Poverty

I have family members who live in what is perceived as poverty right up to what is perceived as wealth.  I've lived in poverty but never attained wealth.  None of this truly matters in the long run.

I believe poverty is misunderstood.  How can we describe a situation as poverty when the family is living in a clean home with food on the table and where the adults have jobs?  Not everyone, no matter how talented or intelligent, can land high paying jobs!  Poverty, in this case, means there isn't available money for fancy cars, expensive vacations, or high fashion clothes.  Is this really important in having a happy, fulfilling life?  I think not.  I know not!

We really have to stop equating low income with poverty because that is far from the truth.  When I was a child we lived in an old but well built townhouse that had been converted to apartments (they've since been converted back to single family homes and probably are worth a fortune!).  Our apartment consisted of 2 very large rooms...the original livingroom and parlor separated by pocket doors.  The ceilings were 10' high.  I slept in one bed with my mother and sister while my grandparents slept in the livingroom/kitchen on a sofa bed.  It was immaculately clean and good food was served at every meal.  My grandfather and my mother both worked at full-time, low salary jobs.  

Just a note...I have been in the homes of people we consider wealthy that were dirty and shabby.  In some, the parents were seldom home to cook meals for the children, either.  My childhood hovel was none of those things so can it still be thought of as living in poverty?  

Children living in a clean home with loving parents who are there for them and who work hard at minimum wages to provide the necessities of life for them are not living in poverty no matter what the family income happens to be.  They are simply living in a low income home and that is nothing to be ashamed of as far as I'm concerned.

Poverty is when the children live in a filthy home with unstable parents who spend their money on drugs or booze instead of putting food on the table.  Poverty is when able bodied adults have lost all will to do better for themselves and their families and settle for public assistance.  

In other words, poverty is not a lack of money but a lack of self respect.  Harsh words, maybe, but it's my view of what I've seen and experienced in my 76 years.