Response to my last post

First, can I just say, I am so grateful for this space to write! I love the feedback I got, and so I decided to address a few things here rather than repeating myself in the comments.

I want to start by saying that in no way do I expect people to be martyrs… if you feel that there are actual threats to your safety, then obviously I agree that you should take whatever precautions you deem necessary. That essay was written solely from my perspective. I live in a fairly safe area- although it's not without crime. I just personally don't see my house and car being locked up to be an actual deterrent for someone trying to steal from us. Like my mom mentioned in the comments, I remember coming home from vacation on two different occasions (just about half a mile up the road from my house) and seeing everything burglarized, down to my piggy bank. So I take certain precautions. Like, I feel like having a dog around has been a good thing. We also rarely leave home for any extended periods of time, and when we do leave overnight we usually have someone stay in the house. So, in my situation, with all of the factors, it made me realize that my compulsive locking of things was more a message of distrust than a real deterrent against crime. 

My main point is really in these few sentences that I wrote: Are we perpetuating a culture of distrust? Moreover, is this simple act evidence that we are being distracted from the very real violations that are happening to us on a daily basis- namely a toxic environment, economic and social systems that degrade and exploit people and our landbases, and the continued message from the exploiters that we cannot trust each other. THESE are the things we must guard against, and these are the things that trickle down to us and contribute to interpersonal violence. I started to see locking my doors as a kind of poison for my mind. I needed to stay focused on the real current and widespread violence that affects us all. We also need each other to combat this violence and reclaim our communities. When we daily take actions that contribute to a general distrust of our neighbors, how are we ever to come back together?

For me, I saw that locking up was bad for me and for my connection to those around me. I don't presume to know each person's situation or know how it is that this abusive culture affects them, but I do know that we are all affected. Really I just want us all to take a look at our lives and see ways in which we guard against each other unnecessarily. I want us to look at all the real violence done to us- the toxics that enter our homes and bodies, the messages we get each night in front of the TV, the slavery connected to each item we buy at the store… I could go on and on. This is the violence that permeates our lives, and yet it gets far less attention than the anticipation of relatively unlikely violence done at the hand of our neighbors.

Thoughts?

Gracie
Gracie

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