Who's Complaining?

My dad worked hard. He worked everyday from 8 to 5 at a tiny desk with a crippled leg that caused him chronic pain.  He worked hard with his one eye  as the sole supporter of two children who were less than grateful.  I don't ever remember him taking a sick day or an extended vacation. 

My dad sacrificed his dreams to help his parents and he sacrificed his health to raise his children.  He sacrificed his freedom and  his dignity.  He cooked dinner every night, cleaned every Saturday and took me to church every Sunday.  He worried himself into debt and never complained at the turns his life had taken.  He lived and died in pain.  He deserved much better.  I have no idea if he was happy.  I hope somewhere in between his poor health and his poverty he found moments of joy. He was a good man.

My dad believed the American fairytale.  That all citizens have equal opportunity for success.  He believed that hard work would create success and wealth.  Even at the end, as he suffered with cancer and the painful tumors that were attaching to his spinal cord, he was able to justify why his disability claim was denied.  There were people worse off who needed the money. 

My fellow Republicans:  IT IS WRONG...To continue the lie that those who are wealthy worked hard and those who are poor are lazy;  IT IS WRONG  to take pride in your own accomplishments without recognizing the "hand-ups" your community and your country provided you;  IT IS WRONG to resist and refuse participation in giving back to the country that afforded you these blessings and opportunities; IT IS WRONG to selfishly insult those in poverty who "just suck off the system" and not credit those in poverty who helped create your wealth. IT IS WRONG to deny that the color of a persons skin can still be a barrier to safety and success.  We cannot wipe our hands and declare that prejudice does not exist.

There can be a partnership between success and compassion. If we all embraced generosity as a way of life, we could remove labels like "socialism" and "capitalism", which try to demonize both success and fairness. 

And America is certainly not fair. Our government places ambiguous and ever-changing numbers which control whether some people can have medical care or not. Can have an education or not.  Can have food or not. Can have disability income or not.  People learn to survive within a system that is complicated and prejudicial with whatever skills and resources they have available.  If the poor in our country are fighting a class war, it is certainly not the poor who started it. 

"The opposite of poverty is not wealth.  The opposite of poverty is justice."