Class (Not So) Inequity

Not too long ago, I had gotten into a discussion with someone on Facebook, all done via comments on a friend's update. It had been primarily focused on class issues, racial profiling, etc. Now, I don't often deal in absolutes, I don't often concretely take one side or another on most issues. I like to make allowances for others' points of view, and to keep my own views fluid enough to change if convincing evidence is presented. Even with the things I feel strongest about, I like to leave room for discussion, learning, and discovery.

In this conversation, though, I stopped when the other person said something...well, kind of stupid, and a bit counter to her side. She had been taking the discussion that racial disparities are mostly imposed by people in power, minorities are being kept down by oppressors in power, etc. I didn't necessarily disagree with her views, but neither did I agree 100%. And we went back and forth for a while.

And then she told the tale of her friend Juan. Juan wasn't college-educated, but she didn't go much more into his history. He had been working hard at a full-time job, with a part-time one on the side, to support himself. Then he had kids, 4 of them, and ended up having to work 3 jobs to support all of them. He barely slept. He got sick, pneumonia, and had to be hospitalized. He lost his jobs, lost his health care due to lack of income, and saw medical bills piling up. And so he turned to selling drugs to support his family.

I refrained from further comment, just because I didn't want this person mad at our mutual friend. But I'm sorry, Juan's situation had nothing to do with class, race, people in power, or any of the usual rhetoric nowadays. His situation had one cause: his own poor decision. He had 4 kids! He was barely able to support himself, and then he added 4 more lives to his responsibilities. He had no business doing so, and all of his further travails were caused by that. For $12 or less, a large box of condoms likely would have solved that. If the condom had broken, he could've gotten money from the manufacturer.

His situation deserves little sympathy. His children's deserves more. Lets be honest, if someone adopted 4 dogs and couldn't care for them...people would be calling Animal Control, for both the owner's sake and the animals'.