"The Politics of Poverty"

Connie Jorgensen, a graduate of the Political Leaders Program Class of 2001, is the author of an op-ed in this week's issue of the C-Ville Weekly regarding "The Politics of Poverty."

Connie writes, "All too often we blame poor people for their poverty. We imply that
poverty is a choice with statements like “if they would just pull up
their socks and get a job they wouldn’t have to be poor.” “If they just
respected themselves” we say, “they wouldn’t have a problem.” Most
everyone seems to have a story about seeing someone “abuse” food stamps
by purchasing potato chips or soda. If the poor are responsible for
their condition, then it’s O.K. for us to tut-tut about their values
and move on to more important things, like cutting the estate tax.  Now
we can justify cutting programs because the poor don’t deserve our
help—and besides, because of the tax cuts, we can’t afford these social
programs anyway. On the other end of the spectrum, I have not heard a
single call to cut subsidies to big business in the wake of the
criminal behavior of Ken Lay and others like him. What about the
undeserving rich?"

Click here to read the full text of the article.

Connie is the Director of Development and Public Relations at the Monticello Area Community Action Agency.