Bobby E. Mills, PhD
American societal arrangements are primarily based upon socio-economic status; even though America’s founding constitutional governing documents have a spiritual foundation. Thus, In American society Zip Codes primarily define socio economic residential neighborhood statuses. ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan.
Coincidently or deliberately, the Zip Code concept was implemented in (1963) during the height of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights struggles for democratic justice spearheaded by Dr. King. The unwritten rationale for Zip Codes was separation and segregation. Therefore, individuals can determine everything socio-psychologically and economically about other individuals by their Zip Codes. The first digit represents a certain geographical group of states, the second number and the third number represent a region in that group of states, and the fourth and fifth numbers represent addresses within that region.
Consequently, Zip Codes are used to gather geographical and statistical information for marketing products, locating and relocating certain types of businesses and banking industries, and most of all insurance is higher for individuals in high crime areas. The real rub concerning Zip Codes is that they are used for political partisan gerrymandering of Congressional Representative Districts to subvert the basic principles of democracy, especially voting rights.
Texas is a classic example of zip code gerrymandering, but the entire USA is the perfect case scenario to separate, segregate, and divide along socio-economic racial lines. For example, in certain areas of Houston, Texas there are residents still living with raw sewage and waste materials in their neighborhoods. Additionally, in certain communities of Harris County there are unsanitary out-door toilets and sceptic tank facilities being used by families: shameful!
Zip Codes are immediate and perfect examples of societal identification (DNA) of an individual’s socio-economic status in American society. Therefore, individuals with low socio-economic statuses receive the least amount of quality social services, namely garbage and heavy trash pick-ups, not to mention street cleaning services. Stray dogs, trash and littering, Lottering on street corners, open prostitution and burglary bars on churches and all this environmental dysfunction affects quality of communal life and lifestyles.
All these quality-of-life variables are immediately identifiable by an individual’s Zip Code. While all these things are true, the business owners who exploit others for enormous profiteering and at the same time return nothing to the local community are guilty of exploitation, as well. Sadly, for the most part, they are foreign nationals with very little understanding of capitalistic opportunity and community service. The human soul can only with stand so much dehumanization before individuals eventually become violent.
Violence is wrong because violence does not solve problems. Only godly ideas solve problems. Unfortunately, foreign born business owners in certain Zip Code communities understand capitalism (get all you can, while you can, and for yourself), but they do not understand democracy which is a spiritual declaration “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Because “what life do we have if we do not have life together, because all life must be lived under the reality of God; that equal is equal, not more or less equal. Hence, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?” (Matthew 16: 26). Amen.
