John Steinbeck is my favorite author. There’s a sensitivity to his writing when it comes to the poor (and it comes to the poor quite a bit) that pairs nicely with his articulate, well thought-out, naked, and righteous ANGER at those who are pulling the strings. The whole system that pulls the strings.

I have yet to come across one of his stories that sums this up as succinctly as The Pearl. It deals with the #1 fantasy of the poor: finding a golden ticket out of the poor house.

But the REALITY is that the world that looks down on you will NEVER be okay with you coming into their tax (or lack thereof, amiright?) bracket.

They don’t trust you. They don’t want you. And, most importantly, they don’t want anyone coming in behind you.

And it’s easy to say the rich are evil, yadda yadda yadda. You’ll hear no argument from me. But Steinbeck goes further than that here and says that the church is also doing a hell of a job controlling the situation - of telling the poor this is where we belong, this is our function in life, and if it is ordained by god, who are WE to argue?

And by god, they’re not going to support any efforts toward literacy because that would be handing the poor a dangerous weapon: being able to see their bullshit.

Also, I’ve heard that line my whole life. Poverty is looked at in the church as some sort of virtue. If the Bible says that rich people can’t get into heaven that must mean only the POOR can so hot damn, isn’t it awesome to be broke?

I hate it because it’s wrong. To have wealth isn’t a sin. To hoard wealth and gain while others are hurt to satisfy your greed, THAT’S the sin (and what so many rich fall victim to).

But to have enough wealth to not have to tiptoe around the church or your boss’ exploitative rhetoric? The only sin there is pulling your neck out of the noose they’ve so lovingly made for you.

How I read this is middle school and didn’t realize the radical nature is beyond me as an adult. It’s so obvious to me now.

#thepearl