6/19/2024

JRB,

            Man’s inhumanity to man.

            That’s one of the conflicts my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Blau introduced us to as one of the 4 conflicts that we could choose from when generating our book reports. The phrase comes from one of your favorite poets, Robert Burns. Have you read his dirge, “"Man Was Made to Mourn?"

            Man’s inhumanity to man comes to mind as I keep seeing references to brutal crime syndicates in my news feed. Today it’s the Wei, Bai & Liu families of Kokang, Burma, whose scamming operations led to a Chinese crackdown. Last week it was the Sacra Corona Unita (SCU) of Puglia where the G7 just met. They traffic drugs & have infiltrated the local governments. The Guardian ran a photo of prisoners in El Salvador, accused of being members the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The situation there is so bad that they are having mass trials where 500 alleged leaders are being tried for more than 37,000 crimes committed over a decade. That’s messed up!

            It’s tempting to throw up one’s hands, especially when seeing that the syndicates involve massive web(s) of relationships built with economic & political elites. Jason Tower of the US Institute for Peace calls the Burmese one “a Frankenstein monster that (China) now can’t control.”

            I am brought some hope by women like Judge Francesca Mariano (FM) & Sabrina Matrangola who are challenging the SCU in Italy. FM says, “We have to start with communication, which is fundamental to transmit values of dignity, courage, responsibility. The ability to say no, the ability to be indignant in the face of things that are wrong.”

            According to Psychology Today, the way to beat the kind of pessimism that these gang thrive on, is to label negative thoughts & then put them aside.

            So here goes. Gangs could take over the world. I hope not!

            Please keep fighting to instill trust!

            BYBS,