Dove & Pigeon

Chatter about Seattle, life, and a view from my seat on issues of poverty and community in urban spaces.

People

I don’t want to sound like I think I’m the only one in the world who knows this, but I see enough people being jerks to other people that it bears repeating:

There is no difference between you and me.

Nor is there any difference between you and that other person standing over there.

Or between me and that one guy in Cameroon.

Or between him and the homeless woman standing on the corner sparing for change in downtown Seattle.

I refer you to the quote preceeding this post. It isn’t a very hard concept to wrap one’s brain around, yet everywhere I go, everything I was taught, everything that popular culture reinforces is a belief that there *is* a difference between people.

I look at it like this: Pigeons and doves are the same bird. All that differentiates them is the viewer’s perspective. People think pigeons are dirty, yet doves represent peace. People associate pigeons with the streets, with garbage, with bird poop. Guess what? Doves shit, too. It’s the same with people.

Nov
21st

Fri

Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

— Eugene V. Debs

The Criminalization of Homelessness

Me on Election night.