Poverty & Politics

It has always been a pet peeve of mine that the topic of poverty and homelessness doesn’t get much airtime until right around the holidays.  It seems that once Halloween has come and gone, the season of guilt begins; a time in which the public is bombarded with images, stories, etc., and are guilted into donating to the less fortunate.  Of course, once December 26th comes along, we get back to the rest of our lives and the poor, homeless and less fortunate are soon forgotten.

Unfortunately, poverty and homelessness is not a seasonal phenomena.  Giving the less fortunate a bone two months out of the year is not going to do much to beat this blight on civilization.  There is absolutely no reason for there to be poverty and homelessness in the United States of America; and yet, going through some parts of our great nation is like taking a trip to the third world.  It is incomprehensible and unconscionable to think that in America there are people living in dwellings with a dirt floor, no plumbing and no electricity.  It is sickening to think that a woman has to sell herself just to keep the power turned on so her children can do their homework, take baths, and have warm food.  It is heartbreaking when a father is not able to provide the basics for his family and also explain to his three year old why Santa visited the next door neighbor, but not him.

It makes me laugh listening to politicians who speak of how they are going to help the working class, the poor, the homeless, etc., and then they have their $1,000/plate dinners and do absolutely nothing.  They have no idea what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck, or to even live without a paycheck.  Unfortunately, a lot of us who can’t afford $1,000/plate dinners today remember what it was like when our parents could barely afford Tv Dinners two decades ago.

My mother, who died at the age of 47 due to a heart attack and stroke as well as a host of other problems (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.), lost her job in 1975 because she could no longer work; and for ten years she lived off of $250/month in social security benefits.  I know what it is like to huddle on a couch with my brother and mom during frigid winters because she could not afford to keep the heat on throughout the day.  I remember being jealous of my friends because they always got new toys, clothes, McDonalds, etc.; and feeling angry whenever my mom would tell me to think of those less fortunate than me.  And I remember that day a couple weeks before my 8th birthday when all her self-sacrifice for her family caught up to her and begging her not to leave me because I wanted to play.  Children can be pretty selfish sometimes.

Sad story?  Perhaps.  But let’s talk about what is really sad.  The United States of America has the capability to destroy the entire world; yet, it can’t ensure that no child will never go hungry or homeless.  We send billions of dollars in “foreign aid” to prop up regimes that oppress and persecute others, including their own people; and yet, we can’t ensure that every man, woman and child has adequate healthcare.  It is tragic that the people who are the very backbones of this country have to struggle day to day just to “get by,” yet the most corrupt politician can look forward to a nice salary, healthcare that would make even the gods jealous, and a nice pension after retirement.  What is sad is the fact that there are people in this nation who can raise millions of dollars to finance their own election campaigns, but can’t raise anything for those in need.

Politicians like John McCain, for instance, like to talk about life not being fair; yet, I think it is safe to say that he has had it better than most Americans to whom life truly hasn’t been fair to.  I wonder what is more fair: the fact that politicians are able to raise millions of dollars everytime they throw their $1,000/plate fundraisers or the fact that there are starving children in the greatest country in the world, some literally next door?