Dear group members,
I'm going to take a rather philosophical approach to both war and
illness in this message. Please bear with me. For it's really all of
our lives -- not only the lives of soldiers and civilians in the
Middle East -- that are at stake.
As far back as history has been recorded, we human beings
have been afflicted by two kinds of attack -- from war and from
illness. Although "Parkinson's" received its name only about a
century ago, this condition has probably been around for a long, long
time. Records from India 5000 years ago speak of people having
symptoms that very much resemble Parkinson's symptoms.
Although both war and illness are ancient, they are very different, of
course. Yet there are something things that they have in common. For
example, regardless of its origins, physical suffering really
hurts! And causes sadness, even desperation
sometimes. A war injury, like an illness, affects deeply not only one
individual but friends and family as well.
I would say -- and I would be interested to know whether others among
us agree with this -- that a person who has a chronic,
life-endangering disease -- along with that person's loved ones --
might be in a better position to grasp profoundly the human costs of
war. For those without such personal knowledge of an illness, it's
easier to remain oblivious. For example, if one can regard as "other"
-- as entirely different from oneself -- an "enemy" who is wounded or
killed in a war, then one can more easily overlook the human costs of
war, especially if one belongs to the "winning" side, and especially
if war is fought many thousands of miles from one's own home. The
colors of our own flag remind us of our achievements, of our pride in
self and country -- which may merit the praise we give them, but may
also contribute to psychological denial of the costs, in terms of
human bodies ravaged and killed, that a war entails.
Again, as people involved with a condition like PD, we are used to
this kind of denial of suffering. We've all met people, I'll bet, who
really would prefer not get to know us, if we are sick. And this
inattention characterizes our society as a whole. Parkinson's affects
as many as one and a half million people in this country, and perhaps
15 million worldwide. When you take into account close friends and
family, this number goes way up, since loved ones, as we know so well,
are also deeply affected by this condition. Yet, how much public
attention does PD receive? How many of society's resources are
dedicated to its alleviation and cure?
I noted in a previous email that our government has offered to give 15
billion dollars to Turkey in return for their supporting the war
against Iraq. That dollar amount alone is enough to fund biomedical
research projects, including stem cell research, that would in all
likelihood within a few years find cures for many diseases, such as
Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, MS,
ALS. Our dedication to eradicating disease would help to transform
the way that people in other parts of the world view our nation.
Let's suppose that we were to take just 10 percent of the $15 billion
being offered to Turkey -- 1500 million dollars -- and devote that to
finding a cure for PD. There is every reason to believe that this
research effort would find a cure within two or three years.
More money for the military means less money for researching and
curing conditions like Parkinson's. And that is why we cannot
entirely separate what goes on in the larger economic/political world
from the illnesses that we deal with personally and daily. Of course
our focus in this discussion group must remain PD. Yet we live in a
world in which, as the saying goes, everything is connected.
I haven't mentioned yet another difference between the big war -- the
one against Iraq -- and the smaller-scale, more private "war" that we
wage to cope with illness. The former is more morale boosting and
even entertaining. The war against Iraq, if and when it happens, will
be a lot like reality TV -- most of us can sit back comfortably (or
not so comfortably, depending on today's symptoms!) and watch the
bombs fall, as generals explain to us the operations they are carrying
out to wipe out the enemy. (Actually, I've got a stepson who is in
the army in Kuwait right now, which makes me nervous.) And even for
those of us who have PD -- well, a war will provide some distraction,
if nothing else.
If we cannot eradicate the problem with our own bodies, well (so it
might seem), at least we can eradicate evil elsewhere. The impending
war is an adventure that might momentarily take our minds off our
needs here in this country -- for better health care, more biomedical
research, a safer and cleaner environment, less poverty, etc.
According to the script for this adventure story, Saddam caused 9-11,
and so now we have to destroy him. Never mind that, in fact, 9-11
terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, not from Iraq, that Osama bin Laden
and Saddam Hussein despise one another, that North Korea poses a far
greater threat to the world's security than does Iraq. We can't let
facts like these interrupt the story line, nor let the pressing needs
we have here at home get in the way of building and deploying bigger
and better military weaponry all over the world.... Or can we?
Unlike a war, the patient building of international institutions and
law to resolve in non-violent ways the kinds of conflict that inflame
the Middle East isn't a headline-capturing adventure. But it's the
only path that can work to establish a terrorism-free, secure world.
With the resources that we free up by containing America's
out-of-control military budget, we can find cures for physical
illnesses, PD among them.
Increasing the general public's awareness of diseases like PD, and of
the medical research we need to cure these diseases, is the aim of the
organization I volunteer for: http://www.stemcellaction.org (which, by
the way, has no particular political orientation). Several members of
this discussion group have sent us your "portrait" to be posted to the
web. But a good number of you have not. Please lend us (and
yourselves) a hand. The portraits can be viewed at:
http://www.sabr.us/portraits.htm
Blessings to all,
Raymond Barglow
