An interesting Class discussion, pt. 1

I went to an all day seminar on poverty yesterday. I was running late, so I prayed that it wouldn't be a big deal--to my surprise there were 300 people, mostly social workers, attending, so I easily joined the crowd without being noticed.

Jodi Pfarr, from Minneapolis, MN was the speaker, and she did a brilliant job (at least in my opinion) of broadening the discussion on poverty by talking about classes. After all, this is something we can relate to best, whether we realize it or not. We divided the classes for the sake of time, to two main groups:

1. Generational Poverty
2. Generational Middle Class

The generational term is included to specify our groups even more. We are discussing people with whom the class label is more than just a one time thing. Nonetheless, after looking to these mindsets more closely, my eyes opened to what might be going on in the mind of a middle class person finding themselves in poverty (especially in this economy!), as well as the effects on the other end of the spectrum, such as a person in poverty winning the lottery.

To begin with, we asked the question that everyone should ask at one time or another: What are the leading causes of poverty?

You kept these answers to yourself, as Jodi brought about four types of research in the problem of poverty. I don't mean to think in lists, but it's the best way to organize for now. The following is a briefly detailed list. Please understand there is a LOT more to each area of research.

1. Individual Behavior. In what ways does the individual have an affect on his/her poverty level? Are there addiction issues? Did the person choose to go to school or not? Does the person seek out employment?


2. Community Behavior. How does the community create an environment that continues the struggle with poverty? Has the human and social capital increased/decreased in your neighborhood? Why/Why not?


3. Exploitation. Most of us think of child laborers and human trafficking. You're right on the money, although there are plenty other areas of exploitation, such as high cost of goods in generational poverty neighborhoods.*


4. Political/Economic Structure. What policies help prevent poverty? How much does a corporation's money sway votes on such policies?

We were then asked to look at what we wrote down for the main causes of poverty, and to put a number by each cause based on where it fell in line with the above realms of research. For many of us, most of our thinking fell in line with one of the four more than the rest. As I found to be true for me, whichever area of research we thought about more also had to do with what we do with our lives. For instance, I focused on the problems for the individual. My job includes more individual contact than community-based, or political action. It's not that our way of thinking is wrong, but it is that we need to be thinking more wholistically.

So the question is now posed for you. What are the ways in which you can apply all four of the realms of research about poverty into what you do? It's a tough question, but it's a great start.

*For the sake of argument, but also for the sake of understanding, there is an economic issue that should be considered. The cost of shipping goods to cities is higher than in the suburbs (areas often associated with middle class). One reason is that convenient stores within cities need to pay a higher price for security of their stores due to higher crime rates, and must raise prices to compensate for the extra cost.