Thoughts on poverty and homelessness in the U.S.A.

Posts tagged ‘classism’

The rich have the means to get mean and meaner… “the Rich are Getting Mean” revisited

I’d written in the past about a poor, struggling man I’d met in a city building. Both of us were there to resolve tickets we’d received by law enforcement, essentially, for being poor. What I mean is, it’s a crime in the US to be poor. Poor people seem to acquire all sorts of legal problems. In Southern California, for example, jaywalking is a serious crime. Mostly only poor people walk over there, of course. And if you can’t afford to pay the jaywalking ticket…well, you can end up in the slammer. Yep, people go to jail for crossing the street in California. I kid you not! A person’s entire life can be ruined by a single act of crossing a street when the walk signal (light flashes an image of a little androgynous human) stops flashing.

But I told myself this blog would be extremely short. So here goes: My little experiment in writing more frequently but shortening the size of each entry…

This poor unfortunate man I’d met had serious health problems and was collecting disability. He was suffering quite a bit and struggling to pay his medical bills. “The rich are getting mean,” he lamented as we’d gotten into a discussion about the social injustice of our needing to constantly defend ourselves legally. (It’s as though we have to defend our very existence. Do the rich want us dead? Why do they hate us so much?) There’s always some ticket to pay, some ordinance or law to be violated, when you’re poor.  My car was ticketed and I had to go to court to defend myself for driving such an old, beat up used car. So I dropped my car off to a junkyard and proceeded to watch my life fall apart, as it was nearly impossible to find a decent job without a car. When I went to court, I had to show proof that I’d given up my car. I wanted to say, “I’m sorry I’d been driving such a stinky car and that it was polluting your fine California air. But I’d drive a much nicer and less stinky car if I could afford it. Really, I would.” But instead, I showed them the proof that I was carless and then began risking getting mugged by taking Southern California’s wonderful and exciting (nearly was assaulted several times!) “public” transportation system. Once I no longer had a car, I found that opportunities diminished for me in so many ways. People looked down on me because they saw me–horror of horrors!–walking in LA.  Basically, a lot of people didn’t want to be my friend. I couldn’t socialize with them anymore as I had no way of getting to the places where they went. (Unless, of course, a friend offered to give me a ride, but that would mean giving, helping, assisting another human being. But, of course, that would involve socialism and most of my friends were against socialism, so they wouldn’t dare help me in any way. I’m very grateful for that, though, because it gave me a chance to see what kind of people they really were. You don’t always get that chance when you have a lot of money and your life is going well.) And, as I said, job opportunities were very limited for me once I had no transportation. Most available jobs these days are not on the bus line and as public transportation increasing gets cut, that problem is increasing. (Hmm… so I wonder how it benefits society to force poor people to give up their cars when their cars don’t meet the strict environmental inspection standards set up by wealthy bureaucrats? But then I’m always wondering how it benefits society to allow the government and big banks to take away people’s homes just because people can’t afford to pay their bills. Yes, people should pay their bills but…do we really want to take away people’s homes and create a new population of homeless people?)

(Okay, I’ve tried to embed the above video of Bryan Stevenson’s talk, but, for some strange reason, it won’t embed on this site. Every time I type in the code, it disappears once I save this blog. Yep, I type it in, hit “save” then open up the blog and everything I typed is gone.  This happened with my previous blog entry also. As you can see, though, the other videos embedded just fine.  Not sure what’s going on here.  A virus on my computer perhaps? A glitch on WordPress? Perhaps it’s the NSA virus? Anyhow, it’s odd. But I’ve got the URL typed up there, so if you’d like to view this wonderful video about poverty and crime, please click on that link.)

But this doesn’t affect the rich or even much of the middle class, so why do I even bring this up?  Yes, the rich are getting  mean, but so, oddly enough, are the middle class. They may not be the so-called “one percent” but they sure do think they’re better when they live in their gated communities far, far away from the riff raff, i.e., the poor.

