Spencer Eaton

English 1010-042
Jamie McBeth-Smith
12/02/14
Liberty and Justice for Some, Poverty for Most
As children we were all taught the pledge of allegiance. One verse, in particular, stands
out: Liberty and justice for all. However, as we get older, most of us begin to realize things are
not so cut and dry as our elementary school teachers had led us to believe. Out of all the
problems this world faces, poverty is certainly one of the worst. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau poverty has decreased only about 6% since the 1960s and nearly half of single mothers
living in the U.S. live in poverty. An article from The Daily Beast called Losing a Generation to
Poverty, states that 42.6 percent of children still live in families who are poor or near-poor
children are the poorest demographic group in the United States. What exactly is it that is
keeping us from reaching that high standard of liberty and justice for all? Why cant we seem to
solve the issue of poverty, even in an age where machines have the power to give us everything
we want? Is it in our political system? After all, we are a republic. It would seem that the people
of America have a very loud voice in comparison to other political systems. Is it the media
brainwashing us? If so, then why are there so many opposing views portrayed in the media.
Surely if the media were an all-encompassing brainwashing machine designed to make sure we
never reach that standard there would only be one viewpoint fed to us on national television.
Maybe it is religion? After all religions have always been the most powerful organizations in the
world. The problem with that hypothesis is that in America, religions are theoretically given

equal treatment and we do not have one national religion. So then what is it that is keeping us
from reaching that noble standard? I would push the idea that it is money that is the culprit.
Aside from inequality, money seems to be the one thing that every society to ever have
existed has in common. It is money that allows some voices to be louder than others in politics. It
is money that allows some viewpoints to be covered more than others in the media. And it is
money that makes some religions more significant than others. Until we can invent a system that
does not need money in order to exist, there will never be liberty and justice for all.
One might ask how we could possibly go about creating such a system. After all, the only
system that, on the surface, seems to be able to work without money is communism and that is
clearly satanic right? What good could possibly come from people sharing? The only other
alternative people seem to be able to come up with is the other satanic alternative: Anarchy. But
anarchy would surely just cause a bunch of new problems. After all, if people dont constantly
have someone breathing down their necks, telling them what to do, they never get things done.
The world would certainly come to an end if corporations didnt have slaves to do all their dirty
work for them. If people werent working for the man, there would be nobody to chop down the
rain forests or pollute the oceans. Without government there would be nobody to keep those
damn Negros in line, or fight off those radical terrorists in the Middle East. And without religion,
who could possibly teach little boys how to respect their elders? So you see, without the things
that perpetuate our need for money, the world would surely be lost. Theres no sense in even
trying something new, right? Its too risky, right? Isnt that what they say?
As far as Im concerned, the real risk is continuing down the path we are currently on.
Did you, the reader, know that there werent always starving children in Africa, at least not on

such a widespread and extreme level. There are so many starving children, not just in Africa, but
across the globe because of one simple reason: War. Governments fight until everything is
destroyed, making it impossible for those who already had very little to ever get more. Where
there are smoggy, ugly, disease ridden cities, there were once forests where animals lived in
abundance. We know this because we have records of it and yet we still act like those times were
as mythical as the Greek gods. And yet we do all this in the name of a different God, the one all
powerful, loving God who thinks Jews must be punished for killing the son he sacrificed, black
people bear the mark of Caine and therefor share his sin, women are all harlots and temptresses,
people who do not accept Christ are followers of Satin and even little children are sinners
because of what Adam did in The Garden of Eden.
People want to act like we need all of these things to survive, but we clearly dont. Our
ancestors lived for thousands of years without them. There were no big corporations or industrial
machines 2,000 years ago. Yet people lived. There was no Christianity 2,000 years ago. Yet
people loved. There has always been war, but at least people used to truly fight for survival. Now
we just fight for money. For oil. The true terrorists in the Middle East are our own troops. The
only people attacking the United States are the politicians we think we elected.
Because of humanitys history, I believe we can find a better way of doing things, as long
as we are willing to work hard and make the necessary risks. People say Communism doesnt
work, but has anyone ever actually tried it, besides a few small groups? People point to Russia,
China and Italy as examples, but that isnt/wasnt true communism. Those were more of
capitalist dictatorships. In true communism, there is no need for money because everyone shares
a percentage of everything. There are no official leaders because everyone chooses to cooperate.
Communism would only actually work well in a democratic society. And speaking of the small

communist communities spread out across the globe, most have actually been pretty successful.
An article from The Guardian Tells of a small village in Spain named Marinaleda which
converted to communism in the 1970s because it had reached a poverty level of greater than
60%. Since then the village has become known as The Utopia, by the people in the region
surrounding it because it is now the most stable and successful place in the region. There are also
many small communist communities in the U.S. Oregon, in particular, has quite a few. Im not
saying we should necessarily be communists, but we need to try something.
There have even been a few successful Anarchic societies. In the mediaeval Iceland,
there was one such society. They used a trade system that didnt include money. There were
judges and courts that would decide the fates of those who refused to cooperate with the rules of
the society, but the judges could lose their position at any time if they lost the support of the
people. In that case the people would appoint a new judge to take the old ones place. Usually the
punishment for crimes would include exile or working for the person criminal offended, but
there arent many records of crime in that society because people had no reason to misbehave.
They were all friends and relied on each other and therefore had all of their needs met the
majority of the time.
So, you see, there are other options for the way we govern ourselves. We dont have to
rely on capitalism, or other systems that force people into lives of poverty, hunger and hardship.
We can work together. However, we will never fix poverty, or any of the other problems this
world faces with more legislatures. We cannot depend on rich men to fix our problems for us.
We must stand up and fight for that which is right and true, otherwise we have already lost. We
must stop buying from corporations and instead manufacture our own products. We must stop
buying food from farms that poison them before they sell them. We must instead plant our own

crops. And we must stop fighting in the name of God. We must stop hating in the name of
religion. More than anything, this world needs love. Love is the only God we should be
worshiping. Love is not sparks and fireworks, bells and whistles. Love is simple. Love is care.
Love is loyalty to your fellow man without discrimination. Love is loyalty to your fellow animals
without fear. Love is living in harmony with nature. Love is easy. Love is our purpose.