Rest assured, I have not fallen prey to the lure of a potential windfall for participating in InterNet advertising.  Although I have certainly delighted in the occasional sale-rack T or cardigan, and it’s hard to imagine where else, these days, a doting grandparent can re-wardrobe a pre-teen for under $150, I will wax no further about Banana Republic’s corporate, (and often physical), neighbor.

The “Gap”, the one that has existed throughout the history of socialized man, the one that’s causing such a hoo-ha these days like it’s something new, the one that the proliferation of real, manipulated and simply fabricated information is causing but a hint of rebellion in the 99-percenters, is a personification of some of the worst of human nature and no economist’s, nor pinko hippy’s, nor civil libertarian’s plea for redistribution of wealth will likely move or even be understood by the 1%.  The ancient concept of royalty, whether of traceable bloodline, divine ordainment, corporate ascendance, or celebrity adulation has falsely condoned acceptance that, in the face of unconscionable suffering, a very few can have too much while so, so many have too little, and even littler hope of ever seeing more.  This hopelessness is the fodder for the rampant radicalization growing like a cancer in the Middle East and Africa, in Central and South America, Europe and in the expanding gang and militia cultures here in the US.  We do have a responsibility toward one another, and that responsibility is greater than religion or profit margins or satisfying shareholders’ expectations.  Ignoring our humanity by monetizing the cost of aid to the most desperate among us, quantifying their survival, will only assure that there is little hope for our own.