[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

30652: Lorsbach (reply) Re: 30648: Durban (comment): Re 30613 Forrest and 30588 Kathleen on Security (fwd)





From: Robert Lorsbach <rlorsbach@sbcglobal.net>

Lorsbach (comment) Re: 30648: Durban (comment): Re 30613 Forrest and 30588 Kathleen on Security (fwd)

I find the apprehension that many Americans, typically white, affluent ones, have regarding their "security" a bit amusing (for the record, I am white, middle-class and live in an urban neighborhood considered to be "dangerous" by many of my less adventurous suburban acquaintances). Rather than relying on community building, civic responsibility, and just plain decency, which are in my mind the most effective ways to minimize crime and make ourselves truly secure, many relatively affluent Americans have instead withdrawn from the world into gaited communities, behind barred windows, and into homes bristling with all the latest "security" features. These same people are then surprised when the crime and violence follows them to their seemingly placid suburban enclaves.

This same apprehension is reflected by several members of the Corbett list. While I am not nearly as seasoned a visitor to Haiti as many on this list, I have never felt unsafe or threatened in Haiti, including my visits to Haiti a few months after the coup and during the more recent presidential elections. Lance Durban hit the nail on the head when he said that one's sense of security or insecurity, which ever the case may be, is all about perception rather than reality. While in Haiti, I've always been mindful of the fact that 8+ million Haitians live there every day. While they may be brutalized through structural violence, the preponderance go about living their lives free from individual acts of violence and crime. I suppose I just hope that the odds will always play out in my favor, a principle I likewise apply to my life in the states. Some may dismiss this as a naive approach. However, I view it as essential to my embracing life rather than being overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear of the unknown, over which none of us have any control anyway.
  peace to all,
  Bob Lorsbach