The Face of Poverty....

According to federal guidelines, I live below the poverty level. According to my tax return, I lived on $14, 037.00 in 2007.

I decided to offer this portrait, based on our discussion of the homeless yesterday and my assertion that they should not be treated like children.

So.. here is one portrait.. of one person... who is considered "poor". Actually, the term "I don't have a lot of money" is a better fit because "poor" in my opinion is a state of mind. It is an attitude. I'll explain this later.

I am college educated with a degree in sociology. In the work force, I was a unix system administrator at a large investment company making mid-five figures. I am divorced and do not have children. I am a reasonably intelligent person, although my relational spatial skills were impacted by a mini-stroke in the mid-90s. Sometimes it is hard to tell where one thing is in relation to another. I can not drive when tired. I drop things a lot. I have a hard time walking on uneven surfaces. Still, I can think ~ and quite well.

I make choices without anyone else's help. In fact, I prefer it. If I ask for help, advice is received with an open mind .. but the ultimate choice is my own and I am responsible for the results. My decision-making style tends to be pragmatic. I'm reasonably savvy which is partially evidenced by the fact that I live on such a low income and have everything I need. Note: not "everything I want." I rent the mother-in-law unit in someone else's house in a pleasant suburban neighborhood with beautiful lawns and sculpted yards.

I'm a fairly average looking middle-aged person. I'm overweight but that is not a result of my financial status. It is a result of bad food choices. When I'm depressed, I binge. It is not because it has been imposed on me by the system. If you met me at Starbuck's, you wouldn't guess that I have any disabilities. I'm articulate and can carry on a good conversation on a wide range of topics. I do not babble, own a tin foil hat or howl at the moon. You wouldn't assume that I am "poor". I dress well and am creditworthy.

I am also a very environmentally sensitive person. My sensitivity to light and sound is pronounced. Bright light and ambient noise can make me vomit, particularly when sounds compete with each other. The sound of bass will make me sick. I've had two emotional breakdowns, one in 2001 and another in 2004. Since that time, I have lived on social security disability insurance with a dual diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD. I am a sober alcoholic but have never done recreational drugs. I am socially phobic until I feel safe in a group of people. Those diagnoses are meaningless and truly don't tell anything of relevance or about me as a person. Basically, they address my level of adaptation to the culture which has been poor. I am notably eccentric.

I am who I am... If you meet me here, I am one way. If you meet me in Thailand, you'll be meeting a different person. My spirit is lighter there. I am an outspoken cultural dissident and have been since the late 60s. I adopted my Thai way of life in 2001. I do not consider myself "unlucky" or "less than" anyone else while acknowledging that I am "different".

I like to think I am fairly typical of "poor" people. We are many and varied - individuals like everyone else. There are some who require far more assistance than I ever would. Those people deserve our help.

When I say "poor is a state of mind", it is a powerlessness in one's own life and approach to living. It is about being helpless, sometimes intentionally. It is about viewing the world a certain way and measuring oneself against it. It is buying the whole ticket that personal value is based on financial status. It is poverty of spirit. That leads to many poor people being chronically dissatisfied.

That comes from a variety of sources as well, not the least of which is the cultural edict that "poor people" are somehow "less than" those who have more, own more and consume more. It comes from the cultural theft of the dignity which should be afforded to every human being, regardless of their demographic status.

So.. just my opinion.. but the best way to help the "poor" is to change the cultural attitude. Allow people to be who they are with all the dignity they have coming as autonomous human beings.

The day someone says I should be told when to go to bed, when I can eat, when I can go potty, when I can come and go or what I have to value is the day I need to leave this earth.

Without dignity, there is no life.

So. .. if you have read this, you now know a "poor person". I hope it provides you with an alternative view to the media image - or the image promoted by the culture. We are not all lazy, drug-addicted baby machines. We don't all make bad choices and we're not all responsible for our external conditions. (We are certainly responsible for our responses to them.) Those images are promoted for one single reason: to "other" poor people and make it acceptable to "look down" on them. It creates fear and keeps the population in line. No one wants to be poor and looked down upon, judged as "less than" so they stay on the hamster wheel, producing and consuming, even if it kills them far too soon.

It's not that scary. Really. Being "poor", that is. We're just people - and most of us are perfectly decent people with good values and decent lives. It's okay to know us. We don't bite. And it's not contagious.

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