Human waste?

Lives discarded on the sidewalk. In shocking numbers San francsisco streets are lined with the destitute. Passing by it is clear that communities have formed at this, the lowest level of existence, offering companionship and human warmth amid the hardship. And protection too one imagines.

The hypocracy of religions to aver that their deities care for all of mankind. The hypocracy of our so called civilization to allow different human existences so glaring in their disparateness to live side by side.

But this damning indifference plays out on the streets of poorest third world countries line India, its citizens walking not just around but over those unfortunates lying on the street too infirm to move. Those who will perish in a matter of hours or days - they might as well be branded like a scarlet letter, for they are marked.

Whether it is as formalized as a caste system or just the conditioning we've unwittingly absorbed in our own culture, the result is the same. We live by the value that all lives are not created equal. We do not have to think for ourselves, it has been done for us. It is convenient this way. It does not disrupt the order or our own lives.