Remembering the Downtrodden

It had been my intent during the month of December to slowly put together an episode using clips from conversations with a few homeless men to address the issue of homelessness. However, the vision for that episode was quickly changed as I joined many of you in witnessing through media the events going on in Syria. Now, I know the video below has caused some partisan arguments, but when my sister and I were hanging out in December and came across this, the human element of it struck me to the core.

After seeing that and reflecting on the dark side of humanity a bit with my sister and with myself, I felt it was important to extend the subject of this episode to address the idea of remembering the downtrodden among us and in distant places.

As you listen to the podcast, I spend time quoting from news stories about the war in Syria and refugee camps. There are also a few thoughts from a first hand observer who spent time in Greece this last year, working with refugees. The latter part of the episode transitions to hearing from a few homeless men in the U.S. and hearing about how they got to where they are, what life looks like as a homeless person and what they want in life.

You can listen to the embedded media below for the podcast, or find it on iTunes or SoundCloud, just look for episode 12.

In this episode we talk about what happened recently in Eastern Aleppo, Syria and the human effects of war. We also talk about refugees and contemplate the issue of remembering the downtrodden after their difficulties leave the headlines. We also bring the idea of remembering the downtrodden home to the United States as we hear clips of conversations with three homeless men. Music from this episode included: The song Fanfarl by Titus 12. Music by the artist can be found at the below site http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Titus_12/ And copyright information can be found at the below site https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ The song Homeless California by Monplaisir. Music by the artist can be found at the below site http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/ And copyright information can be found at the below site https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ The song A Human Being by Andy G. Cohen. Music by the artist can be found at the below site http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Andy_G_Cohen/ And copyright information can be found at the below site https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I truly hope that when ever we individually and collectively confront human tragedy in our own countries or through media that we spend time reflecting on why those people are in a position of being downtrodden. I hope that reflection brings compassion and in that compassion, I hope we find ourselves moved to action.

The letter written to the BBC about conditions in Aleppo that was read in the podcast can be found here.

The Nick Miller article in the Sydney Morning Herald, also read in the podcast can be found here.

The episode image includes an image taken from the below tweet in addition to photos I personally took.

Picture of eastern #Aleppo today, published by the Russian Army.
No words, just disgust. pic.twitter.com/uLyxsdINVW
— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) January 2, 2017