Isn't that was the term "poor" feels like when you use it? When you think it about somebody you see? There is a class of person in this world who were made sli

Isn't that was the term "poor" feels like when you use it? When you think it about somebody you see? There is a class of person in this world who were made slightly broken, and whose lives and conditions embody every aspect of the term we use to describe them: poor. Poorness in ability and work ethic, or else they would have earned wealth. Poorness in morals, because we all know poor are more disposed toward crime. Poorness in learning, or they would see how uncultured the way they live and behave is. Poorness in character, since they can't muster the resolve to elevate themselves from their state. Poorness in foresight and planning, since any money they get they squander. They are poor because they are poorly. In so many ways, they are like children that need the scolding and guidance of those who have made something of their lives, or, at the very least, our mercy and pity for lacking what the rest of us have. When you do consistently poorly in school, you are not promoted to the grade for your failures. In the same way, poor people should not be elevated from their class except by their own means and efforts. And when their failures compound, though they resist, taking their children to be raised in better homes is a kindness that saves a life that might been ruined by their parents' poorness. If any part of either of these passages rubs you the wrong way, why is it that you don't you do your shopping on that side of town or worry whether your doors are locked in some places more than other? I know people exceptionally biased against those in poverty, who draw a broad line between "them" and "us", without being aware. And despite years of volunteerism, until I read "Poor Economics" by Banerjee and Duflo (http://www.pooreconomics.com/ http://www.pooreconomics.com/), I didn't really understand much about how poverty worked at any scale, and I'm glad for the excellent and sometimes damning research into its effects. Children currently in poverty are not doomed, but resource scarcity is a tremendous drain on their ability to engage in risky but impactful changes. I think this complication is reinforced by mores on respecting elders and authority, who may command that children not value academic educations over the teachings of their family or religion or else risk punishment or conflict. Parents who didn't receive education can also be dismissive of its value, and prideful authoritarians can resent children who outgrow them too quickly. A good question, then, is, how do cultures and societies survive new information?