Poverty. It’s hard for me to have anything but the most visceral, gut reaction to poverty. Coming from a city that is both the seat of the national government and that has the biggest income difference between the top and bottom quintiles of any major city in the country has imbued in me a serious, emotional, and resolute attitude towards poverty. I am a definite proponent of pragmatic political and social thinking. But when it comes to poverty, pragmatic thinking seems so often to steamroll over the lives of those who are already so down, that I cannot adopt any of this thinking or weave it into my worldview or ideology without feeling like I have betrayed and given up on myself, my city, and millions of American and billions of world citizens. The way in which we think about and frame the problem of poverty and inequality is not one that will facilitate lasting change. It is time for a new frame.
It is time for a new approach to clearing this great and long-lasting hurdle of poverty. Few things are of as much importance to me as ending the dehumanizing language and thought associated with those in our society who don’t have the means to make ends meet. We must change the language in which we discuss, and the ways in which we think about, overcoming this momentous challenge. This will help us clear the hurdle. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Adam Zemel 
