Letter to the Editor
Street people
Published Sunday, July 6, 2008
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To the editor:
While I mean no disrespect to Virginia Alexander’s letter concerning the drinking people on the streets, I must seriously disagree with her.
I, too, believe we should have compassion for the people on the streets. But as for them not costing money? Gosh, I’m sure that’s not true.
I’ve seen ambulances, time and again, responding to inebriates sleeping or sitting on a dangerous curve.
Sadly enough, many times these people are my relatives or I know them. I know for sure that they don’t have to live like that.
As Native people, we are always trying to help our people but as that old saying goes — you can take the horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink it.
Alcoholics and drug addicts exist because there are suppliers and enablers. I can’t even mention the long list of social-economic problems that lead to substance abuse, it would fill this whole paper!
These people who are attempting to resolve this problem by means of dialogue, committees, etc., sure it seems that they are doing it for all the wrong reasons (tourism, scenery, etc.), but I applaud them.
Many times I’ve seen the destructive side effects of alcoholism, and I live in an environment where denial keeps this blatant disease on status quo much to the detriment of whole cultures and lives.
While it seems like the task force to deal with our inebriate problem here in the city seems cold and uncaring let’s give them a chance to think this out.
Just maybe, someone on their committee is going to offer a good idea.
Also, Ms. Alexander had a good idea, and that was to include the street people in the process. God bless all concerned.
Community Discussion
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I think this was a very well written letter. No other response at this time.
Effective dialogue is critical, as Ms Wallis notes, but oh so elusive.
Another reason for including street people is that they have an expertise on how the system actually works which is very different from those who operate the system and how it is supposed to work.
Regarding "Alcoholics and drug addicts exist because there are suppliers and enablers." there is also a lot of money invested and income produced. For example, the economy of some entire regions might be devastated if alcohol and addiction were suddenly elinated-- think of the hospitals, policing, social services, churches, fire departments, school counselors and special teachers, behaviroal health educators, extra staff to repair housing, etc who would no longer be needed. It would be interesting to know for sure if the economy lost due to sobriety would be replaced by the economy gained-- are people's jobs a factor in enabling?
There is no easy answers to hard questions. I've researched before, one facility in Fairbanks to help with addiction. One or two beds for drugs and the rest for alcohol. Most people can't afford a big rehab center. Most people don't have health insurance to cover it. If Fairbanks wants its city "cleaned up" , they need to offer more programs. I understand this...you can't help a person unless they want to help themselves. But at the same time if there is no help there, why try.
"....they need to offer more programs"
Ah yes, more programs will fix everything. It has worked so well in the past. And exactly how much money do you want to throw at the problem. Be realistic, other than providing job security for social workers, rehab counselors, etc., most of the efforts would/will produce little in the way of results.
At some point in one's life, an addiction takes over regardless of how many people or programs are there to help. I, and my whole family, have tried to help my brother to no avail. He's been on the street and then at the rescue mission only to relapse, he's been to jail several times always to say "this is the time..." Involving the "street people" is a good idea, but if their addiction is anything like my brother's, any solution will be all talk. I know that my brother WANTS to be clean and sober, but after so many years of not being that way, it would take a miracle (not a task force) to make it happen! Regardless of the programs available, there will always be inebriants living on the street.
Maybe the should hang around the job center and get a job and get off the street.
It is my tax dollar that supports these losers.
The more you have the more you want. The state bends over backwards for the Natives.
What about us working people who have to deal with you?? What do we get? NOTHING but the same saying 'WE HAVE RIGHTS' We all have rights but the Natives have more rights than any working person does and it sucks.
They need jobs to get off the street.
I don't like seeing drunken Natives downtown, but I don't hate them. They are evidence of a problem we've all failed to adequately address.
This from the Indian Health Service: "Life expectancy at birth for Alaska Natives is 69.4 years compared to 76.7 years for U.S. All Races and 74.7 years for All Alaskans." (http://www.ihs.gov/FacilitiesServices/Ar...)
As a nonNative Alaskan, I am saddened that Natives of this area are born with a shorter life expectancy than I was. All of us should be concerned by this statistic, and all of us should want to see it changed.
There is a huge gulf between Native and white Alaskans. Unfortunately, some whites hold the attitude that "We all have rights but the Natives have more rights than any working person does and it sucks." Such thinking doesn't solve anything. It only perpetuates the problem.
Being born Native should not mean being born with a shorter life expectancy than being born white. Alcohol and substance abuse are among the reasons for this discrepancy, suicide and accidents are also factors. We are all of us, Native and nonNative alike, residents of this state. We're in it together. Let's work together to help each other.
BWAS I to have a family members that fight the addiction everyday. BELIVE in Mircals they can happen. One family memeber has now been clean for 2 years and she "partyed" for at least 25+ years. It took a LONG time to learn how to live sober. Im not saying that your Brother will or will not. and He can only get clean when he TRULEY wants to. HE WILL FIGHT FOR IT!!!
