 |
Poverty in America: Facts or Fiction? |
 |
This is a follow-up to “Blog Action Day: Alarming Poverty Statistics.” In the comment section, one reader expressed his sympathy for those struggling in poverty and even shared some of his own experiences. But in the end, he seemed convinced that poverty in The United States is largely a myth. Here’s his comment, followed by my response:
My heart truly goes out to those who are struggling. However, I often find most of these stats a bit mis-leading and fairly naive.
I have seen the perspective of the “poor” (both working and not) in America from the social work angle and the sales angle. There is an incredible sense of entitlement that our culture of dependency has created. Like because we live in America, we are “owed” a good life, “deserve” financial security, live the “champagne lifestyle on a beer budget” etc. And when they make horrible decisions it was the politicians/capitalism/Bush/governments fault, yet that same government which caused all the problems will just bail them out.
I helped run some “life-skills” classes for our community support center, working with families who would be numbered among the poor in these stats. We were attempting to teach them about budgets, responsible spending, credit, etc. Here was the case of a family of 5 (two parents, 3 kids under 8 years old). Believe me, this was just a sample of the other familial situations we came across. Keep in mind that these people were really struggling financially:
Starbucks 4x/week (combined for mom and dad) at 8$ per = 32$/wk = 128$ per month (4 weeks)
Dad went out to lunch 2x/wk to McDonalds: 5$ per = 10$/wk = 40$ per month
Comcast High speed cable (who doesn’t need fast internet at home these days?): 38$/mo
DirectTV cable hookup (gotta have cable, right?) 48$/month
Mom and dad work alot and they sometimes have no time to cook, so they go to fast food 2x/week at 25$ = 50$/wk = 200$/month.We showed these “working poor” that they could very easily change these habits and save $450 per month right off the top! Go to the library for internet, skip the cable, buy bulk foods, make freezer meals and foods in a crock pot, get a coffee maker (and use it!!!), etc.
From a sales perspective, you would see all the time people wanting to buy “luxury” items (non-essentials) like they had $$$ when in reality they had no business purchasing what I was selling. Then, they would get somewhat offended at me when I would sabotage my potential sale by making sure to ask them if they could afford it. Unbelievable!
People in America have plenty of $$$, even the poor. The real problem is that people want to live outside of their means, that they are “owed” a good life without making the necessary sacrifices to get there. They want a quick fix, not real solutions. They are too proud or ignorgant to admit that they can’t live like the Jones’.
One of the hardest things for me to do some years back when I was out of work with two young kids was to go to the local food bank because we couldn’t afford groceries. But we did it. We stopped going out for food, cut off all non-essentials, etc. We did that until we could afford going to the store and buy bulk foods (beans, grains, etc). You do what you have to do.
Dear Reader,
I appreciate your point of view, but I feel like you are making some pretty strong generalizations about a very diverse group of people. You are looking at bad behavior and destructive attitudes on the part of some people, and then you are attributing those things to a lot of people who don’t deserve these accusations.
When I organized a food pantry in my small southern town last year, I quickly realized that some of the people who came each week for a box of groceries could have easily cut back on their expenses. They sounded a lot like the family you just described. One woman even had a new DVD player running in her car ( a nice SUV, by the way!) These folks were turned away from the food pantry and directed to an agency where they could receive things like budget and credit counseling.
But for every person who was trying to live above their means or take advantage of the system, I met at least two or three who were not, who were genuinely scrimping and scraping to get by, who were trying as hard as they could to find work in a region and in an economy where there was none. The tough time you went through seems to fall into this category, and I’m puzzled that you don’t see the similarities between your experience and the situations many, many poor people find themselves in.
Some of these needy people were single mothers raising three or four kids. Some were grandparents who found themselves unexpectedly raising grandchildren at the same time they faced their own major medical issues. Other were young and able-bodied people who had been laid off and just needed a little help to get through until they could find a new job.
It is simply wrong and unjust to make blanket statements about the poor in America to the effect of them all being lazy, greedy, and expecting everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. Sure, those types are out there. But so are the people who work hard, who are very proud of being self-sufficient, and for whom it is extremely painful to have to go and ask for help (people just like you were). Their problem is tough circumstances, not character flaw.
When I was setting up that food pantry, I kept asking myself a question: “What percentage of people coming and getting help that don’t really need it should we tolerate? 10%? 25%? 50%? 75%? At what point should we shut down the charity and say that it’s not worth the effort? Based on my own personal, moral, and religious convictions, I decided that it only takes a few good apples to make the efforts worthwhile.
As for those statistics - they are just numbers on a page. Numbers can’t be naive. The way we interpret them, however, can be. I like to think of this list as a kind of social Rorshach test. Reading these stats causes us to reveal our own attitudes about wealth and poverty - for better or for worse.
And Reader, it seems that in you, these stats have brought out a deep concern and empathy for the poor as well as some pretty strong prejudice. I must admit that I have struggled against this same prejudice myself. There’s a happy medium somewhere between naivete and cynicism that I think we should shoot for.
Just think, if everybody shared your general attitude toward poverty, there probably would not have been a food bank for you to go to when you really needed it!
(cross-posted at Discipline for Justice)
