Why Are People Poor?

Monica Walker recently asked me and my colleagues, "why are people poor?" As a group we came up with some answers. We suggested that people are poor due to inequity, greed, governmental structures, institutional societies, racism, classism, lack of self-esteem, lack of humility, lack of job control, selfishness, and because people blame society. Monica Walker noted that this short list should be grouped "Global Reasons."

Next, Monica Walker told the group that a woman was in line at a grocery store with a buggy full of groceries and three children and she was using food stamps (EBT card) to pay for the groceries. This is all the information we had. It was amazing how individuals started to give this woman a name, a face, a color, and much more. The group assumed she was poor and gave a variety of reasons. The following reasons were: she is a single parent, she's got too many children, she is cruel, she's got too many baby daddies, she's ignorant and uneducated, she's got famous cuts of meat in her buggy, she's got her hair and nails done, she's black and won't work, she depends on the government, she makes poor choices, and she's lazy. Monica Walker noted that these descriptions would be grouped and called "Deeply Personal and Judgemental."

In the Power Analysis it is amazing how people view themselves and the world around them. Monica Walker noted that communities "are still in recovery." Old habits and old mentalities are hard to break, therefore power and race can only be defeated with education and action.