Every Day, We Ignore the Everyday Poor

[Southpaw Bookworm]

A must-read from the WP's Donna Britt:

God help the run-of-the-mill poor.

I'm not talking about the suddenly chic, in-vogue poor, such as destitute tsunami survivors or the displaced Gulf Coast residents whom Hurricane Katrina blew into every U.S. region -- though goodness knows, they need every possible blessing.

I mean the poor represented by a man I saw Monday while driving with a friend on a busy Northwest Washington street. Filthy, his eyes rimmed fire-engine red, the man approached my car, stopped before my bumper and fell to his knees.

Although smack in the middle of an active lane of traffic, he bowed his head, genuflecting on the concrete as if in worship.

I screamed. My friend, a longtime inner-city dweller who's seen hundreds of handout-seekers, shook his head and said, "So that's what run-of-the-mill poor people have to do to get our attention."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091502355.html

[hardrainfallin]

1. Jeez...if the WaPo is finally starting to find this kind of "news"

fit to print, maybe I should think about dragging out some of the essays I've been writing for the past twenty years talking about the very same thing.

[hardrainfallin]

2. PS. Thanks for posting it. n/t

[Southpaw Bookworm]

3. Well, it's considered an editorial

But there's also an article in the Metro section about the concerns being raised about Katrina victims being moved to the front of the lines for public and subsidized housing. Those waitlists are 5 YEARS long in some jurisdictions. Maybe I'll post that one as well in GD.

[shrike]

4. How do we get bread-and-butter issues on the table?

I'm going to the library today to get "What's the Matter with Kansas?" which has been highly recommended to me by a progressive acquaintance. I strongly believe that issues such as these should be in the national dialogue. Instead, the only thing that seems to get our dander up (and I'm talking about ALL Americans) are emotional issues like flag-burning, the Ten Commandments, etc. Why can't we talk about these life-or-death issues? Too complicated? Too wrenching? No easy solution? I don't know, frankly.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

5. because ignoring the poor

Is easier on our consciences than dealing with the issue. Because the poor make us uncomfortable. Because the Democrats these days (with exceptions like John Edwards and Howard Dean) aren't willing to provide solutions any more than the Repukes: too beholden to corporate overlords (consider Dems and the bankruptcy bill). Because we've allowed the Reich to define the debate in terms of these relatively minor issues. Because the fixes necessary to bring us into the first world are too close to socialism.

[Raster]

9. ah yes, the bankruptcy bill. no one who voted for it should be

returned to Congress. Period. The bill was written by MBNA and passed as a "thank you" for the millions and millions they've put in Congressional pockets.

[meow2u3]

6. Turn poverty into an emotional issue

If we make poverty an emotional issue, especially if we use biblical/religious overtones, the only way we can lose if the repukes cheat in broad daylight to win. We can even make alleviation of poverty somehow sexy. All we need is a good-looking guy or gal to deliver the message.

We have to counter the sacrelegious Right with strong, emotionally appealing arguments from the Religious Middle and Religious Left. Americans need to be reminded that selfishness and greed will give them a one-way ticket into hell, and couple them with clear but emotionally charged messages that our "neighbors" are the people we're prejudiced against and wouldn't be caught dead associating with.

[shrike]

7. You may be right

Maybe we have to engage people's emotions on these issues as well. I guess nothing gets done until passion gets involved ... and passion means emotion, I guess.

[kineneb]

8. break out the Beatitudes!

And verbally beat the fundies around their heads and shoulders with them. "Blessed are the poor..." Doesn't say a damn thing in there about the rich, other than they won't make it into heaven. And that one should pray in private, not on street corners (= TV). Those so-called "christians" are frauds and hypocrites.

:mad: