I ran across this
blog entry and found it piercingly insightful. It deals with the idea reported by some in the media that those who were trapped, injured or killed as a result of hurricane Katrina have no one but themselves to blame. The author highlights an interesting focal point for much of mainstream society when it thinks about the poor: children and the elderly. He suggests it's easy to focus on these age groups because it's easy to feel compassion for them. For those poor who happen to be 18 and older and are "able-bodied," however, being poor is obviously your fault and if you'd just work harder...
A quote from the post that sums up these ideas for me is:
For poor children, we have bleeding hearts; for poor adults, we have three-strikes legislation and prim, pursed lips.
The author includes a link to John Scalzi's post "
Being Poor," which is superb, and provided the germ for the author's post.
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