The Virtuous Poor in America

I’ve read a few things recently that might lead one to believe that the poor in America are held down solely by the machinations of the rich and connected. There seems to be a sentiment out there that the poor are simply not responsible for the state in which they find themselves and that one day they will rise up and throw off the shackles that bind them in poverty and want. Everything has been done to them; therefore, we are obligated to do everything for them. As will be obvious shortly, I disagree.

Do not put your hope for change in the poor and downtrodden of this country. Your faith in the supposed virtuous poor is badly misplaced. The majority of the American underclass are neither virtuous nor (by any rational standard of true poverty) are they poor. This is not a statement meant to absolve the wealthy and powerful of their sins in that they have done much to degrade and destroy the “disadvantaged” of this nation. They will have their own millstone to deal with. Having said that, let’s chat a little bit about the true state of the American underclass.

First, let’s dispel the notion that the American poor are truly poor. Oh sure, by the standards of the poor in other western industrial nations, the American version may indeed be worse in some ways than, say, the German poor, or the British poor, or the Australian poor. However, when you bring the grinding poverty of Africa, India, or rural China into the calculation, then what it means to be poor in America becomes discernable in its proper context.

If you have central heat and air conditioning in your subsidized housing, or even in the homeless shelter for that matter, then you are far better off than sub-Saharan Africans who burn buffalo dung for heat. If you cook your subsidized meals on an electric or gas stove under an electric light, then you and yours exist at a level of comfort unknown to huge numbers of the truly destitute. If you have the luxury of indoor plumbing, then you have far exceeded the standards of the rural poor in India where the majority of the population still defecate in the open.

If you claim to be poor, yet you own a car, a cell phone, have a TV, a CD player, and a microwave, then to be poor in America is to have won the poverty lottery. The fact is that the vast majority of America’s poor have some, or all, of these things in addition to widely available public safety nets for nutrition, health, job training, etc. Being poor in America is an extremely advantageous position to be in vis a vis the poverty stricken who live and die in the more benighted regions of the globe. To arrive at any other conclusion is intellectually dishonest and is a denial of reality.

So, having established that most of the poor in this country are not actually poor, let’s have a look at whether or not the American underclass are the virtuous, honest, just-need-a-hand-up people that the media would have us believe. After all, touting the supposed good qualities of the poor who just need a bit of help is the constant justification for throwing more money at them. They are really good people at heart, it’s just that poverty and want cause them to behave badly. Allow me to suggest that, in fact, the opposite is true. People do not behave badly because they are poor. They are poor because they behave badly. If the poor are entitled to our help by virtue of their destitution, is it not then incumbent upon the poor to behave responsibly as the price of that assistance?

Lest anyone accuse me of being some uninvolved academic, or an ignorant bigot who has never experienced want and has no right to pass judgement, let me offer this. I have been homeless twice in my life: Once when I lived in a large Canadian city and once when I initially moved here to Montana. I reached that condition both times due to the choices I made and the behavior I engaged in. That’s it. That’s all. I was the reason I was poor. This essay is no academic exercise. These words relate the experience of someone has faced his own demons and recognizes those demons in the minds and hearts of others. I know the truth of what I say because I have seen, and heard, and lived that truth.

When I had descended into that world, I quickly realized how dangerous and soul-destroying it really is. The level of chaos in day-to-day living is barely imaginable to one who has not directly experienced it. There is no honor among thieves. Lying, backstabbing, cheating, and stealing are the order of the day. In my personal experience, whatever virtue survives among the American poor has been eroded to such a degree by dependency as to be almost nonexistent. If the entitled poor of this nation redirected the significant creative effort, labor, and time they devote to gaming the system for freebies and put it into productive pursuits, they would vastly increase their chances of finding a way out of the social station to which they have consigned themselves. Pursuit of a better life with honesty, decency, and self-respect as guideposts would also engender the goodwill of many who now withdraw their hand.

The honest poor do exist. Cream and scum both rise to the top, and this screed is not meant as a universal indictment of the poor in America, nor is it meant to denigrate those who truly cannot help themselves. It is however, meant as a universal indictment of those who will not help themselves. It is meant as an indictment of the apparatus that profits from and perpetuates itself on the backs of the both the honest and dishonest alike. It is most certainly meant as a universal indictment of a system that fosters dependency, helplessness, and self-pitying indolence. Distinguishing between those who want something better and those who don’t is the trick. The honest poor must struggle every day as they try to extricate themselves and their families from the chaos in which they live. The scum disguise themselves as cream in order to game the system. The cream must constantly prove themselves in order to have any chance of escaping the system. It is a sad reality, but it is reality nonetheless.

