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Authors, sign in!It occurred to me recently that middleclass and upperclass folks who accuse underclass folks of being lazy don't really understand life in the ghetto.
When you have little or no hope of landing the kind of job that would allow you, literally, to work your way out of poverty and all of its deadends, a paralysis of hopelessness can set in. When it does, lots of people simply come to a halt. It is as if a wall emerges from the ground in the pathway and the parade of a person's life simply stops.
Hopelessness may lead to a series of odd jobs; you know, hit and miss kind of work that pays a wage, but not one that's livable or progressive.
For lots of people the dead-ends of life signal an end to effort.
"What's the use?" can become the fundamental question of life. And, until that question finds a reasonable answer, life is going nowhere.
So, the next time you think "lazy," stop and reconsider.
Ask some questions.
Get better acquainted with the power of hope and the devastating nature of hopelessness.
Published January 26, 2010 by Larry James |
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| Tags:
Common Good
Community
Economy
Jobs
Poverty
Recession
Unemployment
Comments (2)
Here, here! Most of us who escape this rut had lots of help of various kinds and know little about chronic insecurity and hopelessness. Those of us who could have made it with the deck stacked against us are far fewer than those of us who blame the poor for their plight.
I think that one reason so many financially secure people miss this is that over time they allow themselves to mythologize their own pasts, exaggerating in their minds the hardships they overcame and forgetting how much support they had from more secure family or friends. The result is that they have too little sympathy for those who face greater hardhips with less support.
Posted by Peter Tramel
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January 27, 2010 5:16 AM
Posted on January 27, 2010 05:16
Amen Peter Amen
Sometimes a mere block or two (N 1st & S 1st) can mean the difference.
Posted by Ken Poland
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January 27, 2010 8:07 AM
Posted on January 27, 2010 08:07