I am poor and ugly. Power does not understand or forgive poor and ugly.

• Poor is the opposite of wealth.
• Poor is the opposite of power.
• Poor is anyone who struggles daily for comfort.
• Poor is anyone who struggles daily to be heard.
• Poor is anyone who expects little and/or receives less.
• Poor is anyone faced with a dearth of opportunity.
• Ugly is anyone who looks less than ideal.
• Ugly is anyone who believes differently.
• Ugly is anyone who is uninteresting.
• Ugly is anyone who is inconsequential.
• Ugly is anyone who questions or challenges the status quo.
• Ugly is anyone who must be tolerated; thus undervalued and treated with contempt.
• Ugly is anyone who is poor.

I am poor and ugly. At first I thought to make the case that every one of us is poor and ugly. And that case could be made in that no one person is all of everything in every circumstance. And I can even understand, though not completely, how one who is entitled might believe they are all that, but what I cannot understand is how one who is poor and ugly, and is treated as such, and should recognize the fact, can believe they are entitled to treat another with contempt; to undervalue and compel and divide and dismiss in favor of the status quo; in favor of the entitled.

This week I saw a personalized license plate, on a big green Hummer, that said TOARMS. In addition there was an infowars.com sticker in the back window. This brazen “summons to engage in active hostilities” is someone struggling, going to great lengths, to be heard. He (like me) is also challenging the status quo. Together we are poor and ugly. The difference is, though he challenges the status quo, I believe his methods will only serve to maintain the status quo. His efforts, his struggle, will serve the wealthy, the powerful, the entitled. And he believes that screaming (as he does) at the top of his lungs is the same as being heard. And he believes this makes him consequential. I ask for reason. I ask for change. I ask for Beauty, Truth, Wisdom, Justice. I ask for urgency. But because “To Arms” compels and creates a greater sense of urgency than my quiet call for synergistic improvement, I am not heard. The vocal majority is moved by urgency, caught up in the divisive frenzy created by the rich and powerful. Today's vocal majority is made up of agitated, anxious, fearful, jittery individuals not paying enough attention to see that they (like me) are also poor and ugly. And to call for active hostilities, to arm jittery hands, (to me) does not feel like a good idea.