My longtime readers know that this is the time of the year where I wish everyone a merry xmas, and then ramble on about some horrible crime which is being perpetrated somewhere else in the world. I have done that in the past to help us all remember that holidays weren’t devised as a means to develop marketing programs and make corporations rich. Its those corporations which have done this, but I’m sure you know that already. Besides, there are plenty of crimes being committed here in the US that have long deserved our attention yet have only garnered our dismissal.

Homelessness is a scourge on humankind (I bet you thought I was going to talk about health care, but I’m reasonably assured you can tell I’m a liberal and practically demand at least what Cuba offers all of its citizens without devoting too much time to the thought) and needs to be eradicated from the globe. There are an estimated 1.37 MILLION HOMELESS CHILDREN in the US in recent years, and those numbers aren’t changing dramatically. This is simply unconscionable and should be raising a huge outcry, but people are so used to it, its like they no longer care or consider it a nuisance.

My numbers are very loose here, but the average executive bonus paid to CEOs in S&P 500 companies in 2008 was $1.2 Million. That comes to $600 Million dollars in EXTRA pay. That’s an additional $600 Million being paid to these individuals which could be funneled into programs which would help these kids, and that’s just 500 CEOs! Imagine if, of the BILLIONS of dollars paid out in bonuses, half of that were to go ANNUALLY to charities, the help it would do. How many homes could be built, making new jobs, and delivering hope and confidence for the holiday season?

Do these CEOs care about this? I’m sure, when asked, they would claim they give away lots of money to charities, but rich people don’t stay rich if they don’t horde their cash reserves. I can tell you that with the money I make, my family is comfortable. Somewhat. Lets just say that I can give out a few hundred a year to those in need and it doesn’t affect me much. I can easily imagine that these CEOs are also making a good living based on their regular salaries, and giving most of their bonuses would not cause them any harm. Of course, this would never happen.

We live in America where the American Dream lives. If we chase it and catch it, we can be rich, too. What you don’t hear about the American Dream is that its about getting yours and screwing everyone else. There is no We in Dream,  but there is ‘ream’, which is what rich people do to the poor to get where they are. Its sad that in this country, which professes to be a Christian Nation through profits like George W. Bush, that we exhibit the least Christian behavior of any developed country in the world. So, as you sit around the fire or lounge on the beach, thumbing your new Apple MacBook Pro or Microsoft Zune, think about how much food that device is worth to a needy child in the hills of Tennessee or on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

Every day we don’t do something to help is another day we act with complicity in the crime which is homelessness. And I don’t want to hear from any right wings nuts about how America is about Freedom and these people make their choices. If you’re not going to say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Just give. Help these kids out.

Do your part. And don’t be stingy, either. You don’t NEED that new iPod in place of three months food for a family.

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