I was homeless for six months in 2011. I slept in my car. I used to park behind a small church because it was dark and quiet. I thought nobody knew I was there. Every morning, I’d wake up, drive to a gas station to wash my face, and go to work (yes, I had a job, just couldn't afford rent). One night, it was freezing. 10 degrees. My car wouldn't start to run the heater. I was shivering so hard my teeth hurt. I saw the back door of the church open. A janitor came out to dump the trash. He saw my car. He saw me huddled in the front seat. He didn't call the cops. He didn't come over and tap on the window. He just walked back to the door, unlocked it, and propped it open with a small rock. Then he turned on the hallway light and left. I waited ten minutes. Then I ran inside. It was warm. There was a couch in the lobby. There was a bathroom with hot water. I slept there every night for the rest of the winter. Every night, the rock was there. I never met the janitor. I never thanked him. I’m back on my feet now. I have a house. I have a bed. But every year on the first snow, I donate a check to that church. I write "For the heating bill" in the memo line. Sometimes the loudest way to love your neighbor is to say nothing at all.
- Anonymous
“Nobody wants to work anymore.”
Wrong.
People just do not want to:
- Work 60 hours and still be broke
- Miss their kids growing up
- Get raises smaller than inflation
- Save in a currency printed out of thin air
- Answer emails on weekends
- Get replaced the second margins get tight
- Spend half their paycheck on rent
- Need debt just to survive
- Watch groceries, insurance, and housing go up faster than their income
People do not hate work.
They hate giving everything and getting nowhere.
"A lie told once is questioned. A lie repeated often enough becomes accepted. And once it becomes 'common sense,' people stop investigating it. That is how deception survives."
~ Malcolm X
The day the Affordable Care Act passed was one of my proudest moments as president, because it meant that millions of Americans would have access to health care, some for the first time.
The ACA also prevented insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions coverage, allowed young people under the age of 26 to remain on their parents’ plan, expanded Medicaid, and so much more.
But the ACA was always meant to be a first step. We still have to do more to expand access and make health care more affordable for everyone.