Saturday, April 6, 2013

Word Imperfect


The catch phrase of 'combatting poverty' makes it sound
like a visible consolidated Bogeyman is hiding under the
American bed...that we can wrap our hands around its neck
and dispose of it with a concentrated effort of unity and
disdain...as well as some food banks and charity.

But poverty is not a demon or a haphazard plight; it is a
social evil that is perpetrated upon the less organized and
less skilled, the less educated and the less prepared.
Sometimes there are those who are introduced new to the ranks
as a result of extreme circumstances, but often impoverished
conditions are a lifetime struggle...almost always a multi-generational
affair.

It results from specific actions by specific people and groups
and the laws that are enacted by the same. Almost always
avoidable.

Poverty is a state of mind that feeds on itself, But its origins
are man-made and inexcusable. It is a serial limiting of
choices and the willful allowing of people to die unnecessarily
and prematurely.

It places a money amount on a life.
On a child's health.
On a mother's hunger.
On a man's worth.

Poverty doesn't 'just happen.' It's an orchestrated design,
thrust on the less powerful by those who are unconcerned
about the consequences of their actions.

It's an entire system in place that rolls forward like a
Sherman tank, and has the full sanction and blessing of
those who can not be defeated.

We can fight a war on poverty...
but only by addressing the causes and
instigators rather than putting a band-aid
on the end results.

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