The basis of success for my Marine Corps was the mantra of “you are now a Marine. You are as good as, but never better than, every other Marine” “Take care of your mates, do your job and never leave a fellow Marine behind.” No matter how important or how mundane your job, from the Commandant to the last private in the last rank, it is incumbent on you to do that job the best you can because this is the only way any of us will survive. Just as in the slums, we did our best and helped each other not just because it was the right thing to do but because it was the only way each one of us had a chance of continuing on.
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In a time of unprecedented wealth, we now have an all-time record-breaking number of people living in poverty. It has been accurately reported that in the last decade while overall wealth has grown by 60 percent, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent, and the number of children on food stamps has increased by 70 percent. In a time of unprecedented wealth we now have full-time workers who need food stamps to survive, and conditions are getting more severe, the trends are getting worse.
