Two Visions of South Florida by geniusofdespair

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THE POST BELOW THIS ONE!!I love South Florida. It is magic to wake up and see the sun shining almost every day. I come from a gray day State. I love the lizards and the birds. I love the flowers in the winter. I love seeing dolphins in the bay and the manatees. How could you not love this place? How could you be miserable in Florida?
This is why I don’t like South Florida: see photo of some Miami Dade County Commissioners above. These are the people setting our policy who do not care about what they have here and are guided by special interests. They see our county with blinders on (not looking sideways to see the dead bird on the street or the affordable housing not being constructed). They don’t realize there is magic in this place. Their policies hurt the reasons most of us live here. They are selfish.

Micheal Putney said today, in a Miami Herald editorial section opinion piece, that we have to change the charter in many instances and not vote for the Strong Mayor. Well, Michael, you are wrong because these Commissioners won't allow a charter change that will in any way reduce their power. The citizens are between a rock and a hard place. That is why we have to vote for the Strong Mayor. The commissioners are too selfish to see the best for the whole of Miami Dade.

Many very rich developers love to fish. They spend thousands on custom made rods. My mother made the weaving on Billy Joel’s rods so I know the cost. How much effort do these people put into keeping the bay clean? How much money do they kick in to groups that are charged with clean water? Instead many of them complain about Manatee zones, where they must decrease their speed for a few minutes. Selfish.

Rock miners — most don’t live here – play roulette with our drinking water. And we get that tired old argument: We are the economic engine that drives Florida’s economy. I say they just want to fill their own pockets. Selfish.

I once wrote to a fellow who lived on Ebon Atoll in the 70’s (we were both Yankee fans) in the Marshall Islands, very near the Bikini islands where we did most of our nuclear testing in the 40’s and 50’s. The last I heard they were thinking of scraping all the soil off of the Bikini Island to make it habitable.

My Yankee Fan friend had thyroid cancer like most of the island’s inhabitants – he was in his 30’s. Aside from the obvious radiation poisoning problems, he also spoke about “Ebee Fish” in his letters. Ebee Fish were discarded disposable diapers that were washing up on all their beaches. Selfish.

My usual question: Why am I telling you this? Because Bikini “IS” paradise lost and Miami “could be” paradise lost. Not only do they have the lingering problems of radiation poisoning, they now are seeing an increase of tuberculosis and leprosy.

We all have to care and not leave it to others to do the work. Caring with at least SOME action is necessary by everyone. You too reader! Even if you just write a letter to someone about something you believe in. That is an action. I implore you to not wait till it reaches your doorstep (that is NIMBY, Not in my backyard). NIMBY is a selfish kind of action and even these damn politicians hate the NIMBY people, and I have to agree with them when citizens get too selfish.

Here is how the Marshall Islands suggests addressing some of their health problems:

The need to reduce population growth and urban population densities (Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands)

Maybe we should start to think about the Marshall Islands. For instance, People that didn’t live in the Marshall Islands caused the Bikini Islands to be uninhabitable (our nuclear testing in the name of good defense). Similarly, people that don’t live in Miami Dade County are polluting our drinking water with Benzene (rock miners in the name of economic good). Sound vaguely familiar?

By the way: The photo at top: It is not Florida it is the Marshall Islands. Looks pretty from the outside-- if you look at it with blinders on.