The death of Marvin Schur, a 93-year-old World War II veteran who froze to death inside of his own home in Bay City, Michigan, exemplifies everything that I find troubling about the United States.
Schur owed around $1,000 in unpaid electrical bills, so the electric company placed a "limiter" device on his electrical supply that ended up completely shutting off his power. He died of hypothermia. When his body was found, the inside of his home was below freezing. There was ice on the inside of his windows.
According to Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, Schur died a "slow, painful death." "Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," he said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."
Apparently, in a delirious state, Schur clipped cash to his electric bill at the kitchen table. That was one of his last acts before he went to sleep for the last time in his life.
He was found frozen to death by neighbors on January 17.
Many times on this Blog, I try to emphasize the noble side of America. On many occasions, I've Blogged about good people -- men, women and even youths -- from all walks of life who have struggled to push the country to live up to its highest ideals.
But sometimes I have to Blog about the dark side of America. And believe me, folks, it doesn't get a whole lot darker than this.
Here is a man who sacrificed for his nation in its hour of need, when the country was threatened by the forces of fascism and Japanese militarism.
And how was Marvin Schur rewarded? His power was shut off when he was overdue on his payment.
There isn't really anything else that anyone can add to enhance the disgracefulness of this story. There's no point in saying, "This is a mockery of everything America ought to stand for..." or "This is a horrific example of dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism gone hideously awry..." True, it's those all of those things, and much, much worse.
But this story needs no additional commentary, other than the tale itself.
This is the side of America I absolutely hate. Hate, in fact, isn't a strong enough word for it. To think: A government that hands $700 billion to greedy Wall Street execs can't even take care of a World War II veteran, who made a far greater sacrifice than any of those wealthy beneficiaries of socialism for the rich.
Would that we could say the Marvin Schurs of this world are unique. But the streets of America are full of destitute veterans, turned out into the cold by a sick society that cannot -- will not -- take care of its own.
There is one ray of hope in this tragedy. Two Michigan legislators are calling for a ban on utility shutoffs in the dead of winter. The two legislators -- State Rep. Jeff Mayes and State Sen. Jim Barcia -- are both from Marvin Schur's hometown of Bay City. Both men are Democrats.
Such a ban is long overdue. Its passage in the state legislature would be the one tiny fragment of redemption in a story that is both tragic and yet at the same time, symbolic of the very most reprehensible qualities of contemporary American society.
(Sources: The Detroit News, The Associated Press)
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