Here's today's $64,000,000 ...question

[FirstLight]

I was recently having an interview with a local journalism student....seems that a fellow journalist friend recalled my situation of working "freelance" (meaning: starving) because I am single with 3 kids and with illnesses, etc, I can't seem to hold down work 40 hours a week, AND be the mommy too...he reccomended me to interview with this student for her final project on those who are facing xtreme hardships and challenges - and how that has changed in the past year/months as the economy flows down the drain...

SO - we spoke of my various issues and how I cope (sometimes) and how I don't (often) and why...


and then she asked me the question that will haunt me for days...
"why should the average $2 million homeowner care about YOUR situation? Why should the rich care about the poor...?"

WEll, other than the fact that we have a society that relies on ALL of our contributions, and that person wouldn't get their prime rib on a silver platter without the farmworker or the silver miner... and other than the fact that it is the right thing to DO to care for others who aren't as fortunate...god, why should they?

I am chewing on this and I don't like the answers I come up with, because it is a CORE example of what is wrong in this country right now...is that we DON'T care enough about eachother.

....and WHY SHOULD those who have inexplicable wealth give a crap?
they are too busy planning their parties and blowing money on art or whatever they buy to keep their tax shelters intact.
I have often said that if I won the lottery I'd still end up giving half the money away, is it just a personality flaw? Should I see it as a flaw that I am not so self serving?

And as an act of rebellion against this huge injustice - I stopped my car as I was leaving the parking lot and gave the last $4 in my wallet to a disabled vet who was begging on the sidewalk.

Somehow, I don't think you have that compassion unless you have been there. And I know far too well how I am a fingernail's breadth from being there again.

EDIT add: And really, when it all comes crumbling down, aren't we all equally fucked?

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. There but for the grace of God go I

Wealth isn't permanent. The wealthy ought to support the weaker members of society because that is how we measure the value of a society; how it treats its most unfortunate members.

[sandnsea]

2. Because there's more of us than them

and as history has shown, we eventually get fed up and kill them. I mean, if they want to get all realpolitik and survival of the fittest about it.

[knitter4democracy]

3. She seriously asked you that?!

Whoa. That's crazy.

If the millionare doesn't care about those around him, the poor, the destitute, the barely making it, then why should we care about his safety and his money? He should care--the masses are the ones that make revolutions. If he wants to keep that nice house and that silver plate and fancy car, he should care about making sure the least of these aren't so bad off that they start taking his stuff.

[FirstLight]

5. In context : this is for her senior project in University..

AND she plans on using this as part of a documentary to create actual activism for those who are the "have's" to find ways to help he "have nots" so it is for a noble cause to ask those questions...and they are tough to think about.

One thing that really rings true is that I am actually better off than the rich bloke, because I have knowledge from years of scraping by - I can fix things and make due...when that rich guy can only freak out when the shit really hits the fan.

If that could help me feel beter about our sub-sistence, I guess it is a small ray of light

[knitter4democracy]

6. You're right--you'll survive.

I know people, raised in the suburbs, who can't do anything. They can't garden, they can't fix anything, they can't sew, nothing. They have everything done for them. They'll have a dickens of a time surviving this economic mess, since I'd bet a lot of them will get caught up in it.

:hug:

[FirstLight]

8. I am glad my mom has shared depression stories with me...

My grandma used to sew dresses for her out of flour sacks, and she'd somehow always manage to find an extra scoop of flour or more beans if someone stopping by needed a meal...

I am proud to have come from that kind of strong southern stock! ;)

...even if I am a mountain girl now! lol
we are starting to grow food this year, I am no longer playing around, got survival on my mind, and that is really all that matters...

[knitter4democracy]

10. I'm expanding our garden, too.

It's ridiculous--Hubby's a doctor, and money's tight. Debt from residency and moving, debt from med school, two growing kids with asthma, my medical costs. This is stupid! At least I'm having fun gardening and canning and freezing and remembering all the things I learned growing up in the country. If only this town would let me have chickens . . .

I honestly think that those of us with real survival skills will make it through somehow--but only if we band together. I'm trying to talk the women's group at my church into group canning sessions this summer to make sure the poor in our parish have some good homecooking. If we stick together, we'll make it.

[FirstLight]

12. I am hip to starting a community garden at our church too!

I know we could help eachother more and have great fellowship and even teach the kids in Sunday school about the tending of the Garden...after all, wasn't that Man's First Job on Earth?

Keep me posted on the canning, I have to re-learn all of that too. And I wish I could have chickens too, but they would freeze up here! lol I was wishing I could get a cow, because MILK is as expensive as GAS these days! maybe a goat? I live in the county, I would have to check ordinances, and also ask my landlord, since we are renting, it's probably not much of an option...

