The Extortion

- Art Hoppe

That simple statement, written several years ago by the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist, confers a stunning moral indictment on every aspect of our society. Like it or not, we live in a country which does not recognize the most basic human rights: food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education, much less enough time for spiritual practice or adequate leisure.

Our Constitution makes no mention of these rights. We have consistently refused, from its inception, to sign the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, precisely because it mandates such rights.

"The Extortion" dominates the issue of homelessness, especially since so many of them either can't or won't work. Clearly, we must have a thorough and vigorous national debate on this question: do you believe that we should fight each other down to the last loaf of bread, or do you believe in universal access to basic necessities, whether one has money or not?

Some, of course, will insist that real economic democracy will foster laziness and sloth. If that were true, only a 100% estate tax would save the children of the rich from such a fate. Unless they are somehow different from the rest of us...