The tragic events unfolding in Texas are another example of how close most Americans are to disaster. According to reports, Texas officials knew winter storms could leave the state’s power grid vulnerable. Still, they left the choice to prepare for harsh weather up to the power companies — many of which opted against the costly upgrades. That, plus a deregulated energy market largely isolated from the rest of the country’s power grid, left the state alone to deal with the crisis.  As always, the decisions that led to the failure of the Texas grid came down to money.  Money that the wealthy pocketed at the expense of their constituents and consumer’s well-being.  Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly in America, where a tiny percentage of wealthy control the vast majority of income and routinely make decisions to increase that wealth with no regard to the needs of the many or the well-being of the planet itself.

I’ve spent most of my adult life working with NYC’s neediest population, the last nine years exclusively with the homeless population. Every day I see hard-working men and women, many with multiple jobs who, after 16 hour days, have to go home to a shelter because the cost of living far outweighs the wages they are paid. All of this, while a tiny segment of society controls most of the wealth, ensures Congress continues to give them tax breaks, and live in luxury off their employees’ sweat. The COVID 19 pandemic is a perfect example. Big corporations got bailed out, Millionaires and Billionaires got wealthier, and most Americans were told here’s 600 dollars make that work. It is disgraceful, and America must address its income inequality issues and stop with the pull yourself up by the bootstraps; we’re not a socialist country mantra and recognize that no nation can prosper forever when the majority of its citizens are one paycheck away from disaster