The Nields wrote four additional verses for “America the Beautiful” on their new album November.  They have a political edge, but the spirit of the original song is maintained, especially the spirit of “God mend thy every flaw.” Nerissa Nields has simply enumerated some of those flaws that cause economic and racial inequity in her added middle verses.

O Beautiful our open skies

How far our eyes do go

We crave a land unlimited by anyone’s control

America, our liberty has blinded us with greed

Our bounty has deluded us

To take more than we need.

(America the Beautiful, revised, The Nields)

In the above verse, Nerissa addresses greed as a consequence of unlimited freedom.  There is no law against greed, so we feel empowered to pursue it without regard for the needy.  We feel entitled to all our money earns, when, in fact, our circumstances may be the result of favorable tax laws and good tax lawyers. We forget that the poor are often the victims of families with no equity in homes or investments. We forget that we started on second or third base in the game of life, while some are still taking their swings at the plate.

The poor are no longer limited to the chronically unemployed or single parents with five kids to feed.  They are working people and typical nuclear families upset by the COVID virus and closed businesses.  They are survivors, but they live from paycheck to paycheck.  We know some of these people; they are not living on the other side of the tracks.

So  what do we do? We share the same spaces, and yet some of us survive the pandemic with plenty to spare and others of us are quietly sinking.

We need more sharing of wealth, not just from the usual givers, but from the heart of America. We all are the “Beautiful” addressed in this verse. In spite of beauty, bounty has blinded us to take more than we need.  It is an indictment, but not of conscious sins, but of unconscious “take-it-for-granted” neglect.  It is a call to uncover our excess and start sharing it with those in need.

Wealth has never been a sin, but complacent wealth can be.  It is the conviction that we are the deserving and others are not that corrupts us, not the mere presence of wealth. We must rise to the needs of fellow Americans to show that complacency has not dulled our spirits.  We must make giving a reflex and seeking out the needy a habit. The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.