The citizens of the City of El Paso are suffering from bad decisions stemming from wealth and income inequality.
Our City Manager, Mayor, and City Council, as well as the puppet masters that pull their strings, don’t know we’re poor.
They’re spending money like we’ve got money to burn.
In El Paso, poverty is not a sign of moral failure. Poverty is just the way things are. The City hasn’t done/isn’t doing anything to attract industry.
The City’s plan is destination retail. How are you going to lift yourself out of poverty with destination retail? Tend bar? Wait tables?
Work retail?
Sell drugs, or plasma?
My friends that move out of town tell me, “I can’t believe how easy it is here in ___________.”
El Pasoans are hard workers. We’re not lazy. We bust ass.
We bust ass just to stay afloat.
I must admit that we left in 2004, mostly because my wife could not find work as a bilingual school teacher, after many years with Ysleta and Clint ISD’s. I was reluctant to go, because I had a good job. But, we quickly learned that we made way much more money in the Dallas area, and could live more comfortably, with ease. We only came back here after retirement because we knew that our now fixed income can go farther. We now regret the move because of the stupid that emanates from bad decisions made over the last twenty years.
Isn’t this more a case of the officials being out of touch and/or callous rather than income inequality _per se_?
I have rarely been accused of being too nice to our ruling class, but you’re probably right.