"We The People"

 Response #3

"This is a warning to all tree people. You are not welcome here in Santa Barbra. I will make life difficult for you. I have a faithful and respected group of citizens behind me. You bastards are low life scum and will not endure; I promise you." These are the cruel words posted on trees and lightposts in 1984 Santa Barbra by an angered citizen, after the murder of a thirty five year old homeless man by the name of Kenneth Burr. The identity of the writer is still unknown, considering the fliers were signed as “B.Ware.” As if America didn’t have enough problems already, the last thing we need to do is whip the swords out on one another. In the face of economic diversity, instead of people pulling together, there is hatred spread throughout the nation and the government continues to do little to help.
The more that the economy struggles, the more people struggle, and on top of all this suffering, there is malice and violence torward the people that are already at their lowest. America is like a young child. Insted of facing the problems head on, they instead place the blame on someone else, in this case the homeless, and are kicking them while they are already down... Literally and metaphorically. This is a sad fact, but as Dale Maharidge points out in “Someplace Like America,” America will recover. "We are a strong people, but it will not be the government who pulls us out of the recession. It will instead be the drive of the lower class, the "true Americans", the ones that have seen the hardships, and been at their lowest. It will be the determination of these people that will propel us forward." Only when we decide to stop living in a nation fueled by greed, and start having compassion for our fellow citizens, will the economy rise.
If I were a "tree person", there would be a few words that I could put on some fliers of my own. They would read something along the lines of "This is a peaceful letter to all "tree people" haters. Having empathy is obviously something too insignificant for ‘well respected’ citizens to bother with. If you stopped to put yourself in our shoes for once, you may have a change of heart. We are not low life scum, we are or were working citizens; just like you. We have been sucked into the labyrinth of darkness this economy provides, therefore we continue to struggle yet have no home or fancy cars to show for it, as you do. When you find yourself spiraling in this direction, (which at the rate this government and economy continues to fuck America over, you very well might end up here soon), we will be here to help. We know already how it feels to be on the other side, and we will welcome you to our battle of equality. You will see life as we know it, as most people know it, where fairness and greed does not exist. As you long for the ghost of a life you once had, you will finally understand. What size shoe do you wear? Signed "the tree people."
Instead of focusing entirely on fixing the economy, America should instead turn to look at its own citizens. When police officers are running homeless people out of parks, instead of stopping murders such as that of Kenneth Burr, something is incredibly wrong. If America is to ever change, and pull out of its economic crisis, it must start with a change that goes far deeper than that of any petty financial woes. It must instead start with "we the people."

Works Cited

Maharidge, Dale, and Michael Williamson. "SOMEPLACE LIKE AMERCA AN INTRODUCTION." Introduction. Someplace like America: Tales from the New Great Depression. Berkeley: University of California, 2011. Print.