A Masked View

To better understand society’s addiction to war and punishment, I explored the phrase an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Though written in the Old and New Testaments and the Koran, its origin was much earlier. It was codified in ancient Mesopotamia, decades before the Greek and Roman civilizations flourished and the Old Testament existed. Archaeologists found the phrase in Hammurabi’s code as one of 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar discovered in 1901 in what is modern-day Iran. 

The Babylonian empire was ruled by Hammurabi from 1792-59 B.C.E. As his holdings grew, so did the need to unify the countries he conquered. He sent experts out to gather the existing laws followed throughout his kingdom and had them compile a final list, selecting which ones to follow. An eye for an eye is more than a simple statement that says to strike back with equal force. It was meant as a guide for judges. The entire code describes differing punishments for wealthy or noble persons, commoners, and slaves. It says that the strong should not harm the weak and that members of the ruling class should receive harsher punishments than those in the lower classes. Many of the punishments were indeed quite harsh. For example:

• “If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
• If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
• If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
• If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: “You are not my father, or my mother,” his tongue shall be cut off.”

Years later, an eye for an eye was written into the Old Testament (Exodus 18:13–26; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21) several times. It was also intended to guide judges and lawgivers, not justify vigilantism or settle personal grievances. However, the Pharisees and scribes took the principle to heart and started applying it to everyday situations. If someone punched you, you punched him back, ignoring the law and the religious teachings upholding society.

Jesus countered the practice of retaliation in his Sermon on the Mount. “Do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” According to various interpretations, Jesus did not nullify the Old Testament law but separated it from the government’s responsibility to punish evildoers. He, too, considered it the responsibility of judges, police officers, and the military to defend and protect citizens. To an individual victim, he said, “We should not seek retribution for personal slights.” Jesus preached loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you, and giving more to those who would persecute you. I wonder how many follow these teachings today?

The Koran also contains writings about ways to treat evil doers. “We prescribed for them therein: A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear and a tooth for a tooth; and for wounds, an equal retaliation. Then, if one forgives it, that will be expiation for him. Those who do not judge according to what Allah has sent down, they are the unjust. —translated by T. Usmani (expiation is the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; it is a form of atonement.)

According to Dr. Jasser Auda, The Koran mentions the verse as something God had revealed in the Torah (Old Testament).  It doesn’t stand alone but must be considered in relation to other verses considering crime and punishment. In general, the Koran gives governments, not individuals, the right to apply criminal rulings when there isn’t a shadow of a doubt. There is room in Islamic law for relatives of a murdered person to pardon the murderer for compensation. 

I think of the United Nations charter as a modern-day Hammurabi’s code. It assembled laws that member nations agreed to for “peace, dignity, and equality on a healthy planet.” The preamble reads, “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.” Their work is carried out by courts, tribunals, multilateral treaties, and the Security Council, which can approve peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when there is a threat to international peace and security. 

What influence do these world religions and the United Nations exert on society today? In my mind, not enough. Too many people who call themselves followers ignore their teachings for personal gain. They form gangs, militias, and vigilantes who take the law into their own hands. They lie, cheat, and steal. There is no justice in how they act, yet their actions are often condoned, and their leaders are put on a pedestal.  Why do so many people wear a wreath of righteousness when they’ve taken advantage of the poor and helpless?

If more people practiced the laws of the land,I wouldn’t be writing books about corporate crime or concerned with how my grandchildren will deal with global warming. I wouldn’t worry that they may not have enough clean water for drinking or growing food for their table. I wouldn’t be concerned about their homes flooding or burning to the ground in unforeseen weather events. The 8.1 billion people on earth can and must act together for the common good. 

A Masked View is available on my artist website at https://www.eichingerfineart.com/workszoom/4504055/mirna-and-hanan#/

References: 

Website. 4c. Hammurabi’s Code: An Eye for an Eye. The Early Middle East. Ancient Civilizations. Retrieved from https://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp#:~:text=%22An%20eye%20for%20an%20eye,the%20Greeks%20or%20Romans%20flowered

Website. What Does the Bible mean by “an eye for an eye?” Got Questions. retrieved from https://www.gotquestions.org/eye-for-an-eye.html

Website translation for an eye for an eye.  Quran.com. Retrieved from https://quran.com/5/45?translations=20,84,17,85,101,18,95,19,22

Website. Uphold International Law. The United Nations.Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/our-work/uphold-international-law

The savagery and futility of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine break my heart. It is hard to erase the images of children drinking from mud puddles, of starving and maimed people, and of those wracked with preventable diseases. While researching The Water Factor and Over The Peanut Fence, I was exposed to traumas that incapacitate their victims. On foreign soil and at home, rape, domestic violence, poverty, gun violence, and starvation are at the top of the list. Having resided in a safe, loving home all my life, it is difficult to imagine being forced to leave my country when no one would welcome you.

