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Poverty: Causes and Consequences

You are a baby born into poverty. Are you the cause of your plight? You are raised in squalor, surrounded by slums, and trash, and drugs, and thieves, and hunger. Are you the cause of your surroundings? You have no health care, your clothes are shabby, no dental care, no savings account, no friends from the nicer neighborhoods. Are you the cause of your circumstances? You go to school and you see others who are better off but who have no interest in you. Are you the cause of their indifference? You subsist on sweet starchy fatty foods. Are you the cause of your dental problems, your health problems? You do poorly in school. Are you the cause of your lack of motivation? You grow tired and weary and despondent. Are you the cause of your despair?

After 18 years you reach adulthood. You expect nothing from others and nothing from yourself. Are you the cause of your life, your circumstances, your lack of motivation, your place on the bottom wrung of society, your social immobility, your desperation? Like others in your environment, you turn to petty theft, to drugs, and to street gangs for companionship. Are these choices all made freely by you? Society now blames you for not pulling yourself up from your circumstances, for not being self-motivated, for not having done well in school, for your attitude, for your resentment, for your low expectations. Is society right?

You know nothing about love, caring, compassion, kindness, generosity, understanding, opportunity, or how to achieve them. Are you free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness? If you cannot find any of these qualities, are you to blame for not giving them or sharing them with others? Are you 100 percent to blame for your outlook, for 100 percent of your lack of good citizenship, and for 100 percent of your own miserable life?

Multiply this person's circumstances 50 million times over, and in every case you will find the true cause of poverty and all that it breeds. It is the greedy who sucked all the wealth out of that society, who left others in squalor, surrounded by slums, and trash, and drugs, and thieves, and hunger. Yes, it was greed by the few that robbed them of health care, and forced them to wear shabby clothes, with no dental care, no savings, and separated them from the nicer neighborhoods. You prevented them from attending schools with good food, you robbed them of their motivation, and made them tired and weary. You forced them into despair, into drugs, into crime. But you were not alone.

Good people who did nothing helped you. Good people who turned away from those in need are partly to blame. Good people who went to church but did nothing helped you. Good people who knew better but did nothing helped you. Good people who prayed by did nothing helped you.

Sometimes all that is needed is a kind word. “Hey kid. Nice job.” Those words will come back a thousand times with rewards for everyone. “Hey kid. You have a lot of potential. Keep up the good work.” Well placed, those words are priceless.

Life is about choices. Some of us have more than others.