That's what she says, and I believe her.
Here is from a novel I started writing 18 years ago and never finished...
We walked back to the cars. Ms. Harwell still looked upset.Not much has changed since my tired middle-aged rural sheriff's deputy said that to a green just-out-of-college social worker 19 years ago... white trash still raise their children like pit bulls to make them mean. And they ARE mean. And see no reason to be any different. It's not as if society as a whole has done anything other than shit on them, after all, do-gooders like Ms. Harwell included in the end since there are no resources behind their do-good platitudes (or as the saying goes, money talks louder than bullshit)... I mean, look. What has society offered Lynndie England, other than a shit sandwich on top of a shit platter? What has society offered the millions of other Lynndie Englands out there steaming in their run-down trailer parks? Nothing. Less than nothing. Our sick American society pisses on the poor, treats them like shit... and then wonders why so many of our poor are meaner than a snake and would sooner kill you than say hello? Uhm, hello, connect the dots, people... what we sow is what we reap. That's how it's always been."Probably Josh beats Robby up," I said. Ms. Harwell glared at me.
"That's how they raise their kids out here," I said. "It ain't right, but it's the way they're raised, and there's not a single thing you or me can do about it. Not enough foster homes on the planet for all the kids who're not being raised right."
"Why?" Ms. Harwell said in a small voice that I almost didn't recognize.
I shook my head. "It's like a pit bull. You cuff him around and keep him a little hungry to make him mean. That's how they raise their kids."
"Why?" Ms. Harwell asked again.
I shook my head again. "I guess there's just a meanness in this world, ma'am. I guess that's all it is."
-- Badtux the Socioeconomic Penguin
I have PTSD and I laugh nervously at inappropriate times occasionally. Lynndie England is simply low-hanging fruit.
ReplyDeleteWill the people responsible for the torture policies ever be brought to justice?
Pfffffft.
Indeed. My point is that there are a million Lynndie Englands out there that we've created with our sickness as a society, not to excuse the people responsible for the torture policies. Lynndie England is as much a victim of those policies as anybody else, because you can be darn sure it wasn't the idea of some backwoods cracker from West Virginia to torture those Iraqis...
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Sociology Penguin
Whew.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I come here. For the commonsense arguments and intelligent dissection of the shameful historical background (of the U.S. and the South).
As a southerner I'm still waiting to see this violence-accepting culture outed successfully - only to witness more of the violent patted on the back on national TV (and encouraged to join the military where they will be finally properly utilized).
What has society offered the millions of other Lynndie Englands out there steaming in their run-down trailer parks? Nothing. Less than nothing. Our sick American society pisses on the poor, treats them like shit... and then wonders why so many of our poor are meaner than a snake and would sooner kill you than say hello? Uhm, hello, connect the dots, people... what we sow is what we reap. That's how it's always been.
I have been almost holding my breath for when the real culprits of Abu Ghraib are designated and tried (and some type of apology is issued for those poor slobs at the bottom of the pile who were fooled into those wretched actions against those poor, undeserving foreigners).
Long time between breaths. Especially waiting for the change guys.
S
Great respects to Suzaan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Badtux by adding a corollary
"money talks louder than bullshit)."
Money makes bullshit talk louder.
--ml
I know BadTux. I didn't mean to take out my frustration at the leadership on you. I've understood your point for a long time, this is a mil town.
ReplyDeleteShe's from west of Jeesus Virginia, fer crissakes! Read Flannery O'Connor -- people have always been mean and perverse, anyway -- privations or no.
ReplyDeleteWe need Lynnde Englands to perpetrate the violence of the state, w/o compunction. Very useful these proles are.