The System Is Broken

The other day the EBT system was down.  This is the Electronic Benefits Transfer system for government aid that provides funding for food and other benefits to families in need.  It is a lifeline for many and a great support to others.  Either way you look at it; it is what makes the difference between health and hunger in the vast majority of homes that use the funding.   

Although the system shutdown was said to be due to a system error during maintenance checks, one could easily see this as a sign of the times.  Oddly enough there was only one store location within proximity that was still accepting the benefits in small increments.  This is where I ask... How is it that they were able to accept funds whereas no one else could?  In this broken system, I found it very odd that although there was a general malfunction in my state and that of 16 others... this was the only store that could/would still accept transactions.  

Yet I don't mean to get bogged down in the reality of the moment over the symbolic meaning behind the events.

Here is what I know.  The System is Broken.  Not just the EBT system in that moment/ day; but the system on the whole.  There is complete imbalance between the have's and the have not's... there is struggle across the world... there is pain... there is suffering.  So in the day of the system being literally down it was not a far cry to see the panic of an uncertain tomorrow in the face of today.  What does tomorrow hold for any of us?  When things go wrong; what will your response be?  When things go right; how will you pay it forward?  

It shouldn't take a loss to force us to truly evaluate how things are versus how they should be, yet these are a sign of the times.  The system is broken, so instead of focusing on the whys of how we got here... we need to begin thinking and acting on the how's of us building a better tomorrow beginning today.  When the system goes down again, how can we help ourselves and in turn help our neighbor?  

We can no longer look at problems or system failures as not having anything to do with us.  We must recognize that we are all one in the struggle, so that which affects our neighbor does affect us as well.  

*Be the change you wish to see in the world*  

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