The Cost of Being Impoverished.

This is about the haves and the have nots . Poverty in America is growing. It shouldn’t be that way. The richest nation on Earth should be able to sustain a high standard of living for all of its citizens. That is the mark of a great nation.

Instead, the haves have come down with a disease that infects them and affects the have nots . It is called greed and there is not yet a vaccination to cure it or hold it at bay from infecting others. Greed is the inability to be happy with more wealth than you already have and makes you want more no matter who you have to hurt or roll over to get it.

The result is high levels of people, often working two or more jobs, still barely making it – living at poverty levels. Manyfall through the cracks and become homeless or are “captured” by the criminal justice system and are warehoused in the growing private prison industry that feeds the rich all the more.

Some of these people can draw on social services like food stamps, welfare payments, and the like – but the same people who have the greed are fighting to change the laws to reduce or withhold many of these “safety nets.”

In St. Louis, Missouri, where homelessness has been on our radar screen for far too many ridiculous reasons, logic has been turned upside down allowing this societal problem to fester and grow – all to the vocal consternation of the haves .

In St. Louis we had a homeless shelter that was helping, though it didn’t cure the problem, it did provide a safe and warm place for many to sleep at night and get a meal. But it was located adjacent a quickly gentrifying part of town. So, the haves adjusted the laws (not all laws are just, but that’s another story), and the shelter was condemned and closed. All this happened, as I mentioned, quickly so opposition could not be raised, and without an alternative place for these people to go for a meal and a place to sleep – on the hottest and coldest nights. The few other shelters in the region were already full or being closed as well.

Eventually, the City did something about the homeless problem but it was not only too little too late, but a slap in the face from a humanitarian standpoint. They created a new city shelter – one that handled a fraction of the homeless it could accommodate compared to the shelter they had shut down.

Thanks to compassionate citizens, who mobilized to the cry for help from the less fortunate, tents, blankets, and sleeping bags were provided to those left out (literally). Meals were provided nightly. Coats and clothing, toiletries, and more were collected and given out.

And then the insanity began. City Hall saw this as some kind of threat. The police were called. Tickets were issued and arrests were made for those who were feeding the hungry, clothing them, and giving them some semblance of a warm place to sleep. The small tent city that evolved for these folks who had nothing (including hope) and nowhere else to go, were torn down by city refuse workers and thrown into dump trucks to be hauled away. How dare they try to survive! Trying to live was obviously offensive to someone who slept in a warm bed at night, had plenty to eat, and obviously had the power to levy more cruelty upon those who had none of that.

It became a crime to be poor and to help the poor. Jesus Christ (sic)!

Sure, people are born into poor situations. That’s because the systems we have to keep people down are generational.

Sure, a few find a way to make it out of poverty to affluence – through education, talent, sheer hard work, ingenuity, pure luck and other means. But these are the exceptions. Though for most the “system” is stacked against them. The myth that everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps is all but impossible – especially if you have no boots. You see, the "self made men" aren't self made. They made their wealth on the backs of others. Don't be fooled otherwise.

Most, but not all, of poverty in St. Louis is along racial lines or the color of one’s skin. There is some public sympathy and empathy, but it is not widespread. Privilege is something in society that is coveted and most are unwilling to give it up or share it. It goes beyond having a place to sleep or a meal each day. It overflows into our criminal justice system and the rules that allow citizens to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Here are a few:

A have is stopped by the police for a broken tail light. Chances are, that driver gets a warning ticket. A have not is stopped (more frequently, I might add) for the same infraction, ticketed and taken to jail, where he/she cannot afford bail of $500. He is being held in jail until his court date because he does not have $500 cash to post for bail.

This is illegal. This is a debtor’s prison. St. Louis has one of these. It is full of people who are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But because they do not have the financial means to post bail, they sit in jail – sometimes for months – while they can lose their job, their apartment (not working, no rent money), their children (not there, family services takes them away), and more. There is an unusually high rate of suicides in these debtor’s prisons too. As well as health problems since health care there is rarely provided. This jail is also infested with mice, rats, fleas, black mold and other structural problems.

The jail in St. Louis is called the Workhouse, a carryover from Jim Crow times of imposed pseudo slavery. What does that tell you?

Another: A have commits rape. Because of connections and privilege, he gets a sentence of only a few months and will probably be released earlier for good behavior. He was white and held a position of power in his community. This is not unusual.

A have not is arrested at a protest demonstration. He is charged with arson, burglary and stealing. He is only 19 years old. The prosecutor says, “We should make an example of him.” – shades of lynching. He is sentenced to eight years in prison. The evidence that he set any fires or stole anything was sketchy. He is black.

Justice is not blind in America. It certainly isn’t color blind or wealth blind. Often it is not gender blind.

We all watched recently as a woman had credible charges of a judge assaulting her in their teens. He was before the Senate for a Supreme Court confirmation. Other women came forward with similar charges. He was not fully investigated after these charges were made. The initial woman was heard, but then ignored. He retorted angrily without providing proof of innocence. He had privilege. She was a woman. It’s that simple. He joined the SCOTUS; she returned home unable to return to her home because of death threats.

If you have money, position, or power; are white or male; or have other connections, life is easier in the U.S. You can buy property in any neighborhood, attend any school, join any country club, shop in any mall, and not be scared to death that you may be stopped by the police, put in jail without due process, and worse. If you are perceived as resisting the police, you can be shot even if unarmed and the police officer not charged or found guilty.

This has to change. We have to learn to help others. Pull them upward. It is not sport to harm others just because they are different than you. Equal opportunity for all people no matter who they are does not mean less opportunity for you. It's not pie.