Sunday, July 11, 2004

Ballad of the Undeserving Poor

"There have always been poor people living among the prosperous, and the prosperous have always sought to justify their good fortune and thus relieve their consciences. Intellectuals who can help them do this have always been in great demand."

- Supplement to John Kenneth Galbraith's "How to Get the Poor Off Our Conscience"

1 comment:

Sheryl said...

At the risk of simplifying the equation, I think the problem these days harks back to the addition of business school to the university curriculum.

These jaded philosphies are not purely swallowed for the joy of hating the poor. A lot of it is unpleasantly choked down in classes for grades. All to get a basic job and survive in the "real world." It's easier to accept it than to fight it, especially if you are going for a 4 year degree.

Then academics write this shit, not because there is a demand for it, but because you thrive in academia by the quantity of BS you can get published; it's the ticket to tenure.

The values they promote, such as measuring success by increasing wealth, is probably more of a lower class value. Rich people are born with wealth, so why would they be that enthralled at working to achieve what they already have?

I have friends who were born with silver spoons in their mouths. They aren't thinking about money; they're all dreamy and philosophical. On the other hand, my ex-mother-in-law was raised the middle child of 13 in post-war Germany. Had to spend part of her youth being raised by nuns, because her parents didn't have the money to afford all those children. This woman has more money than she knows what to do with now, but it will never be enough. She judges everything and everyone by what they have. She has no sense of the value and beauty in things. That's the real problem about being poor is that you start thinking that accumulation is your ticket to power, so that you no longer value things for what they are.

The danger is when you send the silver spooners to business school, they learn to think like the ones born in poverty. They stop valuing things and start valuing the money, the structure, and the status they associate with it. That's where they learn contempt for the poor.

George W. Bush is the perfect example of a business school graduate, and that is why this country is in trouble.

7/11/2004 09:11:00 PM

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