Today, I happened upon a wonderful article about what poverty is like. After reading it, I knew I needed to share it with you all. Poverty, debt, and working till you drop are all terribly interlinked. The following are a few highlights:
Rest is a luxury for the rich. I get up at 6AM, go to school (I have a full courseload, but I only have to go to two in-person classes) then work, then I get the kids, then I pick up my husband, then I have half an hour to change and go to Job 2. I get home from that at around 1230AM, then I have the rest of my classes and work to tend to. I’m in bed by 3.
Nobody gives enough thought to depression. You have to understand that we know that we will never not feel tired. We will never feel hopeful. We will never get a vacation. Ever. We know that the very act of being poor guarantees that we will never not be poor.
I make a lot of poor financial decisions. None of them matter, in the long term. I will never not be poor, so what does it matter if I don’t pay a thing and a half this week instead of just one thing?
Poverty is bleak and cuts off your long-term brain.
Read the article in its entirety here (it’s worth a read): Why I make terrible decisions, or, poverty choices.
Wow. I read the article. That does sound pretty bleak.
I might have this wrong, but from the tone, it sounds like they just don’t have any hope or are depressed. I don’t mean to be insensitive and you might say that obviously they’re depressed because they’re poor. But I often wonder how much of our progress in life is made by having a good attitude that keeps us going when things are tough. That inner persistence is so hard to build but it’s so invaluable.
Hopefully whatever classes they’re taking will help qualify them for a better situation down the road. And wouldn’t that give them hope? I sure did for me when I was in school and holding down 3 jobs.
There are lots of very cruel comments to their article that are hard to read.
Thanks for directing me over to that article. Unfortunately that post sounds like the lives of most of the clients I work with, except for most of my clients aren’t able to work or go to school because they are severely mentally ill. People are too quick to judge because they don’t understand poverty (and I think deep down they are scared that they themselves will “end up” the same way someday). People always say you just need to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps”, but there are hundreds of years of bias and discrimination and injustice that make it inherently more difficult for certain people and populations to get ahead. Very sad.
Very, very sad. I fully agree that some people are at an extreme disadvantage to get out of these types of situations. I’m very thankful that I won the “birth lottery” and had successful parents that could launch me in a successful direction.
I read this as well; and found her blog. It is very touching and wonderfully written. What I found disturbing is that she, through beautiful writing, confirmed what researchers have beensaying for sometime: poverty shots your long term thinking and plays havoc with your IQ. This is another reason it is so wastful!
Wow, what a great piece! I know people in this boat, and it’s so true that some of these thought processes aren’t obvious. It’s nice to hear an explanation from someone who’s lived that life.