“The only thing that protects them is the assumption that we’re sane...”

“John” has a degree in English from an impressive university, but he begs me not to use its name.You heard him for eleven years on the morning radio, but he doesn’t want me to tell you which station. He’s worked as a writer, historian, social worker, science editor, union organizer, and a toy salesman during his long life. He’s old. He’s irritable. He’s fat. And he’s homeless.

He’s too ashamed to let me use his real name, but he’d like you to know he’s not an alcoholic. He was a ladies’ man in his day, but never married. He’s forgotten more about history and literature than I’ll ever know,

“... [John] is an older man with no resources,and we expect him to be forced to go on welfare after June 30th... We feel people who have worked loyally for this company for many years should not be discarded... Acting fairly and humanely in this situation would promote a good atmosphere for all of us here at _______. What’s more, it would be the moral thing to do.”

There were 16 names on the letter of protest. John was fired anyway, without explanation, without severance. And several younger, cheaper, part-time freelancers were used to replace him.

He had a stroke. It wiped out his small savings. He was severely beaten by three teen-agers in the street and was hospitalized. His frustration has turned to hatred against those who fired him.

“They all have one vulnerability in common—they all have children. I don’t want to hurt anybody, but I’d like them to worry about it. You see, they’ve stolen my life, and I’m Sicilian. We know the meaning of revenge...”

If a community has no law, we call that anarchy. But if a business community has no law, we call that laissez-faire capitalism. It is not communism to restrict economic violence any more than it is fascism to restrict street violence.

Economic ruthlessness is a respected American business tradition, but it’s wasteful and based on the assumption that we will always find more resources to plunder. More land, more oil, more young people to drive by flight-or-fight pressure tactics in maximum short-term productivity. Burn all you want, we’ll make more...

The problem with that assumption is that it breaks down. One man, one machine, one bank, one economy, one planet at a time.

Because when one of us is so diminished, we all are.