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I am so broke it's not even funny
Poverty is no joke.
My money has been tight recently. I’m taming my love of chai lattes, opting for DVDs over the cinema and only going to gigs of performers I semi-worship. I’ve also vowed not to shop for clothing until something I own now rips or stain. Oh how I’ve been tempted to ‘accidently’ drop my aged handbag into one of those murky street corner puddles big enough to bathe in and toxic enough to scare off swine flu!
I’m sitting here now on a Friday evening half sulking because I’ll be having a quiet self-imposed evening at home, to keep the budget in check. A long phone call with a far-away friend will be the highlights of my evening - Woo hoo! At this very moment, I have a warm cuppa in my ring adorned hand, layers of funky frocs on my healthy body, and a laptop before tired eyes that have nearly OD’ed on screen fixation from a week of work. Poor me, right?
Poor? I don’t think so, not in the unfortunate or without money sense.
Reality check: I don’t feel the need to apologise for my lifestyle and relative security. This is my entry point into this world, my lot for the taking. I’ve had a job since I was 14, and have worked my middle class a** off to get an education, make a successful plunge into my career, and live it up along the way. I was raised on a diet of hard work pays off. “Work hard and anything is possible” I was told.
Unfortunately, the dream isn’t a reality for many people in our society. Over 16.5% of people in Ireland to be exact, are living in consistent poverty or are at-risk of poverty. That’s about one in six. One in six of us who don’t own a warm weather-proof coat, who can’t buy family and friends birthday presents, who haven’t been out for a date or a pint in ages!
Material deprivation like this is brutal. Perhaps just as painful is the social exclusion, the isolation and the knocks to self-worth that those caught in poverty grapple with on a daily basis. "Poor" comes from the word "ptosso", which means "to crouch." Bent over, feeble, lowered. Being referred to as “dirt poor”, would make anyone question their value.
Days like the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and campaigns like Make Poverty History are trying their best to put out an onslaught of events, gatherings and sober speeches to grab our attention.
But what I’ve got to ask is, if the sight of people sleeping rough, of babies without blankets, of dole queues snaking around corners, and beggars shaking their empty cups doesn’t whack some serious concern into our hearts - what the hell will?
It’s so easy to look at those in the depths or brink of poverty as “other” people. Not us. Not me. Not my family. Not my friends. Most of “us” at some point walk right past the poor of our streets without a thought or a care. We care and all, but we’re “in a rush today”. We may shake our head and offer a half smile, perhaps some pocket change on a generous day; we may even mutter “Sorry”. But it’s going to take a lot more than gestures of pity to meaningfully help those experiencing poverty to rise above their plight.
They are not "poor people". They are people, just like you and I. They are simply people experiencing poverty. They are as much a part of our society as any other, and we have a moral and ethical duty to do our best to help.
The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 set this ambitious target:
“To reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty to between 2% and 4% by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016…”
My question for you is this: What can YOU do to help make this target a reality?
Got an opinion on poverty? Talk about it in the forum.