And yet, perhaps ironically, the word “mean” as a noun refers to money, property or wealth. Yes, the rich have the means to be mean.

( Above video is from )

So here it is–my first blog of the year!  And an attempt to make it a short blog entry.  Okay, I didn’t do as well on that as I’d hoped, but I’m getting there…  😉


Having kids is so much fun: women are getting pregnant so they can collect welfare!

Letter I sent to radio host George Knapp of Coast to Coast AM:

Dear Mr. Knapp:

Last night a caller named Scott from Iowa called to complain that he believes that people (particularly immigrants) are working 40 hours per week then collecting a welfare check. He added that his neighbor is “partying” all the time and that whenever she gets close to getting a job she “turns around and gets pregnant.”

The ignorance behind that man’s statement really sickens me.  As someone who grew up with a lot of disadvantages and obstacles that I’ve fought (unsuccessfully) to overcome my entire life, I am saddened that so many Americans think like Scott.  Scott, do you know what it’s like to be poor and to have people judge you, look down on you, treat you like dirt?  Yet when you try to get a job you can’t find one or you just get low-paying, dead-end jobs that provide no benefits and you’re worse off than you were when you were on welfare because then, at least, you got your health care paid for?  Do you know what it’s like to work and work and work, and still not have enough money to pay your bills because your wages are just too small?  Scott, do you know what it’s like to not get hired or promoted because you’re female or black? Or because you’re over 30?  Or worse, over 40?  There’s a such thing as social injustice, unfairness, discrimination and inequality.  That is why, statistically, women and people of color make up most of the poor people in the world.  (No, Scott, it’s not because women and people of color are inferior to you.  There are very few people in this world who are inferior to you, Scott.)

Mr. Knapp, I truly appreciate your thoughtful response to Scott.  The amount of money people obtain from welfare (and other social programs) is indeed very small.  Also there are a lot of limitations and restrictions placed on people who collect public assistance.  These regulations prevent some people from bettering themselves & getting off welfare.  The regulations also prevent other people from getting proper assistance when they need it.  Ironically, the mean-spirited assumption that poor people are taking advantage of the system is what prevents services to the poor from being adequately funded, so that poor people don’t really get the assistance they need.  And THAT, my friend, is the true reason why people stay on welfare for years and years.  Want to get them off welfare?  Then provide people with real assistance that empowers them and elevates their spirits rather than this half-assed assistance that demeans and degrades them so that they no longer have a self-esteem or enough time and energy (after jumping through all the hoops they must jump through in order to get assistance) to obtain a decent job.

Everyone wants to feel that his/her unique talents and skills are valued by society.  It’s embarrassing to apply for assistance–makes you feel like a victim.  By contrast, it builds one’s self-esteem to feel that one can contribute & that one’s talents are appreciated. It’s humiliating when you find that no one wants you. You apply for jobs you’re perfectly qualified for but are told you’re just not right for their work environment.  And working at a job that doesn’t pay an adequate wage doesn’t help anything.  You just fall further and further behind on your bills. It’s impossible to catch up while working at jobs that don’t pay a living wage.  Yet because you’re working you don’t qualify for assistance and aren’t considered disadvantaged, so, again, you’re just stuck.  (And, of course, everyone attacks you for not paying your bills!)

I myself suffer from chronic back pain that is turning into a permanent disability as a result of years of working hard and not having the money to get my back pain treated properly.  If I end up on disability or being hospitalized that will cost this country a lot more money in the long run than it would have cost to have just provided me with the health care I needed in the first place.  Also forcing employers to provide decent work conditions and decent pay (so that we can improve the quality of our lives) helps prevent employees from developing chronic health problems.

