Many of these impoverished folks
make foolish decisions with their money. In some cases it exhibits a lack of
patience, in other cases their actions exhibit short-term thinking. Renting
appliances and furniture is a prime example of this. The companies engaged in this
business are disreputable and sleazy, they prey on the poor and take advantage
of them. Often it would be better to save the money and buy the couch or
washing machine outright...and when they fail to do this, they are condemned
for a lack of prudence.
But this judgment is invalid
because it is made from a secure standpoint. The financially secure judge the
poor but they're projecting their own security into the mindset of the poor.[i]
It's easy to think
strategically and make wise decisions when you have security. Also there are
many opportunities to increase income with only a modicum of risk....but even
that minimal factor is often one beyond what the poor can afford.
Someone who is financially
secure can afford to take small risks wherein they might lose $500 or even a
$1000 dollars. This allows them to make better and wiser purchases. Also,
someone who is secure has a stable income and generally speaking doesn't have
to worry about next week or next month.
The insecure often cannot
afford to lose even a small amount of money. For many of these folks, losing
$100 can be catastrophic and something as simple as a tire blowout can
seriously derail their budget. This can often lead to a chain reaction, a bill
gets paid late, and then in order to pay that one the following week...two more
are late, and it goes on and on.
People in this situation get so
frustrated, so beaten down, so defeated, it reaches a point where they throw
their hands up in the air. Perhaps they've tried to save up for a television
and after a year they give up. So when the tax return comes....they buy one.
After all it's the only form of entertainment they can afford. I'll grant that
many of the poor are not big readers but even those that are....public
libraries are often difficult to get to (especially if you live in a rural
area) and due to budget cuts, their hours have made them less and less
accessible.
We've all heard about how easy
it is to make money when you already have it and yet few realize how true this
is. It's all about risk and security. I know several businessmen who would be
very disappointed and personally devastated if a $10,000 business venture
failed and they lost their money. But, they could weather it. Often its money
they had available and though seeing the small number on paper hurts their eyes,
in the end it doesn't affect them.
Security generates options and
grants flexibility in decisions. It also grants intangible benefits like
confidence.
Poverty generates fear. Middle
Class status can also generate fear....a fear of losing what you've attained,
but the poor live in fear of disaster and destitution.
An example. Recently we had
some run-ins with our local school district. Our school district is in turmoil
and they keep changing superintendents and principals. The responsibility for
monitoring the home school programme keeps getting passed around. It's
frustrating for us because just when we get used to dealing with someone, the
whole situation changes. Many officials mean well but often engage in what
might be described as overreach. Often they're trying to get information from
us that goes beyond what we are legally required to provide. Pennsylvania is
one of the more heavily regulated states. There are aggravations with this but
the regulations also grant us protections. Though they require much, we have
extensive documentation, signed letters etc., that grant what we're doing
legitimate status. Some states that are less regulated and not necessarily
'more free' as much as the issues are simple left undefined. There are truancy
issues and other overlapping legal obligations that sometimes come into
play...and in those cases the families have a harder time legally justifying
their actions.
Anyway, a zealous official was
trying to insist that we fill out registration forms for the school. Legally we
are not required to do this. Legally we send in a notarized affidavit
accompanied with medical forms (we take an exemption) as well as course
objectives for the upcoming year. It's really no big deal and the whole process
takes us less than an hour. The biggest aggravation for us is that the nearest
and most convenient notary is located about eight miles away.
I was uncomfortable filling out
the form, because we've never done so before and the code is explicit regarding
what is required. The official was insistent. I believe he had made an error
regarding the status of our children listed in their computer. We were
wondering why they were even listed as 'registered' in the computer? Was there
some sort of fraud going on? Was our cash-strapped district 'claiming'
homeschool kids in order to get the funding from the state? I have no idea.
Nevertheless I didn't want to
fill them out because I was afraid it would establish a precedent and a later
official might say...'Hey, your kids were registered before, now you need to
fill out forms to un-register/withdraw them.'
Anyway it's a mess but it left
me uneasy because the next step was going to mean some kind of
semi-confrontational meeting which is something I very much wanted to avoid.
Thus far it was all being conducted over the telephone.
It's all about security. You
see if I have money, then I am emboldened. I can retain a lawyer and I can
afford some of the associated costs in order to maintain my case.[ii]
But if you don't have the
money, you're alone. What if things took a bad turn and I decided the situation
was extreme and I wanted to remove my family to another location in order to
protect us from a possible investigation coming from a social worker? That
costs money too. Gas, a hotel, a meal on the road. For many a week out of town
is not a great burden, but for the poor the costs associated with this are
inconceivable.
