I have never thought it was just reactionary ignorance to describe alcoholism or drug addiction as " spiritual disease ". One of the first psychiatrists to realize the need for MEANING in life was himself a Nazi concentration camp victim, Viktor Frankl, author of " Man's Search for Meaning ".
I had lunch yesterday with an old friend, a retired URI math professor, both of us survivors of the Washington Park , Providence scene of 1973 . We had literally to walk over all the still young alcoholics and drugs addicts - mostly unemployed victims of the loss of blue collar factory jobs- lying in doorways . Had life lost all MEANING for them before the age of 30 ?
A number of these ruined individuals had great charm , inner goodness , and much human potential. And they ALL had a sense of the rottenness of American capitalism.
My old friend has had a long marriage to a registered nurse ( which , I suspect , saved him from the abyss ). He said his wife would be voting that night to approve a strike at Rhode Island Hospital . I heard on the news this morning that the vote to strike was nearly unanimous . The couple will BOTH be on the picket line Monday .
Look for this headline : Nurses Strike Rhode Island Hospital "
[ PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- The nurses and other health care workers in the UNAP Local 5098 union at Rhode Island and Hasbro Children's Hospitals have voted to reject a three-year contract offer from Lifespan, setting up a strike that will begin Monday afternoon. "There were no good or easy choices today. But there was a right one," said Local 5098 President Frank Sims in a statement after the vote. The statement did not include the vote total but described it as "overwhelmingly" in favor of the strike. The hospital said it was "disappointed" but prepared to replace the nurses during the strike. Barring an last-minute surprise deal, the nurses will walk off the job on Monday afternoon. ]
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