Once upon a time there was this little boy walking down the road carrying a bucket of water. He noticed a small brush fire which was burning about 100 feet from a huge dump containing thousands of tires. The boy saw that the fire was slowly advancing toward the dump. He ran to the edge of the dump and wet the ground and dried vegetation on the edge of the tire dump where he thought the fire would eventually reach the dump. Being a smart boy, he realized he would need a lot more water to create an effective barrier to the creeping flames.
So he ran to the first house in a nearby neighborhood. He explained the problem to the home owner and explained he wanted to get a number of neighbors together to form a bucket brigade. The first neighbor dismissed the boy, telling him that he would never find enough people in time to make a difference. The boy went to the next house. The woman there said she would love to help but that she had to pick up her daughters from their dance class and that she was already late. The person in the house across the street told the boy his idea would not work because of the distance from the water source to the dump and the rate of the fire's advance. It would not be practical. The next house's occupants were anti-social and would not even answer the door. Another home owner did not recognize the boy and so refused to help. The sixth homeowner said she did not have a bucket but that she would call the fire department.
What happened next is below the squiggle.
Unfortunately, the fire department had only one working truck and it was engaged in putting out a house fire. By the time the firemen reached the dump the tires were already ablaze.
The firemen were unable to put the tire fire and it continued burning for years. There was a silver lining, however. At least for the person who set the brush on fire that day. He was able to buy the neighborhood houses and property cheaply since no one else wanted to live with the eternal stench of burning rubber. The fire starter demolished all the homes and turned the neighborhood into a landfill the profits from which are quite lucrative. And no one complains about the odor of rotting garbage from this landfill.
This story is pure fiction. The deteriorating condition of America's poor and disadvantaged is not fictional. Your caring can make all the difference. Please sign the petition to the U.S. Congress at www.credomobilize/p/pair3.