Poverty makes people Spineless

I was listening to NPR radio while stuck in the traffic mess caused by the closure of Interstate 5 in California because of snow and winds above 90 mph and was listening to a series of "Short Stories" being read.

Then a man started to read a piece written by a wealthy Vietnamese man who had immigrated to Louisiana after the Viet Nam War. He left everything behind and eventually became wealthy in Louisiana as well.

One of the many things in this piece that was called something like "John Lennon's shoe" (he owns the right shoe that John Lennon wore when he was assasinated and martyred).

One of the many things he said that resonated with me was "Poverty makes people spineless". People who have already lost everything don't usually rise up and defend their family, property and businesses and land was what he had said. And he was referring to what happened in Viet Nam from his point of view. I thought this concept was also important to Americans and people all over the world of how people once they lose everything don't usually fight for their rights anymore. And so, I would say that now is the time to make sure we all don't lose everything worldwide in every useful non-violent way we can. So we all don't ever get to the point where we have already lost everything and are permanently past caring about anything.

He went on to speak about how his wife and family stayed in Viet Nam and of how he felt coming to the U.S. to worship freely his religion of being a Catholic but of how like a fish out of water he felt here in the U.S. away from the culture and land that spawned him. He said he wanted to buy any other shoe of John Lennon so he could put them both on and and walk down the streets in them and somehow find himself, his identity, his meaning once again, to put together all the pieces of his life and to be whole.