The Culture of Poor

A question was posed to me recently, "At what income level to you think that someone is 'making it' and at what point are they poor?"

This is a issue upon which I have some strong emotions stemming mostly from my biography. My parents were married at 18 and their path to their present level of success began with a newborn and one High School diploma between them. There was no seed money from their parents to get them started but there was an attitude and ethic worth more than the Hilton-family trust fund. For me anyway the nature of their beginings are neither a source for pride or shame. It is just what was. I do, however, take pride in the way they faced that beginning.

Between them they had an ability to get things done and make the best of what they had. In the late seventies and early eighties, when the unemployment level of my home county hovered around 20%, They worked hard, saved what they could, bought a house, went back to school and politely declined government programs for which they qualified but did not need. No doubt, some luck was involved but their greatest asset is that, though they were among the "working poor," they were not "poor."

I define "poor" in terms of attitude and values rather than income. Poor is an attitude common among those men, women and families who, regardless of income see only what they do not have or believe the financial challenges before them, often self-imposed, are insurmountable. A family can bring down $200,000 or more a year and be poor, and they will probably tell you as much without noting the irony of the statement. Surrounded by people who are spending more, acquiring more, running around the country more, the poor are obsessed with what they do not have and act against their long-term self-interest to acquire it. As debt accumulates the poor maintain the pursuit by either denying their problems or claiming those problems cannot be overcome. Both are delusions rooted in an inability to set aside the pathology of acquisition for other attitudes and habits which would address the problem. By believing they are poor they create the circumstances where they become poor.

The opposite of poor is not rich. It is an attitude of thankfulness that empowers a clear assessment and confrontation of financial obstacles. This attitude, again regardless of income, is focused upon the blessings that they have received and the resources available to them. It is fundamentally disinterested in what people have but the kind of people they are. It does not care if they are famous but asks if they are good. It is disinterested in their car but asks if they can work. It does not notice their clothes but it wonders if they are trust-worthy. This same rubrick is applied to the individual when looking in the mirror.

Living in a world populated by these values the mind is cleared to evaluate the scene and make the best of it, whatever it is. When someone who is poor experiences a windfall they blow it on some extravagance thinking "I deserve this!" and "the money will never make a difference to our financial problems anyway." Individuals and families whose head have been cleared by an attitude of thankfulness, are capable of seeing the windfall, no matter how small, as an opportunity for advancement. That opportunity may be exploited wisely or foolishly, it is still subject to a degree of luck and happen-stance but it is employed, to the best of their judgement, to better the material situation of the individual or family. Because what is valued the most, the content of character, is less influenced by the trappings of affluence, decisions have a better chance of being rooted in reality. A world view rooted in thankfulness is more likely to lead to sustainable success.

The culture of poor has spread across boundaries of economic class and geography over the decades since I was young. It is the single most disturbing trend in our country today because it undercuts our ability to confront every other problem; arguably it is the source of many if not all the other problems. The epidemiology of the attitude of poor defies quick fix or antidote. It will be a process of individual conversion and Darwinian elimination. The cultural problem is beyond the control of the individual, even the suits in Washington or New York; assuming that they themselves were first converted or replaced with something better. The solution to prevalence of the attitude of poor lies in our homes.

What we can do is not only exhibit the qualities of thrift, sobriety, honesty and thankfulness but we must also find a way to give voice to, to explain and promote those qualities. In times past those qualities were present in the songs sung on Saturday nights as well as Sunday mornings; songs made famous in the economic bust of the 19th century and taught to the children of the 1920's and 30's: Count your many blessings, There ain't no depression in heaven, Fame apart from God's approval, The sunny side of life, Dark and Stormy Weather, We are Climbing, I ain't got time, Elijah's God.

These and so many others were not escapist songs of the downtrodden, in fact many are quite dark. They do, however, serve us like archaeological remains, explain the why and how of the strength and attitude which built a thousand small towns and a hundred cities; lifted families out of poverty even at the cost of individual lives lost to toil: they express the attitude which built this land into what it is today. Those songs are the cultural remnants of the hope, thankfulness, and the respect accorded virtue that exemplified the values of the culture that created the cultural and physical capital we have been spending all these years. They represent the attitudes which will rebuild it whenever we decide to apply ourselves to that task.

It will not be enough to individually convert to an attitude of thankfulness but we must also adopt a culture of thankfulness; a culture that will be revealed in our songs, our entertainment, our art, our hobbies and pass times as well as our work. We will not return to the old songs but we will have to write songs like those. We can not recreate the past but we must learn from it. A culture and attitude of thankfulness will spread if we find ways to spread it with confidence and reject not only the attitude of poor but the cultural vectors which propagate it.

The attitude of poor is a cancer. Most of the other issues which plague us, from foreign entanglements and wars to the financial state at home, are merely symptoms. It is the cancer that will kill us. It is the cancer which must be brought into remission if we are to find healing. There is no quick fix ( the quick fix is just another delusion rooted in the attitude of poor) but a lot of work but honest work which will lead us to health. Work that begins in our families, our churches, our synagogues, our communities, our neighbourhoods and among friends; from there it can spread. The longer we wait, the longer and more costly the road to health will be.

Thursday, 3 December 2009

Associated Press: Isolationism soars among Americans,

WASHINGTON - Americans are turning away from the world, showing a tendency toward isolationism in foreign affairs that has risen to the highest level in four decades, a poll out Thursday found.

