| May 20, 2005 Outside My Anchorage Window by Nova Stubbs, insurgent49 I live in the wealthiest nation in the world ... “America The Beautiful”, with its breathtaking landscape, towering skyscrapers, strip malls, Disney World, and that special 1% of upper-class Americans who earn a minimum of 1.5 million dollars a year. Meanwhile, 12% of Americans make 10,000 dollars or less per year. These individuals make up the under-class. Outside of my Anchorage window, America’s destitute society of under-class is constantly on display, and that just doesn’t seem to correlate with a nation that is built upon such great wealth. I live in what is known as a “less than desirable” neighborhood, as I fit perfectly into the working-class of our carefully constructed class system. I can’t say that I don’t feel grateful for the opportunities of this nation; but then, of course, my life chances are comparatively good. I am white, from a middle-class family, and my only economic handicap is that I am female. Outside my window, the majority of those who sleep on the asphalt, dig through the dumpsters, urinate, and occasionally engage in intimate relations in the alley, are Alaska Native. Odd, considering that in the year 2000, 7.3% of Anchorage’s population was Alaska Native. Of course some of these homeless individuals are white as well, but only .00000000001% of them have ever been to Disney World. The various scenes that occur outside my window simply illustrate the great ills of our system. There are two modes of thinking about the homeless population. First, the majority of individuals think in what I like to call the “Peter Peterson” mode, which is that it’s the homeless individual’s fault because they have not taken advantage of our great nation’s equal opportunity structure. Peter Peterson is 43 years of age, white, has an upper management job at GCI, a wife named Linda, and two sons, Pete and Peter Jr. He spends his time working, polishing his SUV on weekends, and having an affair with his secretary, Becky. He vacations in Hawaii once a year and even then, Linda refuses to put out. The second mode of thinking is that of the progressive minority, who often view this underprivileged phenomenon as a symptom of our class structure, which is built by and for the privileged elite. The middle and working classes are often tempered by this system in that they have been made true believers in the “American dream” (as seen on FOX television network). America’s greatest ill is not homelessness, drug addiction, violence, nor alcoholism; but rather an apathy that is driven by the false consciousness of the people. Anchorage is our home and though most of you do not see the same sights as I do outside of my widow, the reality continues to exist. Our system is plagued. In Myanmar there is a saying, “no one in Burma will go hungry”. When you go to pay your bill in a restaurant there, they often say “pay how you wish.” Myanmar is a poverty stricken nation led by an authoritarian dictatorship, but the people are the spirit of the country. Anchorage, I ask you, where is our spirit? Is it buried in our wallets or do people like Peter Peterson just need to be subtly awoken? Nova Stubbs is a freelance writer, college student, and ace barista who lives in an undisclosed location in Alaska. She can be reached at nova@insurgent49.com. |
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2005
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Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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