The American underclass will indeed rise up one day, but the result will not be what you think. Over the decades, the poor in this nation have willingly accepted a level of dependence and subservience to the god of self-pity that has destroyed much of their humanity. They are vicious, deviant, deceitful, and dangerous. The bread and circuses of the modern American welfare state have done what bread and circuses have always done, created a lazy, violent, and restless mob no different from any other of the past. The rising will not reform the system. It will thoroughly smash the system, but the people who have destroyed it will have neither the intelligence nor the ambition to replace it with anything better. They know no other path. When they have eaten the rich, they will come for the rest. They will boil out of their filthy hovels and advance upon what bastions of decency remain and if they triumph, they will squat amidst the rubble and wonder why no one is coming to save them.

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BeeUrSelf
BeeUrSelf

Well, all I can say from my own personal experience is that – the article is spot on. My personal experience would be a book in itself, as I am sure many others could tell as well.

I figure if you are gonna get up off the couch and get into the game of life you are sure as shootin gonna get involved in some shit along the way.

How about that, I used the word of the week (shit) in a complete sentence.

Maggie
Maggie

I thought the word of the week was shithole. But, shithole could easily be substituted.

Martin brundlefly
Martin brundlefly

Ever watch “intervention”? It never ceases to amaze me how many of the addicts are waiting for that government check. Same with “hoarders”. Every one is on disability waiting for the eagle to shit. We subsidize the worst behaviors and wonder why we have so many problems and so much debt.

starfcker

That was Bill Clinton, making obesity and addiction disabilities that qualify for federal aid. Now think about Apple feasting on all those student loans selling Kids gadgets that are overpriced. Think of all the money Apple has. Did we push the money that way on purpose? Of course we did. Now think of all the money the Mexican cartels have in Mexico. Well if we give their customers money where do you think the money is going to end up? You think that’s accidental?

bigfoot loves Veritaseum
bigfoot loves Veritaseum

Yikes! That is some sentence! And who can argue with it? Yikes!

“They will boil out of their filthy hovels and advance upon what bastions of decency remain and if they triumph, they will squat amidst the rubble and wonder why no one is coming to save them.”

James the Wanderer

I plan on building a bastion of decency, with open firing lanes, obstacles to open advancement and reinforced ramparts, along with barrier fencing, surveillance instruments and challenging terrain to even reach it. It will also be sufficiently stocked to withstand a significant siege, with weapons and resupply installed.
I may be lonely (especially if no one of a like mind survives to reach it) but the un-virtuous (poor or not) will not take it easily, if at all.

ILuvCO2
ILuvCO2

Un-virtuous poor from the ground, government drones from the air. Hope you got a plan for the second avenue of attack. Shotgun target practice maybe before they send their package.

MN Steel
MN Steel

Spark Gap Transmitter.

Anonymous
Anonymous

The choices you need to make to be one of the poor.

1 Drop out of high school (elementary school is even better).

2 Use alcohol.

3 Use drugs.

4 Obtain a lengthy police record as young as you possibly can.

5 Don’t work, if you accidentally end up with a job quit it or get yourself fired by any means possible as quickly as you can.

6 Skip marriage and especially skip creating a stable family for yourself.

7 Spend as much time in jail for something as you can as often as you can, preferably for something violence or drug related.

8 Develop a good “poor little me” story to give to the bleeding hearts at the bleeding heart agencies so they will help you maintain your poverty at a comfortable level.

Now go enjoy your life, it isn’t your fault you’re a loser, it’s the fault of all those rich people that stole everything from you. If you’re not White, it’s the fault of the White man keeping you down.

The Caregiver
The Caregiver

This is directed to Anonymous, as I do agree with the article and I have witnessed the same behaviors.
Add this to your list of how not to be poor: if you don’t want to be poor as an older person, don’t have a kid that gets cancer, or has asthma, or other medical needs, don’t have a kid that grows up to be an addict or steals your savings, don’t help take care of your grandparents instead of working (including overtime), don’t stop working to take care of your aged parents, don’t stop working to take care of any other relatives. That includes children or mentally disabled nieces, nephews, anybody. Work makes you free.
Remember, any money or time away from work that you spend taking care of others is that much less money that you will have to support yourself throughout your life. And that is what is most important in this society, otherwise you are a bum and deserve poverty. A nursing home starts at $7,000 a month, but if you should need to get paid a dime for 24/7 care of a loved one, you are a bad person. And you should take care of this person for free, for years if necessary, and don’t forget that all the other relatives certainly expect their portion of any estate left after this person is gone, whether they helped or not. Remember, Caregiver – you had it easy. You didn’t have to go to a real job every day. All you did was watch someone that you knew and loved all your life die slowly, afraid of dying and abandonment and in pain.
So, who is going to take care of you? And how will that person make ends meet? And what will that person live on after you are gone, when they quit a job and devote themselves to keeping your end of life as good a quality as they can manage? Were they a fool for doing so? Now they have to compete with college graduates with college degrees and student loans in the workplace, and (noble-better-than-you) illegal aliens sucking up the social safety net of any assistance whether it’s food, low-income freebies or reduced price anything; whether it’s the health care visits you didn’t make for yourself because there was nobody to watch the elderly, or you couldn’t afford it because you quit your job.

