My post
Beautiful People,
On Friday in a special edition of ABC 20/20, Diane Sawyer heard from hardworking Americans about the realities they face in their daily lives. I watched Ronnie Thomas who commutes 80 miles by bike, bus, and train every day because he can't afford to live near his work.
Chris Smith who works as a firefighter and as a paramedic in two different towns to support his family, and Gaylord who donates his blood plasma specifically for money because he needs the extra cash for various purposes such as buying his daughter a bathing suit and a cake for her birthday. Most foreign plasma companies’ home countries have banned the practice of paying money for plasma; so instead, they compensate Americans for their blood.
I wasn’t able to fall asleep that night. I was sinking in a sea of thoughts about the value of commitment, survival, endurance, perseverance, life and love. The things that make us wake up every morning and keep on going without giving up.
Then the sea waters were separated and opened up a path. How divided we are. What went wrong? Why was middle-class America overlooked for so long? Since when polished articulation is a substitute for bold actions?
I thought about the chasm between classes in America and the opportunities available for each class. I recognized that ALL THE HOPE IN THE WORLD WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO FIX SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE.
I felt outraged when I thought about American billionaires and American corporations who made their fortune specifically from middle and lower class Americans. Those forward-thinking individuals and companies are hypersensitive about the environment and in love with the concept of social reasonability, but a substantial portion of their business and charity investments are in foreign countries.
Why do those American companies not prioritize their homeland? Why are they not as sensitive to the misery of their fellow Americans as they are to the suffering of people in other nations? Does water pollution in Flint, Michigan different from water pollution in India or Africa? Does access to education is that different to lower class America than it is to the people in developing countries? Does America’s opioid crisis is less urgent than the global refugee crisis?
In the Halacha, the collective body of Jewish religious laws developed from the written and oral Torah, the phrase “The poor of your city take precedence” attempts to solve the ambiguity surrounding dual loyalty.
In cases where dual loyalty to values and moral principles exists, I would argue that the poor of your city come first. We should do whatever we can to ease the suffering of others, yet we ought to start at home. No, it doesn’t make us self-centered, it makes us equally humane.
The double standard became the 'new normal' of the Adorables in America. One can go above and beyond to be social, economic, and politically correct when defending concepts or people in other countries, but insensitive, thoughtless, and comfortably numb to the residents of his adjacent neighborhood.
The elite, executives of big corporations, some of the media outlets, many unmerited politicians, and rowdy celebrities that use their platform to attack everyone who doesn’t share their opinions or enjoy the same pastime activities they do, should take a road trip to the fly-over country and feel America. A good rule of thumb is that doing is better than talking.
The relocation from New York to New Mexico was the greatest eye-opening experience I had in my life. In NYC, I watched Breaking Bad, in Albuquerque I lived it. I can describe the difference between my Manhattan reality and my Southwest reality in many words; however, words can never simulate reality.
If those genuinely concerned individuals and corporations lived in hidden America for a little while, they would not only feel the need but also understand how great the people’s potential is.
XO,
Sharon
Watch My Reality, A Hidden America on ABC 20/20 ABC News Diane Sawyer special report.
On Friday in a special edition of ABC 20/20, Diane Sawyer heard from hardworking Americans about the realities they face in their daily lives. I watched Ronnie Thomas who commutes 80 miles by bike, bus, and train every day because he can't afford to live near his work.
Chris Smith who works as a firefighter and as a paramedic in two different towns to support his family, and Gaylord who donates his blood plasma specifically for money because he needs the extra cash for various purposes such as buying his daughter a bathing suit and a cake for her birthday. Most foreign plasma companies’ home countries have banned the practice of paying money for plasma; so instead, they compensate Americans for their blood.
I wasn’t able to fall asleep that night. I was sinking in a sea of thoughts about the value of commitment, survival, endurance, perseverance, life and love. The things that make us wake up every morning and keep on going without giving up.
Then the sea waters were separated and opened up a path. How divided we are. What went wrong? Why was middle-class America overlooked for so long? Since when polished articulation is a substitute for bold actions?
I thought about the chasm between classes in America and the opportunities available for each class. I recognized that ALL THE HOPE IN THE WORLD WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO FIX SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE.
I felt outraged when I thought about American billionaires and American corporations who made their fortune specifically from middle and lower class Americans. Those forward-thinking individuals and companies are hypersensitive about the environment and in love with the concept of social reasonability, but a substantial portion of their business and charity investments are in foreign countries.
Why do those American companies not prioritize their homeland? Why are they not as sensitive to the misery of their fellow Americans as they are to the suffering of people in other nations? Does water pollution in Flint, Michigan different from water pollution in India or Africa? Does access to education is that different to lower class America than it is to the people in developing countries? Does America’s opioid crisis is less urgent than the global refugee crisis?
In the Halacha, the collective body of Jewish religious laws developed from the written and oral Torah, the phrase “The poor of your city take precedence” attempts to solve the ambiguity surrounding dual loyalty.
In cases where dual loyalty to values and moral principles exists, I would argue that the poor of your city come first. We should do whatever we can to ease the suffering of others, yet we ought to start at home. No, it doesn’t make us self-centered, it makes us equally humane.
The double standard became the 'new normal' of the Adorables in America. One can go above and beyond to be social, economic, and politically correct when defending concepts or people in other countries, but insensitive, thoughtless, and comfortably numb to the residents of his adjacent neighborhood.
The elite, executives of big corporations, some of the media outlets, many unmerited politicians, and rowdy celebrities that use their platform to attack everyone who doesn’t share their opinions or enjoy the same pastime activities they do, should take a road trip to the fly-over country and feel America. A good rule of thumb is that doing is better than talking.
The relocation from New York to New Mexico was the greatest eye-opening experience I had in my life. In NYC, I watched Breaking Bad, in Albuquerque I lived it. I can describe the difference between my Manhattan reality and my Southwest reality in many words; however, words can never simulate reality.
If those genuinely concerned individuals and corporations lived in hidden America for a little while, they would not only feel the need but also understand how great the people’s potential is.
XO,
Sharon
Watch My Reality, A Hidden America on ABC 20/20 ABC News Diane Sawyer special report.
No comments have been added yet.
