Within the last 20 years, poverty
rates in the United States have reached new heights. In 2000, poverty defined
15.2% of the American population and it jumped to 15.9% in 2012. Today, there
are approximately 3.5 million people without homes. (Bishaw) Unfortunately,
poverty and homelessness are parts of our society that people have come to
accept as commonplace. In reality, although people acknowledge the presence of
these issues, there is little desire to alleviate them, especially by those who
have not experienced them first hand. Until I volunteered for the Midnight Run
Program (MNP), I was among those who did not feel a personal connection to this
matter; however, after I observed the true effects of living in poverty, I felt
compelled to do my part to help. It is
this emotional connection that I believe will ultimately allow us to make a
change in our society. It is the understanding that we are all a part of one
larger shared society that will encourage people to help others in need.
In November 2010, I got involved with the Midnight Run Program
through my local temple, Temple Emanu-El of Westchester. The Midnight Run is a
volunteer based organization that, through donations, provides the homeless
people in NYC with basic necessities such as food, clothing and toiletries.
Each week volunteers travel to specific locations to distribute the items. The first stop is at 9 o’clock at night and
the last at 1 o’clock in the morning; hence the name, Midnight Run. At each
stop, between 20 and 30 homeless people form a line eagerly waiting to collect
our items. On the night of my first run, the weather had reached winter
temperatures. The cold made me realize even more how important it was to help them.
Without a home, they are subject to sickness and discomfort because they do not
have the proper protection to compensate for the dropping temperature.
My
experience with the Midnight Run Program shifted my perspective in the way view
and live my every day life. Growing up in a family with many privileges, the
“bare necessities” were easily accessible. I never had to work hard for
anything. If I needed a break, we simply booked a flight to a tropical island.
If I was hungry, I just had to choose which kitchen cabinet to open. Each day I
knew I could return to the warmth and comfort of my own home. Upon reflection,
I can say I lived in a bubble. While it was true that everyone around me – the
intimate setting of Purchase, NY – lived in similar ways, I generalized my
lifestyle to be that of the norm. This was familiar to me and I believed that most
people lived this way.
However,
as soon as I began handing out the items to the homeless people who lined the
edge of the street, this perspective quickly changed. As I stood behind a table
dressed from head to toe for winter and watched the half clothed homeless
people in line, I began to appreciate the things that I had taken for
granted. I realized how lucky I was to
have the life my parents provided for me. I always had a comfortable bed
waiting, a meal provided, and of course, warm clothing available for when the
temperature dropped. My original perceptions were actually misconceptions; this
life was not the norm; it was the exception. The Midnight Run experience showed
me that life can be the complete opposite of what I was most familiar with;
that there is a large percent of people living in poverty without the basic
necessities of life.
Additionally, not
only do those living a more fortunate life take for granted what they have,
they take for granted how much they have. The homeless people come to the MNR
knowing that they will get a
toothbrush or a bar of soap. They do
not ask for more than one because they only need one to satisfy their needs.
This idea of quantity however, it distorted by upper class citizens. Take the
toothbrush as an example. A toothbrush is an object people like myself use in
our everyday lives without giving it much thought. We keep an abundance of them
stashed away in a drawer so that when the bristles begin to splay, we can
replace it without hesitation. We choose to have an excess amount of these
objects because it makes our lives easier. We choose to have it simply because
we can. If we can afford it, why not
have it?
The
documentary, I am, directed by Tom Shadyac, labels this surplus based
outlook on life as unnatural. He describes a tree only inhaling the amount of
carbon dioxide necessary to produce just enough glucose for survival and a lion
feasting on a deer only until it feels full. These examples demonstrates nature’s
natural tendency to only take what is necessary to sustain life. People living
in poverty seem to be more aligned with this idea. The satisfaction that the
homeless feel from acquiring singular items shows that we are living by the
misconception that having excess is necessary and can bring happiness.
But why are people
in a constant race to accumulate as much as possible? It seems that this focus
can be greatly attributed to the overwhelming influence of the economy on our
society. When the economy is strong,
many people use it as an opportunity to increase their personal position in
society. Beginning in the late 1940’s, the new burgeoning economy of the post
world war era offered opportunities to further education and create new jobs.
This gave middle class workers the chance to move up the social hierarchy that
divided the American population. These individuals wanted to achieve their own
success by a means of acquiring money and resources. With success as the
underlying motivation, it was only plausible that each individual strive to get
ahead of others. Thus this has encouraged the development of a
competition-driven mindset. We act in self-interest to achieve our own desired
future. However, the problem arises that when we are in constant competition
with one another, we often fail to engage in cooperative behaviors even when
they too can benefit us. The majority of decisions we make in our daily lives
are made through this self-interest lens because the ‘dog-eat-dog’ nature of
our economy prioritizes meeting our own needs before worrying about others’.
Unfortunately, this is creating a larger social gap between those of wealth and
poverty. As the gap increases, those of higher societal standings feel more
distant from those of a lower standing and therefore feel less obligated to
help.
