James
Richard Verone, of Georgia, attempted to rob the bank for one dollar.
After handing the teller the note he sat and waited for the police
to come and arrest him. Why did he do this? Verone was 59 years old
and laid off after 17 years of working at Coca Cola with no
prospects.
couldn’t continue a part time job he found at a convenience store so
he no longer had health benfits. Bills were piling up and he had no
resources. His only alternative was to go to prison where he could
get a roof over his head, food, and health care.
“The
pain was beyond the tolerance that I could accept,” he told the
Gazette. “I kind of hit a brick wall with everything.”
He
had no previous criminal record. He was an honest man who worked
hard and expected to be rewarded for his work. Instead he got what
many workers today are receiving, a boot to the curb. Verone
had back problems, an aching left foot, carpal tunnel syndrome (which
comes from working to much or to fast with one’s hands), and a
protrusion in his chest that was undiagnosed. He is hoping to be
examined and treated in prison and to have a lengthy sentence so he
can begin to receive social security when he is released and rebuild
his life.
What
kind of country are we living in where an honest man must become a
prisoner in order to receive health care so he won’t have to live
in a state of pain and suffering and become homeless? People don’t
want that though. A large population of U.S. citizens are fighting
against single payer health care, and even want to get rid of medicaid and medicare.
This group extends from the ultra
rich, who don’t need health care insurance, to working class people who should
identify with the need for a “working stiff” to be able to work,
if willing, and receive whatever health care is necessary to lead a
life that includes the right to the pursuit of happiness. What has
happened to the American citizen? How have peoples hearts been so
hardened that they don’t care about the suffering of others(?)—people who may live right next door or at the end of the block.
These
are hard times and sad times. Larger numbers of people are
suffering. The American Dream and the Constitution is being
destroyed. The Bill of Rights is meaningless now, as those who would
enforce it are either being bought off by corporate money, or are so
angry and cold-hearted that they just don’t care about anyone except
themselves.
Things are hard enough without the creation of an
underclass, permanent unemployment, and the removal of the safety net
which provides the means for the U.S. to promote the general welfare.
We can afford bombs and F21 Fighters, but we can’t afford jobs. One
day, perhaps, we will all learn that you cannot eat bombs or oil. I
will hate to see that day come because there will be a cry so loud
that it will reach the farthest stars.
I think every able bodied American citizen should be given at least a minimum wage job. Forget the doles. Send our unemployed to work cleaning streets, painting public buildings working in libraries, teaching–feel free to add jobs.