A dollar and a dream — Mickey Z. 

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Mickey Z. — World News Trust

September xx, 2021

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of World News Trust.)

To board the N or W subway lines in my neighborhood requires you to climb two flights of stairs. That’s because they run on an elevated track (“the el”) while they’re in Queens and then enter a tunnel to delve into Manhattan and eventually Brooklyn.

The other day, as I passed through the turnstile and climbed the second flight of stairs, my eyes — so well-trained by capitalism to recognize the green — spied a dollar bill lying on the floor. I reached down to grab it… looking around to see if I was being watched. I was. A guy in his 20s was counting a handful of bills just a few feet from me. It seemed clear that the dollar was his. Our eyes met. He didn’t appear too concerned about this and, to be radically honest, neither was I. “Is this yours?” I asked. He shrugged and answered: “I’m pretty sure.” 

I handed him the buck with my best “whatever” face and moved on. A lousy one-dollar bill was not worth a potential confrontation with a stranger, right? Break it into four quarters and I might have used that dollar to feed a washing machine — but not a family. But what if I were one of the billion or so earthlings subsisting on about one dollar a day? Would I have been so honest… and so indifferent? 

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Dig this: My neighborhood is teeming with “99 cents stores.”  However, these establishments are most definitely not offering Third Worlders subsistence for 24 hours. Nope, 99 cents stores are where folks like me can purchase cheap goods — almost always assembled in China by pre-teen girls or prisoners (am I being redundant?). Anyone need an earpiece for your coltan-containing cell phone? It’s all yours for $1.08 (after tax). Don’t ya just love the free [sic] market?

What’s that? You say you’re not familiar with coltan? Au contraire, it’s a major part of your modern everyday life. One of the primary components of cellphone and computer circuitry is a metallic ore called Columbite-Tantalite — or “coltan.” Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan can be found in the African nation of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (or DRC), which just so happens to be embroiled in brutal (even by current standards) civil wars that date back to pre-internet days. 

Over time, all sides in these unrelenting struggles adroitly began using the mining and sale of coltan not only to nourish the West’s seemingly insatiable digital addiction but also to fund their own inexorable mayhem. Civilian deaths in the DRC during this time — mostly from war-related disease and malnutrition — are estimated not in the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, but rather in the millions… making it the world's deadliest military conflict since the Second World War. 

And there’s more. Just ask an Eastern Lowland Gorilla — the world’s largest primate, found almost exclusively in the DRC. The UN Environment Program has reported that the number of eastern lowland gorillas has declined by 90 percent thanks to the wars and conflicts. We can only hope that some enterprising soul has already recorded the gorilla’s call so it can be used as a ring tone long after they’re gone. Such is life when the dominant economic system is based on the voracious and insatiable consumption of finite resources, huh?

Eastern Lowland Gorilla

I was contemplating eastern lowland gorillas as the W train began its thunderous entrance into the station. The working class zeroes all around me moved into position like power forwards in the paint. Conditioned to compete at every opportunity, friends become enemies and no one can be trusted when there’s a place to sit at stake. I dodged the seat-seeking missiles and my eyes caught sight of a subway ad for the New York State Lottery. You know,  “a dollar and a dream” and all that. This refocused my thoughts onto the dollar bill I just found — and lost. I’ll bet all those living-on-one-dollar-a-day poor folks already have the dreaming part down pat. So maybe now they should just start playing Lotto? Remember, you gotta be in it to win it.

Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, Mickey Z. can be found here. He is also the founder of Helping Homeless Women - NYC, offering direct relief to women on New York City streets. To help him grow this project, CLICK HERE and donate right now. And please spread the word!