However, many of us take it a step further, and assume that the poor are where they are not because of circumstances or luck or other factors beyond their control. Oh, no. Since anyone in the good ‘ol U.S. of A can pull him or herself up by their bootstraps, the poor must be lazy and morally deficient. It is their fault that they are in the situation they are in. Of course, the “great” thing about this conclusion is that we don’t really need to, nay shouldn’t help those down on their luck. They don’t deserve it. It will only exacerbate their moral and financial failure.
How any of us, especially following the economic crisis of 2008 can still hold on to this view is mind-boggling! Two good reads that clarify this in a really clear way are Hand to Mouth and the Wealth of the Poor.
By the way, here is an interesting aside for fans of the Hebrew Bible:
In a way this is analogous
to the Book of Job. It is very human of us to want
to explain away everything in way that lets us feel comfortable. Job’s friends
tell him that if indeed he has suffered all of the tragedies that have beset
him, it must be because he has sinned to God. Job, on the other hand, says he
has not. Just because bad things have happened to him, does not mean he did
anything wrong. After many days of arguing, so goes the biblical story, God
appears, says Job is right (and says a bunch of other things too), and commands
the friends to repent and ask for Job’s forgiveness. Just because bad stuff
happened does not mean it was his fault. QED. No wonder the Talmudic Rabbis
state that this book was written by Moses himself…
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