Friday, January 25, 2008

How poor are America's "Poor"...in the worldwide picture?

I was in downtown Newberg the other day waiting to cross the street when I was approached by a stranger. He looked to be in his late 40's or so, kind of scruffy but no more than me on a weekend. He was riding a Huffy mountain bike. So, he comes up to me and says, "I am trying to come up with 4 dollars, can you help me out?" My first thought was, wow, this guys is direct, un-shy. He would do well in sales; if he actually wanted to work for a living. I actually did not have any money, (just my ATM which I politely said he couldnt have) and I don't give out money to the homeless anyway. I will however help families I see on occasion that seem to be in trouble, get a meal and possibly a ride somewhere. I will even go out of my way to buy a couple double cheeseburgers and bring it back to someone that my intuition tells me I need help. Why do I seem so cold hearted you may be thinking. Especially since I am a Christian. The basic answer is that I am trying to model Christ when dealing with the unmotivated or "poor". If you read the Bible the way Jesus helped the poor was not in handing out money. He fed the hungry and gave them the Gospel message. To be honest, if you any of you have ever seen the commercials about Africa, India, even S. America, you know the ones that are deliberately designed to make you feel guilty....you may be asking the same question I always do when I see people on the street in America. This leads me to a very interesting article I was turned on to while listening to Ronald Dart one day. So what was that question I asked myself when watching one of those commercials? If that is poverty, then what am I seeing in downtown Newberg, or any other city; what the heck is the census bureau using in their numbers?

So check out this article, see what you think. Comment.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg2064.cfm

1 comment:

Jeff said...

Interesting article, and good insight. I have suspected the truth of this, though I have never seen it addressed quite so specifically. IMO, those we generally deem as "poor" in America are actually those who 'don't quite meet the standards of most of middle-class Americans.' For example, I've never seen a "poor" American who had a bloated belly caused by worms.

I also know that there are beggars on the street who make a good living at begging. One time a guy holding a cardboard sign claiming he needed money for food, turned me down when I offered to take him to a restaurant down the street.

When I volunteered to hand out food with the Salvation Army for the holidays, they would drive around and pick up people living under bridges, etc., to bring them to the facility and give them a meal. Many of them refused, preferring instead to lay under the bridge and drink alcohol.