In that said you and you family cant be at his mercy or his terms. Just be there for him the way you can with out getting your self hurt in the fight. A long time ago I was told this and it used to help me.....Its not how many times she relapses but how far between they get.
Its sad that our world is so full of all this pain, addiction, suffering , starving and theres not much we can do. Thats just the way it is. One because there never seems to be enough, People want more and more. They dont want the help cause they have givin up. Then there are some who do want to change and try but the people around them seem to make it worse...Think about how we treat people when we find out about there past.....I hope its with the same respect you get. You dont kick people when they are already down. IF they want up just give them a Hand.
God bless
As an Fairbanks born non-native, I remember as a child in the late sixties and early seventies that there was the exact same "problem" with inebriates then as there is now. Makes me wonder just how big a problem it really is if it has been around for at least the last 40 years. Are they really causing more of a problem or are we just getting pickier about what we'll tolerate?
Either you want the problem addressed or you dont. Granted social programs are not the most effective, but they offer some chance at success. The only other alternative is for the government to force them somehow, or to ship them to India.
I suppose you could take the viewpoint of "let em freeze and decrease the surplus population", but the rest of us realize that helping others is a big aspect of what it is to be a society, and the government is the tool by which we have to effect change. If you leave everything to the individual then You or I may do well, but others will suffer.
Here in fairbanks it appears to be a native issue, in other cities it is every other demographic group. My point is that all types of people have homelessness and drinking problems. So, you white supremacists can get off your high horse (ie, wife228), stop the "poor me, we don't have any rights" attitude. Us whities have problems too. Go to the lower 48 and see for yourself.
Some people need to get back to where ever they came from.
I'm sorry to say but there is a huge gap between native and white Alaskans. Unfortunately, some whites hold the attitude that "They have all have rights but the Natives have more rights than any working person does and it sucks." To begin with the native people have roots here for thousands of years and for this they have grandfather rights and titles to the land that you are standing on. First you introduce alcohol to them and take their land. Now that you have the lands you'er btihcnig because of the problems you have created. Forget about the cost after all the land is more expensive then anything you may be paying.
"Street people" problems exist in every city in the world, and both drugs and alcohol addictions are a part of the problem. Subsequently, violence and crime become a large factor. So these folks do have a very real cost to our community, in many, many ways. And as has been pointed out, it has been a problem for many decades.
There is likely no real solution. If there were, the issue wouldn't exist everywhere. Perhaps we should quit trying to "solve" an unsolvable problem, and try to "manage" the problem instead.
Let's not eliminate funding for all social programs and remove safe havens, lets look at what really helps and what really doesn't, and lose those programs that don't work, and fund the ones that do.
Some cities have innovative programs that alleviate the problems of street people with seeming success; have we tried some of those methods to manage the situation? Maybe we should.
Our street people are still people, inebriated or not. They incur high a cost to our community. Both of these statements need to be addressed together, not used as opposing arguements.
WiseChief-
"To begin with the native people have roots here for thousands of years and for this they have grandfather rights and titles to the land that you are standing on. First you introduce alcohol to them and take their land. Now that you have the lands you'er btihcnig because of the problems you have created."
I really hate this argument, and I hear it all the time.
Alaskan Land largely belongs to the government. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Your and My government. And I know I brought up the alcohol with the intent to ruin the native folk, genius of me I know, but it hasn't been forced on anyone except peer pressure from other kids and parents who drink. You certainly didn't see that secret service agent replacing milk bottles with vodka, nope not at all.
I have no land.
I have no corporation check or assistance open to me.
I have no affirmative action that helps me because I am considered "white".
(I also don't complain about it or begrudge native people for it.)
Even though some of my for-fathers walked the trail of tears.
Dont blame native problems on us because of the colour of our skin, face up to the challenges your community (and mine) face. Drinking is a problem that starts in the homes, not in my nefarious and ebil mind.
I have friends and family who are alcoholics or recovering alcoholics. In every case I've seen, alcoholics have to "hit bottom" before they're really ready to change.
Whatever programs we introduce or improve should show the "tough love" that refuses to enable ongoing addiction, that actually helps people find the bottom and find permanent rescue from the disease (addiction) rather than temporary relief from the symptoms (homelessness, exposure, joblessness, etc). There's a fine line between treating people with compassion and holding them responsible for their choices and letting them experience the painful results, but we need to walk it.
My goodness, Wife228, you certainly are overflowing with compassion for those less fortunate than you!
"Maybe the should hang around the job center and get a job and get off the street.
It is my tax dollar that supports these losers.
The more you have the more you want. The state bends over backwards for the Natives.
What about us working people who have to deal with you?? What do we get? NOTHING but the same saying 'WE HAVE RIGHTS' We all have rights but the Natives have more rights than any working person does and it sucks.'
I pay taxes, too, and I am happy to see some very small portion (not enough) of it used to help the unfortunate people who are in the grip of addiction and living on the streets of our town.