I often ask myself, what type of person perpetuates such unsettling crimes against humanity? Terrorists fighting for religious or political dominance? Profiteers selling weapons to warring factions? Oil, gas, and coal companies who knowingly pollute the atmosphere and raise global temperatures? or the public who buys their products? 

I wonder if politicians who won’t compromise consider the victims of their decisions. Do they think of the raped woman forced to give birth to an unwanted child, leaving two traumatized individuals in its wake? Will society lend them a helping hand? Who will quiet the nightmares of the families waiting at closed borders? Can veterans or anyone living with PTSD get over their trauma? I’ll never forget Warsaw’s city museum, where visitors were greeted by the sound of warplanes closing in and dropping bombs that overwhelmed my senses. What if it were real, and I had to live through that? What would my future be like? 

Millions upon millions face experience trauma from war, gun violence, an accident, rape, domestic violence, or weather-induced disaster.  Thousands of victims worldwide need psychological and physical care to be made whole again. If we don’t want a depressed nation where more people self-medicate with alcohol and street drugs, though it is costly, we have to provide resources to help them. Every time there is a school shooting, a person loses their home, or a child drinks polluted water, the effect on the national economy escalates.

The emotions, smells, and sounds during a traumatic event get embedded in the individual’s muscles, gut, and brain. Some manage by compartmentalizing the experience by burying the event.  Part of them becomes internally frozen, cut off from emotions and sensations. Thousands of vets who won’t speak of their wartime experience also don’t admit their anger, alcoholism, depression, frustrations, and perpetual agitation have to do with trauma. A deep fear of getting hurt, betrayed, and abandoned keeps them from having close relationships, loving sexual partners, and participating in communal activities–the things that might help them heal.

My master’s degree program introduced me to behavior modification, though Carl Rogers and talk therapy were the rage. In the clinical setting, I quickly realized that talking about the event wasn’t enough to help traumatized victims. However, it was usually the first step to getting them to say what happened and to label their internal struggles. I realized then that the healing process has a mind-body connection. While counseling a group of 300 to 400 hundred-pound women who had to lose weight for health reasons, we talked about their childhood and adult experiences for weeks. Quite a few said that their husband liked them fat, and they were afraid of what would happen if they lost weight. Nothing they or I said made a difference to them shedding a pound. It wasn’t until I taught them to meditate that they began to deal with family and personal issues. They overcame the agitation that led them to overeat by calming their minds. Most of the women saw lower numbers on their scales.

Mindfulness, meditation, communal chanting, art, massage, and dance are among the treatments psychologists proscribe to make people feel safe, connected, and willing to engage in meaningful relationships. These activities help victims relax so they can recognize their sensations and emotions so they are not frightened when touched, hugged, or rocked, the ways most of us are aided when emotionally vulnerable. 

Doctors are quick to prescribe medications for stress, but these are only blockers that eliminate the sensory world. They may push horrific thoughts away for a few hours, but not for good. It’s the reason many people become addicted to them or other self-prescribed drugs.

Letting go of the past isn’t easy. To become well takes a certain amount of strength and the will to do so. 

Brain imaging and research into mind-altering drugs have led to alternative therapies that appear to work when desensitization, bio-feedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, stress-reducing drugs, and talk therapy don’t. Improvements in electrical mapping of the brain have great promise in isolating the part of the brain that won’t let stress go. The newer therapies aim to rewire the fear-driven forces with Brain/computer interface technology or with psychedelics. Psilocybin, Ketamine, cannabis, and MDMA (ecstasy) have been shown to decrease amygdala activation in trauma victims during emotional processing. These methods try to sift the person’s mindset so they can think or behave differently. People become more suggestible with psychedelics. In the hands of a qualified therapist, the person becomes more responsive to positive suggestions. 

You might ask what this has to do with water, which is the subject of my latest book. The answer is everything. Human beings can’t survive without access to clean water. They can’t grow crops, have carbon-cleaning forests, or in-home air conditioners to stave off heat strokes. Communities experiencing water scarcity are traumatized. Since humans seem unable to stop creating havoc, we must be prepared for the consequences of our actions. Trauma victims will become more commonplace in the future if we don’t get our act together.

The Water Factor will be available for presale online by the end of the month. Stay posted and help make its launch a grand success. The story is an eco-thriller about a naive high school graduate who learns that the company he works for is pilfering water to sell to marijuana farmers from his grandfather’s reservation in the high desert. His adventures on the way to maturity make the book a page-turner. Though set in the future, the story is based on actual events.

