More Thoughts on Poverty

"You can never really be poor," a friend told me years ago. "You have too many innate resources - intelligence, know-how, an active network of friends, the ability to get a decent job, etc."
We were having this discussion because some of my friends had chosen "voluntary poverty," i.e. living on income below poverty level, as a way of resisting payment of taxes that would support a military machine they could not in good conscience support. I admired what they did and wondered about doing it myself.
When I looked at how my voluntarily poor friends were actually living, I had to agree that they weren't like other involuntarily poor people I knew. For one thing, they made sure they shopped for groceries on sale days when they could get bargains and still maintain a healthy diet. For another, they had plenty of friends who admired what they were doing and therefore offered them free movie and concert tickets, lots of household extras, and even in one case housing. One of them worked at a restaurant and got free leftovers. They never lacked what I would call an abundance of material goods.
Real poverty is eating cornflakes with water because you can't afford milk, even the powdered kind.
Real poverty is having to sit for hours to receive any "free" medical services - which were inadequate at best.
Real poverty is having to choose whether you pay the light bill or the heating bill - or a little on both so you won't have to worry about being cut off.
Eugene once told me that his father made him eat cornflakes with roaches in them because that was the only thing in the house to eat.
Stefanie told me the only time she stole anything was from a grocery store: she had to have something to feed her kids, so she stole a can of soup.
That's why I give to Harvesters, the Community Food Network. Food is basic. And there are still people in this world who through no fault of their own can't feed their kids.