Scott, you’ll be happy to know that it’s not easy to get assistance of any kind in the US (unless you’re a large corporation).  I personally don’t qualify for assistance even though I’m unemployed.  The jobs I’ve had have been part-time and with no benefits, so I can’t get unemployment.  I’m not an alcoholic, drug addict, mental patient, disabled, nor do I have a criminal record, so I don’t qualify for most types of assistance.  I inquired about a job-training program recently and was told I’d be disqualified if I mentioned my college degree, so I have to pretend I don’t have one in order to qualify.  (Presumably, I shouldn’t be unemployed with a college degree?)  I have a college degree and lots of skills but can’t find a decent job.  I can’t teach because I’m required to go back to college to get a license and can’t afford to do that.  The jobs I’ve been getting the past few years haven’t been paying the bills, and my debts are increasing.  As I mentioned, my family’s dysfunctional and poor, so I can’t get help from them.  So…homelessness, here I come!

Yet I am unable to talk to anyone about my dilemma because most people I meet think I shouldn’t have any trouble at all finding a job.  Like you, Scott, they just don’t believe me.  After all, I’m intelligent, highly skilled and educated, right?  However, I’m told I’m “overqualified” for the low-paying service and entry-level jobs I apply for and not experienced enough for jobs that require my education and skills.  (Most of this is due to age and gender discrimination, but there’s nothing I can do about that.)  Fact is, there are just too many people competing for the few jobs out there.  Employers are taking advantage of that and choosing to pay their employees tiny wages.

There is also tremendous discrimination.  Not just against women and people of color but against those of us not between the ages of 18-28 who are looking for work.  Many employers blatantly advertise they’re hiring “recent college grads.”

And laws are increasingly working against people.  For example, if you fall on hard times and can’t afford to pay your bills on time, bill collectors can charge hefty fees on the balance–making it impossible for you ever to pay those bills!  I was unemployed and owed the state $325 for overpayment of my unemployment benefits but couldn’t afford to pay it–as I was unemployed, remember?–so I didn’t have any money in the bank.  I mean, really, hello!  So the state charged over $1000 in fees on the balance and continues to charge interest on the amount I owe.  This has made it impossible for me to ever pay the balance. If I had trouble saving up $325, obviously, I can’t save up $1500.  It’s not that I don’t want to pay the bill.  I just can’t pay it.  When I apply for jobs and only get hired (after months of searching) for $8 per hour jobs, I can’t even afford to pay my rent much less get caught up on my bills.  My debts just keep increasing because the amount I’m bringing in is just too small.  Honestly, it’s not rocket science, Scott.  Do the frickin’ math!

I also owe money in student loans.  A law passed at the end of the 90s (SallieMae, a for-profit corporation, lobbied for it) penalizes students REGARDLESS OF THEIR INCOME for not paying off their loans.  Yet most financial aid students are required to take out loans as a part of their “financial aid” package.  It’s ridiculous because my BA doesn’t qualify me for anything, and I can’t go back to school to get an MA or a BA in something else because I don’t qualify for financial aid until I pay off my loans!  I owe almost 70k, so there’s no way I’ll pay off those loans–unless I get a job that pays 100k per year pretty soon.  So I’m stuck.

But it’s not just me.  There are thousands of us.  We’re intelligent, motivated, hardworking.  But we’re not being allowed to contribute to society.  Do you understand, Scott?  Our spirits, hearts and minds are being broken by this self-centered, selfish, mean-spirited greed that has taken over the country.

Meanwhile, it was announced on the news that the US is falling behind other countries because fewer Americans are now going to college.  Well, why not stop punishing those of us who do go to college by forcing us to take out mortgage-sized loans?  I personally, warn as many people as I can—not to go to college, unless your family’s rich and can afford to pay for it.

I was homeless just a few years ago.  It was a painful experience.  Anyone who says homeless people “choose” to be homeless is misinformed, to say the least.  Homeless people may turn down offers for “help,” but it’s not because they “choose” to be homeless.  It’s just that most offers of “help” have too many strings attached to them and do not address the needs of the homeless.  A woman who worked at a shelter for the mentally ill told me, “Some of them won’t stay in the shelter and refuse to take their medication.”  My response to that is, yes, they refuse to take their medication because the medication isn’t helping them.  But our society refuses to seek alternative treatments for the mentally ill, so we keep forcing medication on people even when it’s not helping then we wonder why some people are afraid to seek help.

