Walk a Mile

I used to work for ATD Fourth World in Paris, which also has teams in the US (NYC, DC, Appalachia, New Orleans, Gallup), and this story makes me tear up. Because it reminds me of so many stories I heard from around the world during my time with ATD, whether it was the West or the rest, First World or developing, democratic or autocratic, the well-off's treatment and (mis)understanding of people living at the margins was disturbingly similar. I do not believe in conspiracy theories but there is not a place or time where the wealthy do not refer to people living in poverty as lazy, irresponsible, dangerous, unfit, dirty, liars and thieves. And there is another aspect that comes through clearly in this article, and I have seen it with racists and homophobes, there is no need to talk to certain groups to get their perspective on their own lives. 

You meet a rich man and you ask him, what his parents did, what school did he go to, how did he become so successful, what amazing things does he do with his free time. You meet a mother in a desperate situation in a dentist chair and you tell her if she is not going to take this seriously then get out. You tell parents working long hours for minimum wage with limited education they are irresponsible for not taking an interest in their child's education, while also assuming the worst of their child because of how he comes dressed to school. There was a very important equation I learned while at ATD, and as a lover of math, it was a succinct way for me to visualize the struggle, and understand why poverty eradication is so difficult.  Poverty = material deprivation; extreme poverty = material deprivation + social exclusion. 

This equation is the shorthand for explaining the "Ramen fallacy" in that eating noodles and pasta your freshman year does not in anyway give you insight into extreme poverty or the solutions for getting out of it. But the equation also underlines a sad fact and that is poverty is man-made, it does not have to exist. People who work full-time and yet never seem to accumulate wealth or even make it to the end of the month are being deprived, the parent who is lectured by their child's teacher and not treated as an equal is being socially excluded. For the employer who deprives, or the social worker who excludes, there is no sanction, yet the person who inevitably remains in poverty is blamed for not being able to stand up to the boss, or the teacher, all of whom, in a myriad of ways, make it perfectly clear that certain people's opinions and needs are not relevant.

The boat analogy is apt, because when you are cut off from society and have few resources and the only people who you can turn to are in the same boat, this results in entire neighborhoods being excluded and deprived. Communities that are so deprived that when politicians demonize, when yuppies gentrify, when police criminalize, they are powerless, insecure in their political rights, housing, employment and personal integrity.

Though it will not be easy, instead of looking at a family who is less fortunate than yours and wondering what these people did wrong and if they are unfit to be parents, maybe you can ask them, where did you grow up, or what amazing things do you do in your free time.  But instead we ignore and consider everything said as suspect.  As a nation we decided that will not make energy policy without the oil companies, or attempt healthcare reform without the pharmaceutical industry, or change food policy with agro.  But when making policies that are meant to "help our poor" the voice of those most concerned and the real experts on what it means to live in poverty is deafeningly silent.  We have always been told, to understand someone's life you must walk a mile in their shoes, but  before you can walk that mile you first have to ask them how they got here.