There’s of course no way to claim otherwise. The gap between America's (let alone the world's) rich and poor is an ever widening gap, possibly in direct
alignment with the hole in the ozone (though the jury’s still out on that one). Now for the first time it seems there are people in our government willing
to do something about that. Passing legislation to raise minimum wage is an excellent first step,but it’s far from the solution. Clearly we have here an
interesting quandary. As the payment of the lowest rung rises, shouldn't that pay for the highest rank? I’ve heard it argued by staunch conservatives that
the poor are important to the economy or it’s good for them. While if everyone somehow had the salary of Barry Zito (Link />our economy would certainly have some problems, it’s hardly a good idea to claim that people making 7.00 an hour is exactly a glowing example of something
that’s good for a person?

Take a trip to a slum someday, take a trip in to the places my dear old Mom calls "Bombed out Beirut" and tell me if that’s good for people. But oh yes,
some conservative scholars seem to tell us that Walmart is the answer,. Yes, wall frickin mart. That’s indeed the answer to the economy; make everything
available to the poor for less. They will be able to live better lives. Just because they have more stuff for less.

The idea of the amount of material possessions indicating ones wealth is indeed one that dates well back to the middle ages. Back then, the size of your
napkins was a fine indicator of wealth. However, in a society where waste is even damaging the atmosphere, hasn't it come time to bring about anew paradigm?
The responsibility has to move somewhere: we have to go from being realist consumers existing within a strictly capitalist system to being interested in
the greater good.

I know I’m sounding like a borderline socialist (which I’m not, I’m actually closest to a libertarian) but I do realize that somehow some way its time to
bring about a real substantitive change. A change so great that it insures the sustainability of humanity, not just the America or the UK but all of humanity.
I find it interesting that the US’s military spending is more than the next 12 highest-spending countries in the world combined. When I listen to realists
debate things like socialized healthcare, tax cuts and the like, I wonder where that all that money will come from. The answer of course couldn’t be more
plain, our military budget. In a society where the mighty do for the frail, a world in which each power is required to do a certain amount could we possibly
bring about a true balance. I am not proposing all things be equal, but a strict insurance that all entities have the necessary resources to survive.  

originally published on thecampusword.com