Invisible in America

There is a pressing issue that everyone is aware of, but most choose to completely ignore or deny, and that is poverty in America. In his 2005 book, "The Working Poor," David Shipler states that "in American atmosphere, poverty has always carried a whiff of sinfulness." This statement unfortunately bears a lot of truth. As Americans, both from within our own country as well as from outside foreign viewpoints, we are expected to fit a certain mold. 

We are said to be this land of opportunity where the streets are paved with gold, but even the most diehard "patriots" have to realize by now (although some will never admit it) that there is a whole lot of poverty and misfortune in our sweet land of liberty. However, instead of addressing these issues head-on and dealing with them, we put people into categories, creating a class system within society. The average are thought to be the middle class; not poor like the forgotten blue collar workers, but not rich like the fantasy lives we see on TMZ. The poor are often regarded as lazy and as living tarnish on the American name. 

When we see a homeless person on the street, we call them a bum or laugh, or give them condescending dehumanizing looks. We deny them the dignity that we give a man in a suit and tie holding a $6 cup of coffee. Someone doesn't have a 9-5 desk job so they must be a drug addict, or unworthy of living a comfortable life. In reality there are so many good people that just don't have the opportunities that others are blessed with. The roles just as easily could have been reversed, which is far too often forgotten.

In reality, we don't know these people's stories, because we don't know them. There are many men that sit behind a desk all day and have a Blackberry surgically attached to their face, and quite a few of them live cold, closed-off, meaningless lives. The people that they walk by every day whether on the busy streets of Manhattan, or the windy avenues of Chicago are the forgotten souls that are not even given as much as a nod. This is not to say that there are not thousands, maybe millions of people that are living within communities like yours and mine that are struggling to make ends meet but still have the great privilege of owning their own home. These are the people that clean hotel rooms all day long, but can not afford to spend a night sleeping in it. These are the people that wash cars for 8 hours a day and can not afford to drive their own. These are even the people that go off to war and fight in the name of our country and come back to live on the streets. I'm not suggesting that there is an easy fix to these problems, but even the smallest actions can speak volumes. Next time someone asks for even 25 cents, just give it to them. Maybe you paid for part of their dinner that they wouldn't have been able to have otherwise.

Whenever I'm in New York City, I often am approached by those who are less fortune, many of whom seem to most likely be homeless, and they ask for anything that I can spare, and if they are kind and seem like they could really use the money, and I don't think they're just trying to score their next hit, I give them some money. Almost every time that I do so, I get an instant response of "God bless you" or "you're a good person" or "you're really helping me out." Hearing those words are instant gratification and it feels really good to help other people. It's also very easy to do. There are so many other ways to help though. You don't have to give money, you can buy something from a food stand for them if you're afraid of where the money would end up going. Most people that have resulted to begging for money are doing it because they really need it. Be the change we want to see in the world.

The above picture is graffiti art from the urban artist Banksy, you can check out more of his artwork here.