Last week, Heather was in the throws of completing a term project for her Ethics and Human Rights course. Each student had been tasked with producing a term paper on one of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Heather was given Article 22, which reads as follows:
"Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. "
One of the requirements of this project was to discuss a movie which touches on aspects of this article. We had recently watched "The Soloist", which (based on a true story), in part, portrays the appalling problem of homelessness in Los Angeles in particular. Somewhere in the vicinity of 80,000 people live on the streets of Los Angeles, many in "Skid Row", an area for the destitute which city designers actually designated for this purpose in early city planning. Skid Row is a short walk to some of the most lavish extravagance in the city, such as the Disney Hall and Music Center.
Heather decided to focus on "The Soloist" for her project. Getting to the essence of Article 22 was not easy, but one piece I came across on the Internet summed it up as follows: "We belong to each other."
Indeed, in viewing "The Soloist" a second time, with the wording of Article 22 in the back of my mind, I was asking myself: what are the necessary ingredients for making its provision a greater reality in the world? The failure of local and state governments to adequately address this terrible situation in Los Angeles is clearly one angle to consider. But besides this crucial element, what made "The Soloist" such an appropriate film for exploring social security issues is the sensitive depiction of the friendship between a newspaper reporter and a musician who had been living on the streets of LA for years. The friendship that is forged, and the raised awareness on the part of Steve Lopez, the reporter, illustrates the importance of the human relationship as yet another important element for tackling such problems. Finally, the existence of organizations like LAMP (Los Angeles Men's Project), which attempts to provide basic necessities to homeless people (particularly those suffering from mental illness), demonstrates the usefulness of community-oriented grass-roots organizations whose aim is, quite simply, to serve humanity.
"We belong to each other", it seems to me, is just another way of saying that we are one human family. As such, we need to look out for one another.
"The Soloist" depicts two worlds: middle-class Los Angeles and Skid Row, and "never the 'twain shall meet", that is, until Steve Lopez breaks all the rules and enters Skid Row seeking assistance for his friend, Nathanial Ayers. The oddity of his presence there is palpable, as inhabitants approach him quizzically or even threateningly. He doesn't appear to belong there. Similarly, when Nathanial decides to park himself and his cart (holding all of his earthly possessions) outside the Los Angeles Times building where Steve works, Steve feels obliged to urge him to distance himself from the building, even though, ironically, it is Nathanial who provides the inspiration for his column, "Points West" (which is clearly selling papers).
To fault either of these two groups of people would be to over-simplify the complexity of the issues involved. Like an illness or cancer that has become steadily-entrenched and worsened over a long period of time, the cure is not going to be instantaneous, neither is it going to be fully implemented through the laudable acts of a few individuals. Apart from the need for just and effective social security policies at local, national and international levels, I believe that problems like this blight in Los Angeles (and various other large cities around the world) cannot be obliterated until a critical mass of the world's people more fully grasp the reality of our oneness as a human race.
I recently watched most of a 3-part series on Nova entitled "Becoming Human". The series examines, in the light of new evidence, the evolution of Homo sapiens not only from a past species of ape but from an ancestor we held in common with other hominid cousins, such as the Neanderthal and a hobbit-like cousin which inhabited an Indonesian island. It asks the question, why has our species become the dominant one while our hominid cousins disappeared? It also offers the suggestion that we continue to evolve as a species. (I highly recommend this series, which can be watched on-line.)
What both moved and fascinated me was the depiction of the journey our human race has taken thus far, and the miracle that we exist as a species. What incredible and epic odds our species has overcome to arrive at this point in our evolution!
I have a great interest and passion regarding my roots. For me, and I suspect, for most human beings, a firm sense of where I come from is essential to my psyche. Past societies and civilizations (and a rapidly-decreasing number of present societies and clans) passed down oral (and written) traditions from generation to generation, to help maintain that sense of roots. I believe that psychological and spiritual well-being depends on this knowledge. What this series on Nova gave me was a sense of the roots of my species as a whole - and what a beautiful, mysterious and awe-inspiring story that is.
Watching the final episode of this series on the same day that I had provided some editorial suggestions for Heather's final draft of her essay on Article 22 underscored for me the journey we now must take, for our health individually and collectively, and for the health of the planet, if we are to survive, thrive and evolve into the future: we must evolve towards that oneness from which we sprang, a oneness that is an undisputed fact: once there was but one of us in our species, and we are all connected through this common ancestor. To fully grasp this reality, collectively, is to come full circle as a human race.
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