Proverbs 17:23

"A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly."

There are many things in this world that cause anger. One of the things that cause intense anger is haughtiness. Most of us may be a little shocked if someone cursed at us, but it would not be make us as angry as polite words spoken with a haughty attitude and proud look that communicated a condescending, disdainful attitude.

In the United States, we try to pride ourselves on being a classless society. While there may not be a royal class in our society, there are class divisions. This is probably most demonstrated among the rich and poor. I'm not trying to demonize the rich, that would make as predjudice as some of them.

But what I am trying to get at is that there seems to be a common sin of pride and self-centeredness that people with money struggle with. It is so insidious, that they don't even notice it. Its the same attitude that migrates to corporations, and human resource departments and government.

The idea that possessing resources is indicative of a better standing in the world, and evidence of a solid character is hot,steaming,excrement in my opinion (I held back, this is a polite blog). Being successful may be a result of hard work, I don't deny that. But it can also be a result of social networks, inheritance, education, and on and on.

What's sad is society's unspoken reinforcement of the idea that being financially successful is evidence of personal success is passed down to the poor. They have no resources, and they look at themselves through society's view of what a successful person is.

In the same way the rich feel they are responsible for their success, the poor feel that they are ultimately responsible for their situation in life. The poor can be personally to blame for their lot in life. They may have made bad decisions, spent their money on stupid things instead of paying their bills, didn't put forth effort at their job, etc. etc. I'm certainly not saying all of the poor are only victims with low self-esteem. But just as there are positive forces to become rich, there are negative forces that make it hard to escape poverty. The poor are nickel and dimed every time they try to climb out of a tough situation. High interest rates, wages that are not enough to live on, high rents, high medical costs; sometimes getting out of poverty is a losing battle with no hope in sight.

While the ultimate answer to poverty may lie on a micro-level for each person, the sin of haughtiness on the part of the rich and self-hatred on the part of the poor may be the first step to these small changes between individuals. The rich developing non-condescending compassion, and the poor finding renewed faith and confidence in themselves and in God is certainly positive. If those with resources would respect and care for those without, and those without resources could believe that they are not what they own, and believe in the power within themselves, we may find a type of success in dealing with poverty that government programs have failed to locate through bureaucracy and endless programs.

Thanks for reading,

AC