They Just Don’t Want Us to Have It
Dr. Candice Duvieilh
If you work for a large company that touts record profits year after year, but your boss tells you, “We can’t afford that raise,” don’t believe it’s because the company is broke. It’s not. It’s because you aren’t their priority. That distinction matters.
At every level of life, whether it is personal, corporate, or governmental, you can tell someone’s values by what they are willing to invest in.
I have a friend who drives a 20-year-old truck, complete with dents and a cracked windshield. But in his garage? A gleaming, brand-new side-by-side he races in the desert on weekends. He chooses adrenaline and competition over comfort and reliability for his daily commute. I wouldn’t make the same choice, but it’s his passion, and he funds it. That’s what a priority looks like.
A single mother I know skips the seasonal home décor aisle at Target to pay for her child’s dentist visits. No one applauds her sacrifice, but her choices are the quiet foundation of her family’s health.
A senior on a fixed income may fill their grocery cart instead of filling a prescription, because no one can survive on medicine alone. That isn’t just math; it’s a heartbreaking reflection of how everyday Americans weigh survival itself.
Every one of us makes trade-offs. Every one of us reveals our priorities with how we spend. And most of us are doing the very best we can with what little we have.
But when it comes to governments and corporations, the stakes are bigger than one person’s choices. Their priorities define whether our communities thrive or decline.
When your boss refuses your raise, they are saying their shareholders or their next acquisition matter more than your rent, your groceries, or your child’s school shoes. When a government closes hospitals, cuts education budgets, or delays infrastructure repairs, they are saying campaign donors, contractors, and pet projects matter more than your health, your children, and your safety.
They will try to tell you it’s complicated. That the books just can’t be balanced. That we couldn’t possibly understand. Do not be fooled. Just like my friend with his racing hobby, just like that mother and that senior citizen, it all comes down to priorities.
And here’s the truth they’d rather we don’t talk about:
- Your employer can afford to give you a raise.
- Your government can afford to keep hospitals and schools open.
- This country can afford to invest in communities instead of corporations.
They simply choose not to.
Here’s the part that should give you hope: we have more power than they want us to believe. Priorities are not fixed; they are shaped by pressure, by organizing, by votes, and by voices that refuse to stay quiet.
When enough people say no more, things change. When workers organize, wages rise. When communities demand investment, schools get built. When voters refuse to settle for excuses, leaders start to remember who they work for.
You deserve to be a priority. Your family deserves to be a priority. Our communities deserve to be at the center of every decision about where money flows.
So let’s stop swallowing excuses. Let’s start asking better questions. Let’s demand transparency, fairness, and courage from those in power. Most importantly, let’s start voting like our lives, our dignity, and our children’s futures depend on it.
Because they do.