• Do you know someone who had a traumatic experience? Did they have a difficult time dealing with its after effects? I look forward to reading your comments.
• Calming Chaos is an acrylic painting available for $ 495. Shipping is included in the continental U.S. For information, contact marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

References:
Tupper, KW. (2015)Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592297/

Website (2021) Psychedelic Therapy: Uses, How It’s Done, Risks, and More. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/psychedelic-therapy

Website. What to Know About Psychedelic Therapy. Medical News Today. retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/psychedelic-therapy#how-does-it-work

Van Der kolk,B. M.D. (2014) The Body Keeps The Score. Penguin Books. ISBN  978-0-670-78592-3.

Southern Nevada, has the most comprehensive and progressive water programs in the United States. When Las Vegas was situated in the desert near Springs Preserve, approximately 4,000 gallons of water per minute flowed downhill toward the city. By the 1920s, the population grew so large that the spring couldn’t support its visitors. When the spring’s water stopped spurting from the ground, they started pumping. And, when the table continued to drop, valley residents tapped into the Colorado River hundreds of miles away.

The state signed the Colorado River Compact, dividing the river’s water among Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and later Utah and Mexico. Las Vegas’s 100,000 residents benefited when The Hoover Dam was constructed in 1932, creating the Lake Mead Reservoir that for years provided them with plenty of water. But since that time, until today, water in the reservoir has been in continuous decline, causing political infighting and interim agreements. In 2022, the Federal government declared a water shortage for states dependent on the Colorado River. Some futurists predict Las Vegas will eventually be abandoned. Anticipating a crisis in 2020, the city began implementing policies to reduce water consumption. What they did pushed back their worries for the next twenty years. Some of the changes they made flow:

1) Las Vegas saved 55 gallons per square foot by converting turf grass on golf courses to drip-irrigated desert landscapes.

2) Swimming pool sizes, which were limited to 600 square feet in 2022, are expected to save more than 32 million gallons over the next 10 years.

3) Water flowing down the drain from all shows and faucets is treated at wastewater plants and recycled. The treated water is discharged and flows into Lake Mead until needed. Approximately 40 percent of water is continuously reused. MGM Resorts returns 75 percent of its water to Lake Mead. They train guests and staff to conserve.

4) Hotel guests are encouraged to reuse tools and bedding to reduce laundry volumes.

5) Hotels replaced grass landscapes with artificial turf and drought-tolerant plants.

6) 90 percent of the water of the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is reused.

7) Motels and newer homes collect rainwater from the roof and send it to cisterns where it is stored, treated, and used for cooling and other purposes.

8) Casinos now use Solar Energy to cut energy costs. Their buildings have become more energy efficient, they collect and monitor data and their staffs use less harsh cleaning supplies when performing custodial tasks.

9) Car washes are recommended because their water is recycled and they have high-pressure, low-volume equipment. No more than 10 gallons are allowed per car. Shut-off nozzles are required when using a hose to car wash at home.

Las Vegas residents and businesses are impressive in their efforts to reduce water consumption, yet a growing population and increased attractions continue to tax their water and sewage systems. If Lake Mead went dry, Las Vegas would lose access to 90 percent of its water, and though there may be enough drinking water, agricultural activities would come to a halt.

What are you and your community doing to preserve water? Please share your thoughts.

Art is always for sale. Original acrylic painting of Alder trees is available for $595, canvas prints for $99. Both are delivered to your home in the continental U.S. without charge. for information contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

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References:

Website: Ten Top Countries with the Healthiest Tap Water. Pentair Water Solutions. Retrieved from https://www.pentair.com/en-us/water-softening-filtration/blog/top-10-countries-with-the-healthiest-tap-water.html

Website. Draft National Water Reuse Action Plan: Appendix G. U.S> Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/documents/water-reuse-2019-appendix-g.pdf

Website: Global Water Crisis Facts – 665 Million People Lack Access. waterisbasic.org. retrieved from: https://www.waterisbasic.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA_f2O0sNjpVF1oaI93uU9ZU27ISiskUqakY4fev5PaKI_find89QncaAgr9EALw_wcB

retrieved from: https://www.waterisbasic.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA_f2O0sNjpVF1oaI93uU9ZU27ISiskUqakY4fev5PaKI_find89QncaAgr9EALw_wcB

Website. Our Approach to Water Stewardship – MGM Resorts. retrieved from https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/company/esg/protecting-the-planet/water.html#:~:text=Water%20Efficient%20Guest%20Operations,water%20by%20reducing%20laundry%20volumes

Website Drought and Conservation Measures, Las Vegas Valley Water District. retrieved from https://www.lvvwd.com/conservation/measures/index.html

THE WILLAMETTE FALLS

Willamette Falls Power Station was formed at the end of the Oregon Trail in 1888. It was the first station in North America to transmit power over electric lines between two cities. Before then, the falls were an important fishing and trading location for many tribes. After the power station was constructed, it became home to paper mills that are crumbling and falling into the river today. A tribal coalition plans to restore the falls to its pre-industrial condition with a new public access project on the river’s west side.

