We Need to Re-Brand the Middle Class: Attempting to Bridge the Gaps

This series, Attempting to Bridge the Gaps, is all about bringing together poor white, minority, and the LGBTQ communities together in understanding and acceptance of each other. I cannot do that by myself. So for now, I want to create a place where we can talk to each other over topics that matter to us, so we can find out what the AMERICAN PEOPLE want, rather than a me, me, ME attitude, of which we are all guilty. Comments welcome, but refrain from hatred or assumption of hatred. Let’s talk.

Today’s Problems Start with Money

The secret is out. An unhealthy total of all America’s wealth belongs to the top one percent. That doesn’t leave a lot of change floating around to be used by the 150 million people not playing the billionaire game. Where does that money go? Not back into the mainstream economy. Lobbying alone accounts for nearly $24 million in spending, attempting to sway our lawmakers to making things easier for the top one percent of earners.

You’ve seen these numbers. This is not news. I don’t think we realize though, just how big a boat we’re in. See, these numbers aren’t just affecting minorities, or poor whites, or the LGBTQ. These numbers affect all of us who aren’t making at least $138,000 per year. The median income is $55,775. How many of us are making anywhere near that? If we all came together and zeroed in on income inequality for all, could we make a difference? I think so, but…

Lines are Drawn Between Us, Purposefully

The media constantly refers to us by invisible lines: black, white, LGBTQ, poor, racist, Muslim, Latino, Mexican, gay, straight, liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican…I can’t even name all the labels used here. Constantly, we are inundated with these titles. In some cases, it’s a point of pride to use labels, but is that a pride we should hold onto?

Here’s an example a liberal friend of mine recently gave me: you hear on the news that a cop brutalized an African American man. That’s bad, right? But actual racist whites aren’t going to give two shits. Let’s rewrite that: A cop brutalized an American man today. Wait a minute, a cop brutalized one of our own? An AMERICAN? That’s horrible! And you can turn that around, saying a white man was brutalized and actual racists from the minorities won’t care. What if we took out the labels? What if we were all just Americans in the media? Doing so may not make a difference in the short run, but over time, I believe we would stop seeing the “other” as being something separate from ourselves. Why? We’re already the same, especially economically, overall.

Coming Together will Let Us Change the Rules

So here’s all I’m saying. If we can stop pretending we’re all different from each other (yes, whites too), and come together under a banner of better economic equality, we could make each “separate” group far better economically, which would lead us to be able to pursue the even more hefty goals of fighting innate, systemic racism, and acceptance of the LGBTQ, Muslims, and all those other pesky labels. But, we can only do this if we come together as one: as Americans.

Do you think less economic disparity would help make America more accepting? Write your thoughts, invite friends or otherwise to discuss below. Thank you for reading American Dirt.

James Neal is the author of several fantasy stories, feel free to check them out:

Of Blood and Blade: $3.99 (Amazon.com)

Paints the Invisible Eye: $1.75 (Amazon.com)

Divine Right: FREE (Smashwords.com)

The Blacksmith’s Reaper: FREE (Smashwords.com

Why the Witch Hunt in the Kim Davis Debacle?

Photo credit: Ty Wright/Getty Images

Kim Davis

Yes, I can see you’re already warming those fingertips up to backlash at me if I say something in her defense.

I’m not going to.

But a Few Hard Questions

I am going to ask a few hard questions though. I’ve read so many articles about this woman, and none of them have answered why we’re smearing a woman’s name in every little corner of the internet and newshole.

Did she do something wrong? Yes. A couple of things if we’re being honest. The first and most obvious being that Kim Davis did not step down from her position as soon as gay marriage was legalized. The second thing she did wrong, and this is where it ends folks, is she continued pulling a paycheck despite not being willing to do her job. That’s the reason the judge threw her in jail for contempt of court. That is it. The end. Game over.

Is She Really More Selfish Than Any of Us?

Her thoughts and beliefs she has displayed in public are not illegal to hold. Bigoted? Sure. Dangerous? From her, I doubt it. Yet we have turned her into a public figure while leading a veritable inquisition against her…and her “kind.” My kind. The God-fearing kind. So, hard question number one: Why are we burning a woman at the stake for being selfish? More important to myself and others like me (others who tend to be far more quiet than I), why are all God-fearing men and women being targeted along with yet another Christian who managed to hit the stupid wall?

Do You Care About Peace, Or Being “Right(eous)?

Hard question number two follows closely with number one: The LGBT community has been asking for peace and equality within the sanctity of law. Equality needed to happen, but it seems that since the LGBT won marriage equality, many of you (not all) are doing little more than inciting Christians to fight with you. I’ve warned about this type of behavior before. Inciting a fight does nothing but…well…incite a fight. What happened to the message of peace and equality, and do you still even care? Do you want Christians on your side? I’m not feeling very safe on this side of the line. How long, I wonder, before you turn the mob mentality against me?

Kim Davis VS Social Justice

So this is necessary?

Kim Davis is going to lose her battle of religion vs law. She lost the battle against social justice warriors the minute she refused to sign a marriage certificate. Please take a moment to realize what this witch hunt has been about: a piece of paper. I’m not saying it’s not important to uphold the law. I’m not saying Kim Davis was in the right. But, in the aftermath, the social justice warriors have once again proven they can be just as wrong.

The street goes both ways. You can’t bully people after telling them they can’t bully you. You can’t burn crosses in people’s backyards when you’ve told them it’s wrong. You can’t tell a group of people exactly how to think when you’ve demanded to be free to think for yourself.

Let's allow the law to handle Mrs. Davis. I promise you, they will take care of the problem one way or another.

James Neal writes fantasy, both novel-length (Of Blood and Blade) and shorter stories (Paints the Invisible Eye). He’s also on social media, so are tires, but we digress. Click to join us on:

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