[Content Note: Class warfare; poverty.]
"I felt like this was my opportunity to basically improve life for all of us, and the one key part of it is now not available, so what do I do now? That was my only thought: 'What do I do now? What do I do now?'"—Shanesha Taylor, discussing the day she had a promising job interview but no childcare, after an arranged babysitting agreement fell through, leading her to fateful decision to leave her two young children in the car during the interview.
I strongly urge you to read the entire article. Taylor's story is remarkable, not because it is extraordinary, but because it is so terribly ordinary. So common. Most USians are not more than one financial catastrophe away from falling off the edge.
And the way we collectively deal with that is by telling fairy tales about bootstraps and hard work, and how misfortune only happens to the lazy, the immoral, to people who deserve it.
No one deserves this. No one. No parent, no child. No person.
There is so much wealth in this nation. We could do so much better for everyone, if only we had the will.
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