Water and the WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) conference was hosted in Seattle in 1999. It initiated one of the largest protests the city had ever seen. I never understood why my neighbors to the north were so agitated. As the world’s largest international economic organization with an overall objective to use trade to raise living standards, create jobs, and improve people’s lives, their goals sound more than reasonable. The intergovernmental organization provides a framework for countries to negotiate trade agreements and resolve differences, and it promotes free trade by reducing barriers to it, like tariffs. Don’t developing nations need our help? And don’t we like the inexpensive gadgets provided by companies that manufacture abroad?

Free trade sounded good to me, so why the protests? And why were tensions so high during this February’s annual WTO conference? The meeting revealed bad feelings between industrialized nations, like those between China and the United States, and the conflicts between industrialized nations and activists who want a greater say in rules managing their country’s trade. 

Protesters view WTO as an organization devised to increase the profits of international corporations. Their regulations allowed foreign companies to take over critical services with little oversight.  WTO rules say little about unfair trade practices like cartel agreements, price fixing, and the abuse of dominant position on the market.  Economists  Dan Rodrik and Ha Joon Chang and anthropologist Marc Edelman argue that the WTO “only serves the interests of multinational corporations, undermines local development, penalizes poor countries, [and] is increasing inequality.” All too many agreements have led to restricted access to food, water, and healthcare, causing large numbers of deaths.

I delved further into water rights and water and wastewater management systems to understand the relationship between the WTO, the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, and international corporations repairing infrastructure problems. I label the WTO as the Fixer. The Fixer goes into a country to deregulate its industry, softening the reluctance of elected officials to protectionist policies.  This opens the way for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to offer loans with interests that can tax a fragile economy to the hilt. With money guaranteed and oversight slight, international water cartels are willing to take over community water systems. This often leads to rising water rates and draining aquifers farmers have depended on for generations. Companies are able to acquire water rights to bottle and sell it back at 2,000 times the cost of getting it from a kitchen faucet or pumping it from a well.

Water is also vital to manufacturing. When it’s diverted to produce widgets, companies abuse the privilege by polluting the rivers with industrial waste, making the water inaccessible for livestock and human consumption. When diverted to large agriculture, small farmers losing water rights are forced off the land with nowhere to go. Peasant protests are becoming common. “Take agriculture out of WTO” is a familiar protest cry.  Indigenous and peasant communities are also affected and are seen campaigning for rights to land, water, and governance of their own people.

Understanding the positive and negative aspects of the WTO is complex. International trade can reduce production costs, lower prices, and provide more choices. Looking at the U.S., you can understand what happens when production is outsourced to countries with struggling economies. It leaves our workers struggling to make a living wage. However, protections in affluent markets raise domestic prices and affect consumers in poorer countries.  When global food imports are sky-high, the least developed countries that depend on them suffer. According to an article in Sage Magazine, “Since 2004, attention in the WTO has shifted from overarching human rights concerns toward a focus on technical detail constraining developing countries from acting to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to food.”  This goes for water as well.

This review scratches the surface of a multifaceted issue that forms a backdrop for The Water Factor, a Rightfully Mine eco-thriller about corporate crime. The book will be available to pre-order on Amazon. Look for my announcement next Saturday. 

Please share your thoughts below.

The Willamette Falls Painting is in a private collection. To see other works by Eichinger, go to www. echingerfineart.com or for information, contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com. 

The Water Factor will be available for pre-sale on Amazon by April 1st in paperback and ebook editions. Help me make its launch a success.

Book Launch — April 28th, during the Earth Day Celebration between 11:45 and 2:30 at 1211 SW Main Street. I will introduce the book and discuss water issues during a half-hour talk and be available for signings afterward.. 

The event is sponsored by the Community for Earth and will inspire you to activism for a healthy planet.

References:

Website (2024) World Trade Organization: Promoting Free Trade. Academy 4SC. Retrieved from  https://academy4sc.org/video/world-trade-organization-promoting-free-trade/?

Website (2024) Who we are.  World Trade Organization. retrieved from https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/who_we_are_e.htm#:~:text

Hawkes, S.& Plahe, K (2018) Worlds apart: The WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture and the Right for food in developing countries. Sage Publications.  Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192512112445238?icid=int.sj-full-text

Website (2024): The World Trade Organization should reorient from rule-making to dialogue. Retrieved from https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/world-trade-organization-should-reorient-rule-making-dialogue