(Written 13 January 1999. Published in the Neighborhood Journal. Posted 28 July 2006.)
People will tell you that money is
the root of all evil, that money is sinful, and that we should live like
asceticS. Of course, I wager a bet that
those who say money is bad haven't been poor.
Oh sure, you'll hear the stories
about the poor people who are happy because they have love, blah blah
blah. Love doesn't pay the bills. Love doesn't put food on the table, or
clothe you or put gas in your car. From
my perch here at the bottom of the food chain, I don't see too many happy
people. It's hard to be happy when you
are poor. It's hard to be happy when
you have to literally work yourself sick to provide a meager income for your
family.
Of course, my perception of
reality has been just a little warped of late.
A bout with pneumonia will do that to you. If the pneumonia doesn't make you hallucinate, then the
antibiotics will. I consider myself
fortunate--I had enough money last month to pay for my modicum of health
insurance, so at least I could go to the doctor. The bad thing about it is that if I had never had gone to the
doctor, I wouldn't have missed three days of work, and subsequently, three days
of wages (part-timers don't get sick days), because I wouldn't have know I was
sick and I would have dragged my sickly body into work a coughin' and a
hackin'. You ever wonder why, when you
go into McDonald's, you have that one employee who seems to be coughing all
over your food? Well, he can't afford
to lose a day's wages. So, enjoy your
meal, and hope to Providence that what that employee has is not communicable.
The real tragedy of living in the
bottom of the economic order is that there are many, many folks who don't want
to be here any more than I. Sure, I'll
grant you that there are those whose life choices have dictated that they will
work minimum-wage part-time jobs forever--you know, the young girls who have
gotten pregnant at 15 or 16, the boys who got into drugs, the football players
who were so focused on the game that they ignored their studies, and now that
they can barely walk due to the physical abuse they subjected their bodies to,
they have been forced to work for peanuts at whatever job they can find.
But, these folks are fast becoming
the exception to the rule. There are
many poor people who have lost everything at the hands of amoral slimebuckets
who haven't a conscience, people who let their own lust for power and ego and
fame get in the way of doing what is right and just. You know the kind of people that I am talking about--the
small-town mayor who would sell out his own employees in order to stay in good
with his cronies, the local land czars who would put their needs over the needs
of the public, the local officials who turn a blind eye to violations of the
law, yada yada.
We like to preach God and Jesus to
the poor and downtrodden. Yet, it seems
to those of us being preached to, all we are hearing are empty, hollow
words. I have heard the sermons--don't
give up hope, because Jesus loves you.
Righteousness will prevail.
Etc. Pick your sermon; I've
heard it.
The problem is that it gets hard
to believe that Good will prevail when you don't see any Good around you. I have been waiting for over a year for Good
People to stand up for the Truth, for Justice, for Right. My biggest disappointment is seeing that the
Devil of apathy has stolen our hearts.
"We can't get involved; they'll come after us too!"
Physician, heal thyself! How can you remove the speck in my eye when
you have a plank in your own?
Talk is cheap. That is why we have an abundance of it!