I began making a documentary film about homelessness–while I was still homeless, believe it or not!  That is just an example of how proactive I am as a person.  It’s called “Rocky Mountain Homelessness.”  I’ve also written a book, “Diary of a Mad Bag Lady” about my experience and keep a blog at  But rather than providing me with the catharsis I expected, making the film and writing about my experience has just made me angrier and more disillusioned.  I am appalled everyday by the Scotts I meet–the ignorance, the lack of empathy and compassion on the part of the average American.

We’re told the US government can’t afford to provide us with universal health care or free college tuition for low-income people yet billionaires get their tax breaks extended and corporations get tax cuts for outsourcing jobs to third world countries.  Yet Scott (and many others) thinks that welfare “cheats” are the problem.  The division between the rich and the poor in this country is rapidly increasing to a shocking degree, and we are moving toward becoming a third world country–but let’s just blame the poor for how bad things are… It’s really disgusting.

I’ve been struggling for several years now, and the only way I’ve been able to constructively deal with my pain has been to turn it into art (writing and filmmaking).  However, no one seems to be listening.  Americans are incredibly hostile toward the poor–even now while so many people are losing their jobs and homes.  Many people don’t realize that people like me who don’t get the assistance we need will just deteriorate.  We can’t pick ourselves up by our bootstraps because we don’t have the bootstraps to pick ourselves up with.  Do you understand, Scott?  Or am I speaking the language of rocket science.

My back condition has gotten a lot worse over the years and it worries me.  My mental health has also been affected by the things I’ve had to endure due to poverty.  And it’s amazing how many friends you lose when you lose your financial stability.  Americans really place a high value on money and material things, and many people just don’t want to know you at all if you don’t have any.  I’m finding I’m “unemployable” despite all my skills.  I can’t acquire new skills, as I have no money to go back to school, so I’m just stuck, trapped.  But there are thousands of people out there just like me.  And that should scare the heck out of most Americans.

Because, contrary to what current, corporate, media propaganda will claim, poverty is not caused by a character flaw–quite the opposite.  Poverty can create character flaws—or worse.  Poverty can lead to a ton of social problems, including crime, domestic violence, child abuse, drug & alcohol addiction, mental illness, etc.  That is why most intelligent, educated leaders of democratic societies attempt to eliminate poverty.  We’re going to see serious social problems increase because we refuse to address the needs of our poor.

Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t given up on reading this lengthy e-mail by now, the thousands of us who owe money for our student loans can’t collect social security when we retire.  That’s part of what Sallie Mae lobbied for in the 90s.  So I have no safety net–no social security, no unemployment, no welfare, nothing.  Thanks, America!  A few years from now, we’re going to see thousands of elderly people with no safety nets–no social security benefits!  What are we going to do about that?  Exterminate people when they grow too old to work?

Most other wealthy, industrialized nations provide better safety nets for their people than the US.  We have the greatest division between the rich and poor of any other wealthy, industrialized nation in the world. (Some statistics say Mexico and Russia are worse than us in that regard, so if you consider them wealthy, industrialized nations, then perhaps we rank third.)  Nearly 25% of African Americans live in poverty in the US–and that’s according to the US government’s statistics that are notoriously inaccurate. The US govt hasn’t properly updated its facts on poverty for about 40 years (one reason the minimum wage is so low.)  So the real percentage is probably closer to 50%.

Here’s another thing I’d like to say to Scott: women do not “get pregnant” on their own.  And here’s another news flash, Scott: giving birth to and raising a child is a lot of work–some would say it is more than a full-time job.  So suggesting your neighbor gets pregnant so that she doesn’t have to work doesn’t make sense—unless, of course, you devalue women’s work.  But that wouldn’t be true of you, would it, Scott?

