America: WAKE UP!
"A nation never falls but by suicide."--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
record numbers of homeless families
record numbers of employed homeless persons
epidemic adult and child overweight, diabetes
epidemic underage drinking and prescription drug use
half of US college students don't graduate
US workers rank 13th in pay & vacation days
labor productivity soars while wages have same spending power as 40 years ago (See charts at bottom of page.)
Our bodies filled with pollution:
"More than 142 million Americans—75 percent of the nation’s population living in counties with ozone monitors—are breathing unhealthy amounts of ozone air pollution (smog), representing the third straight year in which the toxic pollutant reached fully half of the American public, according to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2002 report.
"The Third Wave Information Society is more than just technology and economics. It is not just "digital" and "networked." Painful social, cultural, institutional, moral, and political dislocations accompany our transition from a brute force to a brain force economy. The Third Wave helps explain why so many industrial-era institutions, from giant corporations to governments, are dinosaurs gasping for their last breath. It is why America is suffering from simultaneous crises in everything from education system, the health system, and the family system to the justice system, and the political system. They were designed to work in a mass industrial society. But America has left that behind Alvin & Heidi Toffler, 2003."
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HOMELESS FAMILY CRISIS IN NEW YORK CITY—"The flow of homeless families is so heavy that the crowd is triple what the fire code allows villagevoice.com." "In all, about 15,000 children bed down each night in one of about 70 family shelters or other temporary housing Nat. Coal. for the Homeless." "Families with children constitute approximately 40% of people who become homeless (Shinn and Weitzman, 1996) source." "The annual earnings of a full-time, full-year worker making $6 an hour are too low to lift a family of three above the federal poverty line source." "EIHP has doubled its up-front bonus to landlords, ranging from $3,000 for a family of three to $10,000 for a family of six. Payment is made after move in source."
Background links: Homeless Families With Children, Children's Education in Homeless Families, Life Management Skills for Homeless Adults and Families
Websites dealing with homeless families: Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, California, Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Maryland, Montreal, New York City, New York City Suburb, Nevada, N. Carolina, Oakland, Ohio. Oregon, Ottowa, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, San Francisco, St. Louis, Vermont, Washington (state), Washington, DC, Wisconsin
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SHARP RISE IN YOUTH ABUSE OF PRESCRIPTION PAIN RELIEVERS AND TRANQUILIZER DRUGS— "The number of initiates reached 2.0 million in 2000. Between 1998 and 2000, there were significantly more new users among 12 to 17 year olds than among 18 to 25 year olds source." CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC AND NOW DIABETES—"One in three U.S. children born in 2000 will become diabetic unless many more people start eating less and exercising more HeraldNews, June 21." "Britain is facing an epidemic of diabetes among children and teenagers within a decade because of soaring rates of obesity and lack of exercise Guardian, June 8 ." EPIDEMIC OF UNDERAGE DRINKING—"Underage drinkers account for 25 percent of all the alcohol consumed in the U.S...more than five million high schoolers (31%) say they binge drink at least once a month source." HALF OF COLLEGE STUDENTS DON'T GRADUATE source [Note: I am still unable to find on the Internet the CAE study cited by Reuters, though it is widely cited.--Dan Mahony] Click also The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America by Charlotte Iserbyt, former Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education. WIDESPREAD USE OF PRESCRIBED BEHAVIOR DRUGS IN US SCHOOLS —"...drugs used to treat millions with behavioral and emotional problems in school NY Times." BACK-TO-COLLEGE SURVEY FINDS PARENTS CONCERNED ABOUT BINGE DRINKING—"85% of the parents cited easy access to alcohol at bars and retail establishments surrounding campuses, and 80% mentioned beer and shot and all-you-can-drink specials, happy hours, ladies' nights and similar promotions. 79% singled out promotions and sponsorships by beer and liquor companies source." GROUP OF SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH BUILD THEIR OWN SCHOOL OUT OF SCRAP —"Hezekiel Matingane and scores of other rural Malelane primary school children like him are so desperate to get a decent education that they have built their own highschool out of scraps of tin and wood. The ramshackle structure leaks in the rain and has such large gaps in the walls that the howl of the icy wind often drowns out the voices of teachers source." SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL INCREASES PASS RATE FROM 4% TO 93%—"No electricity, no water, no furniture, no textbooks, no excuses, just success." And one Bongi Peyana, age 24 source. US WORKERS HAVE FEWEST PAID VACATION DAYS— Workers in Bombay average 39.3 paid vacation days a year. That compares with 27.9 days in Paris, 22.1 in London. The world's leading economy? 8.6 in Los Angeles (Boston Globe).
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| HOMELESS FAMILIES IN AMERICA—"From an average of 40 phone calls in three years, we've had 50 to 60 calls a month." KCBD-TV (Texas), Nov. 3, 2003 "Families with children constitute approximately 40% of people who become homeless NCH Factsheet." "15,000 children bed down each night in one of about 70 family shelters or other temporary housing." National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) "The flow of homeless families is so heavy that the crowd is triple what the fire code allows." villagevoice.com (New York City) Links AMERICA: WAKE UP! |
