Reflections On Why The Poor Stay Poor In America
Welcome to Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor in America. I’m thrilled that you signed up to read my newsletter, and I hope that together, we can make a difference.
President Reagan touted Florence Owens Thompson, the migrant mother in the photo, when she died in 1983: “Mrs. Thompson's passing represents the loss of an American who symbolizes strength and determination in the midst of the Great Depression.” In fact, Florence Owens Thompson’s heritage was Native American (Cherokee), and by written accounts, she lived in abject poverty at least for most of her life—at her death, money was donated by “well-wishers” for her medical bills and funeral expenses. President Reagan’s statement is a myth that still persists today — we continue to project an image of “strength and determination” onto those who manage to stay alive, while poor. The millions of Americans living in poverty in this country are not what we project onto them. They are simply people who cannot support themselves and need help, and we need to increase the amount of help and make it much easier to access if we care about the 38 million Americans currently existing at or below the poverty line. I thought I’d use this post to reflect on what I’ve learned in nearly two years writing Crime and Punishment, and I hope that I have passed that information to you in a way that you can learn the “why’s” behind the reality of poverty. It is impossible to make change without understanding exactly what should change and why it should change—that’s why facts, particularly when placed in an interesting narrative and historical context (a story!) are important. As citizens living in a participatory democracy, we have an obligation to understand the increasing imbalance of not just money, but the power that money brings, and how an increasing wealth gap directly affects each of us.
The key takeaway from my exploration of poverty in the United States is that the continued existence of poverty (despite nearly a century trying to fight it) is directly related to a series of policy choices made by our elected officials through the laws they write. It’s also about how those laws are interpreted and enforced, which appears to be in favor of giving as little as possible to those in need of monetary assistance, including when that money is legitimately allocated for the purpose of alleviating poverty. Truthfully, I have applied for and received most of these programs at different points in my life, so I have seen first hand how they work in practice. For the most part, poor people cannot lift themselves out of poverty by sheer force of will. And poverty is not a permanent stain on our society because more adults need a two or four year college degree, or that those without money need to work harder and longer, or possess more “strength and determination”. Rather, it is because most of those we elect to represent us and make our laws are operating with antiquated beliefs (like America is great because everyone has the opportunity to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and be successful), and in the understatement of our times, our elected officials do not prioritize reducing or eliminating poverty. There are a few policy choices I’ve written about on Crime and Punishment that have become so completely imbedded into our society that they are rarely questioned. But these areas must be addressed with a view to helping those living in poverty or paycheck-to-paycheck, rather than punishing them.
The truth is that almost all of us have received some type of financial help in our lives, whether it’s gifts or loans from parents, other family or friends, or the government. But for those who don’t have family or friends to lean on during hard times, or aren’t lucky enough to win the lottery or receive a surprise inheritance, the government is our safety net. ___________________________________________________________________________ Let me know your thoughts on this post and some of the others I’ve linked to. You can comment right here. If you are not already a subscriber, why not take this opportunity to join our community with a free or paid subscription? A new paid subscription or an upgrade from a free to paid subscription will allow me to expand this newsletter with additional, primary source information, like interviews and public information requests, and expanded podcast offerings to include real, live guests. Although I won’t be going on strike any time soon, the current TV writer’s strike demonstrates that writer’s deserve to be paid, and paid well for their work, just like any other profession. Thank you in advance for your financial support of my writing!
1 66.5% of all personal bankruptcies in 2022 were attributable to medical debt: https://www.retireguide.com/retirement-planning/risks/medical-bankruptcy-statistics/#:~:text=66.5%25%20of%20bankruptcies%20are%20caused,the%20leading%20cause%20for%20bankruptcy. You’re on the free list for Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor In America. All posts are free for now, but if you’d like to get ahead of the crowd, feel free to support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. |
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