The poor are lazy, stupid, drug addled – and it is their fault they find themselves in poverty. There are plenty of examples of people that have lifted themselves out of poverty… think Will Smith’s portrayal of Chris Gardner in the movie “Pursuit of Happiness” or Oprah, how about JK Rowling?
First of all, Gardner found himself impoverished (but for the grace of God go I) due to a bad business strategy. He had demonstrated the skills and drive necessary to be middle class prior to falling back. Oprah and Rowling on the other hand were gifted with a remarkable talent. That talent combined with a drive to succeed placed them in the top 1%. There are many examples of gifted people that work hard to hone their skills that escape poverty, so the logical conclusion is that anyone can escape poverty.
Using that logic, I should be Albert Einstein and each and every one of us in the top 5% income bracket should be titans of industry, inventors or President of the United States, since we started from a better position on the track of life. Clearly we cannot hold the poor to this standard.
Academic studies demonstrate the difficulties faced by the poor when trying to lift themselves out of their desperate situation, so can we blame them for not solving an impossible problem?
“A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.” ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-rise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 )
Previous studies have shown that wealth is a greater predictor of standardized test scores than race; the test-score gap between high and low-income students is now nearly double the gap between blacks and whites.
Is our reason for harboring this belief on the poor’s work ethic a salve we use to soothe our guilt, a mask to hide from our responsibilities to relieve the suffering of our fellow man?
It is time to lift the mask and recognize our responsibility to those that live in a chronic state of need for food and shelter
endpovertydallas 