Danielle Levy

When Rainer Hoess was 12 years old he discovered that his grandfather as the commandant of Auschwitz was a mass murderer. The gardener of his boarding school, an Auschwitz survivor, beat him “black and blue” when he found out his identity. Leaving aside the reaction of the gardener, how would we react where we to find out that family members had committed unspeakable acts? It’s difficult not to feel touched by the burden these young lives were—and are—forced to carry. In Germany, where the Holocaust is taught and spoken about, lest it ever happen again, the descendants of notorious Nazis are only now revealing their identity, and even then sometimes at the cost, like Rainer Hoess of being ostracized by the rest of their family. Reading about the atrocities affects all of us; knowing that they happened reaches deep into our psyche; and to add to that the fact these atrocities were committed by someone you either revered or were supposed to, someone with links to you, is a hardship worth much compassion. To be blamed by association for something you didn’t do and something you abhor would have to be one of life’s deeper injustices.

Steven Martinez was convicted of raping, beating and kidnapping a woman. As a repeat violent offender he was sentenced to 150 years. Three years into his sentence he was stabbed by a fellow inmate and left a quadriplegic. His medical bills cost the state of California a minimum of $600,000 a year. Recently, at a parole hearing stemming from a new law meant to release prisoners who were too ill to harm society, Martinez, now 42, was denied parole. The board and the prosecutors were not sure that he would no longer be a danger to public safety. He may not have the use of his limbs, he may be totally paralyzed, but Dep. Dist. Attorney Richard Sachs said he was still a threat and the parole board said he could still use his vocal chords which are not paralyzed to order crimes. The ruling was independent of the Supreme Court decision ordering California to reduce its prison population in part due to abysmal medical care. Anyone familiar with the lives of quadriplegics would know that even to use a phone is a big deal and involve others. Perhaps the danger posed by Martinez is far less serious than the one posed from people like Jared Lee Loughner in Tucson, potential offenders, mentally ill and undetected by the systems of our society. There’s also the fact that being quadriplegic is a harsh form of life sentence. Martinez’s attorney summarized the result as fear winning over reason. It may be more than that. Criminals are usually mean and do wicked things, things we deem illegal. Yet, when others, such as parole board members, do something mean we tend to justify, excuse, overlook. Being mean is not in itself illegal, but maybe it ought to be.

Rising food costs and food insecurity prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to commission a report on food loss. The results are nothing but striking. Each year 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted, representing about a third of the food produced for human consumption. What the report defines as losses occur as a result of inefficient production and processing; what it defines as waste occurs when retailers and consumers throw away edible food. The report places blame on the retailers of nations like the United States where much food is thrown away because it looks unappealing. Marketing tactics and consumers, albeit indirectly, are also blamed for respectively encouraging and being part of buying more than is needed. The food chain is long and complex and hopefully the appropriate individuals and organizations will address the highlighted losses and wastes. As consumers, however, there is much we can do. If we were less wasteful in the way we buy and consume, what a difference we could make!