Are You A Poor Person?
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (Olli)
Wilmington, DE
Fall, 2013
I am sitting in my global issues class. We are discussing civil rights and poverty. We talk about forced abortions in China, random government executions, freedom of the press, NSA, the need for an educated society, gender gaps, economic inequalities, etc. The discussion is riveting. People are chiming in and offering viable solutions. The energy level is so high, it is palpable.
The 80 year old man sitting beside me turns to me and loudly whispers, "I'm a millionaire. I don't know any poor people. Do you? All of this talk is interesting but it's sort of trivial, don't you think?"
I emphatically tell him "no". I explain that this discussion is important because the gap between rich and poor in this country is widening too far and too quickly.
"Are you a poor person? Is that why you are interested in this stuff?" he asks, completely oblivious to his lack of empathy to the plight of so many people in this world..
There is a first time for everything: I AM SPEECHLESS.
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