PP #47: A Stark Contrast in Humanity
Project: Pioneer #47, August 5, 2024 Monday 9am
We went on another mission to a different big city. As we walked those streets, little Pia seemed in distress and not understanding why there was nowhere for her relief, only hard steel and concrete as far as the eye could see. It was a stark contrast to her pioneer home with us in the woods. She seemed sad, and I wanted to bring her home. She took note of the humans lying on the sidewalk, helpless, and looked up at me as if to ask why.
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As we walked the city streets in the blistering heat, we passed countless glittering storefronts filled with $1,000 shoes and $3,000 bags, supermodel clothing worn by dead-eyed soulless mannequins. At the foot of each storefront lay a human being curled fetal on cardboard, motionless, covered in rags, the only sign of life a thin stream of yellow urine escaping into the gutter.
Other humans walked by, trying not to look, trying not to think of the horror of that poor individual’s existence, and the massive disparity in the quality of life of two biologically identical specimens on this tiny speck of a planet. Taking care to step over the stream of piss, they averted their gaze to their phones and maintained a quick pace, but not too quick as to dislodge their iEarbuds. “I have problems, too,” I’m sure many of them concluded. “That clown next door just bought the new iBeemer and I’m still driving that crappy 2023 Lexus. I’ll help people more after I hit my goals.” I’m sure some went with, “Ugh, why can’t someone get these gross people off the street, they scare me.”
I’ve been to some of the most impoverished places in the world. I saw small children squatting naked to defecate outside broken down huts just a block away from luxury fortress-like hotels in Mumbai, India. I walked past the rickety cardboard and plywood favelas in Sao Paulo, Brazil with strings of incredibly dangerous makeshift electrical wiring weaving throughout. When it sparks, they die a horrible death.
It always brought me back to the time I was homeless in winter, as I described in my novel Farawayer. It feels hopeless, and you wonder why nobody will help. You vow, if you ever get back on our feet, to help others. That may be a reason that in my past professional financial life, there was always a clear distinction between how much average people gave to charity versus high-net worth individuals, and it always sickened me.
Giavana and I give monthly to a growing list of charities, and we just added The National Alliance to End Homelessness. I’m now giving basically any money I make from this journal to them as well. When I talk to others, it seems clear that people with money take an attitude that it’s these folks’ fault they haven’t “made it,” because after all, they did (forgetting, for many of them, that inherited silver spoon). They’re dismissive of the fact that most of the homeless are from impoverished backgrounds, and/or have been abused all their lives, and suffering from mental illness. It’s the folks who have been down and out, or currently struggling with their own everyday issues, that have empathy and tend to help.
The wealthy see the homeless as a nuisance, cluttering up their vision of 1940s utopia where smartly dressed Mad Men strut clean city streets to their three-martini jobs while their obedient doting wives spend their days vacuuming, gossiping, making dinner, and picking out something to wear at bedtime to please their hard-working man when he returns home from “networking” at the country club. Incredibly, we just saw a Supreme Court decision making homelessness a crime. “Lock them up!” as the chant goes on the right. They have mental illness, so let’s also teach them how to crime, of course!
There are reasons for impoverishment in some areas of the world, I suppose. But how can it exist here, this shining city on the hill as Reagan called it, the wealthiest country in the history of the world? This quote goes to the theory that those on the right fault these desperate people, and their continual policies that evoke their cruelty toward those less fortunate, or who are different in any way. Republicans continually slash funding for programs to help those in need. They see it as strategic—they can then say, “Look at these shitty democratic-run cities!”
Mr. “Shiny City On the Hill” Reagan left a legacy of doing great harm to programs for those with mental health issues and the homeless. Ironically, he was shot by one of them. As was Trump, another viciously cruel human being (and, incidentally, he was shot at by a registered Republican!) Even though it was clearly a small ear cut from a glass shard that magically fully healed in three days of applying a tampon to the side of his head, but that’s a story for another day.
I always frame these things by imagining Jesus walking among us, and wondering what would he do. It’s not hard to imagine, it’s actually what he did do—help those in need, those with less. It’s what we were asked to do. Hopefully, by now you’re wondering if you’re giving enough, helping enough. If you think you’re struggling, juxtapose your situation against those on the city streets we just visited, or those in Mumbai and Sao Paulo, dying in the blistering heat and other climate catastrophes we’re causing.
Have you noticed we’re just complacently sliding toward a life where we’re forced indoors, unable to do our usual outdoor things due deadly heat, torrential rain, lightning, thunder, extreme winds? Remember to tell your grandkids someday what summer used to be like. It will sound magical to them, but be prepared to answer when they ask what you did to help prevent this.
I wonder how this homelessness can be happening, when we have citizens of this country with immeasurable wealth, who literally make tens of millions of dollars a day and pay no taxes? When we have supposedly benevolent “religious” and “Christian” organizations that have immeasurable wealth around the world and pay no taxes? I’ll tell you how—greed, hate, and ignorance. The calling cards of the right.
This is where you see the stark contrast in the messaging of the two presidential candidates in the US. One is telling you those impoverished people are coming to take what’s yours, and should be locked up and/or killed. They promise to teach them a lesson by taking the nursing babies off their mother’s breast, forever. The other side is providing a message of hope. They’re saying that every family, every individual in this incredibly wealthy country deserves a minimum standard of dignity and standard of living. Pay attention to what they’re saying. We get there partly by making sure the uber-wealthy pay their fair share, whether they like it or not. Vote. Make sure your friends and family are registered and get a mail-in ballot if possible. Understand the assignment!
To help others, you have to get yourself right. Hopefully you get to a place financially where you can help more and more over the course of your life. I always recommend the book I love the most, Kiss Your Money Hello (and Financial Stress Goodbye) and also see the upcoming Plan Your Money Path by the same author. Build wealth the right way, and use it to help others. You’ll feel so good, such worthy self-esteem, set a good example for any kids you might have (involve them!), and maybe pave your way to that blissful eternity we’re promised.
This pioneer journey continues…
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