Who will take care of the caregivers? You know, the relative that helps you to the bathroom and washes your bottom? The one that you yell at in your dementia for the 15th time that day? The only person that actually showed up out of all your relatives to keep you clean and fed and out of a nursing home or other unpleasant situation? The one who’s social life becomes non-existent and exhaustion drains the joy of living out of them?
What’s your answer for that?

IndenturedServant

The only person in the world that will ever lift YOU up is YOU. Once YOU figure that out, life gets noticeably better in a hurry. The best thing about the whiny poor looking for a handout is that you don’t have to compete with them. They’ve already lost the fight before they even started.

Ouirphuqd
Ouirphuqd

I like my lot in life, I do what I want since I’m retired. I see people struggling, that is what life is about. My Christian values tell me to help others, I do. We wish to see only success, I don’t, I wish to see survival. “Give us this day our daily bread “ is my motto. Go out of your way to be polite to those in need. You cannot give sustenance to ingrates, you can only give a hope of something better. We know that whatever the future holds is something beyond our control, vote for whoever you wish, it matters little.

ASIG
ASIG

If you want to find the person that causes you all the misery and trouble in your live and limits your success, just look in the mirror.

Crawfisher
Crawfisher

I watch this from time to time as a reminder

steve
steve

I too often see the “poor” with Air Jordans and cellphones. How’s that? Lottery ticket sales always amaze me. Those who appear least able to afford them purchase the most. Same with the lovely ladies hairhats and fashion glam nails. WTF? No shortage of $ for things they want; suckers pay for the things they need.

Maggie
Maggie

Surely you do not begrudge the poor, downtrodden but deserving poor a mani-pedi and a makeover? What kind of a miserly sexist racist are you? Are you a TBP regular too?

That explains it.

doug
doug

Funny girl-I like you Maggie.

Uncola

Holy moly, XR. That was fantastic.

It was like a reading the typed dictation of a reincarnated Thomas Paine orating by way of a digital platform, burning. Eloquent as hell. I loved it. It did, in fact, bring to mind the first paragraph of Paine’s conclusion in Rights of Man (1791):

Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. It either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

The status quo is being rocked for rich and poor alike. Lots of people waking up. Lots of people closing their eyes. Rage is trending…

Thanks for posting that essay.

xrugger
xrugger

Thanks so much Uncola. High praise indeed coming from a guy who writes as well as you do. I’m completely humbled by the Thomas Paine comparison. Not sure it is deserved. My lovely wife (the inimitable Queen of the Underbrush) said she could see my balding pate visibly expanding as I read your comment.

Uncola

LOL

Queens have a way of keeping their king’s feet on the ground. If it wasn’t for mine, I’d probably float away.

But, seriously, I was reading your piece and thinking: “Shit! I gotta’ step up my game!”

In other words, it made me want to be better. Thanks for that

Colder
Colder

Hey, don’t dis buffalo dung. Lotta BTU’s in that stuff.

rhs jr
rhs jr

I stopped at a grocery story in south Tallahassee and 99% of the shoppers were obviously highly successful Blacks judging by their massive waist lines, bulging baskets of steaks, ice cream and snacks.

BB

Slugger ,you should do more posting ,more writing .
Now don’t get the big head cause it will turn you into a Meathead.

wholy1
wholy1

Great article, well organized and presented – thx. Sad though that very few “coasters/citYzens/californicators/lib-turds/migrants/sjw’s” etal will ever read it.

Wip
Wip

Yes, and there be the crime.

LaGeR
LaGeR

Crawdad, Thx for posting that Jon Taffer vid.
I’d seen it before, but some gems are worth a revisit.

When I was really struggling, somehow this piece found its way into my batch of cassette
tapes. But hell, it’s older than that, b/c the original production was done on a 78 LP I believe.
Now THATs an old recording.

Trust me on this one. Take 30 minutes and listen to it. Then pay it forward to someone in your life who needs a good nudge in the right direction.

BOOSH!
BOOSH!

