This is the season when the men who have managed to navigate their way through all of the hazardous corridors from their poor countries south of our border to this one end up on the corners of cities like mine selling bags of oranges.
Yesterday, I spoke with one of these men, as he stood in the cold air with plastic bags full of oranges. He was asking for a price of $9, which I decided to pay without bargaining, because I have a sense of how little of that gross price would end up in his torn pocket.
As he reached to hand me the change, I declined to accept it. "Para usted," I said, as I hoisted my bag of oranges over my shoulder and headed home. "Gracias, gracias," he shouted at me as I left.
One U.S. dollar!
The real "thank you" that ought to have been uttered was from all of us, here in the richest society on earth, regardless of our present circumstances, to people like him, who come from poverty beyond our imaginings. But we can never find the words to say it, and that is why America, as we know it, will no longer enjoy its privileges in future decades.
We have simply never come to grips with why we are as rich as we are. And that will prove to be the fatal flaw for this society. Until we join with our global brothers and sisters and recognize how we share a common fate, we will continue to wander lost in a desert of our own making...
2 comments:
You are absolutely right.
very nice blog
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