The Dichotomy of Poverty: Humble Living or Moral Failing?
Depends on who you ask and who you’re asking about.
I read an article earlier by one of my favorite writers, Michelle Teheux, about poverty. The question posed by the title, Does Poverty Build Your Character, has always been a head scratcher for me. Check it out:
Ultimately, one of the takeaways of the article is that living a life of poverty doesn’t really build character in the ways that people think it does. Really, that notion — that living through nigh-impossible times in your life where you have to scrounge for basic necessities somehow makes you stronger — is a farce.
It is bullshit fed to us by the upper classes to ensure that we believe that, as long as we work hard, we can get a piece of the pie that they’ve been hoarding. In this scenario, the American Dream lives on in the hard work that we do for the shareholders under the guise that they’ll share some of their wealth with us if we only labor for the company.
