People vs. Money
Let me clarify what I mean by that.
We are at the epicenter of a global pandemic — one that has killed over 250,000 Americans and caused roughly 14 million to lose their jobs. More than half of those people are still looking for work, myself included. And job loss isn’t the only economic fallout. Wages have been cut, hours reduced, overtime eliminated. Nearly half of Americans in a recent survey said they’ve struggled to pay their bills since the pandemic began.
Yes, it’s been a brutal nine months for many of us.
But if we’re being real — nobody gives a fuck.
While the majority of the population suffers, the wealthiest people in America have expanded their fortunes exponentially — betting, bargaining, and cutting deals at the expense of the working class. Landlords wasted no time filing evictions the moment moratoriums lifted. Credit card companies slashed lines of credit for laid-off workers — even those with flawless payment histories, like mine. Interest rates remain high. Major financial institutions have offered little meaningful relief.
Internet providers cut off service while kids attend school remotely. Courts suspend driver’s licenses and impose sanctions on people who can’t pay fines or attend court-ordered classes — many of which have been canceled indefinitely due to COVID.
Shelters and rehab facilities have made access to services increasingly difficult. Child support enforcement continues relentlessly, even for parents who lost income but are still caring for their kids through remote learning. They’re threatened with jail — as if incarcerating a parent somehow benefits a child. A parent in jail can’t provide support, financially or emotionally, yet the system keeps grinding forward.
And speaking of jail, people are still being locked up for petty offenses that shouldn’t involve incarceration in the first place — especially during a pandemic that has turned correctional facilities into COVID death traps.
If someone shoplifts from Walmart, sentence them to community service — maybe returning carts at Walmart — not six months in a cage where they could catch a virus and die. That’s punishment wildly disproportionate to the crime.
These are just a few examples of how we live within a system that feels soulless — devoid of conscience, morality, or any authentic understanding of justice.
When the pandemic began, I thought maybe — just maybe — it would wake us up. I thought it might become the catalyst for real structural change. For a brief moment, it even looked possible. Employers stopped forcing sick workers to come in. Sick leave policies were revisited. Congress discussed paid leave and worker protections.
But it was smoke and mirrors.
What we got was $1,200 of our own tax money and a collective “fuck you” from those in power.
So when I say nobody gives a fuck, I mean nobody with the power to create meaningful change.
I’ll admit — I have a sliver of hope with a new administration in place. At the very least, I don’t have to listen to daily pathological lies masquerading as leadership. But the system itself is so deeply entrenched, so structurally incompetent, that my small hope can’t outweigh my well-earned cynicism.
Time and again, the working and middle class — the people who grind themselves down just to scrape by while CEOs quadruple their salaries — are shown exactly how little we matter.
What’s even more disheartening?
Some of the loudest defenders of this system are the very people it exploits.
There are working-class and middle-class individuals who can’t — or won’t — see how badly they’re being screwed. Worse, some seem to revel in the struggles of others just like them.
They’ve been so indoctrinated by hyper-capitalism and extreme individualism that they place monetary value above human value. They’ll argue people deserve to suffer if relief costs them a few extra tax dollars. They’ll rationalize others dying because they can’t afford insulin — as long as their own wallets stay full.
I encounter these mindsets daily. Many who hold them even claim to be Christians — while judging human worth through a financial lens.
That ideology is deeply disturbing to me. It should be disturbing to anyone who considers themselves human.
Because every person has value.
Each individual carries qualities and perspectives that exist nowhere else. Even those we fear or condemn — the criminally insane, the sociopathic — offer insight into human psychology, into trauma, into the limits of empathy and conscience.
From the homeless veteran on a street corner…
to Jeff Bezos in a mansion deciding where to donate billions…
Everyone has value.
The system may not acknowledge it. Our culture may try to reduce us to consumerist, profit-generating machines who only care about our immediate bubble.
But you don’t have to internalize that sickness.
You can choose to value people over money.
Over possessions.
Over greed, ego, and selfishness.
You can choose to give a fuck.
Because too many people already don’t.
And if everyone stops caring — what’s the point of any of this?
I hope you’re all staying safe, staying afloat, and holding onto that light at the end of the tunnel — even if you can’t see it yet.
And I hope you’re holding onto each other, too.
Peace, love, and long live the revolution.
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