As simplistic as it sounds, the nature of poverty in our country is such that each of us is either solving it or causing it. The key is to have the courage to admit to the latter and the willingness to commit to the former.
“Do you really believe we can end poverty?”
We have been asked that more times than we can count; it is a question typically asked with a rhetorical tone. Most do not really want to discuss it, never mind considering an answer contrary to what they believe.
The answer, of course, is yes. We have plenty of “stuff,” and we have all the knowledge we need relative to what causes poverty and more importantly, how to build and sustain communities where it does not exist.
The better question to ask is why do so many people live in poverty in this country?
The answer to that is simply that we have not had that the will to do whatever it takes to change that. That lack of will and an accompanying acceptance of the suffering of our neighbors has developed an inertia of its own.
There is no courage — nor is there any wisdom — in saying that it is not possible to end poverty. The question’s rhetorical nature reveals a thoughtlessness that aims to shield the asker from responsibility. But the responsibility does not go away just because one chooses not to embrace it.
