Thursday, November 6 was a calm day of reflection throughout most of America. Friday, November 7, 2008 was the same as Americans took a breath to breathe in new life to an age-old American dream. "All men are created equal..." hadn't taken on such meaning in over a century as a dastardly political system's evil tentacles sucked the life out of America's rights to basic freedoms. Most Americans alive today grew up knowing only two major political parties, and many believed they could only vote for Republicans or Democrats. The well-greased wheels of these two abhorrent political dynasties had effectively prevented other candidates from running for office. "Republicrats" saw to it that only their "chosen few" were "anoited" to the highest offices in government. In that way, the wealthy elitists and powerful industrialists kept their wheels greased, and continued to get everything they wanted from Uncle Sam in the form of 'corporate welfare' that far exceeded the paltry amounts of money given to unwed single welfare mothers, the poor, the hungry, the homeless or the disadvantaged. The poor had no power base because - duh! - they had no money! That one undeniable factor was why the rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. Relatively few people ever escaped the drudgery of the poverty into which they had been born. Conversely, even fewer people ever lost the wealth and privilege into which they, too, had been born.
In 1998, Professor Ruby K, Payne had published a book entitled, "A Framework for Understanding Poverty". She made it very clear that "poverty is relative" and clarified the difference between generational and situational poverty. It was a scathing diatribe on the fundamental differences in America's education system. How, Payne pointed out, could a black child born in the ghetto without sufficient food or clothing, identify with a white teacher who dressed in $150 three-piece suits? Payne explained how wealthy people might know which fork to use at a formal dinner party, but would have no idea how to live without a checking account. In upper-class society, love and acceptance were conditional and related to social standing and connections; sex was a way of advancing the wealth and status for future generations. In middle-class society, love and acceptance was based largely on achievement; sex was a procreational event that committed two people to each other. In lower-class cultures, love and acceptance was based on whether the individual was "liked"; sex was a commodity that could be used or traded for one's benefit.
The education system in America was hypocritically biased toward those with money. The wealthy were naturally expected to go on to college. In the middle class, the highest achievers earned college grants or found ways to finance their higher education. In the lower class society, college was a pipedream.
This was just one example of the inequalities that had stifled America's culture and surpressed those who lacked resources with which to take advantage of new opportunities. All of these kinds of inequities would have to change, and O.U.T.R.A.G.E. volunteers recognized that the biggest changes would have to come from the American culture. People would have to stop thinking about "me" and start thinking in terms of "us".