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By C.J.A.E.
March 16, 2000
When ever I hear the word poverty, the first thing that comes to mind is my 24 year oldbrother. My brother has lived a rough life due to this "ideal system that is calledCapitalism".
It all started when my brother was hired to toil for a company called American Kleaner.My brother use to work from 6:30A.M-6:30P.M., and he drove to and from work which took himtwo hours to do so. He would arrive home to a garage, tired. He had no energy to doanything with his two kids, who are between the ages of 2-5. Instead he would eat whateverhe found in the refrigerator, and go straight to bed, to wake up at 4:00A.M. He workedfrom Monday-Saturday, and he would visit us on Sunday. Every time he visited us he alwaysseemed depressed. He always wore the same old t-shirt and blue jeans.
His two children would always be excited to visit us. They often cried, because theymissed their mother who was working. My brother would hate to borrow money from me and mymother, but he did it frequently. When I helped my brother move, I saw how he lived. Hisplace had roaches, and one time had a mouse. I felt bad for how my brother lived. He wasvery happy when he moved to an apartment, it seemed like the happiest man on earth. Buthis bliss did not last. After working for American Kleaner for 3-4 years, he was fired forno apparent reason. This threatened my brother's marriage. His wife and himself had verylittle money to support their two children, so she left him. She went to live with hermother and took their kids along. My brother called my mother, and she felt really bad.She would cry and pray to God, to help her son. About two weeks later my brother was backwith his wife and children. He currently works as a security guard at Sav-On and gets paida higher wage then before.
Capitalism, that is the reason why my brother and his family lived in poverty. But mybrother wasn't the only one. Today, their are a lot of families who are living in poverty.From Los Angeles-New York, and other parts of the world, people are starving, homeless,and are being oppressed by U.S. Imperialism. It is up to us to educate ourselves andothers about the doctrine of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. International Socialism isthe only way to improve the lives of the proletarians all over the world. "Workers ofthe world, unite!"