Again, I apologize for the long e-mail, and I realize you may not read it as a result.  But all of this (and so much more) needs to be said.  No one is saying it!  The corporate media has Americans brainwashed into believing poverty is a choice and that it is somehow “fun.”

In fact, poverty leads to a lot of social problems and the reluctance of Americans to take care of their poor is the primary reason why this country is falling apart. Sadly, I’m falling along with it.  Unlike most of those suffering, however, I will not go quietly.

Scott:  “I don’t want to stomp on a lot of people’s toes when I mention this, and it goes back on the nation’s deficit.  It’s, well, it’s the abuse of the welfare system.  We got immigrants that’s comin’ in (sic).  We give ‘em welfare, give ‘em housing—the whole nine yards.  They go in, they pull down a forty an hour…uh…a forty hour day checks (sic)…or a week checks (sic)…  And, uh, we’re still given ‘em the welfare money. I’ve got a neighbor here that, uh, she’s a career woman on welfare.  Soon as she, uh, gets close to havin’ to possibly go out and get a job she turns around and gets pregnant.  And I know this ain’t right, and I know it’s on a lot of people’s minds, but when you go to turn ‘em in for like, in her scenario, she’s always partying and getting’ drunk and so forth, seems like nothing’s getting’ done.   But I know it’s been ran (sic) across several people’s minds and, uh, I’m just wonderin’ if I was the only one that, uh, felt that way, that I think our government should go back and pull these records and start cleaning house…”

Homeless Heroes…

Thought I’d give some credit to today’s inspiration.  On a Scroogle search today I came across Djelloul Marbrook’s article, “The Homeless as Prophets and Heroines.”  As a self-professed, mad, bag lady, I was,needless to say, intrigued.

Here’s a link:

Madness is often defined as “abnormal” or unusual behavior.  That means, anyone who is different might be considered mad.  As many of us know, homosexuality was once listed in the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as a mental illness.  Today, that is no longer the case.

And so, with the swiftness of a pen across paper, or perhaps a finger tapping upon a computer keyboard, thousands of people were suddenly “cured” of their madness.  Someone decided they weren’t crazy after all, and so they were cured.  Just like that.  Madness, thou art a fickle disorder…

With this thought in mind, I came across another web site:  www(dot)PaulaJCaplan(dot)net.  Caplan wrote a book entitled, “They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal.”  She writes about how a tiny minority of our population decide what constitutes sanity or insanity.  Why are we allowing a small number of “experts” decide what is “normal”?

Mental illness does exist, and I’m not trying to suggest that those who really do suffer from it shouldn’t get help.  I’m simply stating that in our society we are moving toward accusing those who are different or who just don’t fit in of being mentally ill.  We are moving toward enforced conformity.  Part of the reason for this is our fast-paced society.  We just don’t want to take the time anymore to understand someone else or to learn how to interact better with people who are different from ourselves. We’d rather force them to conform than allow them to continue to challenge us and our status quo with their eccentric and unusual behavior and lifestyle.

Some homeless people are mad-crazy.  Others are just mad-angry or mad-nonconformist.  Some people live in poverty because their talents and skills are just not appreciated in a financial way by our society.  This is often true of artists.  It is heartbreaking, but I’ve seen some very talented musicians who were homeless.  They strum their guitars and sing their songs on the street still believing that someday, someone will discover their great talent…  And it just doesn’t happen.

Sorry, but it doesn’t happen that way anymore, not for most of us.  Perhaps it never really did work that way.

You could be the next Rembrandt or the next da Vinci, and no one will ever know.  Our society just doesn’t reward creativity.  We need artists.  We watch television, go to see movies, read books, gaze at pretty paintings, but we rarely consider the lives of the artists who wrote, painted or filmed that project.  We take artists for granted.  We take what they create but don’t feel the need to reciprocate.

Okay, I’m going off on another tangent here.

Suffice it to say, artists are only one type of homeless hero/oine.  Artists create whether or not we are paid for it.  We write, paint, sing, strum, even though no one is listening, watching or paying us for it.  Our society understands this and continues to just not pay us for it.

