Monday, November 22, 2004

The "P" Word

Poverty, the subject seems to always come up this time of year, what with Thanksgiving and Christmas almost upon us, and it always strikes me, when I read op-eds or other articles on the subject, that poverty is misunderstood.

Bob Hebert, writing in The New York Times, mentions this anecdote, uttered by Phil Gramm, as a denunciation of compassionate conservatism, whatever that is, and as a rallying cry to main the bulwarks in the battle against poverty.

"We’re the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat."

Though Hebert relates that little quote as a denunciation, the statement rings with validity.  If you want to see poverty, go visit the slums of Rio, or as I did, wander the poorest sections of the Phillipines, were individuals are digging through the garbage dumps for sustenance.

Individuals such as Hebert bang the poverty drum because they desire to impose a false sense of guilt, because they desire to impose their barometer of what is the socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.

Poverty does not exist in the United States, though there are individuals who, at times, do want for a full belly.  But poverty, I have not seen it in my travels throughout the states.

Hebert’s piece is titled “Shhh, Don’t Say ‘Poverty’."

Update: “Poverty” is in the news within The Jerusalem Post, too, today.  My guess is that Bob Hebert would be dismayed at Binyamin Netanyahu’s suggestion to eliminate “poverty,” also.

"[Past] governments profligate welfare payments created a culture of poverty,” said Netanyahu. There is only one way to stop poverty – get a job."

“Welfare created culture of poverty, Netanyahu says"

Posted by John Venlet on 11/22 at 05:29 AM
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