I live in a relatively well-off area. There are solid blue collar jobs where they make more than I do on their first day on the job. There are lots of good jobs here beyond the above jobs. There are also a lot of poor people (95%of the kids in the local school district qualify for free or reduced lunches) despite probably the best job market in America.
In my job I come into contact with people who provide services to the poor: free food, free clothing, free school supplies at the beginning of the school year, free bikes at Christmas, etc. One day I spoke with one of the people who runs one of these places. I asked frankly,”I’ve got to know, how many people do you see that don’t have a job simply because they can not pass a drug test?” The answer: “more than I want to admit.”
I’ve been at these “free school supplies days” I see people with what I would guess is $5,000 worth of tattoo work on their calfs/arms/fat gross bodies (it’s a guess because I don’t have tattoos.) One thing for sure, these people are not starving.
It seems these days if you’re poor it’s because you make poor choices (ex: married your drug addict high school boyfriend,) have a poor work ethic, have poor family relationships, poor critical thinking skills, or a poor circle of friends.

Andrea Iravani

A great deal of poverty in America is due to single mom’s. There is no faster track to poverty, other than addiction or crime. There are also many innocent victims that are struggling, and have done what the establishment has commanded them to do, and face mounting debt reeducating themselves or engaging in financially risky behavior, which the establishment demands 24/7 with loud sirens. Ignoring the sirens to engage in financially risky and debt increasing behavior is the best way to go, IMO, for those who are not connected to the game rigging system.

The number one cause of bankruptcy in America is now due to medical bills. That is fucking bullshit. We are not your fast track to the Learjet set AMA! Fuck You! Psychopaths! Look up objectification, which you are guilty of!!!!

There, but for the grace of God go I, is my motto.

Al Jazeera video of Cape Town SA exposing the human factor in a man-made situation. Initially, my reaction was, what happens when God fails to provide? , but it has consistently been man’s laws that have been seeking to infringe on God’s laws. We have all become so accustomed to the many thousands of laws involuntarily thrust upon us.
http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201712200117-0025566

https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/hell-on-earth-major-city-will-run-out-of-water-in-less-than-95-days_01182018
Peace,
Andrea Iravani

22winmag - The South was Right (and slavery would have ended through legislation not war in the years to come, so don't give me that shit) What happened to places like Rhodesia and safe spaces for white folks? What comes next?
22winmag - The South was Right (and slavery would have ended through legislation not war in the years to come, so don't give me that shit) What happened to places like Rhodesia and safe spaces for white folks? What comes next?

Two things.

First, if you live in America you already are in the 1%. American ghetto dwellers and trailer trash enjoy a standard of living that is simply incomparable to billions of Indians who shit on the beach and rural Chinese who shit on the side of the road.

Second, a note about being homeless. The overwhelming majority of the *homeless* in the North, midwest, and mid-Atlantic are invisible because they are *housed* and have a roof over their heads 365 days a year—> otherwise they’d freeze like popsicles 9 months out of the year. That’s in stark contrast to places like So. Cal and Florida where less than 10% of the homeless are *housed* because frostbite and hypothermia are of no concern.

Sara e
Sara e

As someone who has lived in a working class suburb my whole life I agree with most of this article however I feel like you are unfairly conflating blue collar and low wage workers with the welfare class. A majority of the people who are poor work their asses off and do not receive or want any government handouts! Over the past few decades it has become increasingly difficult for people to support themselves and especially difficult to recover from any financtial hardship. I agree the welfare class is a scourg on society but unfortunately countless people who have always been lower middle class are being forced to join them!

Llpoh
Llpoh

Given there are 40 million food stamp recipients, and there are around 45 million classified as poor, your suggestion that a majority of poor take no handouts would seem erroneous.

To Llpoh
To Llpoh

You are making a major assumption that the two groups match. One need not be a subset of the other. I have known many non-poor who take food stamps, and some among the poor who don’t.

rainbird
rainbird

When I was fresh out of high school, back in the early eighties, I had a job, an apartment and a roommate. Our apartment was a circa 1940’s brick 2 story, no AC, no phone (We were always too broke to afford a phone). My bedroom was in front, facing the street. On warm summer nights, we had to have all the windows open to cool the place off. Several nights a week, the neighborhood black welfarians would party on the street below my window until 2 am. I had to listen to drunks laughing & yelling, then try to get a couple of hours of sleep, until my alarm went off at 6:00 am. Working people should not have to live anywhere near welfare trash. I think that all jobless persons desiring public assistance should be sent to FEMA camps.

JLS
JLS

Fema camp is a welfare program for both the captured and the government employees.

The best (but highly unlikely ) solution is to eliminate income taxes and all the welfare programs. You want to help poor? Great, volunterily donate your own money . You want support? Do something good for your neighborhood and get donations in return.

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