Listening to the news today, as a person who was almost a ‘99er, and now thankfully is working as a Substitute Teacher, I find it appalling and shameful that so many Americans are still without jobs, struggling day after day to make ends meet. I know several ‘99ers who fear that they will not ever work again. Why should a woman who worked for decades on Wall Street as a Law Librarian have to struggle to find work, or a Museum Curator live out of her car? This is not the America we all know! Why isn’t this seen as a national emergency that millions of men and women cannot get a job, or have funding to survive until they do?

Our country, with all its natural resources, must also value the inhabitants of this land.  Every day, more and more people don’t have enough money for food or rent, and with all the horror of recent natural disasters, and worry of war too, every American is increasingly frightened: what is to become of us?

Also, our children’s educations are increasingly at risk with schools closing and teachers being laid off. As a teacher, I am horrified that so many children are among the hungry and homeless, and how can they do well in school when they live in an increasingly unstable environment? We need to give every child a fair chance!

Unions have worked to allow people to keep their jobs, and get a decent wage. They need to be protected and supported. I applaud the people of Wisconsin for their bravery and stalwartness. We need unions now more than ever because deeply they stand for justice for all people.

Eli Siegel, founder of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism, stated magnificently:

There will be no economic recovery in the world until economics itself, the making of money, the having of jobs, becomes ethical; is based on good will rather than on the ill will which has been predominant for centuries.

If this statement is truly studied, I believe America, and the foundation it was built on will be restored, and can once again, thrive.

-By Rachel Bernstein, contributing writer of The 405 Club

Art by Reey Whaar