Written by Tanya Free   

Have you ever once been sitting in a restaurant where they pull out your chair and the hostess places a napkin in your lap and several servers are assigned to your every need? Dining with great company in a festive atmosphere is definitely an example of living the good life. But just imagine that while you are wining and dining you just happen to get a glance of an individual digging through trash for their next meal. Surely this real life image would spoil even the most festive occasion.
Unfortunately, this very real scenario reflects the economic divide in this country between Wall Street and Main Street. Surely, Wall Street is still wining and dining, despite the economic turmoil that has snatched the certainty and foreseeable opportunity of the good life from those of us on Main Street. The good life for many of us on Main Street has been relegated to a matter of survival. Census Bureau reports reveal poverty rates in 2009 to be the highest since 1994.

While Wall Street and political leaders are partaking of the good life, it’s high time for us on Main Street to come to terms with holding our government responsible and accountable so that we can all have the opportunity to live the good life. It seems as though constructive criticism too often has been replaced by propaganda, innuendo and in some cases, outright lies. In the midst of our anger and frustration, it appears as though we have barricaded ourselves in our various political parties of preference. It seems as if we have lost touch with the fact that we are all in the – SAME small boat – weathering the – SAME storms of unemployment, foreclosures, health care and access to a quality education. Case in point, several rallies were recently held at the Lincoln Memorial involving opposing groups attended by thousands of us from Main Street America who share many of the SAME issues and concerns.

It should go without saying “Together We Stand, or Divided We Fall.”

Live Life with a Purpose!