it has been said, and is worth saying again

At times I consume too much knowledge at once and it all fragments and I have a hard time remembering which book/article/song/poem/play I read something in, and what the point was that the writer was trying to make. My bad. I need to slow down and absorb one at a time. Except every now and then all the themes happen to converge in some sort of weird serendipity. I am reading The Blue Tango and was reading more about evacuees in the Post today and watched City of God tonight. The first deals with the murder of a young woman in Belfast, the second was another story of hope and courage after relocation to a new city, and the third gives a stark look at the drug world in Rio de Janeiro from the 60's-80's.

How does this all tie together, you ask? Oh, but it does.

It is very interesting to note that the drug trade only became prevalent in Rio after massive floods forced evacuation in other parts of Brazil. The government helped for a time and moved hordes of people to what became the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Once it was no longer forefront in the media, the government ignored the plight of this poverty stricken population (that and the political arena fed into this as well). The drug trade became rampant and now employs over 100,000 people in the city. City of God tells this story from the perspective of a young boy from the slums, who grows to be a newspaper photographer. I thought the film was tremendous.

The Blue Tango is very lyrical in its narrative style. The feel of the era is captured so well. You have here a man from a poor class who grew up to be a judge. His status did not save his daughter, whose murderer was never found. Patricia Curran was a wild child, and even though her Daddy had money, she ran with some unsavory characters. She was violently stabbed to death. The nature and number of her wounds indicated insanity or uncontrollable anger in her attacker.

You all know the story of Katrina and Rita, the superdome, the flooding, the shelters and so on.

OK, so here it is. Poverty spawns violence. I know that everyone knows this. When the only jobs available are not enough to make ends meet, or more importantly to allow one to advance their life, individuals will begin to look outside the law to ease their situation. The poor, due to the lack of education and basic opportunity, will reinforce the drug trade, illegal guns, and violent crime, simply to exist. Most who looted during Katrina, or began their foray into a life of crime were looking for a way to feed themselves. Once the cycle has begun, the children are educated into it and the way out is never shown to them. Let's face it, George W. Bush got into Yale as a C student. That is not an opportunity available to some one from South Central, Los Angeles. More importantly, no matter where you are in the social structure, you will be affected by this current. Be it in taxes, the media, violence in your community, etc.

The violence is not the biggest byproduct though. It is the need for vice that runs rampant. Be it drugs, sex, God, or gambling. The use of something to take us away, or get us out quick is so alluring to those with nothing. Escape from life drives the market. It drove Patricia to all those men, it drove up the drug trade, and it certainly will drive up the violence, because when one cannot get out easily, they will claw their way out if need be.

Socialism is looking better and better eh? No, not here in America! Once the hubbub over the newest tragedy in the U.S. wears off the people who were left behind before, will be left behind again, and so the cycle continues. My hope is that while the issue is fashionable with the voters, some real reforms are made that work to arm the poor with an education, a living and a voice.

Me-thinks too much and me-does too little.