Thinking about the world in which we live (for Mom and Dad)

I'm what you might call a red diaper baby. I grew up in a household where my parents actively worked to change the world. I was aware from early on of the downside of a free market system and the exploitation of those workers at the bottom of the pyramid- people who through the luck (or lack of luck) of fate were not availed of great heath care, education, decent housing and family stability. There is the whole pull yourself up by the bootstraps mentality and the media loves to publish stories of people who have risen above- and I am gladdened to read all those success stories, But the reality is that poverty engenders poverty- and that poorer neighborhoods typically have substandard schools and lesser amenities and that without opportunity and parental influence it's tough to craft a life path that leads to an increased standard of living and that we as a people are usually content to write a check if we are fortunate to have the means to do so and rarely think but for the accident of birth that could be me- trying to live on a minimum wage job. KJ Dellatonia of Motherlode shares the stories of all kinds of moms- but today she published an essay that I hope I never forget and that I hope is read widely by people with the influence to effect change. If I read one more story of excessive executive compensation I think I will burst from frustration and pray that my parents' dream of a better, more egalitarian world will eventually come to be.