Life on the Street

One reason why pollution is so disconcerting is because coupled with economic oppression you have an almost unbeatable force. Fayetteville, North Carolina is a good example of this. Most people know that Fayettenam has never been recognized as an artistic community. It is the ranch of the GI, the government issued private in the Army, who needs a place to blow off stream after coming out of the field. As such Hay St. in downtown used to be interesting. It was a strip of bars and clubs catering to the GI’s hard-earned money. Rick’s Lounge and the Korean Club were on Hay Street. Then the city decided to clean it up. Just like that in a matter of a few years, they bought out the club owners and “cleansed” downtown Fayetteville. Mind you there still are few strip clubs, they just migrated back up Bragg Boulevard toward the post. Fayetteville does have a good regional theater. There is a symphony and a couple of colleges. There is no jazz music. There is very little any music except for the miscellaneous Southern Rock bands that pop up in clubs. When I was in college we tried to infuse Fayettenam with some newer music. All of this aside if one sets out in the great wilderness that is Fayetteville, one will quickly find a harsh urban reality. Homeless people are around. Men can be seen urinating on the sidewalk. Gang bangers ride around in their pimped out SUV’s in direct violation of the state’s window tinting ordinance. It is the hood. Downtown is the junction of CSX-T railroad, the Norfolk Southern railroad, and the Aberdeen and Rockfish railroad. The are busy during the day sorting freight and putting trains together. With Ft. Bragg so close by the activities of the 82nd Airborne are evident all the time. They often train and jump at night, so around eleven in the evening the droning of paratrooper aircraft emerges. When you put these and a few other factors together it makes for a stark reality. One hundred degree heat, high humidity, war training, drug activity, and pollution provide a sizeable opponent for anyone trying to survive. Without public education many poor, underprivileged African-Americans never make it out of the projects. Groove View Terrace and Campbell Terrace are known for violent crimes. It wasn’t that long ago that two skinhead soldiers went into the hood and killed some black people just for spite. It is a rough place, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Conversely there is money in Fayetteville. The majority of that money is being made off the people of which I just spoke. The military promises customers. It promises money to the community. Those savvy enough to know business or some other profitable occupation such as medicine or law rake it in. The problem I have is with the disparity between the rich and the poor. The Middle Class has always been in jeopardy in this country, and that is seen in Fayetteville. The things I often write about are the way the common man is beat down making it more difficult to get a leg up. Noise, violence, heat, poverty, and war are no match for uneducated people on the street. The behavior they exhibit is in direct correlation to their environment. When I hear people speak badly like white trash, it is because it is by that which they are surrounded. Without public education these people have NO way out or up. When the bottom line of American values begins to get raised, it can reach a point where it is no longer approachable by the common man. You today must BUY what we used to have as Americans a few decades ago. Clean drinking water, clean air, peace, and serenity now must be purchased like the ephemeral “Trophy Wife.” I am tired of having to buy everything in my life. I guess that is the result of living in a Capitalist country. As soon as you walk out the door someone is waiting to sell you something. Because of the environmental conditions you are going to want to buy it. A cold drink. Some beef jerky. A movie. It makes for good sales but a shitty life for those without money.