Rick Raw: Poverty is The Root of All Social Ills–Economic Collapse Created a New Class of Poor

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In a Chicago hospital, the head doctor of Emergency Medicine said that all their gun shot wounds and people without insurance coming into the ER for help come from the poorest neighborhood in Chicago. Multiply this statement by every major city in America and there is no doubt that poverty breeds all social ills. The statistics show that African-Americans and Hispanics make up the largest group of impoverished Americans.

There are over 3 million people incarcerated in American prisons–the largest group of imprisoned people in the world. The majority of these people are black or Hispanic. Not surprisingly, this group came from poverty, that led them into gangs, murder, and crime. Thus, common sense tells us that solving the poverty problem in America will help solve its bastard children–crime, sickness, drug addiction, gangs, and hopelessness.

Greatly exacerbating the problem of poverty in America is the rise of the new poor, who used to be middle class but were swept up in the economic apocalypse. They lost their homes and suddenly found themselves living among the long term poor in apartment complexes and trailer parks.

For these newly impoverished, adjusting to this new reality was a traumatic occurrence. They’re comfortable middle class existence suddenly ended and they were forced to face a day-to-day existence trying to make ends meet with very little money. For the first time in their lives, they could empathize and understand the underclass. It was a rude awakening.

Indeed, the long term underclass has for decades been neglected and chastised by the smug middle and upper classes as slackers and moochers, living off the welfare system. They were criticized as unambitious and a drain on productive society.

Of course, now that these same people are walking a mile in the underclass’ shoes, they see that poverty traps people into a black hole, especially now that the opportunities for the new poor to pull themselves out of their poverty are nonexistent. In fact, companies are still laying people off and the job market is abysmal.

Poverty is a virus, it multiplies and weakens the individual. The young people see no opportunities and drift into crime. Their music feeds their paranoia with angry gansta rap, giving them a modicum of hope that they might be able to start a rap group as a way out of the poverty trap. They see Jay-Z and other rap stars living the high life and they want to join that club. But, the genre is overcrowded with wannabes. So, they drop out of school and turn to crime.

Influential blacks and Hispanics are starting special programs in the ghettos across America to help young people learn trades like welding, helping them to get jobs and start productive lives. There are government sponsored programs for the new poor to learn green trades like building wind turbines. However, these programs have only scratched the surface of the problem.

For the long suffering underclass and the new poor alike, any solution will not happen soon enough. The burgeoning new underclass face enormous challenges to pull themselves out of this post-apocalyptic world. Finding a path to prosperity again involves each individual keeping a positive attitude and thinking creatively. The biggest obstacle is not getting discouraged or depressed.

Being broke kills ones’ self esteem and pride. For the victims of the financial apocalypse, there is always hope in the future. Perhaps the solutions that ultimately help the new poor will give the long term underclass new inspiration to change their lives. Poverty is curable.