Well, I share many of the experiences of Blake, and I can somewhat understand what he is saying. I was also raised in a dirt poor environment and worked my way out, though I didnt go to university, Im self taught. Until I was 30 the most I made in one year was 23k; until I was 25 the most I had made was 17k (for perspective this was mid 80s/early 90s). I did way better than average during my 30s, and now recently Im fortunate in that I dont have to keep track anymore.
To generalize, I can certainly agree that wealthy people have no clue; I can also agree that a great deal of poverty is due to various structural issues (i.e many things are rigged) and I can also agree that much poverty is the ‘fault’ of the poor (if one takes the view that poverty is some sort of fault - a view I disagree with). Ive also noticed that the attitudes of ‘the poor/blue collar/working class’ are far different in the east of the US than the west. Im from the west, so thats all I can talk about. I would say that, in general, the attitudes on the east coast are far more class (as in group) oriented as opposed to individually oriented, though as in all generalizations there are certainly exceptions.
But I dont know if I can agree with Blake in his assertion that a great deal is due to the poor simply not knowing what their options are. Im willing to admit its certainly possible, perhaps especially in an inner-city context; my roots are in rural poverty.
In my experience, from Washington to Oregon to Cal, its not a matter of not knowing what your options are but in having too much self respect to use them. There is a far far greater stigma attached to being on welfare amongst the poor than amongst the wealthy. I know the general attitude amongst all the drunks, dope smokers, drop outs, cooks, waitresses, cleaning ladies, delivery drivers etc that I grew up with was that, yeah they knew about govt programs for this and that, but no fucking way were they going to take handouts. Here in the west, in most places (but not all) that also translates into hating unions; I mean, if youre competent and not an idiot, why do you need to be protected from competition (and thus demonstrate that youre incompetent)? Plus, since a great deal of the ‘rigging’ occurs at the local level, and is done by/on behalf of unions, many poor in the west want no part of unions; its like joining the Oppressor or something. Union jobs are not things that are earned, they are things that are given out in exchange for favors or based on who you know; just as bad as having your mommy and daddy buy you a job/degree.
What many wealthy people dont seem to understand is that the wealthy, most especially the children of the wealthy, are looked down upon by a great many of ‘The Poor’. If your mommy and daddy paid for your college education, it doesnt make people envious of you; it makes people dericive of you. It means we’ll never know if you really earned your position, or bought it. You might be taking up space better occupied by someone who actually earned it, but instead ~youre~ there. When you start out with nothing and a few years later have a good job, say, delivering parts or some such, you ~earned it~, and so the perception is that you are head and shoulders above some rich kid whos mommy and daddy bought them a degree. Income level has nothing to do with it.
This is, I think, similar to what people here have mentioned about a successful black person perceived as becoming ‘white’ or something; what perhaps many poor black people are unaware of is that the same general attitude is held widely by poor whites as well, though more likely to be expressed as ‘Im not going to be some fucking yuppie’. Its an attitude that, while often short sighted, I not only understand but agree with.
Which leads to another category of ‘poor people’; those who actually buy into the bullshit that people with degrees and/or money are somehow better than others, or are on some pedestal that others should aspire to be on, or know some deep mystical secret as to How Things Should Be. They might work their way up to manager or something, and all of a sudden start dressing differently, speaking in a different dialect even when among friends, listening to music that they always claimed to hate before simply because people in that bracket listen to that type of music; they buy things that they perceive will make others have more respect for them, etc. In short, they succumb to superficiality; they allow their self confidence to be sapped to such a degree that they no longer have any self respect, and rather than persist in being themselves, they try to ape what they perceive to be ‘better’ people. They are no longer real; they gave up. White people call this White Trash Done Good (among other things); from what I can tell black people call it Oreos or similar names. Truth be told, it is people like this that many poor people perceive as representing ‘successful’ people, and of course if being successful means selling yourself out, then success aint worth it. Its people in this category more than any other that give a very bad name to ‘success’. I mean, who wants to grow up to be like an asshole?
As to ‘programs’ to help the poor; well at least where I grew up, these, like welfare, are seen as handouts at the least, payoffs at worst. Yes, the cost of education is high; the answer isnt to compensate people for the cost, the answer is to address the reasons the costs are so high. If the cost is so high in relation to everything else, and continues to rise at a far higher rate than everything else, that means that somewhere along the line, things are rigged. So rather than buying someone off by compensating them for the system being rigged, why not just try to identify where and how they are being rigged and remove it so the cost will decrease and more people can afford to pay for it themselves and keep their dignity? Christ, look at the food court on any major campus. Its fucking disgusting. Campuses are rife with waste and unnecessary and superficial costs and expenses; can anyone say with a straight face that the cost of an education is not way out of proportion than to what it really needs to be? What, someone who comes from a dirt poor environment is supposed to accept some handout, walk into a campus food court, see mountains of all kinds of food, and eat it happily when they know that back home all that food could feed the entire block for a fucking month?? Do you know what kind of guilt trip that lays on people? Surrounded by primarily sons and daughters of rich people stuffing their squeeky clean shiny faces while bitching because the eggs have a bit too much salt? Anyone with any self respect takes a look around and walks the hell right back out the door.
No, no one is being born into a version of genocide. What people are born into is a whole series of little monopolies, whether its a monopoly on labor by unions, monopoly on employment by The Only Factory in Town, a monopoly on education facilitated by things like due diligence laws, a monopoly on housing (Homeowners Assocations anyone?), a monopoly on democracy (No Walmart Here!), etc etc etc. That is The System; its not some organized conspiracy, its just a patchwork of la la land Things Should Be This Way bullshit and/or artificial restrictions on economic opportunity designed for no better reason than to protect those with jobs from competition from those who dont have one. Theyre born into a poker game where the deck is stacked and no one explains exactly how to cheat or that you even need to, so its no damn wonder that after a few hands many many people just throw the damn cards in the air, leave the table and refuse to play the game anymore.
