I have heard this proverb/saying more than once and it made me think about how most of my life has been.

We are all created equal (from the Declaration of Independence)

– just some more equal than others (Orwell/ Vonnegut, maybe even others earlier.)

During the course of trying to find the origin of that quote, I find more than one article or discussion regarding the impossibility of “all” people being created equal, and that it would be a “horror” story if we were.

I was absolutely amazed at the sheer “idiocy” of those morons. They totally missed the point of the “philosophical” meaning of this statement put forth by our forefathers when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. Yes, even our forefathers I am sure; thought of the sheer stupidity of everyone being “identical” in appearance.

This brings me to why I tell my story. I have lived my adult life in poverty. My childhood wasn’t too bad I suppose – as far as I know we were “middle class”. OK, so it was just barely over the poverty level. Yeah we had a house, and a car, and food and… Now that I think about it; that’s all we really had. I wasn’t the best dressed kid my school, and mommy and daddy sure as hell didn’t buy my first car or my first crappy trailer home for me. Hmmm, maybe we lived in poverty then too.

I have had to live my life in this country; from my birth until now I am a citizen of the United States of America. And I can honestly tell you that “We” are not equal, we aren’t even close to being equal.

I have tried to be equal. I have worked long and hard. I have tried on more than one occasion to improve my life – be it through buying a house, be it through continuing education; be it through changing careers.

And every step of the way through my life I have tried to be a good, “productive” citizen. But there have been several hardships along the way. There have been hardships along the way that no human being anywhere should EVER have face, especially not a citizen of the greatest nation on earth (Which has been effectively eroded away to nothing during the current Regime of our “so called” elected leaders) The United States of Greed.

For the seventeen years of my life that I was actually able to work, I managed to earn a massive $117,000 (according to my social security records, that’s an accurate assessment). That looks like a pretty good number doesn’t it? Let’s do a little math and see just how much money I really make.

$117,000 divided by 17 years = $6882.35 per year. WOW, what a great life I’ve had. (My wife still loves me and only 1 of our 4 children has abandoned us – I guess that’s not too bad).

It never ceases to amaze me how there are people out there that can make my yearly average salary in one month. And even more amazing that some people make my entire life’s earnings in one month.

Why is it, that some of this nations most skilled workers (I “used” to be a carpenter) are paid the least amounts of money? I’m not by any means trying to imply in any way that I am any better than anyone else – quite the contrary. I am saying that I should be considered an equal. Yet, my yearly income does not reflect equality in any way, and some of the hardships I have had to endure during the last 17 years would suggest that not only am I “less than equal” to many of my peers – I have from time to time thought that my only purpose for being a citizen of this “so called” great country, was so that my “more equals” could have a laugh at my futile attempts to survive.

When the carpenters of this country cannot afford to live in the houses they build, and the janitors cannot afford to use the services of the hospitals they clean, and the teachers of this country cannot afford to pay for car insurance to get to our schools and teach our young – this country is failing miserably to achieve the dreams set forth by our founding fathers.

The last three years of my life have absolutely been the worst three years of my life. Not only have I had to endure being homeless (with my family) but I have received the absolute worst treatment ever from our countries own division of human services. As if it’s not bad enough that the division of human services has been a part of my life on and off for the last 15 years in three different states, but the state of Oregon in particular has the absolute worst case policies and the worst case workers I have ever had to deal with.

If it were not for the amazing help from my church, and the amazing luck of blindly stumbling into a subsidized apartment, my family and I would be homeless. Imagine that, the luckiest thing to happen to me in my life has been to get a subsidized apartment.

I am currently in the process of fighting my government to get my disability. I worked for 17 years as a carpenter. For 17 years I have spent countless thousands of dollars trying to maintain unaffordable car insurance, I have spent countless thousands of dollars to re-instate my driving privileges, I have spent countless thousands of dollars replacing vehicles that were “taken” from me by the very system that I spent so many years building houses for.

Now, after 17 years of pain and servitude and for my country, after 17 years of being FORCED to sacrifice a percentage of my income whether I wanted to or not, I have to “SUE” my own government for money that is rightfully mine. Money that was taken from each and every paycheck I ever received.

I didn’t vote for mandatory insurance, yet I have suffered through the indignity imposed on me more than once of being forced into the “legalized racketeering”. Our own government is nothing more than a façade hiding the “mobsters” with the most votes.

I have suffered through 17 years of honest hard work through poverty and homelessness and I as a citizen of the United States of America DEMAND to be treated with dignity and respect and I DEMAND that this country that I have faithfully served through poverty and homelessness GIVE me my disability.