The Grace of Charity and the Benefit of Birth Rights

I always love it when rich and powerful new money individuals talk about sacrifice from the middle class and low income individuals. New money people are those who started their life as poor children of families with disabilities or dirt poor single parents who had no education or no hope of a better life. These children were taught to hate people of lower social classes above anyone else and were taught to turn their backs on family and friends to achieve higher levels of social class by means of money. They have no problem taking money from dirt poor families if it will make them more richer and more powerful. It is a win at all cost mentality.

Rich children and some middle class children on the other hand are taught from birth to lend a helping hand to individuals of all social classes. As privileged Americans they are taught to close the divide between the haves and the have not. It is their social and moral duty to sacrifice their own well being for that of lower social classes.

Now this comes through when people enter political life because children of old money still feel that need to sacrifice their own personal goals to help people in need. This is truly exampled by people like U.S. Senator Tom Udall who was raised in a well off family who taught public service above personal goals. The same can be said of Congressman Martin Heinrich who feels the need to stand up for this state no matter which side the issue falls on politically. These men have the values of public service at heart above all else. They put the needs of the have not’s before the needs of the haves. They understand that to be well off means to be asked to sacrifice for their country.

On the other side of that spectrum are the new money rich people like CNM President Kathy Winograd and her good friends Diane Denish and Brian Colon. These individuals started life in low to middle class families. Kathy Winograd grew up in a one bedroom apartment in the same city where my family owned large amounts of land. My family were powerful people who taught public service to their children and grandchildren. Kathy’s family taught gains in power at all cost no matter who it harmed. Kathy’s father was a man who would cross a picket line and take the job of a union worker even if it meant harm to the regular works in those mines. Denish was the child of a man who handout small bottles of Jack Daniels to voters so that they would vote for him. She was accused by her own family of convincing her father to hand over his money to her and to give little to none to the rest of the family. Colon stayed in New Mexico when his disabled family moved across country for their health because his family knew they would only have been a drag on him in the long run to his rise to political power.

In this country at this point in time we need individuals who are willing to sacrifice and to ask the haves to sacrifice in order to close the divide between the haves and the have not. We need people who are willing to stand up to new money haves and to demand sacrifice so that the have not individuals can have a chance at the American dream. We need political leaders who care about how to raise the have not individuals to higher levels of income and success. Sacrifice is something that must start at the top money earners in this state which means increases in taxes for them and lower top salaries to achieve those goals.

Judges in the Bernalillo County Second District Court understand these core democratic values. They have freely and willingly handed over money from their own paychecks to keep lay offs to a minimum. They chose to layoff higher wages earners in order to provide service to the public by increasing the number of clerks in the clerks office. For these brave male and female judges it is all about fair and balanced justice for all no matter the income level.