Poverty

This past month has been quite different than the previous one. I went from sleeping in hammocks and bathing in rivers to staying on the top floor of a high-rise apartment in the wealthiest neighborhood of Cartagena. As I have encountered and experienced many different standards of living, I have often pondered the concept of poverty. This is a topic I have given much thought to and even studied quite a bit. I have taken a series of different actions and held different views as my ideas about what it means and how to respond to it have changed over the years. Here are some of my latest thoughts regarding the subject:

1)   Poverty alleviation is not a cure all

First of all I want to challenge the scope in which poverty is thought of and help define some of the obscure terms that are thrown about.

 Who are these “poor” that people often speak of? That is a very general term that is seldom well defined. What does it mean to be poor? What is the goal of helping someone who is poor?

A lot of global organizations define extreme poverty as living on less than one dollar a day. In the U.S.A. the poverty level is somewhere around $15,000 a year. The world bank says: A person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. Based on the rates and context of their surroundings.

So… is poverty not having enough to meet ones needs?

If we constrict poverty to only the physical realm, the basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing) what happens?

I think we can all agree that everyone needs these things in life, and without them life will be short-lived. So lets imagine for a second that every person on earth has these basic needs. Everyone has the ability to continually achieve his or her daily necessities.

No hunger

No thirst

Ever.

Would that cure our world problems? Would we still have suicide, rape, and war? There may be less of these things but they certainly would not go away.

If we could eliminate poverty where would it end? Would everyone be happy?

I believe this quote from “When Helping Hurts” helps to put things into perspective:

“The goal is not to make the materially poor all over the world into middle-to upper-class North Americans, a group characterized by high rates of divorce, sexual addiction, substance abuse, and mental illness. Nor is the goal to make sure that the materially poor have enough money.” (Corbett & Fikkert, 78).

Although poverty is the root of many problems, as the above quote reveals there are obviously other sources of problems in the world. This may seem obvious to some, however, in the world of poverty alleviation, many “experts” address the issue as the root of all evil. When we further explore the question of what is wrong with the world? We discover that poverty is only a piece of the puzzle.

2) Poverty is more social than material.

Apparently there is more to poverty than simply the material, lets continue to expand the definition of what poverty means.

When those who are living without physical necessities describe their situations they often talk more about the social and structural implications rather than a lack of goods. Many describe feelings of frustration toward the systems and entities that are working against them.  They express feeling of embarrassment amongst their peers because they are unable to provide. But most commonly the feeling described by those in poverty is a sense of powerlessness. They describe being powerless against the social and structural powers that be. These structures keep people without options or opportunity. Options and opportunities for things, which not only include income development but also, access to education, legal assistance, healthcare etc.

For example:

 I have had times in the states where I was living from paycheck to paycheck. I would make minimum payments on my student loans. I would worry because I knew a car problem or a doctor’s visit would leave me unable to pay my bills. This is a terrible place to be, mainly because of the limited options.  There is no opportunity to change the situation because there is no chance to miss work. This example describes a similar spiral of helplessness and being stuck. However if you were to compare my lifestyle to a rural peasant farmer in Colombia for example they would never say I was poor. I have always had clothes, food, and a place to live. I still owned plenty of luxuries like a car, computer, I-pod, snowboards, surfboards etc. Compared to someone who has not much more than the clothes on their back and a shack for a house, I certainly look quite wealthy. It is true our standards of living are a world apart, however both of us describe the same feelings of being stuck and unable to get ahead.

I am certainly not stating that we were experiencing the same hardship, absolutely not. I am saying there is more to poverty than simply lacking things. If money alone could fix the issue, then poverty would be a thing of the past. For these reasons poverty is social and structural.

3) Poverty is perceptual

Yes there is a standard of living that is more dangerous and life threatening, however, someone’s standard of living and their level of poverty are not the same thing. This may seem like an abstract concept to get our minds around however, it is true. Poverty is also perceptual. This is important to understand because especially as westerners we can easily label people as “poor” simply because we have a different lens in which we understand what that looks like. We perceive a certain standard of living as essential, however that lens may be irrelevant in another context.  

We perceive what is poor through comparison. This is dangerous because people may perceive themselves as poor based on a comparison to those around them. This comparison may be detrimental because someone who is provided for and living securely may begin to perceive themselves as poor. Entering the mentality of poverty is crippling

That is why I propose a change

I want to challenge the labels we (myself included) use.

Doesn’t a label of “poor” only further dis-empower and feed the identity of helplessness?

I am not suggesting that the word poor is destructive I am suggesting that labeling someone as poor only pushes them further into that mind frame. We have discovered that poverty is more a social identity and a sense of powerlessness than simply a lack of material resources. If it is true then, why do we still label people as poor? That only further enforces the idea that someone is incapable.

If people are always being told how they are poor, they begin to identify with that. This mentality in my opinion is as influential and disenabling as the option-less environment around them.

The problem is that this label creates a lack of self-esteem. It creates an identity. Just like an addict or someone who is homeless, once people think of themselves with a certain label it is hard to achieve anything bigger than that identity.  In transition houses for kids coming off of the street, one of the most important lessons that the child can gain is that their identity is not “a street kid”. They are not defined by where they have been or what they have done. Who they are is much greater and they have the opportunity to change their future.

This is where poverty alleviation is most effective. Sure resources and infrastructure are important and necessary but the real crippling atmosphere is the mentality. A change in physical environment can change that mentality. Likewise a change in mentality can be the push needed to change the environment. Both encourage the other.

There are also certainly larger factors at play such as poor infrastructure, environmental factors, political corruption, history, war and power struggles to name a few. However, despite some of these larger issues each community or town has resources. What is missing is collaboration and utilization of those resources where the needs are. As well as a focus on the strengths instead of enabling the poverty identity by focusing on what is missing.

Bryant Myers, author of walking with the poor describes poverty as; “The result of relationships that do not work, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all it’s meaning.”

 This does not mean that material poverty does not exist nor does it mean that there is nothing to be done about indifference and people living without material needs. This simply gives a bit of a bigger picture of how to address poverty. There is much more that could be said, and these observations only scratch the surface. However, understanding how poverty is social and perceptual gives more clarity when approaching the other discussion of what can be done about it.

Cheers,

-Chad