The Veneer of Wealth

I know it’s been ages since I sat down and put pen to paper so to speak.  So before I begin let me catch you all up.  I got a promotion at work that requires much more of my mental acuity and therefore disallows the blogging I did prior to October.  So, while I will be posting again the regularity of those posts is still suspect. 

 So, while I still have a free moment let me tell you about the “new” slavery in America.  If you remember, you recall a post called For the Love of Ivy about domestic servitude of the early 1900’s through the late 60’s and 70’s.  Well, it seems that what was old is now new again. 

While checking e-mail I came across a picture of a young Egyptian girl and the story was that of her forced servitude to a wealthy family.  It seems that all over the mother continent the wealthy are taking the children of their poorer country men and using them as slaves.  (see story Here)

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am not shocked by this behavior.  I have come to realize that many in this world see money as the varnish that glosses their character flaws.  We are world in which money is the end all be all, and the things money buys us give the illusion of a beauty.  What most don’t realize is that illusion is easily shattered if the real beauty is not a part of our hearts.  Money enhances who we are at our core.  If the core is rotten than sooner or latter the veneer of cash flow cracks under the pressure of the ugliness held in our hearts. 

My heart broke while I read this story and it is yet another reason to be vigilant of our hearts and minds.  You see this kind of callous treatment of a child does not happen overnight.  It starts small with the parent who does not stop their child from teasing the kindergartener with a dirty coat.  Or with the mother who takes in her sisters’ children because their momma is cracked out, but does not treat these babies as equal but rather puts on them the scullery chores no one else wants to do. 

This starts in the most seemingly insignificant ways.  By saying that these poor children, by being poor, have to accept the basest of treatment because it is better than what they get at home.  It is a small callousness that says a homeless person deserves less respect because they are homeless. As if somehow the lack of money has made the children unlovable.   As if an accident of birth somehow makes you and yours better than ”them”.

I’m not sure why in my old age this is such a heart wrenching subject for me.  I think of those I know who are scrapping the bottom of the barrel in their existence and my soul aches.  I feel helpless.  Not because adults have made poor decisions, but for the babies that are result of these poor choices KNOWING that there is a person lying in wait to exploit, use and toss away the babies. 

This article shows me that even under the legitimacy of wealth there still beats are heart of evil in some.  Sure there are those who are admirable and do good things with the gifts God has given them, but what of those who are not charitably minded? 

I suppose the purpose of this post is to remind us that even at the dawn of 2009 there are those who will exploit the least of us out of convenience.  Just a thought.