Poverty

I don't know what it is like to live in poverty, and I am very thankful for that. But I do know that a lot of people DO know what it is like, and that makes me at least a little sad. GoodMagazine has posted a great article about why people who don't see or experience poverty may not be the right people to come up with solutions. I agree with the article way too much. So many people think that they know the solution to other people's problems without realizing the full extent of the problem. While sometimes the answer is to just read more, or try harder in school, usually that's not actually a viable solution to a poverty issue. The story in this article about the boy getting suspended so that he could prevent his mother from prostituting herself is so incredible, and I want to go back and see what happened to the family afterward. Did the boy get taken away from his mother? Did she woman get arrested?

While I sometimes question my stance on the Occupy movement that is so popular right now, this article brings to light the "solutions" that many people have come up with for that movement as well.

Sometimes though, the answer to the question is not just "work harder" sometimes there's something else holding you back, or something that is MORE important than finding a job, or getting good grades in school, or whatever. We may never know what all of these problems are, but we should at least try to not look at the visible problems (poverty, unemployment, etc) on its own.

Also, here is a link to the Forbes "If I were a poor black kid" article, and one to another response. I think they both definitely add to the first article!














R