Well, maybe I do want to say again that I was saying that there are people who do not have a clue as to what living in poverty is like. I'm not sure that I actually know myself, since I only remember it from a child's perspective. It's a funny thing. We lived in poverty during the late 30's and through most of WW II, but with the exception of the teasing and some bullyingI received from other school children, these years were quite happy ones. Later, as a newly blind adult, my wife and I had our backs to the wall but I never thought of myself as living in poverty. I just figured it was a temporary set back and I would find a way around it.
So would you accept that poverty is as much a state of mind as it is of living standard?
Do you think that there is a difference between a person passing through a period of poverty in their life, as opposed to a person ground down and hopelessly trapped with no hope of escape?
I think of the politicians who "experienced" poverty for several weeks. But they knew that at some point they would pull off their rags, wash their bodies and put good food and wine in their stomachs. How do they really experience the futility of knowing that the deck is stacked against you and no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you will be shoved back into the mire?
You see, there are people who believe that this only happens because people allow it to occur. They have no understanding of the forces at work in the real world.
Curious Carl
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