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Hollywood was still making good westerns back in 1975. I like
the old westerns and I have several in my personal video
library. In my collection, however, the Indians are not
portrayed as bad guys. Hollywood actually made a few quality
western movies in those days which were sympathetic and more
realistic regarding the plight of the early Native peoples.
One such movie
was called I Will Fight No More Forever. It starred
James Whitmore, Sam Elliott, and Ned Romero. It is about the
Nez Perce Indians and their forced relocation to a
reservation. The U.S. Army captures Chief Joseph.
Recognizing the futility of ongoing resistance, Chief Joseph
promises, "I will fight no more forever."
The war against
the terrorists will not be so easily won. America is fighting
a brutal enemy that has financial backing. We will not hear
the words, "I will fight no more forever." Not from
them. And not from us.
That is why I
think social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and all
credentialed counsellors should be called upon to help fight
this war. It appears that part of terrorism's financial
backing comes from narcoterrorism: the growing and selling of
plants used for addictive drugs. Narcoterrorism is also a
mode of attack.
Some groups in
Central America and South America, and until recently in
Afghanistan, are involved in the genetic modification of
opium. That is, they are experimenting with plants that would
provide a different kind of high, would be more powerfully
addictive, and would attract new addicts. So long as there is
an American market for addictive drugs, we are engaged in a
self-defeating and humiliating lifestyle at the grassroots
level of society.
America has to
become a nation of recovery in every way and for everyone.
The real way to bankrupt the growing and selling of addictive
drugs is to get all the drug addicts into effective treatment
programs. There is a lot of money being spent for military
defense, understandably. But the national defense budget
should also include moneys dedicated to making Americans a
drug-free people.
Drug treatment
should be looked upon as a long-term process, perhaps for the
lifetime of many addicts. This goes against the trend toward
brief therapy and cost-effective treatment. This takes us
back (the pendulum can only swing so far one way before it
has to swing back the other way) to the Freudian days when
treatment might go on for years and sessions would take place
more than once per week. Treatment might again need to be
accepted as labor intensive.
There are just
some people who probably need lifelong supportive therapy.
Twelve Step programs are not going be sufficient for everyone.
Some addicts have dual diagnoses, some have histories of
trauma, some have never been habilitated let alone
rehabilitated. The undesirable alternative is to continue the
American market for addictive drugs which are grown and sold
by some of our nation's enemies.
Homeland
security should involve community social workers who would go
out into the neighborhoods and streets in order to assist
addicts and their families in finding help. Social workers and
other professionals, whether they practice privately or in
agencies, should develop and revamp their treatment expertise
and programs to serve a long-term clientele.
Society needs
to adopt a forever attitude. There is no other area of
life where people are held to limits or restrictions such as
exist in most treatment programs and insurance coverage. People
are expected to go to church all their life. Nobody says go to
church for 12 weeks and then you should be able to manage
spiritually on your own. Church is forever. In America we
value continued education. The concept of lifelong learning is
esteemed. And every social worker knows that attending
seminars and getting more certificates is expected. Education
is forever.
Terrorism is
forever. I expect to live out the rest of my life in a
changed world. I would gladly fight terrorism in my capacity
as a social worker, helping addicts to stay clean and causing
the drug market to hit bottom. Recovering addicts would help
America recover, just by staying clean and not purchasing any
more drugs. Maybe someday Hollywood could make a movie out of
it. (Written 03/04/02 - Revised 12/01/03: bibliography available.)
Until we meet
again....... .......stay sane.
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