No lawyer, no possibility of
flight....a lack of security makes you afraid and vulnerable. You won't make
the best choices. You have fewer options.
In the end I filled out the
first page of the registration packet, only filling in the information that was
already included in the affidavit I sent in. I also attached a letter
explicitly proclaiming my protest and specifying what I was and was not doing
in filling out that form.
They gave me no further
trouble, but my situation is unique. I'm comfortable wading into officialdom.
I'm not afraid of legal forms and terms. I'm comfortable venturing into these
realms and arguing. I deal with similar issues at work when it comes to the
building code, inspectors and liability issues. But not everyone is able to do
this. In fact a lot of people who are fairly smart and educated are unable to
do this, let alone those who are poor.
During the late 1990's the
stock market seemed to be in a permanent state of advance. This was the era of
the dot-com boom, the new economy being generated by the internet and the new
markets opened up by the conclusion of the Cold War. It was also an era of easy
credit which continued for almost another decade and ultimately led to the
bursting of the housing bubble.
I know of one man who has
contracted with me on numerous occasions who would get a credit card offer in
the mail for no interest for say...six months. Most of the credit cards will
allow for cash advances and he would use these to purchase shares in mutual
funds. He'd let the money sit and grow for a few months. Mutual funds are
generally secure, in the late 1990's they seemed virtually risk free. Then he'd
sell the shares, take the money, pay off the credit card at 0% interest, close
the account and pocket the profits. He borrowed money to make money. Anyone
could do it...but, there was a risk. If something went wrong, if the stocks
suddenly plunged, if he had been holding these stocks on 10 September 2001,
then he might have incurred great losses and when the 0% credit term
expired....the money might not have been there.
So what's my point? In his
case, he's financially secure. Even if he lost $10,000 he could have written
the check. He would have been unhappy but it wouldn't have ruined him. In the
case of the poor, they would have never taken the risk. If it had gone wrong,
they'd end up homeless. In fact if someone less secure had taken such a risk
they would be rebuked for being reckless.
Now multiply this ten-fold, a
hundred-fold, a thousand-fold and then you enter the realms of people like Mitt
Romney. If you start to grasp these things you begin to see how inaccurate,
uninformed, idiotic, dishonest, in fact immoral and offensive his comments were
regarding the poor in the United States.
Are the rich so wise with their
money? As a person who often is employed by the rather well-to-do I can assure
you their money is often spent in a very foolish and wasteful manner.
As the standard of living
increases, people begin to focus even more on appearances and trivialities they
view as necessary.
Perhaps there's nothing wrong
with spending $60,000 on a kitchen, but in no way is this a prudent use of
money. The rich are just as susceptible to fads and brand names. The difference
is they can afford to think about things that other people wouldn't even
entertain. Wealthy people can afford to fuss over the wood-grain pattern in a
cabinet, the sheen of a finish, pinstriping on a car, or whether they like the
way their chair feels. The poor are happy to have cabinets that have working
doors, they're happy to have paint on the walls, a car that runs and a chair to
sit in.[iii]
Is it immoral for someone to
want nice things? Is it immoral to demand near perfection when you've spent a
great deal of money?
No, but all this points to
heart issues. Money is security. Money is power. Money generates respect and a
certain regard for one's self. You create in your mind an understanding of who
you are, the standards you deserve, what you need, and what you're entitled to.
This is the danger of money, the love of it, and how it plays out in our
consumer and very fast-paced society.
Our society in particular
generates discontent. We are barraged by people who try to convince us that we
need things, that there's something wrong with us if we don't want the products
they're trying to sell us. Our society, in fact our very economic model is
built upon and dependent upon covetousness.
[i] Security is a concept often omitted from both
economic and political thinking and yet I believe it to be fundamental to
understanding why people behave as they do.
[ii] I know there are groups like HSLDA which provide
legal services for homeschool families. This particular instance is only
pointing to a larger point I'm trying to make. In terms of this particular
issue, I would sooner turn to the ACLU before I would turn to HSLDA or the
ACLJ.
[iii] I remember when we first moved into our present
house. Our dining room table was plywood on sawhorses, we had a couple of
chairs, but several family members sat on resin (plastic) garden chairs. I had
a nice 5 gallon bucket which served me for many months. While doing this I
worked for someone that would spend $100 to replace a doorbell system because
they didn't like the way the 'chime' sounded or would spend hundreds on a
knick-knack that would end up in a back bedroom collecting dust. That same
money would have bought us a table and chairs. I'm in no way suggesting this
person 'should' have bought us table and chairs. Don't misunderstand me. I'm
simply reflecting on the differences regarding money and the attitude it
generates.