I'll just have you read the
quote embellished on the image of Norman Mailer. Poverty is a worldly
problem. It is indigenous to all countries. It is a plight that sucks
innocent people into a cycle few of the entrapped ever break free of.
And what's worse is that the more affluent feed off it.
The Joys of Jamaica
Being of the marrying kind
(twice and I'm sure there's another in waiting somewhere) I spent one
honeymoon (short lived trust me) at a resort in Jamaica. I love to
horseback ride. Where ever I go Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Florida,
anywhere I look for a facility to go horseback riding. It always is a
highlight of any trip for me. Well me and my “divorce to be” did
so. Part of the ride included a trip through a backwoods area. All
the shelters were slapped together corrugated rusty metal shacks with
no electric or plumbing. The people would come out to see us and
wave. Who knows when their last meal or what their last meal was.
For me, what should have been a tremendous highlight became a
sickening slap in the face. You see we were vacationing in opulence
right next to a shanty town wallowing in filth and poverty. The
abundance of food thrown away in a day by our resort could have fed
these people for a month. And just to think they had to barely get
by through the yearly hurricane season in these metal hovels while
elegant shelter stood a stone's throw away.
It's no different
elsewhere
Years ago a supermarket
chain commissioned a study that found a full time worker with a
family of four qualified for government assistance. Yeah, that's here
in the good old USA. One of our glorious fast food chain that happens
to make billions had it's employee helpline advise workers to apply
for government assistance. A food chain brought in a new CEO to guide
the company out of bankruptcy. In less than two years the chain went
under and it's rumored that the CEO was listed as a creditor, his
severance package wasn't large enough. It's a quite common practice
for businesses flourishing in the millions and billions to offer low
pay to those who really are the reason the companies profit.
And so the cycle of
poverty persists
There's something wrong in
the overall business model where the main company flourishes and the
workers barely get by. One theme a chain store promoted to it's
employees was to shop there, show your support and company pride.
The problem was most couldn't afford to. We can only create change
when companies start paying on a scale that allows the employees to
share in some way in the profits. Many smaller businesses do and
they don't rake in that of the higher profit stores and businesses.
But their employees are happier, stay longer, and seem to afford a
better lifestyles.
Poverty In America (Full Feature) from Rich Naran on Vimeo.
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