Ben Benson

Letter to the Editor

Dear editor and readers,

Former United Nations Secretary Kofi Annan once said that, “In a country well

governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of and in a country badly governed

wealth is something to be ashamed of.” Are we in our first-world society,

regardless of political viewpoints truly ashamed of poverty? Do we tend to accept

poverty as a necessary evil? After all, someone has to do those minimum wage

jobs, right? The poor, even Jesus said, will always be among us! My question, to

you and your readers, is simply this: “Have we gotten too caught up in identity

politics to lose sight of the universal blight of poverty?” My fear is that the answer

is yes. My opinion is that we must change and decide to do something different so

that poverty becomes our mutual enemy, one that receives zero tolerance.
Recently the world been spinning fast with all its causes, politically correct

language, triggers, and microaggressions? Over the last decade, an awareness has

come to the forefront of Western society around sensitivity and respecting the

needs and the views of others including - - in no particular order - - the

handicapped and the dangers of ableism, the rights of women and the dangers of

sexism, ethnicity and the dangers of racism, LGBTQ and the dangers of

homophobia, seniors and the dangers of ageism.

Generally speaking, the world of commerce, higher education, and cohabitation

have become kinder and gentler in these regards, even though abuses as well as

oversensitivity can be found from time to time across the board. Fashion,

entertainment, public policy, and political ideologies can all be evidenced as areas

impacted by these social awareness topics. Yet, as the saying goes, the more things

change, the more they stay the same.

Fundamentally, the largest, most widespread, most universal malady to be seen in

seen in the United States and the world is ​classism​ more than any of the other

“isms” on the spectrum. Indeed, most of the areas of sensitivity listed fall within

the trappings of classism. The most discriminating color, the saying goes, is green.

Over time, a neighbor with wealth becomes accepted or admired, irrespective of

gender, age, race, and sexual orientation (at least outwardly so). But, when that

member of the sub-community is poor, all bets are off. Essentially, there is little to

no empathy or sympathy to be found for the most at-risk population in the

underserved, the working poor. Even in cases where the demographics would

favor the individual (male, white, hetero, etc.), there is disregard and contempt

from a more wealthy, ruling class. Poor people are not welcomed in this world.

Poverty, be it true abject poverty or relative working poverty, does not discriminate

and it knows now boundaries. Almost never do we hear talk show hosts, night

time stand-up comedians, or celebrities heralding the underclass. Instead, they tend

to focus on a small slice of humanity, a culture, a cause, a skin tone. Poverty is

universal. Every government political structure can create the impoverished. Some

believe that governments of all varieties actually need an impoverished class as

much as they need a ruling class. Can’t we unite all effort focused on eliminating

bigotry and exclusion to get to a root issue of poverty?