Coming Together: Ep9- Poverty Isn't About Money

Frame of Reference - Profiles in Leadership

Is it just me, or does it strike anyone else how brutal and honestly shameful it is for us to look down on the poor. Many of us go to our preconceived biases like "why don't they work harder and get a job?" "Or why don't they just make better decisions?" or " They can't be THAT poor if they're spending money they don't have on booze, cigarettes or cell phones". Or perhaps the worst preconception of all "they're just free-loading and living off of MY taxes". Ever thought any of those things? Know anyone that has?
Consider the following:
1) Poor folks already have more than a couple of strikes against them - so why do we feel like it's ok to judge them (without knowing them) and dismiss them with disdain? What is it that keeps us from realizing it could just as easily be us on the receiving end?
2) If you come onto hard time, or are born into poverty, what are your options? All of us do what we need to do to survive so if you think people are responsible for their own poverty - think again. What would happen to YOU if you suddenly lost your job and couldn't find another that would even cover your mortgage. How long would it take for you to take whatever money the government gave you? If you were struggling to just keep your head above water, how much energy or time would you have to make things better?
3) Consider how the media and our culture even our own selfish biases define what we think of poor people - they're free loaders, Welfare Queens, Crackheads - all that makes it easier to not care about them. Makes it easier to not want to do anything to solve the problem of poverty.
4) In the great scheme of things, remember the top 1% in our country control more than 50% of the wealth so really . . . it's ALL of us that are poor, some of us just have enough to distract ourselves periodically.
5) How is it in this country where some individuals have 500 million dollar yachts while others don't have enough to eat?
This week Antowan and I talk about Poverty, what it's really like, what gets people stuck there, and how can any of us get out? Remember the differences in this world are not between Black and White folks, the Red colored folks and the Yellow colored ones, or the Pink Striped and the Purple Polka Dotted folks. The differences are between the haves and the have nots. Most of us are fighting in the wrong direction. Remember "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". It's much harder to judge and look down upon those that suffer from poverty - whatever the cause, when we're forced to reckon with our own spiritual poverty.

Thanks for listening. Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about. In these times of intense polarization we all need to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.