Sorry Chris, but this blame game doesn't wash! To quote from your piece on the death of one Henry Roy, "(He) died sometime just after midnight Wednesday night�officially of natural causes. He was found slouching, almost lying down on the bench on the west side of the green space next to the Seward Community Caf�.
"I feel we are all to blame for the death of Henry Roy because we�re too consumed with the petty details of our own comforts to build a real community with real priorities. I don�t know the answers, but I think that if we can all be a little less selfish then we can definitely find some real answers�but until then I blame each and every person in this city for the death of Henry Roy, even myself." I have no idea who Mr. Roy is or what happened in his life to bring him to that bench next to the Seward Caf�, but I am absolutely certain that I am not to blame for his death nor is anyone else (assuming he died of natural causes as you said) including Chris Allison. This idea of holding the community to blame for a man's unfortunate death is terribly unfair in that it absolves Mr. Roy of any responsibility for the choices he may have made in his life and implies that all of us should or could have done something to prevent his death. I happen to agree that we need to fund temporary shelters for people without homes and we need to create more affordable housing options and am happy to have my tax dollars used for such purposes. I am also happy to see tax dollars invested in programs to treat drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness, and to make public health services, job training and education readily available. But ultimately, we have to rely on ourselves or reach out to our families, friends and associates, or our social service agencies to seek help. I refuse to be blamed for this death merely because I am a member of this community. I could not help notice that Chris Allison smokes cigarettes which will likely contribute to an early, agonizing death from lung cancer or emphysema. If we are to be blamed for the death of a man we had no contact with, should we not then intervene and take away the cigarettes of someone with whom we do have contact? Or what about those of us who use drugs or drink too much, or eat too much (my vice): is the community to be blamed for those deaths? There is no blame to be assessed for the death of Mr. Roy simply because he died without a home. We cannot legislate away homelessness or poverty. We cannot mandate only good decisions in life or prohibit bad ones. Jim Bernstein Fulton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 4:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] Column remembering Henry Roy My new column (appearing in various publications around the country...but none here yet) starts off with a piece about Henry Roy, a homeless man who just died here in Minneapolis. You can read it now at http://groups.msn.com/ChrisAllison/chrisallisonhome.msnw Soory about the self-promotion, but I think it's healthy for Minneapolis political folks to read this & it isn't appearing in the local publication I had anticipated it to run in... Chris Allison Lyndale Neighborhood & (according to many people around me) the planet Mars ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
