Six boys were on the playground, enjoying a game of catch each day, and they did this day after day: year after year.  They became great friends.  Eventually, one of the boy’s wealthy parents built them a baseball field on the family’s property.  They advanced through little league baseball as the core of their team; the infield; pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, short stop, third base.  The wealthy boy’s dad was their coach.

They were about to advance to the Little League World Series, something they worked to achieve for years.  The rich boy (short stop) and the other boys got into disagreement.  The rich boy quit the team, and his wealthy parents barred the other players (including the other five friends) from using the wealthy family’s baseball field.  The wealthy boy’s dad quit coaching.  He withdrew their application to compete.

The baseball team had no choice but to disband.  The other five kids could probably go to neighboring towns and find other teams.  They were all good.  But what happened to them?

1. Their parents were not rich and not prepared to help them.
2. They were traumatized by suddenly finding themselves on the outside looking in.
3. The disagreement, although profound, was forgotten soon.  The rich boy found new friends and went on with life.  The five friends forgotten.
4. The five friends did what society asked from them … they got back up, dusted themselves off, buried their pain, and moved on to other interests.

In this story, the power of money held, or money withdrawn, even on innocent kids can be profound.  Every day, we are now experiencing Trump’s many announcements of withholding funds.  Funds withheld from critical projects in Blue States.  Funds withheld from NATO and other countries who disagree with him.  Contracts delayed to companies who won’t bend the knee.  The President of the United States purposefully hurting American citizens because of a fragile ego.  Yet these proclamations always land on the vulnerable.  The cancellation of Blue State funding dashes children’s hope for food assistance.  The threats to university federal grants kills a graduate student’s chance to graduate or start a company.  The point is all these knee jerk retributions never hurt the target; they hurt exponentially more innocent people who never deserved to be hurt.  The billionaires are hidden behind the President they own, but they are just as guilty.  The MAGA Republican voters act like their innocent in all of this.  In the end, like the five boys who lost their dream, America suffers the same fate.