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Do you understand the plight of the poor?

And if so...do you pity, understand, or condem them. Poverty is not a condition...its a cycle. People who struggle may not have the tools to pass on to their children to succeed, or even to avoid what may be pitfalls to well off or middle class individuals. DO you have any idea how stiffling it must be to only travel through your television? Or to eat fast food..becasue you cant afford the gas bill to cook. Understanding vs. scorn...have you truely tried it without worrying about your tax dollars?

Public Comments

1. Well, yes.But then again, I am not a middle class white american, nothing has ever been given to me easily. Even the poorest of white people in this country have more opportunity than I do, but they don't realise it. How can they realise they have something they have never been without? Its like you and I with air, only the wisest of us realise what a gift it is. I will get many "thumbs down" for this answer, but you, me and every other "minority" in this country (as well as brown people from other countries) knows it to be true. We can't all be wrong. Edit: "so they got some education...." I don't mean to sound critical, but this is the road block for just about all of the impoverished in this world, yet you make it seem like its obtainable by anybody. Believe me, those who have broken the cycle of poverty by overcomming this obstacle, have done it almost miraculously. Where my husband grew up, he had to renounce his religion (Islam) three times in order to go to school (the only one for 40 miles was a methodist mission) this alone is what kept many of his siblings from going to school, as they refused to lie about their beliefs. On top of that, he had to walk with his grnadpa for almost 4 miles to get there and back. Sometimes (after his parents' divrce and his dad abandoned him) he didn't have any shoes other than flip flops. Still, after all this effort to become educated and "make it" in this world (he moved here to continue his education) he can't even afford tuition. People don't stay or become poor by choice.
2. I studied this a little. It's called generational poverty. It's a cycle that is defined after like three generations of poverty within a family. Like you said, each generation doesn't have the tools, drive or optimism that it can be any different than it's always been so they feed onto it. It can be broken, though. There are plenty of families who came from generations of poverty until one generation said "I don't want this life for me or my children" so they get some education and some determination and make it up the ladder little by little. Before you know it, the next couple generations are now in the middle class. So, to answer your question...Yes, I can sympathize with their struggle because it is hard out here if you're in poverty, but I am a firm believer in that you pretty much create your own destiny (and I do believe in God, btw) so if you sit around moping and never doing anything to try to get yourself out of poverty, that's all you're going to get. And "I don't know what to do.." isn't an excuse. ASK.
3. I understand them, because my dad makes 600$ a month, and has gas, electricity, internet, a Ps3, a big screen TV, eats fast food and cooks his own food. He does not worry about tax at all. It's easy to travel if you don't make much money anyway, you can buy a train ticket from Texas to Colorado for around 12$ a person, and it takes about two days. As long as you are able to fix things easily and well, like my dad, you would not really have much a problem, and 600$ a month is not much when you live alone and have to get your own groceries, gas etc., he runs out of gas on a regular basis but all ways has the will to walk to the nearest gas station, even though it's hotter than hell where he lives, New Braunfels, Texas. Oh, and, by the way, you spelled condem wrong, it's condemn.
4. I can sympathize with being poor as I grew up in a very modest working class family. I understand that poor people are often criminalized/victimized/condemned without rhyme or reason alot of the times as well. However, my parents both worked and attended community college so they could provide a better life for my family. I worked really hard in school and was able to attend a prestigious university earning a B.A. & M.E.d. so I can only offer that through absolute tenacity, determination and opportunity, anyone can make what they will of their lives. I do not condemn anyone though regardless of their station in life.
5. Yes I do. My younger brother and I were raised by our SINGLE MOTHER ( with no help or involvement from either of our fathers whatsoever. In fact, I've yet to meet my father). If a family makes less than 20,000 a year, they are considered legally impoverished. We had to get by on 15,000. It's funny though, our house was always full of love and affection and she always managed to provide for us, even if it meant selling herself short. For that, I love and respect my mother more than any other person. When I was younger, I used to wish we could always have a full fridge, afford vacations, internet and nice clothes like other kids, but now I realize that growing up poor has made me a better and much more appreciative person than I would have been given I was rich. So in short, yes I understand the plight of the poor from first hand experience. Anyone who doesn't, should watch, "30 Days on Minimum Wage". It's by the guy who did "Supersize Me" and a very eye-opening movie. ♥God Bless.
6. This is a very good question (you get a star by the way). I will have to say that unfortunately I was one of those kids who grew up in an environment that was not conducive to prosperity. My father was an uneducated alcoholic that was very verbally and physical abusive to our mother; us (his children) even our dog and cat. He moved us from home to home in and out of the Houston, TX city limits whenever he would lose a job or would simply quit because it was too hot or too cold outside to work. I would envy children that I went to school with who had the things in life that I always wanted, and I feared that we (or I) would never have the same chance in life that other kids had. Even though I played sports, was a member of honors societies in school and participated in drama, dance, marching band, you name it; I felt like success for me was hopeless. I never received the scholarships, I never received the awards and I never was seen as being someone who would succeed out of high school. Heck, my father didn't except me to graduate high school, because he assumed I would end up pregnant and on welfare (like the women in his family). But I made up my mind one day, and I decided that I personally was not going to fall into that everlasting cycle of growing up in an abusive home, dropping out of school after having kids, working a minimum wage job and being with a man who treats me the same way my father treated my mother. So I joined the Navy. I figured this way I could get an education, pay my way through college, purchase a home and make a way in life for myself other than what I knew back home. And I did, but I was one of the few children who had that drive and determination to do better for myself than what my parents did (and still are doing). And I attribute this to my grandmother, because she was and is the backbone of the emotional, physical and spiritual support that I needed to put me on my path to greatness. I was lucky to still have her in my life, but there are far too many kids in the projects, barrios, ghettos and slums who can't say that they were as lucky as myself. Thus, the cycle of poverty repeats itself. How can one have a vision of change when everything negative in your life is constant?