Why are the poor so deified when in actuality & reality, poverty is a negative t

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  1. gmwilliams profile image83
    gmwilliamsposted 7 years ago

    Why are the poor so deified when in actuality & reality, poverty is a negative thing which

    oftentimes lead to wrong, destructive, & even evil lifestyles, life choices, & outcomes?  When will people realize that it isn't wealth that is evil but being poor definitely......IS in more ways than one?

    https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/9074948_f260.jpg

  2. lions44 profile image95
    lions44posted 7 years ago

    Two reasons:

    1. Biblical/Cultural - The poor are ministered too in the New Testament and who doesn't know the phrase, "the meek shall inherit the earth." 

    2. I think most people see themselves as poor or close to poor.  That affects their thinking. No one wants to pick on a group of people that they may be a part of someday (or were).

  3. tamarawilhite profile image85
    tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

    By tying a nobility to poverty, it is easier for the nobility to live in luxury while the peasants think themselves more moral than the elite.

    1. Express10 profile image86
      Express10posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Strikingly good observation. Don't know why your comment is currently at the bottom. I'd upvote many more times if I could.

  4. wingedcentaur profile image65
    wingedcentaurposted 7 years ago

    Are the poor "so deified," that is to say: "worshipped, regarded, or treated as a god"? In the United States of America, are the poor elevated in such a way? Are the poor in America---I see from your profile that you are from New York---made into morally laudable figures?

    It has always been my impression that the poor are vilified in the United States of America, and in no place more so than New York City, since the 1970s.

    You have set up a certain formulation in the way you have phrased your question. You say: "Why are the poor so deified when in actuality & reality, poverty is a negative thing which...."

    What if we substitute the word "drug dealer" for "the poor"? Here goes: "Why are drug dealers so deified when in actuality & reality, drug dealing is a negative thing which oftentimes leads to wrong, destructive, & even evil lifestyles, life choices, & outcomes? When will people realize that it isn't "law-abiding behavior" that is evil but being a drug dealer definitely...IS in more ways than one?

    It almost sounds like you're saying that the poor choose to be poor.

    Take it easy!

  5. fpherj48 profile image60
    fpherj48posted 7 years ago

    Grace,,,,I cannot honestly agree that the "poor" are deified.  In fact, quite the contrary.  It's fairly evident in our country & our society, poverty is not any reason for the victims to be placed on any pedestal.  Quite the contrary.

    The vast majority try to be blind to the poor, as though these people don't exist.  If they are so "deified,"as you suggest, please explain why they are homeless, hungry & harassed as a nuisance to the public?

    I will give you that poverty does create poor life choices and criminal activity.  However, there are just as many people who are not poor who turn to crime and have very unacceptable lifestyles. 

    It is only those unique individuals who feel a compassion & sense of obligation to help the poor in any way.  Charitable organizations would be an example of this as well. 
    Being from NY city, you should be very aware of the exact opposite of what you have stated.  Do people totally ignore the homeless (bag ladies, etc) on the busy streets or do they stop to offer food, jobs, a kind word?  We all know the answer to that.
    Wealth, just like a lot of things, CAN be evil, depending on the person with the wealth.  In and of itself of course wealth is good.  It is a preference and the goal of 90% of all people.  Poverty is certainly not a goal nor do people live in poverty by choice.  Even those refusing to work or lacking the motivation to improve are provided for by the Gov't & again, any number of organizations created to help these people.
    I'll agree with you that poverty can lead to evil.  It also occurs to me that evil lives in the heart, despite the financial situation of a human being.
    It simply would not be positive nor beneficial for widespread belief that poverty or those who live in poverty are destined to be evil............

  6. Au fait profile image85
    Au faitposted 7 years ago

    I am poor.  I guess that makes me evil by your standards.  I have been poor my whole life except for maybe 15 minutes a few years ago.  If you don't like the idea of stereotyping black or brown or red  or yellow people, why do you stereotype poor people?  Seems a little hypocritical to me.

    I'm not aware of being on a pedestal.  Does it happen when we're sleeping or something?  It's been my experience that people like to look down on poor people and imagine themselves superior.  Very hard to do if a person is up on a pedestal, and especially hard for morally superior short people to look down us from above our pedestals.

    I know lots of poor people, some even poorer than myself.  Many homeless who have been homeless for several years.  None of them seem evil to me, but maybe it's because my mind is warped by Christianity.  Bad things happen when you let God screw with your mind.  Expect you would agree with that.

    Wealth is not evil.  Totally agree.  Wealth is what makes some PEOPLE evil.  Suddenly they can afford to do bad things.  Pay off city councilmen, cops, judges, senators, etc., and they do.  I've often said if I ever won the lottery big, the first thing I would buy would be Congress.  There is a reason why some people refer to members of Congress as whores.  They're for sale, and much cheaper than you might think.

    Buying off powerful people is just the beginning.  There is no end to the ugly things wealthy people can buy if they have enough money and inclination to do so.  You don't always see or hear about what they're doing.

    Don't judge the ocean by its surface.  What's underneath where you can't see so easily is where a lot of things are going on that you don't know anything about -- mainly because you don't bother to look or make the effort to look.  The ocean isn't the only thing that has most of its activity going on below the surface.

    You need to read my articles about poverty and homelessness.  I have 4.  Get informed about how poor people must live and how they are treated in reality before you make wild, ludicrous statements.

    In truth most people seem to believe God (the one you don't believe exists) put poor, and especially homeless people, on this planet so that their self-described betters could spit on them, kick them, set them on fire, and club them to death -- just for the entertainment value.  If that's your idea of being on a pedestal maybe it's because you've never been poor or homeless.

    1. Shyron E Shenko profile image69
      Shyron E Shenkoposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Amen!

 
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