If capitalism has its way, and if our government continues to preen and prance and pretend they're not stomping bunny heads, then in January somewhere between 6 million households and 40 million people will be without heat and/or home, adding a depth of meaning to powerless and arguing that eviction is a path to freedom. Never mind that free (homeless) bunnies with stomped heads are helpless and hopeless and sad, those in Washington will celebrate the American way and those on the ground will be left to navigate this Dickensian scene of modern-day poverty and injustice.

What is puzzling me though is the uproar over this human atrocity only now, when before the pandemic, (according to un.org), we were averaging between 3 and 4 million eviction filings and approximately 1.5 million evictions per year for at least the last two decades. Is there alarm now because before the pandemic, evictions disproportionately impacted minorities and single moms? People who (many of us believe) have themselves to blame for their circumstance? And now this pandemic, practicing inclusiveness, is impacting many who do not deserve this equality? People who (many of us believe) have minorities and single moms to blame for their circumstance?

If we act for 6 million, why would we not be moved to act for 1.5 million? And why would we not be moved to act for 3 to 4 million? Does it help to see 3 to 4 million as 4,100 people per day? Individual people who are threatened, intimidated and terrorized on a monthly basis? If you think this is overstated, go talk (and really listen for understanding) to a single mom who is terrified by the prospect of homelessness while also facing utility cutoffs and food insecurity, all with limited transportation options and new babies to take care of.

As I write this, there are tears of grief, sorrow, anger, outrage. As I write this, I see 1 face out of 1,500,000; 1 face out of 4,000,000; 1 face out of a possible 40,000,000. As I seek answers for 1, I only find more tears. But, by seeking answers for 1, I feel for 40,000,000.

I believe Humanity is capable of seeing a face and showing compassion for an individual. I believe Humanity is capable of seeing a crisis or catastrophe and showing compassion for a defined group of individuals. But it appears to me that Humanity is incapable of showing compassion for a faceless mass, forgetting that this mass is made up of individual faces. Is the current uproar then due to the dramatic increase in numbers? And if so, will we get used to it, forget it and move on? Or is it really because this crisis has impacted (what our leaders consider to be) real Americans? Or at 6 million and 40 million have we passed a certain proportional threshold that offends sensibility? Have the numbers simply gotten too big to ignore? Regardless, Humanity has always been harsh and judgmental, and Life always has the potential to be hard. Yet today we continue to pretend to be full of compassion and empathy; it is a lie.

I really have to come back to the pre-pandemic disproportionality vs the pandemic inclusiveness. As appalling and repulsive as it is to think, it truly appears that we are a nation of elitist bigots. Until we overcome this empathyless national infirmity, those who look different (minorities and immigrants), those who fall into circumstance created and perpetuated by rich white men (poor people, single moms and felons), those born into less opportunity than advertised, those who don't take advantage of the opportunity there is, and those who are on the overcrowded side of the ever-widening wealth gap, will continue to be victimized. The funny part here, (at least funny to the rich white men and the 9.9% born on third base), is that even though the potential victims constitute a large majority of all Americans, somewhere around one-half of this majority remain active, bona fide, card-carrying elitist bigots, and I would guess that at least half of the remaining half are (to varying degrees) closeted supporters.

My entire life I have (for reasons unknown to me) had a full-bodied disrespect for the pursuit of wealth. And though money may be the most obvious measure of wealth, other factors including social standing, position, power, family, health, education, and culture also contribute mightily to one’s sense of wealth and well-being. And I suppose it is not a huge leap for one of the majority to act as an elitist bigot based on an overinflated sense of personal value which in turn is based on any one or any combination of these other factors. Our system of measurement is wrong; it is unjust, immoral and misguided. Perhaps my disrespect for money and status stems from my very strong belief that every 1 of the 7,831,190,117 individuals living on this planet in this moment are as necessary as every other one. I will never understand why or how someone would or could prioritize their bank balance over the needs of a victim. Whether that victim could or could not have made a better decision at some point in the recent or distant past to alter their trajectory should make no difference; statistics show they will, regardless, land on a ladder rung very near to where they began, and be prohibited from climbing too far. So, if today they are a victim, (as are 90% of us in this country), why would we choose to withhold available wealth and rob them of their personal sense of significance? Why would we choose to turn our backs and allow them to question and doubt their self-worth? Why would I choose to believe that I am any more necessary than they are?

Today, utilizing a capitalistic yardstick, I am solidly in the bottom 50%, yet I was fortunate to be born on first base, and for many years, decades, I believed I had hit a single; I did not. I may still be (barely) hanging on to first base, but the lineup behind me is weak and in this game there are no sacrifices. Some are born on third base and go through their life believing they hit a triple. Many are born on the bench and never get in the game, and some are born in the squalor two blocks from the ballpark and have never seen a game. There is wealth in this nation and we withhold it on a daily basis, believing that the minorities and the single moms and the immigrants and the felons and the poor and those born in the dugout or in the minor leagues or in the wrong neighborhood all created their own circumstance. The truth is all of these unfairly judged undesirables, all of these looked-down-upon deplorables, (all of them!) are no different than 90% of all of us living in these United States today. The top 0.1 percent of U.S. households hold 22 percent of this country’s wealth. The next 9.9 percent hold 55 percent of the wealth. The rest of us, the bottom 90 percent hold only 23 percent of wealth. To be in the 9.9 percent requires a net worth of between 1.2 and 2.4 million dollars; they’re doing okay. The rest of us? Ninety percent of us? We are victims. Yet many of us pretend to be wealthy in some obscure way and show off this imagined wealth by becoming an elitist bigot. And this is exactly what the top ten percent want. If this were not truth, we would see more of them denounce their wealth and prioritize human dignity over their bank balance.

It is overwhelming for us to think about numbers as big as 6 million; or 40 million; or even 1.5 million. It is overwhelming for me to think about 1. All I ask for, from our government, is justice. But because our nation and our government and our individual leaders are so beholden to capitalism, the mass will remain faceless, the individual will remain a victim, justice will continue to flounder, and I will continue to seek answers and shed tears.