While
the Midnight Run Program’s distribution of food, clothing and toiletries help
alleviate the concerns of those living a poverty-stricken life, it is its
mission to “forge a bond
between housed and homeless people by establishing a foundation of sharing and
caring from which solutions may evolve” (Midnight Run Program) that truly calls
attention our societies shortcomings. There is simply a lack of effort made to lessen
their suffering. Moreover, those who have the financial capabilities to help
and make a difference refrain from doing so. However, it is not their money
that the program asks for, since throwing money at the problem will not be
efficient in making a change. Instead the Midnight run was established to give
people the opportunity to engage in a human exchange scenario. The time
commitment allows people to develop a sense of compassion for helping the less
fortunate. Ultimately it is this emotional tie and feeling of responsibility by
upper class citizens that will effectively put America on the path towards
adjusting poverty’s influence on our society.
In order to foster
this emotional connection, our society must first regain a sense of
interconnection amongst all persons living on this plant. We must feel that it
is our own responsibility to help others who may be suffering. Today, we rely
too much on the government to fix these problems. We believe that the government
should service a range of issues that arise, from economic blunders, to foreign
policy crises and global health concerns, while we focus only on the encounters
in our own lives. But how do we depart from this false sense of priorities? In
another reference to I Am, the documentary expresses a somewhat abstract
perspective of global interconnection. It is based on the presence of argon
in the air and in our bodies. Since matter is never created nor destroyed, it
is a fact that the same atoms of argon that one individual breathes in will also
be breathed by the other 7 billion people that inhabit the earth. This constant recycling of argon shows us that
each individual is interconnected with all others in the world. Although this
is a scientifically analytical approach, it is the more general concept that is
important. The argon represents our
shared existence in society. We must understand that as much as we live our own
lives, we cannot be completely separated from everyone around us. If we can
view our own existence in society as being a shared experience with all other
members, then it is more likely that we will feel an extended responsibility to
improve the quality of life not only for ourselves.
The impact of the social hierarchy that divides our society
based on their occupation and income must also be overturned if there is any
hope of getting the assistance and dedication of the upper class citizens. Although
there are concrete characteristics that define each socioeconomic class, people
believe this also means that individuals have a definite place within them.
They believe that there are inherent differences amongst the people of
different social classes. Thus, people in upper classes do not feel a
connection to people of lower classes. This is especially apparent when looking
at social class divisions based on income. As a result of the meritocratic
society we live in, the wealthy use the concept of rewarding those who earn it to establish their views of the poor as
people who are not worthy of earning these rewards, and thus mobility between
classes in either direction is not possible.
Through one of my own
encounters, the notion of immobility and ingrained class position has been
proven wrong. One time while volunteering on a run, I was deeply engaged in a
conversation with one of the homeless men. When I asked him how he had succumbed
to homelessness, he responded that he had worked on Wall Street only a short
time ago but after loosing his job in the 2008 recession, he was forced to sell
him home. In contrast to what many believe, this man was not born into a life
of poverty; in fact, he had spent the majority of his life living as an upper
class citizen. For this man, his life had just taken an unlucky turn. The upper
classes need to see that they are more similar to lower classes than they
think. There are some people who are inherently the same as them like the man I
spoke too. On a larger scale, people need to understand that individuals are
not subject to one quality of life. Some people have just been more fortunate
than others in their opportunities to succeed but that does not mean we are
inherently different. Humans are more likely to help others when they can find
a connection. Thus, upper class support for undermining the negative effects of
poverty would be greater if people could see that less their socioeconomic
ranking, they really are not so different from others outside their own class.
“We don’t have to
engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small
acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” This
quote by Howard Zinn argues that it is the small-scale efforts by individuals
that can make a difference in the world. We can wish that everyone would see
society in the ways previously discussed, however it is not realistic. There
are too many people in this world and too strong of a self-interest based
perspective amongst us for this wish to come true. Trying to orchestrate one
large effort or follow one larger organization that embodies all people
involved is not conceivable. In other
words, we shouldn’t “look for a moment of triumph. [We should] See engagement
as an ongoing struggle, with victories and defeats, but in the long run a slow
process.” (Zinn 64) These victories and defeats will come from “small” actions like the Midnight Run and other local
programs that fight poverty. As more and more of these efforts arise over time,
their influence will slowly expand and eventually will effectively produce a
more sizable societal change. If we actively approach our desires and are persistent
in our actions then there is no doubt that we will have “created enough power
to change the world, even if a little.” (Zinn 63)
It is clear that the
biggest obstacle that reforming poverty faces is that people simply do not feel
obligated to help. However, when people do decide to respond to the cause, they
must do so in a direct manner rather than indirect. The fight against poverty calls for
more than just donating money to an organization. People need to donate their
time through active service and charitable work. The best way to do so is through neighborhood
level action. Volunteering in a small community setting, like the one the
midnight run offers, is more promising because the volunteers are physically acknowledging
and interacting with the people they are helping. This will further the
development of emotional and global connections and formation of a sense of
responsibility to help lower class citizens amongst more fortunate members of
society. In the end, we must be willing to take matters into our own hands if
there is any chance of bringing society together to battle poverty.
Bibliography
Bishaw,
Alemayehu. Poverty: 2000 to 2012.
Rep.
No. US Department of Commerce:
United States Census
Bureau-ACSBR/12-01 at 3 (2013). Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Midnight Run Program.
"MidnightRun.org : Our Story." Midnight Run.org. N.p., 2007.
Web.
15 Nov. 2014.
Zinn, Howard. "The Optimism of Uncertainty." Rpt. in The
Impossible Will Take a Little
While. Ed. Paul
R. Loeb. New York: Basic, 2004. 63-72. Print.
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