Local View: Too many in Duluth struggling for the 'God-given right to exist'

It is my direct observation that a too-large percentage of people living in Duluth are homeless, jobless, or helpless. I know that because I am one of them. We are not all alike or a burden to be done away with as soon as possible.

Homeless people aren't a bunch of angels, nor are we all drug addicts, thieves or social deviants — not by choice anyway.

With all due respect, I see three groups of people here, mixed together, as groups are the world over.

The first group is struggling, with little or no money or income. The cost of living and housing has escalated beyond their ability to contend. Most are unemployed and would treasure a job that would provide meaningful and gainful employment.

The second group is the majority, by far, of these three groups.These unfortunate souls have serious mental health issues that render them unable to help themselves. It is said that they fall through the cracks of society's best attempts to manage them.

We live in a time referred to as "The Times of Miracles and Wonders," especially when it comes to advanced modern medicine with psychiatric and religious doctrine. Progress has come so far and fast it is referred to as a "runaway freight train."

But what does it profit anyone if they gain all the knowledge available in the entire world and are able to communicate, including via fiberoptic-laser speeds, if they lack one simple virtue: the basic and simple ability to love anyone or anything or even care, except for themselves? Have we in all our glory become so mighty we can't be bothered with the time or effort it takes to help others?

All across this country, state hospitals have closed. As we harden our hearts, we lose sight of the poor homeless people forced to navigate life on their own, lives they sometimes don't understand. Many die for lack of knowledge.

Most mentally ill, confused people end up being warehoused in jails and hospitals. The remainder often can be seen wandering around talking to themselves, incessantly chattering to no one in particular, at places where they find comfort and food, like the Union Gospel Mission, Damiano Center, Street Wise, and AICHO. Some find clothing and wise direction and are able to prevent certain death as they recycle daily through the cruel, harsh punishment that is a Minnesota winter and its well-known element, hypothermia. Most are constantly in need of medicine, food, shelter, and the God-given right to exist.

These are our wounded comrades, the remnants of past conflicts lost.

The third group of people I observed do not amount to much by any standard of census. I call them the Rogue Group, stuck as society's outcasts, avoiding a legal system or branch of military or government that has betrayed them. They simply do not want to live out their lives by society's rules. They live in constant fear of being caught.

Rarely do I encounter anyone homeless who does not fit into one of these three classifications. Yes, there are a lot of people out here with a lot of problems, but it is the same in every country and in every group the world over.

We all share one thing in common: the instinct to survive. In fact, self-preservation is the most powerful drive mankind has, superseding even the drive for self-gratification. Every living thing has this instinctual drive to preserve its own life.

Although we all possess this drive, we do not all steward it equally. It is this difference that changes everything. Then our lives become so contrasted that navigating through the day-to-day is almost impossible.

I have been painfully stuck in survival mode for about two years now here in northern Minnesota, forced to survive by only my wits; failure has not been an option. As with most of life's painful lessons, I concede. There is no one I can blame, which in and of itself retards understanding.

The only resolution is truth. To imagine anything else is a deadly and redundant waste of eternity's time. Truth needs no introduction. It solves all problems in its own chosen time and balances the scales of justice forever. With all due respect, we cannot even blame ourselves. To pass judgment even on ourselves is to lie to ourselves, and the truth is not in us. In all honesty and truth, we cannot blame others, even if they steal from us, after we blatantly refuse to help them survive.

When any of us are in the same moment or position in life, we all do what we must to survive, no matter what it is. All laws and all morals take a backseat to survival.

Prejudging anyone is lying to ourselves. As the old proverb goes, do not judge me until you have walked a mile in my moccasins. When we rush to judge others, we reveal more about ourselves. We never know what storms others are walking through in their lives, and we all carry a burden, whether we see it or not.

Karl “Tent” Easterday has been homeless in Duluth for nearly two years, living in a tent and in a friend’s SUV. He works as a consultant for the Duluth nonprofits Street Wise and AICHO (American Indian Community Housing Organization).