In our organization work, we describe the "Bottom Space" as a space of vulnerability, a condition in which one is regularly on the receiving end of other people's actions; there is always some distant THEM who make decisions affecting your life in major or minor ways. Nowadays there's a whole new level of bottomness, soon to be enhanced by pending bankruptcy legislation.
A worker loses his job, not because of any failure on his part but because the company, in search of lower-wage workers, has shipped his job overseas. He then loses his medical insurance because of decisions made by HMO lawyers. He then suffers catastrophic illness-caused in part by the stress of unemployment-with medical bills threatening to wipe out his savings and all his assets. He tries to file for bankruptcy only to find that legislation, presumably aimed at protecting banks and credit card companies against abuse, has severely restricted his options. He and his family are headed into poverty through no action of theirs.
Meanwhile, while he suffers in his bottomness, the company that shipped his job overseas is flourishing, as is the HMO that canceled his insurance, as are the banks and credit card companies that lobbied so effectively to limit his bankruptcy options.
You have to wonder: Who needs protection?
1. Is it the credit card industry? Not likely, since the credit card industry is the most profitable industry in the United States with annual earnings in the $30 billion range.
2. Is it the HMOs? Not really, given that nationally, HMOs recorded a 73% profit increase. (2003 figures)
3. What about that company that shipped our Bottom's job overseas? As is the case with other manufacturers, it's been a struggle recovering from the world-wide recession and trying to keep pace with the intense global competition; yet manufacturer profits are increasing.
The only one who truly needs and deserves protection is our invisible Bottom. And who is looking out for him? Not our Congress, not our President, and not the rest of us who simply allow this to happen.
