City Of God 13

Yesterday I had a spare hour or so to walk through one of our richest neighbourhoods while on my way to my next work assignment. In my job I work in three distinct sights flung across the city, so there is significant travel time on most days. I was walking down one leafy street between mansions just one block for so from where I found that pile of money, some $525 just four years ago, and now here was an opportunity to give back, so to speak. I saw an envelope next to the sidewalk. I felt curious so I picked it up. It was soaking wet. It had not yet been opened and it had the logo for the TD bank on it. I read the address. The name was of a Chinese resident and this person lived just a half block away. I thought, and weighed the risk. A lot of these estates are locked and sealed and electronically monitored, and some have vicious guard dogs prowling around. I thought I could just leave the letter on top of the gate, or wall or fence or whatever. it turned out to be a huge, Georgian-style mansion, one of the vintage houses in the area built well over a hundred years ago. The gate was open. There was a car parked in the driveway and no sign of any dogs. I cautiously made my way to the front door, expecting that a servant or maybe a Filipina nanny would answer. No one came to the door. Not surprising, given that we live in an age of fear and especially in a wealthy neighbourhood no one is going to come running to the door if a stranger happens to be knocking. I carefully sliped the wet letter into the letter slot, then continued my way to work. I did this because at the moment it seemed like the right thing to do. The letter was important, being from the bank, and someone might easily get hold of it and crack the coded information to break into the recipient's cyber security and all hell could break loose. Not that I have a lot of sympathy for wealthy people who get preyed on. I have an instinctive Robin Hood reflex and I have few qualms about the poor benefiting at the expense of the wealthy. But I still wanted to do the kind and right thing, and despite my distaste for rich people (and, Gentle Reader, I do not hate the wealthy, nor envy them, I simply disapprove of social and economic inequality), I didn't want the recipient to come to harm. Neither was I going to let my disapproval of wealthy foreigners buying up our property and sending housing prices into the stratosphere to affect my act of kindness. There is also a wealthy burgher in the area, a lady of a certain age, who has befriended me. I often see her sweeping or gardening just outside her property. She likes to chat, and we often stand for up to twenty minutes or so shooting the breeze. Last Saturday she walked with me a few blocks. This lady in some ways seems atypical of the area. She is very friendly, seems to like to talk to people regardless of class differences, and seems like a genuinely kind person. From what she has told me about her politics, she appears to be conservative, but definitely more a red tory, and I get on well with red Tories, though I tend to be way off in left of centre land and a strong supporter of both the Green Party and the NDP. She isn't fond of the Chinese millionaires buying up her neighbourhood, finding them unfriendly and materialistic, and I have felt behooved to remind her that they are not typical of their people, the vast majority of whom I have found to be decent and kind especially given the harsh treatment they have historically suffered in this city. I already mentioned that I disapprove of inordinate wealth and economic inequality. Does this mean that I believe a doctor and a ditch-digger should be paid the same? Yes. They both work hard, both do useful work, and really, why should one have way more than he needs while the other hast to struggle to feed himself ad keep[ a roof over his head. Do I think the Chinese householder where I delivered the letter is vastly overcompensated? Yep. Likewise the lady who chats with me outside her home. But they are also human beings and if we in our zeal for social justice keep forgetting this then we will also run the risk of repeating the brutal and murderous errors of Mao, Lenin and Che Guevara. In the City of God all is love and even love must come before justice, because justice that is not driven and motivated by love becomes a cruel and implacable tribal vengeance. We must never forget the humanity of those who oppose us, even while fighting and struggling like mad to uphold and show forth our own humanity and the humanity of those for whom we are fighting.