I was just thinking today that I should learn how to make cheese, it could be hard to find some of these things soon :scared:

[knitter4democracy]

14. The blue Ball Canning Book is worth every penny.

The drawings and directions are clear, and the recipies are good. Last summer, Hubby helped me to salsa, peaches, and tomatoes. Then, in fall, we did apple pie filling (need to do more this next fall--it is good!) and applesauce. Then we froze up some asparagus, green beans, and a few different jams. The dehydrator I got last year for my birthday was awesome, too! I made up all sorts of fruit leather for the kids (much, much cheaper than the store stuff, even taking the electricity into account), dried parsely and basil, and then did up a lot of apples that are almost all gone. I need to do more apples next year.

Canning isn't cheaper if you compare it to the cheapest canned stuff at Save-a-Lot. The quality's better, though. I didn't put salt in my tomatoes, and salt-free canned tomatoes are more expensive. The flavor's better, and I know exactly what went into them.

Oh, and the cheapest place for jars is Big Lots. By far. I get my other stuff at Meijers, a local grocery store that's like Walmart but better.

[razors edge]

4. Because you don't see Hearses

with luggage racks.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. because those of wealth who don't care for others

are impoverished themselves in several ways:

1. Lack of intelligence. Those living in McMansions can only do so because of the the infrastructure of support and maintenance that is done by those whose salaries are far less than theirs.

2. Lack of common sense. Unless the super wealthy in question have built castles with strong walls, it is very wise to have those with less have at least some hope. When extremes in wealth become even more extreme, violence often happens. The French Revolution is a good example.

3. Lack of understanding. Even now scientists are finding that we are all interconnected, something mystics have realized for a long time. As such, the actions of those who the rich might never see can really wind up effecting them--think environment/global warming.

4. Lack of spirit. There is a saying that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Even if you are not a believer, this can be interpreted as a rich person cannot have peace of mind--they are always worried about things-obtaining and keeping them.

As for you, dear Journlgrrl, I would say that you are far more wealthy than those who live in mansions. You gave much more than $4 when you handed the money to the disabled vet, you know. May you be blessed for that sevenfold.

May I end on an old story?

A wealthy Turkish merchant came upon a ragged dervish by the side of the road. Wishing to appear pious, he attempted to give the holy man a gold coin.

"Wait," the dervish said. "I cannot take money from a poor person--that is not right. Are you wealthy?"

"Of course I am," the merchant said, standing up proudly. "I have a whole purse full of gold coins like that one."

"And do you wish you had another purse just as full?" the dervish asked.

"Well, certainly; and another purse beyond that as well," the merchant replied.

The dervish shook his head and refused the coin. "I cannot take your money, for you are poor," he said. "A poor man is one who longs for more than he has; a rich man is one who is contented and thankful for what he has, and who is generous with those in need."

[FirstLight]

9. AMEN to that!

...all I could think about when I saw hiom was that my struggle is huge for m, and I am sure his is for him. I don;t care if he used the money for beer, or if he used it to buy a cheeseburger that could be his last meal for a few days...

He said that Jesus would bless us both
....and I do believe he's right.

there was a post here yesterday "Jesus was a Democrat"
and I think there is a HUGE divorce of reason for those super rich and falsely rich folks...they fail to realize that it is just monopoly money, and that The END Game is ultimately in the hands of a corrupt government that will not allow them to "win". and in the meantime, those of us who seem to be 'losing'
WE are the ones who are building community, who are finding their gumption and, yes, their faith... because honestly, when the pantry is empty and the gas is shut off and the wind is blowing...that's really all we have left.


that, and eachother :hug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Yes

I bow to your wisdom, compassion, and generosity.

And yes, in the end, all we have is each other.

Forgive me for sharing one more story, which you have possibly heard. A woman had a dream of Hell and of Heaven, and she was telling a friend about it.

"In Hell, everyone was sitting at a table filled with every good thing to eat. But they had no hands-just spoons that were so long they could not reach their mouths. Everyone was starving and crying."

"What was Heaven like?" the friend asked.

"Oh, the situation was exactly the same, "the woman said, "except in Heaven everyone was feeding each other."

[Warpy]

11. Ask her to think about how fortunes have been made

Tell her to think about Bill Gates.

He bought a disc drive program and hired a bunch of people to keep developing it into a mass commodity.

Unless he'd had a lot of us poor folks standing around with money in our hands and a need for first small business and later home computers, he'd have lost everything. We did have the money and thought it was a nifty idea and now he has billions. Without us, he'd be broke and living with his parents.

No rich man ever gives out jobs or increases his wealth unless there are enough poor people with the money to demand goods and services to keep his money pump going. The money pump has always worked from the bottom up, not from the top down.

And that's why the people in the $2,000,000 houses should care about poor people. If those people don't have money to buy the stuff companies they have stock in produce, they're going to lose their big fancy houses and everything else along with them.

It's simple, really.