There are other homeless heroes–the “battered woman” who flees abuse and ends up in a shelter with her children, the runaway teen, also fleeing abuse and sleeping on the street, the Chris Gardners who refuse to work at minimum wage jobs and accept a life of poverty who’d rather be “free” living on the street than be controlled by the system.  They think their “ship” will one day come in.  It never does.  Their spirit breaks.  And they give up.  (And once they do give up, they become the “crazy” homeless people we often see on the street.)

And then there’s the artist who keeps creating–today’s Jean-Michel Basquiats who are never discovered.  Their art and the joy it could give us will never be known.

Because we’ve created a classist (as opposed to a classless) society.  One must have an agent, a manager, connections, a cool outfit, a cell phone, and the “right look.”  One must be “18- to-look-younger” and have a product that “sells.” Da Vinci and Rembrandt wouldn’t “make it” today.  Neither would Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Chaplin, or Charles Dickens.

We’re missing out on a lot by relegating the poorest among us to permanent destitution, by refusing to help those in need.  What we fail to see (as a society) are the richest that lie hidden within each and every human being, no matter how lost and forlorn one might appear on the surface–the hidden talents, wisdom, and intellect–contributions that each and every one of us is capable of making to society, once we are allowed to thrive, to pursue our own happiness and rise up to our fullest potential.

When Poor People Cheat

Why do poor people cheat?  It’s an age-old question.  Yet we hear about it all the time:

The homeless guy who spends the dollar you gave him on a beer.  The welfare mom who works (secretly) as a babysitter on the side and makes an extra $20 (or more!)  yet doesn’t report it to the welfare office.  The man who is physically fit and able-bodied yet is begging for spare change on the street.  Doesn’t he know that there are lots of great jobs out there?  Why doesn’t he just go out and get one?  Or what about the woman who “chooses” to live in a shelter even though she has a nice house somewhere because she likes hanging out with all the fun, homeless folks at the shelter?  “All my friends are here!” she says happily.

Oh, if only rich people could be so happy.

With all the horror stories you may have heard of poor people cheating on us and our system by collecting public assistance then working on the side and not reporting it, or  worse, begging for money then mismanaging it by spending it on things we don’t think they should—like beer, for example—you might be sitting back in your comfortable chair, sipping your own beer, watching your flat screen TV and wondering…

Why do poor people cheat?

Is it out of jealousy?  Are they purposely earning an extra $50 per week (or more!) by begging for money or working “under the table” so that we end up supporting them with our taxes because they want to prevent us from having the extra cash we need to buy that brand new car, iPhone, or flat-screen plasma TV?

Maybe they’re jealous of us because while we’re driving around in our car, they’re standing on the street waiting for a bus in the rain.  Or maybe they’re jealous because while we’re in our house asking these important questions, they’re renting out a tiny room and sharing a house or apartment with a bunch of strangers, waiting for the kitchen space to become available so they can eat.  And while we’re eating healthy, nutritious food of our own choosing, they’re eating stale, moldy food they’d gotten from a food shelf or processed food that lacks both flavor and nutrition they bought cheaply at the dollar store.

Or maybe they’re mad at us because when we get sick we can afford to see specialists, have testing done, get treatment, surgery, or whatever we need in order to heal the illness or injury, while they go to free health clinics where they wait for hours, then are seen by a nurse for five minutes, told they’re not really sick, that they should just go home and get some rest and maybe just take a pill if they’re still uncomfortable.   (Ironically, many of them don’t have a comfortable home to go to, and they can’t rest because they have to work so much just to afford what little they have.)  Sometimes there’s no free clinic available to them or the free clinic is unable to provide the treatment they need so some of them get worse.  Some become permanently disabled by maladies not treated on time.  Some might even die without treatment they need.  One friend-of-a-friend has diabetes and can’t afford the insulin.  She may very well die one of these days.  Or end up in the hospital and then with bills she can’t afford to pay which will cause her to end up homeless.  Sure, she may qualify for Medicaid but that’ll make her homeless too because the government might take her house.  (People who collect Medicaid aren’t allowed to own homes in the U.S.)

