we have to do better

someone i care about broke my heart this morning. she’s a young woman in her mid thirties, divorced, with young kids. she lives with a boyfriend who seems to be abusive. she works at two jobs to make ends meet. she told me she makes $20,000 a year. she cannot afford to leave her boyfriend. her family doesn’t help. the tears began to flow as she shared all of this with me. how is one supposed to survive on $20,000? what kind of society would think that it’s ok to pay someone such a pittance? the inequality in our country, in our world, is nothing less than gross. those who have, are told they are entitled to it because they are better than others (smarter, more hardworking, more entrepreneurial) but in truth, they were just lucky at some point in their lives (mostly at birth) and might not have been able to hack it under different circumstances. everyone’s work is valuable. it’s what makes our community strong, stimulating, and simply functional. there is no justification for such disparities. this is just one story. there are many worse. we have to do better.

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