Perspective: Being Poor

John Scalzi provides an excellent perspective piece on Whatever: Being Poor. Something to consider, though: this is being poor in America. If you’re talking about poor in India, China, Africa or almost anywhere else in the third world, you can downgrade just about every one of these even further. Seriously, if you think “Being Poor” sounds depressing as written (and it likely does, for those of us reading and writing blogs), just transplant your brain to Africa as you read.

Being poor is not having a TV. Or a phone. Or electricity.

Being poor is walking miles to the market or to school, because there is no car.

Being poor is rocks and sticks for toys.

Being poor is thinking $1 an hour is a really good deal.

I’m not writing this to belittle the poor in the US. It is rough to be poor anywhere, and those of us above the poverty line are blessed. I just wanted to add to John’s excellent post a bit about just how good we have it here in the developed world.