These people are, for the most part, victims of addictions that are stronger than they are. Sure they made the choice, often many years ago, to take that first drink. But there comes a time when it is no longer a matter of choice, but a matter of compulsion.
I not only pay taxes, but I volunteer several hours every week to try to help people with addictions. Maybe if you could find the time to do the same, your self-righteous perspective would change.
You know what else, Wife228? Years back, I lost a job I loved and had held for years because the company was sold and my job was targeted for Native hire. Sure, I was disappointed. But I have never complained about it. It's their company, and they have the legal right to give Native preference to employees.
You complain because street people don't have jobs, and then you complain about Native-hire rights (which is the only special Native right I am aware of.) You can't have it both ways! The REASON Native people have special rights is to try to give them more opportunity to get into the work force.
"First you introduce alcohol to them and take their land. Now that you have the lands you'er btihcnig because of the problems you have created."
Wisechief, there may have been individual cases of whites introducing alcohol to Natives, but if you will read the published accounts of the first explorers to come to Alaska, you will learn that Native Alaskans already had home brew when the white explorers arrived.
White people did not create the problem of alcoholism in Alaska. Certain individuals no-doubt contributed to the availability of liquor, just as today individuals continue to contribute to the problem by insisting that their own "right" to drink alcohol is more important than trying to wipe out this dreadful plague.
I have seen so much pain and heartbreak caused by alcohol. So many lives destroyed. We as a society would not tolerate such a destructive force were it not for the selfish "need" for some to have a drink now and then because it is their "right."
What about the "right" of a child to have a sober parent to see that they are loved and fed and cared for? What about the "right" of a child to not be sexually abused by a drunken relative? What about the "right" of a child to grow up without being introduced to the taste of alcohol? What about the "right" of a child to grow up without cigarette burns all over his or her body?
We need to stop making accusations about who created the problem. We need to admit the stark, ugly reality of the problem that exists.
Alcoholism is not a problem that is exclusive to Native people. But there is scientific evidence that Natives and Asians are genetically predisposed to addiction to alcohol.
We need to recognize this fact and try to counteract it.
People I love are struggling with a disease that controls them. I hurt for them. I try to help them on a one-by-one basis.
But nothing is being done to stem the time. The problem is an epidemic! Our teens are becoming alcoholics at 12, 13, 14 years of age. Where is it going to STOP?
The only answer I can see is removing the availability of the poison that is killing our youth and degrading our adults.
And don't tell me prohibition didn't work! Did they have problems back then like we have now? No way!
Some of our villages have seen the wisdom of going dry. If they ALL did, it would greatly help the problem. But the cities also will have to take some responsibility. We need to clean up our act, Alaska. How about doing your part and starting with your own home? It has to start somewhere. People are dying. Lives are being destroyed. We have the highest suicide rate in the nation. All because of alcohol and its results.
While addiction is a tragic and horrible situation, a great deal of the responsibility still rests on the shoulders of the addicted person. People under ANY addiction want to get that "high" (be it from food, drink, porn, gambling, or drugs). The only way, I believe, to control that is to make the brain associate the action with discomfort, not with pleasure.
"Talking to" people does not make them stop--the "reward" of listening to someone, being responsible, paying taxes, working hard, etc, does not overwhelm the pleasure they feel when they indulge. The brain has to associate the addiction (alcohol for example) with negative feelings, not with pleasure. This is basic psychology.
When we supply food, beds, etc, we are being kind, but not terribly helpful for the root of the problem--the addiction. While I think many social programs are a waste, one that might work is one that ties social services with medications such as antabuse. If a person comes in for their antabuse drug, they are also eligible for other services. If they miss their medication, they are not eligible. Eventually, the longer they are on antabuse medication, the more of a non-drinking habit they will form. They will still have a long road of recovery, and antabuse is not the only answer, but at least drinking will not provide pleasure and the brain can start associating drinking as something "bad" not something good.
The pattern of Genocide against the Natives has been going on for the Thirty years I have been in this town.
Our City Fathers first pulled out the Pay Phones Downtown, Closed the Native Bars, Shut down the Card Rooms, And removed any possible gathering place where out of town villagers could inquire about their relatives.
Now they are chaseing them to the far reaches of South Cushman. Where No One can sit in Lion's Park on a hot day and drink a cold beer.
Larry Hackmiller, Valeria Therrian And Charlie Rex, and that absent elitest Hank Hove, Have destroyed this community.
Anybody think there will be a payoff in increased Tourism?
The Natives and Downtown were the only things made Fairbanks interesting.
Sit and stink, and hope the Military spending saves our butt.
jon tucker
Archer-
Could we not just hire patrol people to go arround with cattle-prods and shock all the drunkards until they get the association that drinking = pain?
I don't believe in coerced medicating of individuals, even if I realize that its sometimes a necessity.
Really JRTucker? Are you serious?
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