Erstellt am: 25. 11. 2013 - 12:11 Uhr
Today's Webtip: Your Brain on Poverty
Although I grew up in a comfortable middle class household, I spent a good portion of my life poor. My own bad decisions played a huge role in that situation, but they weren't the only factor. Bad advice, lack of access to appropriate information, and psychological issues certainly played a huge role.
In the States, however, it was usually reduced to my lack of moral fiber. In other words, I was poor because I was a bad person. How did they know I was bad? Because I was poor.
Duh.
It might not always be stated in such an upfront manner, but it's pretty easy to spot in U.S. media coverage and forums when the issue of poverty or social programs is brought up. It's been an incredibly effective way to fight progressive social programs.
Now, I was lucky enough to have been born into a middle-class mindset, something that gave me the tools needed to eventually turn things around. Being able to believe that my situation was temporary was a very useful thing, and something that gave me a sense of hope a lot of other people will never have. That sense of hope is an incredible privilege that is rarely acknowledged.
But that might be changing.
One of the more amazing examples of that is the story of
Linda Tirado. She wrote a blog post explaining the mental processes behind poverty. It was a well written and thoughtful explanation that went viral. And, in the tradition of your standard U.S. feel-good story, it looks like it might be the beginning of a happy end.
Why I Make Terrible Decisions; Poverty Thoughts caused quite a stir. It generated over 2000 comments, including some vile trolls, which resulted in an even more concise, polite and thoughtful response from the author. It also brought in some cash, support for a book project and a chance to write for Huffington Post.
I wonder if she will be one of the paid contributors...
The post also helped bring the issue to some more mainstream media outlets. Like www.theatlantic.com