Poverty is a disgrace.

However, the people living in poverty are not a disgrace, but wonderful human beings just like anyone else, many of whom are very hard workers. What's wrong with the symbols I have just expressed to you? They are not in the socially correct order; they contradict the classist ideological perceptions of ignorance that many in this country continue to believe? "That poor people are somehow inherently tarnished, lazy and because of their discrepancies they deserve their circumstance." My friend, I assure you that in society...nothing is that easy to explain, dig deeper.

So what type of poverty am I referring, and why is it a disgrace? Well, one could define and name many types of deficiencies or impoverished positions within many types of systems, however I refer to express my position upon the rules and grounds in which our American, capitalistic society was founded. Competition. Yes, the idea that all men are created equal and can compete against each other in order to successfully fulfill some dream. Give me a break, the dream is dwindling. Just ask college graduates that worked for years to achieve their degree and still have great difficulties in finding work. I don't want to sound pessimistic or the deliverer of doom however, I tell it how I see it, I say it how I've lived it. I'm honest.

Poverty today is real, and real equitable competition rarely exists. Poverty is destroying your future and mine. It is actually depriving us of the American dream rather than just a consequence of a stratified system of Capitalism. How? Every social problem is directly connected to poverty, and when millions of children are living in poverty; and there are millions of woman, children, veterans and others living in extreme poverty...in America (The Big Disgrace!) then our future and their lives are in jeopardy. Poverty is a result of unchecked competition gone array with only to leave many without the ability to meet their basic needs. Shelter, food, education, belonging, opportunity, etc. are all limited or non-existent within the grips of poverty. Even more horrifying is the result of this social position according to our culture; one of defective self identity leading many of those suffering in poverty with issues relating to poor self perception and dealing with psycho individualistic reactions due to a cultural and social environment without understanding and filled with the need to blame.

I realize that many who support un-restrained capitalistic greed seek a position of relative poverty. Why? Because it is relative. It can be easily rationalized. Those of ignorance rationalize that those of the working class, working poor, and even the homeless (most who are woman, children, and veterans) would be considered rich to an Ethiopian somewhere in Africa...yes, however; this is not Africa, and this is my point. This is America, the country I nearly died fighting for in Iraq, the country I love and respect. I am not a socialist or radical but a common man with common sense that believes in helping the vulnerable, and what is amazing, is that many individuals may see me as radical, see me as socialistic, simply because they themselves have strayed into a selfish madness, so far from compassion, so far from civilized humanness, so far from common sense, so far from America.

I cannot respect a social and economic system gone mad and a political system (Democrat or Republican - they are both selling us out) that consistently allows the impoverishment and homelessness of woman, children and so many others. Who would? Many disgraceful, greedy, arrogant people would, and they do it every day. They do it when they make our laws, they do it when they hire people through obstructionism, they do it when they steal from workers pension accounts, they do it when they build their factories in other countries, they do it when they make a basic need like health care un affordable, they do it when they sell out common Americans with trade agreements that line their pockets and they do it when they pay off leaders to give themselves "advantages in competition."

Now, I realize that there are some who make no effort to mobilize themselves upon higher rungs of the social ladder and maybe they are what one would call "content" however, most who live in poverty are willing to work and do work many low paying, secondary labor market, high stress / low control, minimum wage jobs, and must pay taxes like anyone else. Many are taken advantage of by their employers and pay outrageous amounts for health insurance through their employer's plans, leaving them with nothing to save. Most do not even have a choice to gain access to health care and other basic needs due to limits in opportunities and resources. Opportunity itself is a resource and a small one for those impoverished. This lack of resource and opportunity leaves many to gain assistance for health care through state and local programs that continues to increase deficits at the local and federal levels.

What is amazing is that the wealthy are simply redirecting and isolating resources and will eventually destroy the system they seek to dominate. Eventually, federal, state and local governments will go bankrupt; attempting to assist those to meet their basic needs due to the vast inequalities the wealthy themselves reinforce. No system could continue to operate under such inequity, and if this continues, America does not have a future.

Someone has to be poor, right? That depends on the definition of poor. Sure, someone will have less than others in this country and some will have more... and that's fine, but how much less? How much more? Does it matter? Sure it does, it begins to matter when many cannot meet their basic needs, and the numbers are growing. Growing so fast, one cannot help but to see the writing clearly upon the walls of our communities. Every day, social problems linked to poverty are increasing dramatically. With this increase in poverty and the problems it brings, there are consistent headlines in the local and national news papers of large and small businesses down sizing, going bankrupt and falling apart at the seams, disrupting the socio-economic environment, in turn disrupting communities abilities to educate and function to meet the basic needs of Americas future; our families and children. This process continues, all the while due to trade agreements and policies created at the federal level by our leaders with other nations interest in mind, giving away jobs and infulstructure that has sustained America for generations.

How could this happen? Is it that our leaders today realize that globalization is inevitable. That Americas wealth will be redistributed around the globe regardless if it is them allowing these formal and informal dealings with other nations to take place or not? Or, is it a question of corporate greed and national loyalty? Should the ideas and companies that were created and established in America be allowed to leave the land in which there origins lay deep, only to go to some other country to make more money, pay less for labor and have enough nerve to sell Americans their ideas and their products back to them at the same or higher cost? What nerve! Won't Americans take the time to research the companies they buy from, find out where most of their companies operate and make smart choices to build and buy with Americas heart in mind? Regardless, I can assure you globalization will continue to expand and if nothing is done, the corporations of our country and abroad will continue upon a road of American abandonment and to the demise of so many woman, children and families; they will enter, continue living and struggle to survive in the Big P...

The Big Disgrace.

Copyright2005