Tears for America: The Continuing Plight of the Working Poor
Tears for America and the continuing plight of the working poor.
My upbringing and my adventures as a travel photographer have brought home to me the inequities between rich and poor that exist around our world. Here's some thoughts dedicated to those enduring ongoing suffering, particularly the working poor.
The plight of the working poor continues. In rich, Western countries it’s beyond reason that educated, working people have to sleep in their cars because they don’t earn enough money to provide decent shelter for themselves and their families.
It’s fair to say that, as I get older, I rarely take a black or white position on issues, believing that truth usually lies in between, existing somewhere between the greys.
However, there are exceptions, and I hate it when debates, discussions and negotiations become stuck in minutia, becoming barriers to achieving a desirable outcome.
Sometimes, the best way forward, is to simply get on with it.
At such times it’s best not to worry too much about achieving a perfect solution. Just push onwards and nudge the needle in the right direction.
Rinse and repeat and, eventually, the desired result will be achieved.
Even when you fail to achieve all your goals, your actions can achieve positive outcomes that have a real and immediate benefit on the lives of others.
Needless to say, that’s the whole point of the exercise.
While sympathy is good and empathy is better, it's the actions we take that matter most.
Like a Bolt of Lightning out of a Clear Blue Sky
I'm remembering back to an amazing Four Corners (ABC TV, Australia) documentary titled America's Broken Dreams which dealt with life for the dispossessed, formerly middle class, in the USA.
I found it to be chillingly honest and compelling viewing. Real reality TV, that’s how I’d describe it.
This investigative report dealt with what, for many, has become the sad reality of the American Dream.
I love Americans and I admire the positivity and hard working ethic that has underpinned their rise to superpower statues.
And, not for one moment, would I want to diminish the defining difference the US military made in both world wars.
Yet, at the same time, I have long been opposed to the winner takes it all attitude that’s run, like an undercurrent, powering that nation’s economic rise.
The notion that Greed is Good is alive and well, rising its ugly head and devastating the lives of so many good people, both at home and abroad.
Frankly, I despair at the loss of standing of the USA in our modern world.
We know where it’s come from, and I'm not here to defend nor attack the actions of governments, past or present, nor to defend the quintessential annoying and loud mouth tourist.
Nevertheless, to those who seek to continually criticize, may I remind you that it's always the USA that is expected to carry the heavy load, whether financial or military, when the dirty work needs to be done.
The lives of far too many servicemen and women have been lost along the way. Yet, despite my admiration for the USA, I'm happy living where I do.
How is it that this nation, long considered the home of freedom and democracy, can allow its people to suffer so badly for so long?
My own country, Australia, is far from perfect. Life here seems to be getting harder for most, regardless of the ubiquitous all time highs being reached on the stock exchange.
I’m not one for higher taxation, but for more responsible and better targeted government spending.
Frankly, it’s inexcusable that we have so little control over our own mineral resources, particularly given the insanely high prices Australian’s are charged for electricity and gas.
What’s more, I seriously wonder if we need Federal, State and Local branches of government.
Life for the Educated, Working Poor
The Four Corners report, that I mentioned previously, provided direct and honest insights into life for the working poor in America. More and more of whom are highly educated.
But the show was not without hope, showcasing a local church that had set aside an outdoor car park, staffed by volunteers, where families could safely park their cars.
The families would sleep in the carpark overnight, and either one or both parents would head off during the day to look for work.
However, even those folk that are successful finding work, often have to scrape by on the national disgrace that is the minimum wage in the USA.
I was shocked to discover that the minimum wage in the United States of America is only USD $7.25 per hour. Remarkably, that rate has remained unchanged since July 2009.
I do understand that many states across the U.S.A. have higher minimum wages, with Washington topping the bill at USD $16.66 per hour.
But given the cost of living, not to mention the bitterly cold winter temperatures throughout much of the country, I just don’t know how people manage.
The U.S.A. is a powerful and wealthy country, blessed with abundant natural resources and 25,000 miles (40,000 km) of navigable waterways.
