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Dee's avatar

A woman I knew (a wealthy boomer) was terrified of taking the subway to Brooklyn. A lifelong New Yorker, but the idea of taking the subway scared her, and going to Brooklyn scared her even more. She would ask me how I was not scared. I kept telling her, “lady, you’re more likely to be murdered by your boyfriend / brother / cousin than you are by a hoodlum!” When women are murdered, it’s usually done by someone they know and often by someone they love.”

No matter how many times I said this, it wouldn’t penetrate her mind.

This is the same with corporations; they’re not “real” societal problems. Never mind that I’m more likely to die from food / water contamination, or some chemical spill, or cancer from some horrendous corporate malfeasance than some poor homeless person.

I’ll leave you with one last story: a year and a half ago, I moved from the inner city to the suburbs (I hate it here, but I am helping my mother). We used to be surrounded by drug addicts and broken windows and liquor stores and graffiti. Now, we are surrounded by white picket fences, and perfectly manicured lawns, and food with no flavor. A few months after we moved, in broad daylight on a Sunday, we were mowing our lawn when the woman across the street stumbled into our front lawn, bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Her mother’s boyfriend, a prominent Trump supporter, had stabbed her. She died in my arms. In the months since, neighbors will randomly walk up to me and say, “We know you’re new here, and we want you to know this place is not REALLY like that.” It’s not real when it happens in the wealthy burbs, you see? Never mind that none of my former crackhead neighbors ever bothered me, never mind that another woman in this county was murdered by a relative that same day. It’s not real... because it didn’t happen in the ghetto. I really miss my old neighborhood.

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Leah Eichler's avatar

So grateful for this well articulated, beautifully written analysis.

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