On July 12, I watched an episode of a guilty pleasure show that I Tivo each week. It is called
Intervention, on
A&E. I think it was last Sunday's episode. One of the people involved was a rage-aholic former military guy, who appears to be self-medicating his pain. The other was an identical twin woman, a meth addict, who also battles bulimia.
(episode #12)
Confession: I have a bizarre fascination with mental illness, brain disorders, and drug addiction. I find the workings of the brain fascinating, in all their manifestations. I actually find the disruptions even more interesting: schizophrenia, parkinsons, substance abuse, etc. I'm a biologist by training. We actually learn more about the system when things go off track. Because when things are off track, they are usually some kind of amplification of the basic state. Things like these brain issues don't come out of the blue. There is the regular chemistry underneath, and then something monkey-wrenches the system. I think I really want to try to understand and solve it, that's my secret wish. I would LOVE to figure out the monkey wrench. But the solutions are going to be so varied and complex, it will take decades of talented, focused, and funded scientists to accomplish this.
In the mean time, I watch stuff like Intervention. And Oprah. And Gia. Sure, part of it is "oh, for the grace of God go I...". And part of it is the stopping-to-look-at-the-accident thing. "Oh, man, did you see what s/he just did...can you imagine living like that...??"
But in this particular episode, there was a segment that just wrenched my heart out. The identical twin of the meth addict said to her sister, during the actual intervention, "I don't want to go to your funeral!"
And I realized that the statement "I don't want to go to your funeral" is really key to how I view the world, and in particular my fellow Americans. Here are some examples:
- I don't want you to die for a lie in Iraq. I don't want to go to your funeral.
- I don't want your diabetes or Alzheimer's or Parkinson's to bring you down, when someday stem cells could help you. I don't want to go to your funeral.
- I don't want your depression, or your addiction to meth [or whatever your drug of choice is] to kill you; I want you to have access to health insurance with mental health benefits. I want you to see a future of hope in this country, with good education, good jobs, and security. I don't want to go to your funeral.
- I don't want you to die as the result of a back-alley abortion, after your sex education and/or birth control failed. I don't want to go to your funeral.
- I don't want your cancer to invade your body and steal all of your resources; I want scientists who are fully trained in scientific practice--including evolutionary biology--to be working on the problems of cancer causes and treatments. I don't want to go to your funeral.
- I don't want bigots to become the policymakers; they may burn down your church, and they will deny your rights. They may rip your family apart. They may even bash you just for who you are. I don't want to go to your funeral.
There are more, I'm sure you have your own. But I'm making myself sad just thinking of the world as the fundies, the neocons, and the heartless uber-wealthy Americans envision it. And I know--death is a natural part of the cycle of life--I accept that. But needless death and suffering, well, that's just wrong. Just plain wrong.
It hurts me to see others suffer. Why don't George and his minions see this? Why?