The Invisible Americans

[Mythsaje]

Every day in America there are people who have to fight to figure out how to buy food AND pay their utility bill. Who have to figure out how to pay for gas AND their car insurance. Who have to decide whether it's more important to buy more school clothes, or to get school supplies.

Like the survivors of the Katrina disaster who are still waiting for someone, anyone, to step up and help them regain their feet, these people are the invisible Americans the "trickle down" doesn't reach.

They may have medical issues that make it harder for them to get and keep a job. They may have family issues that require more involvement in their kids' lives than the average working parent. They might be a single parent striving to shoulder all the burdens that a single parent must carry.

We offer few avenues of escape for people who are buried under an avalanche of responsibility. What they need is for someone, anyone, to step up and say to them, "here, let me take a little of that off your hands."

It should not have been impossible for America to provide homes for those who lost everything when Katrina drowned New Orleans. Many, many Americans voluntarily made sacrifices to help these people without any guidance and leadership from the government. But a concerted effort on the part of our leaders might well have taken care of the issue. And, even had the government NOT been willing or able to shoulder the load, the corporate media could have done a lot more to show Americans that their assistance would still be appreciated.

We have an obligation to our neighbors, an obligation to our fellow travelers on this spinning globe. And all the excuses in the world won't make it go away. Humanity is both the sum of our parts, and the true reason behind our existence. If we cannot stretch out our hands to those who need it most, if we cannot open our eyes to the suffering of those with the least, we do not deserve the title.

It's time we acknowledged these invisible Americans and pulled them into the light. No other course can be justified.

[Skittles]

1. I am so pissed

they want 50 billion more for that piece of shit war - that money should be flowing to New Orleans

[silverojo]

2. K&R for a very important issue! n/t

[OneBlueSky]

3. they're invisible, and the intention is to make sure they remain so . . .

the last thing BushCo wants is for the invisible Americans to become visible, informed, engaged and, perish the thought, politically active . . . once they get 'em down, they intend to keep 'em down . . .

[canetoad]

4. and YOU have an obligation,

as a writer, to stop twinkle-toeing about the topics you embrace and express yourself with the vehemence and passion these causes deserve.

Personally, I find your writings turgid and uninteresting. Noted are you attemps to self-publicise your posts. Mixed metaphors do not a dramatic background set.

It is time to stop blaming the room for not appreciating your words, time to consider what kind of attention you seek.

[Mythsaje]

5. If you're going to criticize someone's writing, Cane

I suggest you edit your own post.

[canetoad]

6. Prolly made a typo

Not unusual. Is that a bigger crime than being stodgy and irrelevant?

[Bitwit1234]

7. How can you expect bush's administration

to respond to everybody. He has to cut taxes, give tax breaks and make sure the corporations in this country get welfare. He can't take taxpayers money and distribute it to social programs. What do we think we are AMERICANS.

The republicans tell us over and over we are the ones in the country bush should take care of. Forget the 75% that don't approve of his actions they are unpatriotic. They don't support this killing war, they don't kiss bush butt and they are decent honorable people.

He only caters to the crooked, corrupt perverts called republicans.

[Hope springs eternal]

8. Food Stamps should be expanded greatley

It's a crime that working families don't qualify. There's no excuse.