Reasons for Poverty

Dad,

You said that this blog has helped you learn a bit about me, but much of it you already knew. I’m afraid I don’t agree. I don’t think you’ve understood what I’ve been trying to say, perhaps because I haven’t been doing a good job of clearly communicating my beliefs.

Many of your comments and the two passages you quoted in your last post lead me to believe that you think that all (or most?) poor people in this country are poor because they don’t want to work. Please correct me if I have misinterpreted your comments.

What I have been trying to point out is that, while idleness certainly is the reason why some people in this country are poor, that is not the case for many, many other people. Some people are poor because of bad decisions they made in the past, some because someone sinned against them, some because catastrophic circumstances have left them without the basic needs for survival. And some are poor because of injustices in our economic, political or social systems. Most likely it is a combination of several of those reasons. Do you agree with this? I really want to continue this conversation, but I don’t know if we can go much further until I understand your beliefs on the reasons for poverty in America.

Mindy