When someone is hungry and is given food, thirsty and is given drink, homeless and is given shelter, it can be regarded as a holy thing. (Matthew 25:31-46 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’)

In America, where “least” is defined quantitatively by the almighty dollar, giving to others in need is typically regarded as an act of charity.  The country that has maligned the words of Karl Marx “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” as dangerous and communistic, the country that touts its “dream” of rugged individuality wherein hard work guarantees the good life (home, a chicken in every pot, etc.), is a country that has many citizens for whom realizing the good life is an impossibility.  Lost here in the land of opportunity is the person, the humanity, the understanding that we are all essentially the same.  When the real – if usually cloaked – god is the almighty dollar, things can get pretty mixed up for people who are not lucky enough to be “born well.”  The value of “unskilled” laborers is faint, and these individuals are often despised.  At the same time, a demand for the hardest (physical) work remains ever-present. The people who have money to eat out, hire a house cleaner or gardener, and spend carelessly to satisfy their wishes are concerned with the service and not with the humans who provide the help.  They give at church and feel very holy and sanctimonious.  Where is the equality, the justice, the holiness in that?

In an OP-ED piece by Barbara Ehrenreich in the New York Times entitled Too Poor to Make the News, Ehrenreich notes that Larry Mishel, the president of the economic policy institute, offers data showing that blue-collar unemployment is increasing three times as fast as white-collar unemployment.  What a shock…not.  Our systemic failure and policy that support the dominance of the affluent and overlooks the suffering of those doing the actual life “work” is a natural byproduct of the unequal capitalist system that we enjoy.

I know that I am privileged…not only white privilege, but economically and socially privileged.  Reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” helped me understand the living circumstances and day to day routine of someone who is working multiple minimum wage jobs in order to survive. It also led me to question the ‘unskilled’ terminology associated with these lines of work that are so essential to everyday existence and social progress.  The outlay of energy and the effort and physical consequences of the work do not in any way match the amount of money earned or the social value imbued. In a nutshell…how dare we???

I am humbled by our readings.  I am incensed by our readings.  I am inspired by our readings that we can be the change that we want in the world.