Most often than not, former President Reagan was singled out as being the 'one and only' who was instrumental in dumping the mentally ill on the streets and shutting down mental hospitals and institutions..
This is where many mentally ill are living to this very day...on the streets. Adequate, qualified therapy and mental hospitals are still not available, to this day and age, to many -- the main reason being it is cost prohibitive. (Cost too much tax money!!) However, it was NOT Reagan's idea to close the mental health institutions and let the needy ill ones spill onto our streets. If you will do some non-partisan research, you will find that he came under tremendous pressure from the ACLU who had a HUGE impact on many politcal groups. (after all, tax money would be saved!) In fact, it was KENNEDY who had signed the bill outlining 'Patient's Rights.' As with any 'reform' bill, it had both good and evil potential.
Most of us are familiar with the fact the the mental hospitals and institutions of the past (turn of the century --1900) were horrendous places. Change WAS needed.
But what happened, time after time during the 'reforms', the baby got thrown out with the bathwater.
Again, as per usual, while seemingly 'correcting' a situation, most of the efforts concentrated on what it 'looks like on the outside' rather than addressing the deeper problems from within. Like the swing of a pendulum, there is always a tendency to swing way too far to the opposite direction, and the appealing sounding cries of "FREEDOM" from the ACLU were -- it didn't actually 'fix' the problem of what to DO for the mentally ill.
To this day, the mentally ill homeless are living in the streets and surviving in pitiful ways . Many simply die. Others, released from the now closed down institutions, in addition to not having survival skills, took to drugs and alcohol once again.
My biggest problem with this whole scene is the fact that so many of our street people/homeless are veterans...returned with what was left of their minds after wars like the Gulf War, Viet Nam, and all the forever ongoing wars in the Middle East. Most of OUR own American deaths RIGHT NOW in Afghanistan are caused by SUICIDE... not battle casualties. Did you know that?
All in the name of 'serving god and country' and 'fighting terrorism'.
When they return home from that hell, they find they are unable to get the mental treatment they need. Oh yes. Some get 'pills.' That is America's favorite cure for all of our ills. So many can't deal with family life. They take to the streets.
Occasionally you find an article that reveals the truth of how the ones who have returned from the middleEast are having insurmountable problems...in every way. There is a glaring shortage of psychiatric help...therapy of any kind, to help these people. A lot of problems were caused by chemicals forced on them while overseas, including sprays, to induce a 'kill mode' so they would be more 'willing' to kill men, women, children, and babies... But of course, high tech enables us to simply push buttons -- its almost like playing video games, making the killing and destruction very impersonal. So 'bring 'em on'...!! Right?? Right. Just so they don't 'THINK' about it too much...
Neither political party is interested in stopping ANY of these wars. If you think so, you are not looking at the facts and deluding yourselves.
Once our veterans have 'served their robotic purposes'...the vast majority are discarded by the government who had needed them on the killing fields.
Instead of cutting back on Defense Spending (which some regard as bad as spitting on a crucifix...)...and using that huge amount of money to build facilities, apartments, rehab centers, and CREATING JOBS for THEM -- which would also include staffing these facilities with qualified and trained rehab counselors)...little to nothing is being done for them. Oh yes, we still have 'the pills.'....
Some 'low income housing' is sometimes MORE available to non-vets who are druggies and alcoholics (and have had NO rehab)...-- some of them get pulled off the streets and get put into SENIOR HOUSING facilities where more often than not, they cause trouble.
We do have a HUGE number of places in Denver where the homeless can get more than one meal every day. This is good. They are all sponsored by church and other organizations.
I'm not against any of street people/homeless getting shelter, but the whole system is screwed up. They have STRICTER rules at some homeless over-night centers -- (by not allowing drunks and those obviously high on drugs, or known criminals to sleep there,) --than they do when moving them into Low Income Senior Housing places... where we know and see what is, at times, going on with drug trade and prostitution... but can't touch them unless we can 'prove it.'
I am NOT a supporter of war in ANY shape, manner, or form... but I fail to see why some people who are NOT vets, but who continuously made bad choices until they found themselves on the streets--should EVER be given priority over veterans.
Yes, I know. Vets made the choice also to 'go to war.' True. But its a safe bet to say that the REASON they chose the military is because it was SOLD to them: free housing and health care for the family, promised benefits and the all the hoopla of 'serving god and country.' It was a damned JOB!!!! Yes, there are a few sickies who 'love war and killing' but they are in a class by themselves which I don't even want to address.
Oh you bet, I still 100% believe we Create Our Own Reality. Every single bit of it ... but not always 'consciously'... And even though it is NOT our duty to 'save' everybody... I believe it is our duty to follow our intuition and our hearts and demand that our TAXES be spent on HELPING people who genuinely entitled to help. NOT to 'foster dependancy,' but to make every effort at rehabilitating these people.
Help should be there for those who honestly want help and DO TRY... And many DO try...as long as they can...The Military and Defense Department receives MORE of our tax dollars than all other programs put together!! WHY!!!!!
It's up to us to 'see' what we want to see in our American society. Whatever our 'government or society' is like...it is a reflection of our mass consciousness. Period. We need more than ever to determine to "OWN OUR MINDS" and STOP 'believing in one party or the other'... because that is a GAME imposed on us, too. Keep us divided and they will keep us controlled.
We each have to determine to hold a vision of what we want OUR OWN LIFE to be like. In doing so, we will vibrationally spread the frequencies of love, peace, and hope to all around us. It takes BOTH 'inspired' doing AND imagination/visualization. If one has FUN joining groups and protesting -- go for it! I did!! But I was never filled with HATE in doing so... we spread to others what we FEEL EMOTIONALLY. Being AGAINST will never get the job done!
We can't take the attitude that we have to 'change the conditions' in order for US to be happy individually. It all BEGINS with us as individuals.
Peaceful protests are effective. So is speaking our minds...and that, too, must be steeped in PEACE --'not kill the opponent' or it will only make things worse. Large, peaceful protests are needed. There is no better example in all of history that Mahatma Ghandi as to how powerful love and peace and NON VIOLENCE can be. Just remember--its not only weapons -- but the MIND that can kill with an equal amount of violence...that's where it starts. We have got to BE the Peace we want to see.
..--..
"Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin with Me"
Namaste'
_/I\_
