America is a country of polar opposites, the very rich and the very poor, the very beautiful and the not beautiful, the empowered and the unempowered. Nowhere is this more prominent or more troublesome than when we look critically at the divide between the haves and the have-nots in this country. In many ways, we are still the same country Fitzgerald wrote about in Great Gatsby - the constant push and pull between West and East Egg. Wall street is the American Dream in motion - the pursuit of wealth and success through capitalism and hard work. Ironically, it is also probably one of the careers most plagued with poor choices, missing morals and lack of understanding about the fellow man.

The divide in America between those who have and those who have not is growing each day. The culture of poverty now reigns supreme as a binding force among people even more than race - because as most researchers will tell you - poverty really knows no color. Though minorities and non-whites and women and children have been the predominant casualties of poverty throughout history, even in antiquity. Poverty has been the major force behind many of the social and political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Now in the 21st, the importance of equaling the playing field and making the divide between those in poverty and those not in poverty grows greater each day.

The farther apart the gap grows and the smaller and smaller the middle class becomes, the more the poor will need to depend on the rich or the less poor for benefits and basic subsistence - something that historically America is not known for doing particularly well. In addition, the further apart the gap grows, the longer and harder it will be to close the gap and bring people up and out of poverty. The playing field must be at least partially even to have a free, capitalist and democratic society work effectively and efficiently.

New Orleans is a great example of an impoverished group of people who were not part of the mainstream who were left to fend for themselves. As a nation, our behavior during Katrina and the aftermath that followed and continues is abhorrent. There is not reason that the vibrant and bustling city of New Orleans should not be rebuilt now, 2 years later - except that it is not an economic, political or religious space valued by our chosen decision-makers. As a people, as a group of voters, as a group that is responsible for participating in our own political system - we should be ashamed of ourselves that we have allowed our government to abandon the people of New Orleans, who are our American brethren - whether poor or not.