30652: Lorsbach (reply) Re: 30648: Durban (comment): Re 30613 Forrest and 30588 Kathleen on Security (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Lorsbach <rlorsbach@sbcglobal.net>

Lorsbach (comment) Re: 30648:  Durban (comment):  Re 30613 Forrest and 30588 
Kathleen on Security (fwd)

  I find the apprehension that many Americans, typically white, affluent ones, 
have regarding their "security" a bit amusing (for the record, I am white, 
middle-class and live in an urban neighborhood considered to be "dangerous" by 
many of my less adventurous suburban acquaintances). Rather than relying on 
community building, civic responsibility, and just plain decency, which are in 
my mind the most effective ways to minimize crime and make ourselves truly 
secure, many relatively affluent Americans have instead withdrawn from the 
world into gaited communities, behind barred windows, and into homes bristling 
with all the latest "security" features. These same people are then surprised 
when the crime and violence follows them to their seemingly placid suburban 
enclaves.

  This same apprehension is reflected by several members of the Corbett list. 
While I am not nearly as seasoned a visitor to Haiti as many on this list, I 
have never felt unsafe or threatened in Haiti, including my visits to Haiti a 
few months after the coup and during the more recent presidential elections. 
Lance Durban hit the nail on the head when he said that one's sense of security 
or insecurity, which ever the case may be, is all about perception rather than 
reality. While in Haiti, I've always been mindful of the fact that 8+ million 
Haitians live there every day. While they may be brutalized through structural 
violence, the preponderance go about living their lives free from individual 
acts of violence and crime. I suppose I just hope that the odds will always 
play out in my favor, a principle I likewise apply to my life in the states. 
Some may dismiss this as a naive approach. However, I view it as essential to 
my embracing life rather than being overwhelmed and
 paralyzed by fear of the unknown, over which none of us have any control 
anyway.
  peace to all,
  Bob Lorsbach