The U.S. river system, particularly the Mississippi River watershed, is a huge, low-cost transportation network on which more than 630 million US tons of cargo is shipped annually.
Yet, like Australia, the US has trouble adequately feeding its own.
For the Tired, the Poor and the Huddled Masses
One of the things that really bothered me about that Four Corners report was that, while the outside car park had been offered to folk, I couldn't understand why the church had not been utilized to house them.
How is it, in such a rich country, that good, decent people are left to fend for themselves without more assistance?
If a country can mobilize service personnel and civilians alike during wartime, how is it that more can't be done during times of peace to provide adequate shelter for those most in need?
Can it be that hard to mobilize final year teaching students to provide education for poor and disadvantaged kids?
Likewise, final year medical students, social workers and the like could also provide valuable support to the working poor.
These folks could either be paid a basic stipend by the government or, alternatively, receive a voucher for their services (tax rebate, ticket to a free concert, movie vouchers, etc).
I understand security issues exist but, in the right venues, I’m sure more could be done.
I also understand that government alone can't, by itself, fix many of these problems.
But government can provide the momentum and tax breaks by which communities and companies alike can work together to make real and tangible differences to the lives of the working poor.
Regulations be damned! Government should be the great enabler, not a yoke around the neck of small business and entrepreneurs.
During war, opposing political parties suspend petty rivalries and join forces to get the job done.
Perhaps legislation needs to be passed to allow for similar cooperation during times of severe economic crisis.
I just don't understand how it is that governments can act quickly and decisively to rescue banks and financial institutions, with tax payers money, and then expect that those at the bottom end of the pyramid will be supported solely through the good graces of their community.
Yes, there's manpower a plenty, but you have to organize and support it. All after, that’s what’s done during those excessively long and excruciating torrid election campaigns.
the Power of Momentum and The Working Poor
There must be thousands of church, scout and school halls, and associated car parks, throughout the country that could be made available to help those in need.
And what about the military? They could provide security, perhaps as part of basic training.
My belief is there's always plenty of money in a country like the USA, or Australia for that matter, it's just a matter of how it's allocated.
Charities and church organizations need to be empowered, and I was heartened by a range of symbolic gestures from the previous Pope to combat injustice and historic child abuse committed by priests and brothers with the Catholic Church.
Well, how about some action?
The Catholic church is, I believe, the second largest non-government landowner in the western world, behind McDonalds.
With flocks dwindling, at least in the western world, don't tell me they don't have the space.
I shouldn't have to point you to passages in the bible for motivation. And I'm sure such actions, though radical, would be good for business.
I believe the Previous Pope appeared to be working to make a real difference to the lives of the disadvantaged in our world.
Regardless of our own, individual beliefs I’d say he was everyone's Pope or no one's Pope. The choice is as much yours as it was his. And that goes for all religious leaders.
I just wish religion was less about real estate or the need to convert souls. Just get on with the job of helping people and the rest will look after itself, in a way that doesn't result in war.
The Working Poor and the Corporate World
And what's the corporate world doing to solve the plight of the poor and disadvantaged?
Imagine utilizing the skills of Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, X, Pinterest and the like to spread the word through social media.
I believe large companies should be encouraged to allow employees to work, one day a month, as a volunteer to help care for those in need.
That time could be invested in the office or out there, at the cold face. You couldn't ask for a better way to build employee satisfaction and enhance brand loyalty.
And why not court participation from film, TV and music stars?
Where is Hollywood in all of this?
And what about those so-called celebrity and reality shows.
For goodness sake, get your head out of the gutter and give folks some positive, life-affirming stories about real people?
There are no better stories than what's going on out there in the real world. And I don't mean those staged TV shows with people desperately seeking their ten minutes of fame.
I mean the human condition that's being played out, each and every day, in the lives of the working poor.
I just wish the entertainment industry, including the nightly news, would take their head out of their own underwear and take a look at the world around them.
Am I right?
If you’ve found this post resonates with you please, take a moment to Like and Share it widely and wildly.
