Paula Grandpre letter: Movie a reminder of today's situation

Cinderella Man" is a movie that portrays a period in our history that closely mirrors the direction our country is taking today. It vividly recreates a society destroyed by the greed of Wall Street and the indifference to the little people by the government. People who had bet their future on stocks lost not only their future security but the ability to survive day to day. The government allowed the plight of the poor to deteriorate into life in "Hoovervilles" with no support system and no hope of digging themselves out of a life of destitution.

Meanwhile, the wealthy continued to enjoy a life supported by the sweat of the people forced to stand in lines to beg for work that didn't pay enough to support their families, let alone get ahead.

If this sounds familiar today, it should. Every aspect of the Bush administration bolsters the same ideas. They push taking money from our secure retirement savings insurance and betting it on Wall Street. They cut social support systems for the down and out in order to line the pockets of the wealthiest in the country with "tax relief."

They ensure that the poor have no chance of bettering their plight by insuring that even people broken by our out-of-control health care system are not allowed to wipe out the debt by filing bankruptcy. We must be sure that the credit card companies make their millions by luring every man, woman and child to use their credit cards. If there is a name out there, its sent multitudes of offers that seem too good to pass up to those in need.

There is as of yet no Franklin Roosevelt on the horizon to stop our headlong rush to line the pockets of the richest Americans while ignoring the needs of the other 97 percent of us. Indeed, it would appear to be the goal of the administration to destroy everything created at that time to insure that people would not fall through the safety net again.

If you want to see what a world is like when the greedy are in charge, just go see this great movie. If you can walk away unaffected, then there is no hope.

Paula Grandpre

Fargo