“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” -Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
How is it, in the United States, we hold both these ideas as truth: that there is a river of prosperity available for anyone willing to grab a bucket and help themselves... Yet there isn't enough to go around and it's a brutal battle to claim the scraps? This is the idea behind the scarcity model, developed to propel capitalism. The scarcity model tells us that this metaphorical river of wealth can't just be given to everyone because reasons. Reasons that generally have a lot to do with keeping the river in a gated community.
I think there are two very strong forces that drive our narrative when it comes to poverty and the impoverished. The first is the racial coding in our working concept of poorness has really defined why we think it's not just a moral failure but also white supremacy driven narrative of a denied birthright. Many poor white people will often try to establish an identity that re-centers whiteness, even in abject poverty, that is perceived as superior to “the other poor” which has become dog whistle for people of color.
As such, we work against our better financial interests because they become secondary to retaining a fallacious sense of superior entitlement. This traitorous disenfranchisement has kept the majority of black, indigenous and other people of color impoverished. It becomes a vicious feedback loop. It's enabled by the white supremacy ideology that people of color aren't ‘real’ Americans and are stealing a white person’s birthright of prosperity.
The second force driving the poverty narrative in the States is prosperity Christianity. This kind of Christianity dovetails neatly with capitalism by putting forth the idea that God rewards the faithful with material wealth. While this is a newer Christian theory, it is preceded by many similar American Christian theories of entitlement guised as righteous or divine destinies. This also blends well with white supremacy and the idea of being ordained to rule. This creates a narrative that can be co-opted to deflect issues like poverty. It fosters the “temporary embarrassment” mindset.
None of this is accidental or coincidental. Poverty is a very efficient way to keep people divided and exerting labor into short term survival. It grinds down long term goals of resistance and accountability labor is not cost efficient. Simply put, poverty makes dedicated action difficult to sustain. It's easier to take advantage of people whose reality is filled with constant duress. We already know that coercion is an abuser’s favorite tool.
How is poverty not large-scale abuse? It's certainly an environment full of gas-lighting; institutes that control money flows lecturing on frugality honestly angers me. The brazen audacity isn't considered as such under a system that rewards audacious behavior. Poverty cannot be destroyed while capitalism exists and it cannot be addressed without addressing racism and white supremacy ideology.
