Take a good look at this picture.

And this one.

And this one.

The man in the pictures is Harvey Lesser, a former member of America's middle class.

Mr. Lesser is 58 years old. He used to be a software developer for IBM in Boulder, Colorado. He suffers from various medical conditions, including back problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Then he got laid off from his software job.

Then he ran out of money. He couldn't pay his insurance, or his rent. On December 11, 2009, he was evicted from his apartment. Now he lives in his car. Will he ever work again? What computer company is likely to hire him?

This story really hit home for me. Mr. Lesser is a lot like me. He is about my age. I, too, am a software developer. I used to live near Boulder. I could very well have gotten a job at IBM in Boulder when I moved to Colorado in the 1990's.

I, too, am middle class, at least for now. I have insurance, or at least I think I do. If I get sick, I won't know ahead of time if the insurance will cover my bills or not. Like most middle class Americans, I am one major illness away from destitution.

What happened to Mr. Lesser could happen to any of us. That's what makes the title of this blog, "We Are All Harvey Lesser" particularly frightening.

Most of the middle class is one illness away from destitution. For America's poor, it's even worse.

The moral of the story of Mr. Lesser is this: there, but for the grace of God, go us.