Working Class Struggles to Stay Afloat in the Rise of a "Big Business" Economy

In Wichita, Kansas a mother watches her 17 year old son struggle with cancer, wishing she could afford to pay for the treatment he needs, the treatment he won’t receive. The cure she cannot find. She wonders if she missed something, some sort of key to life that everyone else seemed to have found. A secret that she did not understand. She thinks, maybe if I hadn’t dropped out of high school (not that they would have taught her anything that could help her now). If only I had found a man who was responsible (or at least one who didn’t end up getting drunk and pushing her around after a few months). As she cleans houses during the day and waits tables in the evenings, she wonders why her son has been left behind by a system which constantly advertises its will to battle adversary and help those in need.

Meanwhile, out in sunny LA, home of the stars, a successful sports idol laughs ironically as he sends his assistant out to buy another $2000 tropical fish for his tank. The small shark he keeps in there has once again eaten the expensive fish instead of the feed fish he buys for her, but no worries. He contributes regularly to his favorite charities and feels he’s earned the right to a little luxury and extravagance. If only he knew that for the money he’s spent on his aquarium for this house in which he resides a mere 3 months out of the year, he could probably save, or at least extend, the life of a young boy in Kansas.