Almost half, 49 percent, told the polling organization that the United States should "mind its own business" internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own, the Pew Research Center survey found. That's up from 30 percent who said that in December 2002.

UK Telegraph: Benign neglect may turn the dollar from a safe haven to a dangerous place to be

The trade deficit of the world's biggest economy also remains huge. How much longer can the dollar defy gravity?

Last week, America's currency fell to a 15-month low against the euro, cutting through $1.5050. Against a trade-weighted currency basket, the dollar was also at its weakest since July 2008. The greenback plunged to parity with the rock-solid Swiss franc, then hit a 14-year low against the yen.

The dollar's weakness is based on fundamentals – not least America's jaw-dropping debt. It's a long-term trend. From the start of 2002 until the middle of last year, the dollar lost 30pc on a trade-weighted basis.

FT: States need to permanently change their budgets

States need to consider permanent budgetary changes to close ballooning deficits or risk “significant cracks” in the municipal bond market, the lieutenant governor of New York said on Monday.

Richard Ravitch said New York and other states had historically relied on temporary measures to balance budgets in downturns as a bridge to recovery, a strategy that was unsustainable.

FT: Fears grow about overheated US debt market

Some of the most controversial financing practices of the credit-bubble years – from cov lite loans to Pik toggle notes and dividend recap exercises – have returned to Wall Street, stoking fears that debt markets are growing overheated.

The techniques fell into disrepute during the financial crisis because they were based to varying degrees on the same rosy expectations that encouraged companies and consumers to assume what proved to be crippling levels of debt.

Furious investors warn troubled Dubai it will 'never raise a penny again'

Furious bondholders have arranged emergency talks with Dubai officials this week in an effort to get some clarity on the financial health of the state-owned company Dubai World, which caused widespread panic on world markets last week when it asked creditors for a six-month standstill on debt repayments.

A conference call has been organised by the New York-based hedge fund QVT Financial, after an attempt last week was abandoned when the telephone system collapsed under the weight of calls.

Investors are angry that the announcement was made at the start of the Islamic Eid and US Thanksgiving holidays, leaving them in the dark for days. "They won't be able to raise a penny again from the international investment community," one hedge fund manager said.

What Recovery? U.S. Consumers Getting "Dramatically Worse," Howard Davidowitz Says "The consumer is in worse shape since I was here last" in August, Davidowitz says, citing the following:

• Unemployment has exploded: "We've lost a ton of jobs since I was here last," Davidowitz says, noting the "real" unemployment rate is 17.5%. "That's an astounding number."
• Housing continues to sink: "The consumers' biggest asset is down trillions" in value while "foreclosures are exploding" and a huge percentage have negative equity -- 23% according to CoreLogic.
• Record numbers of consumer bankruptcies: The American consumer has "never been further behind...never defaulted more" on mortgages, student loans, auto loans, and credit card bills, he says.
• Poverty on the Rise: One in eight Americans and one in four children are receiving food stamps, as The NYT reported this weekend.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Politico: Is China Heading toward Collapse

The conventional wisdom in Washington and in most of the rest of the world is that the roaring Chinese economy is going to pull the global economy out of recession and back into growth. It’s China’s turn, the theory goes, as American consumers — who propelled the last global boom with their borrowing and spending ways — have begun to tighten their belts and increase savings rates.

Tierney: E-Mail Fracas Shows Peril of Trying to Spin Science

If you have not delved into the thousands of e-mail messages and files hacked from the computers of British climate scientists, let me give you the closest thing to an executive summary. It is taken from a file slugged HARRY_READ_ME, which is the log of a computer expert’s long struggle to make sense of a database of historical temperatures. Here is Harry’s summary of the situation:

Bloomberg: Alice Schroeder: Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.

I called Goldman Sachs spokesman Lucas van Praag to ask whether it’s true that Goldman partners feel they need handguns to protect themselves from the angry proletariat. He didn’t call me back. The New York Police Department has told me that “as a preliminary matter” it believes some of the bankers I inquired about do have pistol permits. The NYPD also said it will be a while before it can name names.

UK Telegraph: Angela Merkel alarmed by worsening credit crisis

UK Telegraph: Angela Merkel alarmed by worsening credit crisis"We are in a very critical situation," said Chancellor Angela Merkel in her weekly radio address. "We are going to discuss with leaders of the financial institutions what can be done to head off a credit crunch."

The move comes days after the Bundesbank revealed that German banks face a further €90bn (£82bn) of likely write-downs over the next year.

Gary Hart: Followers and Leaders

As in many things, American citizens cannot decide whether they want to vote for followers or leaders. While decrying the lack of leadership in America, they punish elected officials who take unpopular, but forward looking stands, by turning them out of office. Though claiming to want leaders, most Americans vote for followers.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, for a politician to be both leader and follower. Let’s consider three examples: climate; defense; and health care. Suppose a member of Congress is absolutely convinced we are near a tipping point where further increases in carbon emissions could have disastrous consequences for generations to come. She is also convinced that the most effective way to avoid this catastrophe is a carbon tax or even, for that matter, a system of caps and trades. The people of her State or district resist any change that would affect the status quo. She follows the popular will, votes against dramatic change, and is reelected.