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RE: The Man With The Bleeding Neck
Thank you for sharing this story. Very heavy. The hypothetical comparison to a wounded dog is apt, as it seems he might not have had the full ability to take care of himself, even though as you allude to, societal norms say he should.
Thank you so much for your compassionate comment. Yes, it's like a mirror when such hardship happens to a human being, with a reflection that's too horrifying to see. An animal is different enough that we can contend with it. To put a picture of the world that we can tolerate together, we seem to need to believe that the man or woman who has completely lost their way, has no money, cannot grow food for survival or lumber for shelter, and is dying on the sidewalk before our eyes must deserve it, and should be blamed, and is being appropriately punished. We crave, and so we search for, some shred of sense in the completely senseless. When it isn't there, we make it up. And at the same time, people in hospitals and animal shelters and schools and labs and offices of all kinds are working incredibly hard just to help other people -- sometimes for no reward at all, not even recognition.