How we treat the weakest among us is the measure of our progress. And who are the weakest among us and how do we treat them? Take a walk through an animal shelter or down the streets of the down and out. Go out into the country and see how the weak are treated. Take a drive through southern Kansas or west Texas and roll the window down as you pass a CAFO.

Take a ride through Arkansas and Missouri and stop at one of the long, silver, enclosed halls and listen. Smell the air and know that on our dinner plates are the weak among us. Stroll up to the doors of a hunting club and look on their walls. Listen to those around you talk and what they say. Their words explain how we treat the weak among us.

Go to the “wrong” side of the tracks. Listen to yourself and know that those thoughts, and the inevitable words that follow will decide how we treat those among us that have no voice. The internet, social media, witty comments and ignorant claims. We will be defined by how we treat those that cannot help themselves. We will live or die determined by our attitudes of how we view that lone, lost dog, or that neglected cat. We will progress determined by what we think when we see someone in need.

How we treat each other is how we treat the weak among us.