Sunday Reflections: What's Going On (The Fentanyl Scourge)

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I've not been posting much lately. It is not because I have lost interest in writing. I'm simply busy with a number of other writing projects that have deadlines. In addition, I've been diverted somewhat by other responsibilities, including the funeral of my nephew. 

Cause of death: Fentanyl

This is what prompted me to write my blog post of February 14, More People Die from Drug Overdoses Each Year Than Were Killed In the Entire Vietnam War.

As Marvin Gaye once sang, "What's goin' on?" 

Hardly a day goes by when I don't hear of yet another death from this drug, though it's not new. It was reported that Prince died with Fentanyl is his system in 2016. When Heath Ledger died in 2008 it was reported that a number of other famous Hollywood stars checked in to addiction clinics to deal with the combinations of drugs and alcohol they were ingesting.

Today I learned that there were new drug related deaths amongst Duluth's homeless. Fentanyl and other opioids have become a scourge.

"What's going on?"

Have things gotten worse because of the open borders? Or have they gotten worse because of the hopelessness people feel? Hope is a requirement for living. As Helen Keller once noted, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope."

Is this epidemic of death by Fentanyl a symptom of a greater problem in our culture, the loss of hope? The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

But who reads the Bible any more? We've been swept up in this strange notion that things old-fashioned are irrelevant. We "live in the moment" now, caught up in the latest (irrelevant) news, the most stimulating (new) fads and fashions. 

The reason I failed to achieve a Bachelor of Arts Degree was because I bought into this silly notion that Art History was old fashioned and irrelevant to what was happening now in our contemporary art scene. Idiocy. 

History is a lengthy dialogue with the great minds, in philosophy, art, science, ethics. By abandoning history we abandon the opportunity to glean from the great minds of all time. No wonder our kids end up so shallow. History today is nothing more than a collection of facts--the Civil War was from 1861-1865--instead of a collision of concepts and beliefs regarding how we should live.

What a shame when our knowledge of history is used only to ace tests in school or be adapted for a commercial advertising campaign.

There are some who believe hope is foolishness. For these the adage applies, "Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die."

To those of you who have found a foundation for hope, I commend you. Hold on to that and remain strong. The acid of cynicism is eating away the foundations our society was built upon. Know this: we were made for better things.