Being poor seems like a right arse
I’m not poor and I never have been.
The closest I’ve come to the breadline were those times at school or university when my pocket money, or Prêt a Manger wages, couldn’t stretch to another comic or pint.
So I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never felt hunger that I couldn’t quell by choice; I’ve only received final demands because I wanted to go to the movies when the earlier bill came in; my kids have always been fed, clothed and allowed to experience all the books and toys they could wish for.
Lucky me.
But I’ve always had this nagging feeling that my circumstances have not quite been available for everyone else. Those less well-off than me seemed to fill up Camden High Street every Saturday afternoon, but I walked past them with only the slightest idea of who they might be or why their trainers didn’t have a logo on the side. Yes, I regularly give £20/$20 notes to the homeless (my version of trickle down economics), but I’ve never really considered how they got there, or how difficult they might find it to change their situation.
Which is why I felt privileged to read this article. It’s a fantastic piece, written by a lady who has experienced the numbing, debilitating grip of everyday poverty. She’s not complaining; she’s just laying out the realities of how and why she, and millions like her, live the way they live.
Coincidentally it turned up in my Twitter feed around the same time as this:
Now, I’m not saying we should react as Russell Brand does, but if you’d like a perspective into the way many people regard the poor in western society, watch the Fox News parts of that clip.
Where am I heading with this post? Down a cul-de-sac, really; I don’t know what to do to really help, especially when the ever-expanding range of problems currently faced by society is paralysingly colossal. But I just thought I’d put this stuff out there. Maybe you have a solution that you could share with us, or maybe you’ll feel a bit more generous next time you walk past or talk about a person who is not as well-off as you are.
Meanwhile, come on the guy who waits by the traffic light at Laurel Canyon Blvd; I have a $20 bill just for you.
Poverty begets desperation, and desperation begets evil. Nobody is in poverty by choice any more than anyone gets their intestines pulled out with a spatula by choice.
The answer? Effort. Effort of those who are better off. Not even money. EFFORT.
Because trying to come up with a solution to a problem that isn’t yours is one of the hardest things in the world to do.
So, what with all the creative types who visit this blog, let’s try to think of a solution. The first and only tangible contribution to society that crowdsourcing is ever likely to make.
What if we all thought of a job we were willing to give someone $20 to do, and created a place where said jobs could be listed, and anyone could come and do the job for the $20?
Sweep my driveway. Pull the weeds in front flowerbed. Knock all the spiderwebs off the upper parts of the front and back porch. Watch my house while I’m gone on the eve of Halloween.
Let’s have better ideas than mine, please.
Start with what you can directly influence. There’s no need to set up a dozen new things to try to solve the various problems. Make existing things work better from the ground up and the problem will eventually solve itself.
Pay interns properly, promote people, offer (paid) training or apprentice positions for those with skills but no qualifications. Recruit people actively rather than waiting for the latest string of grads to come knocking – cast the net a bit wider next time you’re looking to fill a vacancy.
Whatever happened to the ‘promoted from working in the mail room’ mentality that used to be prevalent in advertising (and meant people on the bones of their arse could prosper)?
Once the first rung on the ladder is something someone can actually sustain themselves (and possibly a family) on, people will actually be able to climb. Whatever industry you’re in, if you have a bit of seniority, you can start to change things yourself in a systemic way.
Being on the dole for about 2 years after the recession hit in 2008-9 taught me a thing or two about poverty. Which is that 9 times out of 10, it’s not your own fault.
I read that too at the wee end – really good. And I agree we should all do something.
Dealing with a somewhat related issue this morning I searched for a quote from one of my heroes, Kurt Vonnegut, and finally fond it:
“I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from
which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: “Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.”