Last Exploration: Lillie Weber

When I first began to read "The Idea of a Local Economy", I was not entirely sure if I would enjoy reading the essay. As it went on I really became interested when Wendell Berry stated, "We have assumed increasingly over the last five hundred years that nature is merely a supply of 'raw materials,' and that we may safely posses those materials merely by taking them"and then later on stating, "... a proper concern for nature and our use of nature must be practiced not by our proxy-holders, but by ourselves. A change of heart or of values without a practice is only another pointless luxury of a passively consumptive way of life". Those two quotes really made me stop and think about how we are depending on others to change things, instead of taking control ourselves. Many ignore the problems of just using up all the raw materials and pretend that the problem does not exist.  I agree with Amber when she said, " A lot of these problems are major problems in our country and people know they are deep down but still ignore them like they aren't there and I don't really know why."  People ignore the bad things that happen everyday and it blows my mind how they can just walk away and pretend it's not happening. Or even when people pretend to care about what's happening, and do nothing about it.

One topic that I believe is ignored is mistreatment in nursing homes. Having a grandmother that had to be in a nursing home for a few months, I had noticed and experienced things that I never thought possible in such a trusted place. Many residents seemed dirty, unhappy, moved roughly, and did not enjoy life at all. One day, my grandmother fell and they didn't even document it. Next thing we know, she had to be rushed to the ER. After seeing such horrible treatment in that nursing home, I decided that I wanted to make a difference and take care of the elderly the way they deserve to be treated. I am currently a PCA (personal care assistant). At the place I work at, things are so different than the place my grandmother resided. The other PCA's and I, along with the nurses, take the best care of every single person. Even if they are bitter, even if they can't do anything for themselves and need everything done with them, we still walk into their room with smiles on our faces because they deserve to be treated with respect. Many are veterans, or wives of veterans. Some places seem to forget that they were people before they lost their memory, and that's what causes abuse in the homes. People work at these places when they are not right for the job, get frustrated, and lash out on the residents. Falls go undocumented, which could potentially kill a resident. Many things are wrong within the systems of the nursing homes, and a lot of people don't pay attention to it when they put their loved ones in them.