Reflections on PBS' Growing Up Poor In America, aired 2020-09-08. It follows three families living in poverty during the 2020 pandemic.
I was fortunate to grow up not worried about money. I knew my next meal was just around the corner. I had a computer at home for school work (and some games). I slept in a bed. I had clean clothes. I had regular medical checkups. I had orthodontic work to straighten my teeth - twice.
Watching this documentary is brutal. Children should not have to feel a responsibility for their parents. The children this piece follows have grown up far too fast. Poverty casts a shadow over everything - medical care, nutrition, education, and more. All of that negatively impacts development. Plus, the stress of uncertainty hurts emotional development - the world is not seen as a safe and nurturing place. Instead, it is hostile and unwelcoming.
With a little more empathy, the world would be a better place. Is it so bad to feel a connection to those you have never met? I'd argue it's the most important thing - to see humans as human, rather than as a statistic.
I also take issue when people criticize the lifestyle of those living in poverty, particularly the little things like eating candy or having an iPhone. If someone needs assistance, do they not deserve happiness? If you had such stress day in and day out, maybe a little chocolate would be a welcomed joy. And how would you get by without your iPhone?
Is the government inefficient? Sure. Could things be improved? You bet. But that's a small price to pay for the stability we have, and more yet, the country we could have.
Here's a question: is it worse to imprison an innocent person, or free a guilty one?
And part two of that same question: is it worse to provide assistance to someone who doesn't need it, or to take away assistance from someone who does?
I was fortunate to grow up not worried about money. I knew my next meal was just around the corner. I had a computer at home for school work (and some games). I slept in a bed. I had clean clothes. I had regular medical checkups. I had orthodontic work to straighten my teeth - twice.
Watching this documentary is brutal. Children should not have to feel a responsibility for their parents. The children this piece follows have grown up far too fast. Poverty casts a shadow over everything - medical care, nutrition, education, and more. All of that negatively impacts development. Plus, the stress of uncertainty hurts emotional development - the world is not seen as a safe and nurturing place. Instead, it is hostile and unwelcoming.
With a little more empathy, the world would be a better place. Is it so bad to feel a connection to those you have never met? I'd argue it's the most important thing - to see humans as human, rather than as a statistic.
I also take issue when people criticize the lifestyle of those living in poverty, particularly the little things like eating candy or having an iPhone. If someone needs assistance, do they not deserve happiness? If you had such stress day in and day out, maybe a little chocolate would be a welcomed joy. And how would you get by without your iPhone?
Is the government inefficient? Sure. Could things be improved? You bet. But that's a small price to pay for the stability we have, and more yet, the country we could have.
Here's a question: is it worse to imprison an innocent person, or free a guilty one?
And part two of that same question: is it worse to provide assistance to someone who doesn't need it, or to take away assistance from someone who does?