Is that why they’re jealous of us?

Maybe they’re jealous because we spend a lot of our money on beer and drugs and some of us party way too much, but no one seems to notice how we mismanage our money.  Because we have so much money, everyone just assumes we manage it well.  Even when we waste a million dollars a year on stuff we don’t need, society doesn’t notice.  Besides, we don’t “mooch” off the government because we don’t need to, right?

But wait–maybe that’s why they resent us.  We do ask for assistance from the U.S. government whenever our businesses fail or our homes are damaged from natural or other disasters.  We also get tax breaks and tax cuts that poor people can’t get.  In fact, no one even suggests that poor people be able to write off the cost of their bus fare to and from work, for example, but a millionaire can write off the cost of his company car on his tax form.  And no one questions that.  Tax breaks for the poor would only cost this country a fraction of what the tax breaks given to the rich are costing—yet no one ever talks about this.  Because no one is even thinking about the fact that the rich get assistance from the U.S. government all the time and often waste that extra money on drugs, parties, more big houses, more big cars, etc., and no one notices their waste.

We notice it as a waste of money when a poor person spends a few dollars on a beer but we don’t notice when a millionaire wastes thousands of dollars on cocaine, homes not lived in, cars not driven, clothes never worn–or only worn once then thrown out, or the myriad of material things not needed but just purchased to pass the time away or perhaps just to show everyone how rich someone is.

We notice it when a poor person “cheats” by collecting a few hundred dollars a month from welfare then makes a few dollars more by working “under the table” but we don’t notice when a millionaire takes thousands of dollars per month in tax breaks he or she doesn’t need (which costs our country a lot more) then wastes it by spending it on cocaine, trips around the world, buying another bowling alley, tennis court or another building—not because he needs it but just to make himself look more rich to the outside world.  Nor do we feel “ripped off” by a millionaire manufacturer who over charges us by sometimes several hundred percent of the manufacturing cost when their products are made by children in third world countries who work for pennies a day, all day.

And really, isn’t it a form of stealing to pay your employees half (or less) than what they’re worth?  So that they can’t afford to buy their own homes or cars, to get married and have children of their own–even while they are, in good faith, working hard for you?

Isn’t it a form of stealing to manufacture a product and charge your customers 100 times (or more!) for what it cost to manufacture that product–especially when you are already an overpaid multimillionaire yourself?

Hmm…  Why do poor people cheat?  And what should we do to stop them?  Should we raise their taxes?  Lower the minimum wage even more so that they have to work twice as many hours per week?  Eliminate more jobs by downsizing and outsourcing to third world countries?  Prevent them from getting an education by making college costs outrageously expensive so that they lose all hope of ever advancing and creating a better future for themselves?  Prevent them from getting health care when they get sick so that they get sicker and just spread disease as their health deteriorates to the point where they become permanently disabled and unable to work anymore?

No, that’s already been done.  Yet the poor continue to ask for our help.  Some of them are continuing to get married and have children too, and they’re expecting us to help them do that.  Many of these poor children are disabled by the age of five and already collecting social security checks as a result of the rampant pollution in poor neighborhoods as well as the malnutrition they suffer from years of eating processed or stale food their parents can barely afford to serve them.  Yet the poor want to continue to live their lives at our expense!  So what can we do to stop poor people from cheating?

I suppose the question is timeless, from the days when a homeless man named Jesus walked the earth in sandals preaching that we should not be attached to money and material things, that those “who have not sinned should cast the first stone,” that the “meek shall inherit the earth,” and that it is harder for a rich man to go to heaven than it is to “stick a camel through the eye of a needle,” to our current era when we spend thousands of dollars on things we don’t need, complain our houses and cars aren’t big enough yet worry about giving a dollar to a homeless person.

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