Yesterday on Marketplace they described a Washington lobbyist's wife who has a "gift-wrapping room" in her house. Not only does she have a room just for that, she orders sheets of uncut money from the Treasury and uses them as wrapping paper. I won't go on and on about how emblematic of this administration that story seems -- but I can't get it out of my mind.
Fay Weldon once wrote -- after describing the very different meals two of her characters were enjoying (one was mega-rich and the other, due to plot twists, was in a state home for abandoned kids):
"If there is any real wickedness in the world, it is that the haves have so much and the have-nots have so little."
For awhile, the history of this county seemed to be about reducing the gap; but in my lifetime, it's grown. A lot.
I'm writing this here to get it out of my system - these kinds of thoughts do NOT help in writing a novel, even one that takes place (as my current novel does) in the early 1800s in England. Or maybe they do help -- maybe these feelings (like the ones in Anna's yoga training that put more energy into teaching) can fuel creating a world that's very different. A fictional world, that is.
I know exactly how you feel. A month or two ago, when gas prices were the highest they've been, and all we heard about were people doing losing their homes, the Today Show did a piece on the uber-wealthy in America. While so many are struggling, I didn't need to see stories about folks with 30 cars in the garage and how simply making more money was their goal in life.
ReplyDeleteI do think the gap is growing more quickly then ever, and it frustrates and saddens me.
Tricia! Thank you for responding...I hesitated to post this because I wasn't sure how interesting it would be to anyone else. It would good to know that you not only read it, you understand how I feel and even feel the same way. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteLibby
wrapping with money, eh? That's super. I hate the bush administration. Have you watched Frontline's Bush's War? Ugh. Sad stuff.
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