Oct. 05, 2004 - 20:15 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

All Along

A long look at things now and then doesn't hurt me, really. An article in the Rocky Mountain News by Stanley M. Aronson, M.D. dean of medicine emeritus at Brown University in Providence, R.I. on Thursday Sept. 30th stirs my interest. In its entirety:

Remember how far we've come

"A recent bumper sticker declares that we live in a polluted world. Our urban cildren are exposed to toxic residues on bedroom walls covered with decades-old lead paint. The quality of our drinking water is so suspect in some American communities that bottled water has become a major industry. And then there are the many initials -- DDT, TOPC, PVC -- causing waves of appropriate anxiety amongst the ecologically attuned population."

"In the face of increasing global pollution, it becomes understandable that we feel nostalgia for an age when industrial fumes had not yet obscured the skies, when all foods could be considered organic, when the countryside was pristine and when air could be breathed without provoking asthma attacks. Still, innocent illusions, said a Chinese sage, make for a pleasant breakfast but do not suffice, by sundown, for a satisfying dinner."

"Consider for example, the early 18th century, when manufacuring assumed an increasingly major role in Western economies. Voltaire (1694 -- 1778), in his Philosophical Dictionary, estimated that the average life expectancy of the French was 22 years. In London Walter Besant oberved that 58 percent of all children would die before their fifth birthday. And the infant-mortality rate frequently exceeded 50 percent. Abandoned babies exceeded the number of babies nurtured to early childhood (of the near 32,000 babies admitted to Paris' Foundling Hospital in Paris, for example, 25,476 died before their first birthday). And abortion was common."

" Life in the streets of London, as portrayed by the drawings of William Hogarth, had deteriorated so far that even the most indifferent aristocrats now expressed concern. Many London districts, corrupted by rampant alcoholism, were unpoliced and represented little more than filthy, anarchic enclaves in desperated need of urban renewal."

"The deplorable living conditions of the greatest cities of the West -- London, Paris, Rome and Berlin - did not begin to abate until the latter half of the 19th century, with the arrival of sewage systems, clean water, free education and the concept that the welfare of the entire population was the concern of the government."

"Reflecting on city life a mere three centuries ago may convince some people that our current environmental problems are comparatively negligible. That we live longer, are more educated, have access to more diversified diets and lead healthier lives cannot be denied. Yet these social benefits are not uniformly conferred upon our population. The world needs another Charles Dickens to tell us how life is endured in the world's vast tenement districts, and to impel us to invest our resources more wisely."

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The good doctor has much to say and he says it well I think. I also think that he probably could have written a book on what he just made a column of.

Here and there are an opinion or two that I have.

To my mind Urban Renewal shouldn't mean that buildings be razed, new owners and tenants ushered in and the skid row inhabitants shoved further out of town or to another town. I don't really think that renewal is accomplished that way. In our town it seems that the hobo jungles have been eliminated too. The end result ? Those people dispossesed from skid row and the jungles now live on our streets. How much have our urbs been renewed ?

Even as young as I am, (April 1921) the memory of quaratined houses due to small pox, measles, dipdtheria, scarlet fever and such is strong in my memory. Also the time spent recuperating at home by those who survived surgery was on the order of half year more or a bit less. Many diseases and ailments could not be conquered by medicine back then as can be cured by modern medicine now. Infantile paralysis was fatal to most victims and the survivors had after effects for the rest of their lives. So the medical science and expertise of doctors has increased our length of life immeasurably. No doubt of that.

The various rules and ordinances, laws and whatever that govern sanitary and safety procedures for public health have helped. OSHA in its fumbling way has helped greatly, but is being emasculated by our administration bit by bit, hurts corporations too much I guess.

The good old days are much like my own memory - - what I remember best and the sharpest are the good things, the fun times -- the bad was met with survival methods by all of us without sulking about it. All we remember are the times of love, fun, adaquate and delicious food and good health. Trying to remember what Will Rogers once said, something like this, "The good old days weren't so good and they probably never were."

What has been improved for over a century is in grave danger today I think. Latest report is that the Arctic Ice shelf has lost an area about the size of Texas this last year, yet our administration will not deal with trying to restrict the use of things that cause global warming. Maybe after this administration has aged into nursing homes our costal inhabitants will be driven further inland by the rising sea level and crowded in with the rest of us.

In recent times our vehicular fleet of personal vehicles have grown in size to the point that SUVs are the minicars of this generation, I'm now seeing more and more of the civilian HUMVEEs out on our streets and highways. Gas guzzling monsters, all of them.

It may not be apparent in the eastern part of our country but the use of precious water is draining the reservoirs to a very dangerous level with little actual control being done to prevent overuse of our most precious liquid gold of the arid lands. Developments grow by a massive amount now. Seems to me that perhaps building permits should still be required but also water use permits higly priced should be required also and also requiring that water hookups in the new developments be paid in advance by the buyers and water meters installed as well. Water use rates should probably be hiked for the new developments too.

One of Mr. Aronson's paragraphs stands out in bold type to my eyes, he said, "The deplorable living conditions of the greatest cities of the West -- London, Paris, Rome and Berlin -- did not begin to abate until the latter half of the 19th century, with the arrival of sewage systems, clean water, free education and the concept that THE WELFARE OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION WAS THE CONCERN OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Free education, what a novel concept. Those who preceded us felt that the welfare of our country depended on that. Of course "free education" seems to have meant that the taxpayers footed the bill, as well they should have. But I still think that the welfare of our country requires that every child is entitled to a free education. If the parents of a child want more than what public schools offer I feel that they should do as parents in the past have done - - - - pay their taxes and if they wish a private school education for their kids -- then pay the tuition on top of the taxes they pay for the free education of all children of the country. Which is something being denigrated in our country now, charter schools and tax money being expended to pay private school tuition. Which all takes away tax money needed for public education. Our forbears realized that free education was absolutely necessary, but we as a nation seems to have let that slip our memory.

There is another thing Mr. Aronson said that bears repeating I think, "Yet these social benefits are not uniformly conferred upon our population." My comment is, "If the Public Schools are broke, by damn FIX THEM. Yep, still the schools where the parents are rich have the most perks, the most equipment, the best maintenance and the best everything else including the most expert teachers. Combat pay for the teachers in the schools of the lower echelon of society with few good teachers volunteering for that duty.

So, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and living conditions for the poor get worse and worse.

Much of this I have been saying All Along . . . . . . . . . . .

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