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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