Poor and Proud

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He Who Divides and Shares

is Left with the Best Share

(Old Mexican Proverb)

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The word poor means different things for America than it does my country, Mexico. Poor in America means failure and a disgrace that deserves no respect. This is sad because poor should mean just not having much money and nothing to do with the person. Poor in America is associated with the word trash and riffraff and lowlife and never-do-well. Here in Mexico poor means you are a worker and have little money to save as it needs to be spent on daily survival. There is nothing wrong with that, its how it's always been and should be. Living working, making it, but not going beyond what one needs, our share.

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One of the reasons poor in the American way is very sad is because they have been groomed to be misfits and examples, the weak exception that did not make it. Government and society have left no natural place for those who don't want to keep moving higher, or cannot. You can't outlaw a class or type of people, but they have tried. And by outlawing what one needs to be and do in order to live poor and decent, it does not make them disappear. Poor exist, in harmony, or in abuse.

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Poor is natural, it allows one to find the simple in life and make it surround them and fulfill them. Poor is something to be proud of, it means you did not take more than was yours. One can be successful at being poor and make a worthy life of it. But one cannot have this choice in America. You make it good, or you don't, and if you don't your no good. But here in Mexico, it is beautiful, peaceful and balanced. The poor are proud.

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The very essence of America is set up to be rich and richer. It's there in all the details. If one wants to buy small amounts of food and household needs, they cost more. The smaller the more expensive. Here in Mexico one can buy a part of a bag of soap if they cant afford the whole. Toothpastes and aspirins come in such small amounts as needed very cheaply. One cannot hardly find a one burner stove plate, only as gourmet items at fancy prices. Here, one can buy a clay and wire one for just pesos. The banking system is such a con in America to make people participate. I should imagine it is hard to function in America without checks and cards. Here you pay a bill at a bank to the persons or company account and simply fax the receipt it has been done. You don't even need ID. One cannot even buy a used mattress there, it is illegal. And the worst, the poor of America never have a chance for a little bit of land to live their lives on, but here in Mexico, land is free to all the poor who want to use it.

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America has made its poor a disgrace, no one or themselves have respect for them and they have so little hope for a future. Many are in jails being used for slave labor. The poor keep getting squeezed, used, oppressed. Their government gives them enough money so they circulate it and are not dead ends, but nothing else to help their lives. This money traps them, belittles them and makes them beggars who loose faith in themselves. The poor here are respected, a force that keeps the country in balance. It protects the family, home and the worker, it makes life right. The freedom to be poor and proud