some action that can be generally attributed to a particular group.  The listeners then call in to win prizes if they can guess if the person committing the offense was Black, White, Hispanic or Other.  In the beginning I thought this only promoted racism, and stereotyping but after listening to the show almost daily, I realized that what it does is portray the differences that are inherent to each races and/or culture.   It’s this type of openness without fear of being labeled or criticized that promotes unity.  Everyone laughs on the show, makes jokes about how stupid the person was to get caught doing whatever they did, and they move on.  Unfortunately the television media is not as open.  Problems, tragedy, and heated issues keep people plugged in and watching.  I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that the media has played a very important part in the continued divisiveness in this country, but that’s an entirely separate topic.

In summation we need to  let go of the past, clean up neighborhoods, improve education, and respect and acknowledge the differences in others.  This is accomplished through relaxed open communication, not skirting around the issue in order to not be offensive.  Since it is impossible to brainwash closed minded people of any race into acceptance or change, we need to start with the younger generation so that we can work towards better future results. Any positive change will inevitably improve the situation.