There are so many things we’ve seen or heard about poverty. We have heard stories, read about it in newspapers, and most of the time we have seen it on the television. We are all aware that there are thousands of people suffering from poverty; whether they are black, white an elderly person, or young innocent child. Although we are attentive towards the subject of poverty, we hardly ever do anything about it. The things we see on the news or read in the newspapers about people dieing because of poverty seem so unrealistic to our naive minds that we don’t think to take a little time out of our day to actually try to help and perhaps make a difference in someone’s life.
Years, weeks, and days have passed with someone dying because of poverty or someone looked down upon because of poverty. What is the society’s definition of poverty? Who are the poor in our country today? Well, the original definition of poverty is: 1.
the state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts. 2. unproductiveness; infertility: the poverty of the soil. 3. Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property. The society’s definition of being poor would be a homeless man with unreasonable dirty clothes, lack of education, living on the streets with a cup of some sort and asking for money from the people who walk by. Society today has categorized poor people and many of us have turned away from them and have begun to neglect the fact that they are people, too, and that they are in need of help.
The society has mistaken the poor for being filthy with worthless. We look down upon them as if it were “their own fault”. Yes, some poor people might have had the opportunity to make something of themselves, but what about the ones who didn’t have an opportunity? What about the people who tried to make something of themselves but never got a chance because they were raised into a poor family? We never ask ourselves that; we just turn our heads with no guilt or pity thinking it was their own fault, giving them no credit for anything at all.
We need to embrace the love of the poor, meaning we need to take the good in with the bad. We are all people, some may be wealthier than others, but we need to come together as a union and help each other live. For if we don’t help each other live and make the world a better place, then this world would be in shambles. We have to embody it in our lives and not look down on the poor but look at them as our brothers and sisters that need help and support from each and every one of us. Whether we start a food drive, donate clothes, or money; these acts of kindness may impact their lives in such a way that gives them hope that they can still change their lives for the better. A single act of kindness is never wasted. The smallest gestures can make the biggest difference in an individual’s life.
Poverty Project. (2019, Jan 03). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-poverty-project/