To work in Alexandria..

Ok, so after getting hints that maybe I should write in English I decided to switch language... at least for a while.

I work at the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerse headquarter in Alexandria, right outside D.C. It is a great place to work, Alexandria is beautiful and very pittoresque. So much history remains in the bricked walls, and more than one ghost story is flourishing throughout the city. Still, it is striking to take the metro just a few stops and step out in a completely different reality. According to Morgan Quitno Press, D.C is ranked as the 6th most dangerous city in the U.S. "Don't get on the green line" people tell me, referring to the metro line that goes to the southeast parts of the city.

Isn't it typical, though? I think D.C is a perfect reflection of how the U.S. as a nation has developed its huge gaps between social classes. The most powerful people in the country, not to say in the world, are ruling over Capital Hill, where the grass is green and the birds are singing, and criminality and poverty seem to be so very, very far away. But you don't have to go very far to get into neighbourhoods where even the police refuses to enter, and where Public Defenders come to interview victims more often than not.

U.S is among the 10 richest countries in the world (Sweden is ranked among number 20) yet there are more than twice as many people livning in poverty than the total amount of Swedish citizens. At least to me, it is'nt ok to work three jobs and still just barely be able to pay rent. When I lived in Nicaragua I got used to see very distinct differences between lifestyles depending on income; to se a hovel next to something that looked as it would have cost several million dollars was not unusual. But keep in mind too, that Nicaragua is a third-world country and the U.S. is... well, not. And it does surprise me to see the difference in social-economic lifestyle be displayed so obvious in the capital. Well, obvious at least, if you care to look and find out. Because the thruth is - as long as you're just strolling along the mall or enjoying a nice dinner by the water in Old Town, the only sign of poverty you will see is a beggar or two. No biggie, right?

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