Blessed be the Wealthy

Its not a blue-red thing, or a white-black thing, or a conservative-liberal thing, or a north-south thing or an east-west thing. Its a touching thing.

We don't touch each other. We don't smile at each other. We don't know each other. Americans have fewer confidantes than ever. The trend isn't reversing, nor does it seem temporary. The whole world is getting smaller, yet somehow we're all moving farther and farther away. You've noticed this. On the bus, on the subway, walking down the street.

And now, the only daily interaction with strangers I can count on is being threatened. Nashville's bureaucrats have joined the growing ranks of cities legislating against the poor. If you live in Nashville, you've surely seen the posters downtown requesting you not help the homeless.

Now, apparently, Metro Police will be free to hand out fines of $50 to anyone caught panhandling A) aggressively, or B) after dark. Pure Genius. What better way to make people stop asking for money than to make them come up with more money?

Clearly panhandling doesn't solve the issue of homelessness. If someone asks you for money for food, an easier solution would be to buy that person some food. Many panhandling homeless have addictions to feed, and therefore your indiscriminate giving can make you an unwitting enabler of someone's demons. I don't dispute this. What I take issue with is the criminalizing of panhandling, and the whole culture of thought it entails. Nevermind the fact that these laws are probably unconstitutional. The problem is that what's being legislated is essentially a legal caste system. Your time is too valuable to have to put up with their shameless begging, and your streets look much better when they're not around.

Nashville is home to more churches per capita than any other city in America, (source) yet Christ's most often repeated message is flying over our heads: take care of our poor. Amazing.

In a time where ipods and text-messaging often take the place of old fashioned conversation, it feels nice to have someone stop me on the street to talk. Let the poor be a reminder that there's much work to be done.