What about it, Mistah Big?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The ‘great American dream’, we’ve all heard so much about – but is it really worth anything? Come to America (or grow up here, if that’s still worth something), start a business, work hard, get rich, and one day maybe some other rich person will be your friend – if it’s politically, racially, or socially appropriate, of course, for them to do so. You might get lucky enough to be included in their group of accomplished and obviously special people, indeed!

But what about the wealthy or rich, or whatever you like to call them? Most of us have asked that sort of question, at least to ourselves, at some time in our lives, but stop – there are those who rightly ask, why is it that we seem to praise them so often in so many things we see in the news, the media, and in our own lives every day? What if they’re really no different than the rest of us?

Why, then, are we teaching our children that the accumulation of wealth is some sort of righteous goal? Who else does it benefit? Look around you, upward mobility is sold to the poor like salvation to a country preacher’s flock, while the use of today’s virtual technology is sold like military training for the nerdy soldiers of today’s business-world armies. Meanwhile, the wealthy, as you might expect, have so many reasons (excuses) for being so, that the list would fill a smartphone – book.

The poor, on the other hand, have no such excuses for being poor. Millions in recent years have come to America to achieve that dream, and most of them will end up serving some other man’s journey, to find it not their own. Sadly, some will never realise this is the only real reason they were allowed to come illegally, but not to worry.

In the end, I’ve seen the truth of it: the wealthy will occupy a different part of the cemetery. The caretaker (a new immigrant) might take a little more time there, and isn’t that really worth it all? On the other hand, dead is dead and dirt is dirt, isn’t it, Mr Big Man?

ED MCCOY

Bokeelia, Florida