O Heroi response by Jessica Weiss

I am very interested in the class differences not only in O Heroi, but globally. After the war in Angola, the government officials didn't seem to have the common people in mind. He promised to help all of them (referring to the scene with all the disabled veterans), which is a lie already. You get the feeling that while he is persuaded to do the radio talk with Vitorio, it was primarily to make him seem like a caring person who wanted to help the people, it was a publicity stunt. The government official has a nice office and a nice suit and a nice car, which greatly contrasts almost all of the people and images seen in Angola with the exception of the teacher. Sometimes, as a middle class person I forget the privileges I am afforded because I see many similar people, my neighbors of West Chester who have inhabited this wealthy area for the 24 years of my life. We all know that in the recession the rich are getting richer and the middle class is shrinking. My family has seen this as my mom was laid off from her job and we are living off her retirement money, when a few years ago we only had a couple years until the mortgage was paid off. Compared to the Angolians, my life is greater than that of the government official and teacher, despite the current recession. Even the struggling in West Chester are afforded some options with places like Safe Habor and other soup kitchens. Then again, since the late 90's there have been countless reports of the ways the rich are increasing their wealth. They wealthy 1% own more than half the American wealth. The average CEO is making more than 250 times that of the average person. These injustices across the globe are disturbing, yet also it sounds like they must similar. In a Small Place, the descriptions of the Swiss banks and how they work is something I never understood. It scared me to think of how the Swiss country and it's people benefit so mcuh from their private, non-questioning banks that allow criminals and extreme wealthy people to hide their money from taxation. These are all complex ideas, and I'm not saying that I'm correct or that I have researched anything in depth, but it shows repeatedly through history that there is extreme corruption in government when it comes to classism.