Poverty (Blog Action Day 2008)—October 15th
Like many who lead a comfortable life, I'm concerned with poverty, and like many who are concerned with poverty, my reactions are not at all a good match with my concerns. Can blogging about it make any real difference?
Actually, the answer is yes—because blogging about poverty (or any topic) requires us to focus our thoughts (though perhaps only momentarily, perhaps only superficially, perhaps without any commitment at all to go beyond merely thinking about it).
I'm reminded of several encounters with poverty in my own life.
One happened when I was in elementary school. A teacher thought it would be a good idea, when classes resumed after the Christmas break, for all of us to bring our favorite present to "Show and Tell." One classmate was known to be poor, but brought in a walking, talking doll that was almost as tall as she was. When my sister and I asked wat home why the classmate got such a big present when we got received much more modest ones, my father said, "Her parents didn't buy the doll for her: it was a donation. That was OK, though, because it made her feel better off than she actually was. It made her proud for a few minutes." I had never really thought about poverty until then.
Another happened when I was a young man just beginning my professional career. A homeless person approached me on a busy street in Dallas, TX and said he was hungry, but I just waved him aside and hurried off to what seemed more important at the time. I felt terrible afterward and still do.
A third happened within the past several years. I was at a stop sign before a freeway on-ramp and a very thin, shabbily dressed middle-aged man was holding a sign that said, simply, "Hungry." I passed him a couple of dollars through my car window just before I drove onto the on-ramp. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "God bless you. I was once too proud to accept any kind of charity, but hunger kills pride every time. Now I have almost enough to buy a hot dog and a cup of coffee at that Quick Stop across the street at the top of the hill."
Nothing, however, is absolute. Mae West, for example, is supposed to have said, "Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache," and there are also the thoughts of New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist James Gill. Click HERE to read them.
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This post is part of Blog Action Day 08 - Poverty
This post is part of Blog Action Day 08 - Poverty
posted by Dennis @ 8:21 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Dear Dennis, I'm so touched by your thoughts, so straightforward, yet so deep, dense of our views of poverty when we're seeing it as outsiders. In Brasilia, I really never know what to do. Is it better to give money to a beggar or food? What do we do with these children younger than my boys who keep begging in many of the traffic lights? If we give them money, we're probably not helping them in the long run, if we don't they're beaten by the ones who have been exploiting them...I see poverty around me all the time, but still it's hard to look at it...
Hi, my friend.
I 100% understand what you wrote. I feel the same way.
I wrote about the guy who had the sign saying "Hungry," but I didn't say how I felt afterward—and for a good reason: my feelings were actually a complicated mix. On the one hand, I was touched because he seemed to be sincere, and it felt good to think maybe I had actually helped him. On another hand, I wondered if he wanted money to buy food or booze or drugs. On yet another hand, I wondered if he was truly sincere and honest or if he was a "professional panhandler" and, as such, a good actor. On one more hand, I thought that if he was really hungry, a couple of bucks wouldn't buy very much. Most of all, however, I realized that even if I were to give away every cent that I have, it wouldn't actually do much to lessen poverty.
I also resonated completely with you when you said, "I see poverty around me all the time, but still it's hard to look at it." Sadly, my experience is the same: there's some poverty very close to where I live, and there's a LOT of poverty in other parts of Phoenix and Arizona.
Hmmm . . . . .
I don't usually give money to street beggars. I see them at intersections, where they wait to beg from passing drivers when they stop for a light. I figure it is better to give to shelters or soup kitchens, for the reasons you mentioned; however, I must admit that I don't often contribute to those either. There are so many worthy charities; how can we give to them all? Anyway, once day I was driving with my daughter and I saw a young man who was crippled, begging at the light. He could barely stand, let alone walk, yet there he was. I wondered why he was not being taken care of somewhere. I decided to give him some money, but then the light changed and I couldn't. However, I kept the money ready, and I did see him again, and I did give it to him--just $2, but something. I will probably never know his story. He might be a veteran.... the U.S. is always sending young people to fight its wars but does not always take responsibility for them when they come back horribly injured.
I am reminded of the story about the boy who threw some crabs back into the ocean, telling the man who advised him he could not save all the beached crabs, "It made a difference to that one." I made a very small difference to one man on one day. But he has to live every day, and $2 will not get him through the day, and winter is coming on. I wonder what he will do.
Coincidentally, I just listened to this TED talk, which is very relevant to this discussion:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jessica_jackley_poverty_money_and_love.html
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