The Poverty Trap

by Ruth A. Sheets

Poverty is the lack of sufficient resources necessary to meet basic needs for oneself and one’s family.  Estimates of the number of people living in poverty in America vary, but they run from ten to twenty-five percent depending on the definition used.

Americans are very uncomfortable talking about poverty.  The topic was hardly mentioned during the 2012 campaign.  If such a large portion of the population is in a particular group, it would be expected that the subject would come up often as the votes of this group would be courted.

The votes of the poor are not courted as the votes of members of a particular religious group, ethnicity, race, or social group are courted.  The reason, poor folks are not expected to vote.  And, if they do, their vote is assumed.  The white poor are Republican and the minority poor are Democratic.

Lately, bills have been introduced in state legislatures to even further limit sufferage of people in poverty through voter I.D. laws.  This is just one of many ways of keeping poor people from complaining about their situation. 

Republicans and some others would have us believe that people are poor because they want to be.  They are too lazy.  They don’t work hard enough.  They don’t know how to take care of what they have.  They don’t manage money well.  You know all the lines. 

Most people don’t realize that poverty is a trap.  Once caught in it, a person or family can rarely get out without significant help.  Then, if they do get some help, they are called “takers” in a tone of voice that communicates very effectively the esteem in which they are held. 

People in poverty see the material goods everyone is expected to have, so they work impossible hours at spirit-breaking jobs to acquire those things for themselves and their kids.  They are told that education is “the way out,” but their schools are places that no one with money would want to enter on a bet.

Because people living from paycheck to paycheck cannot accumulate much money at a time, they fall victim to appallingly unregulated predators like Rent-a-center,” check cashing companies, sub-prime lenders, and housing rental agencies.  These companies charge extraordinary fees which keep those who are already desparate, in permanent debt, in substandard housing, if they have a home at all. 

Some Americans like to claim that the United States is the best at everything.  Well, I don’t know if we are the best at poverty, but we are pretty good at it.