A Personal Essay by Dan Kleinman

First Drafted March 2015

The way I see it: the argument I am presenting does not negate anyone’s hard work nor what they may have earned because of it.  My argument states that not everyone has had the same opportunities, no matter how hard they may have worked; and despite equally hard work, not everyone has earned the same.

The way I see it: it is a Wound of History. Our present may be more equitable than our past, however the inequitable policies of the past have caused such great social and economic damage that our present is still in recovery.

Consider the Millennial Depression– it began in 2007 and ended in 2009.  That economic crisis did tremendous social and economic damage, yet it only lasted two years.  Six years after it ended, the millennial generation and our nation is still recovering.

The way I see it: some of us belong to generations that have experienced centuries of social and economic damage.

If our recent economic recovery is any judge, it will take at least 300 years to recover only from the last 100 years of disparity.

“No one is innocent,” my friend and I recently concluded.

We are all a part of the the same society that is hurting.

It is easy to see us as separated by the last 200 years of pain.

The way I see it: We might be joined through the next 200 years of healing.