Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs recently published a white paper, or authoritative report, on poverty. It states, “Poverty is expected to increase again in 2011 due to the slow pace of the economic recovery, the persistently high rate of unemployment, and the long duration of spells of unemployment.” In other words, the economic tsunami, which Wall Street and Washington created, is continuing to envelop those who once considered themselves “safe” from its effects.
Why does this matter? Poverty and class struggle have become highly politicized in recent months because of the Republican presidential primary’s elitist, out-of-touch contestants who can’t help but document their callousness in debates and on Fox News. With all of the recent YouTube videos and Facebook posts regarding the “silver foot” that presidential candidate Mitt Romney has lodged in his mouth, it’s hard to remember that poverty is not a political issue. It’s been said before and is becoming increasingly true – poverty is a moral issue, because poverty colors, if not dictates, all of our social, cultural and economic exchanges.
We base so much of how we view ourselves as people on our financial standing, what we do for a living, where we live and what we own. Perhaps it’s a byproduct of our sense of American exceptionalism. Birth, supposedly, doesn’t determine our place in society, so we believe that our wealth or lack thereof is a testament to our character. Our economic baggage becomes our psychological baggage. We carry that baggage into our interactions with our families, our friends and complete strangers.
Furthermore, an absence of economic security precludes our ability to become fully functioning individuals. Psychologist and University of Wisconsin graduate student Abraham Maslow theorized that those who are preoccupied with where their next meal or paycheck will come from, or with their general safety, will have a harder time achieving self-worth, loving relationships and self-actualization. Romney may want us to discuss inequality in a “quiet room,” but a padded room may be more appropriate as our mental health is subject to economic conditions.
However, all hope is not lost. On Jan. 12, talk show host Tavis Smiley hosted a “symposium on poverty” at George Washington University. The symposium featured some of America’s leading voices on the poor and the economy, including financial analyst Suze Orman, public intellectuals Barbara Ehrenreich and Cornel West, and filmmaker Michael Moore. I encourage you to watch the symposium on c-span.org.
Two things to note about the symposium: who participated and who didn’t. Most of the panelists were black. As the white paper discusses, poverty is endemic in black and Hispanic communities even in economic boom times. White Americans are only now beginning to bear the moral and psychological hardships that some black Americans have always borne. I felt the symposium was an opportunity for the participants to say to white America, “Look out! We know what’s coming, and it’s not good!”
Another thing to note is there were no politicians on the stage, with the possible exception being Michael Moore. The age when we could depend on politicians for the answer to society’s ills – if that age ever did exist – has passed. While you can read about my concerns over the Occupy Movement in my op-ed from December, I still think it’s the best, most democratic way to address economic inequality, and I think it needs to expand. Rev. Jesse Jackson explained to The Nation magazine that people need to occupy prisons and voting booths for the movement to challenge all oppressive institutions. I would also encourage the protesters to occupy military bases – symbols of the military-industrial complex that leaves millions dead and even more poor.
If I have one complaint about the symposium or our general discourse about poverty, it’s the use of the term “class warfare.” “Warfare” implies that two sides are fighting one another. However, right now, the wealthy are facing no substantial backlash from those living on the lower frequencies of society. I would liken the actions of the big banks, investment firms, credit card companies and politicians to a mass lynching of the poor and the soon-to-be poor.
Jeff Schultz ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history.
