Poverty is the Fault of the Poor?

"My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better."

These words were spoken by South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer to lawmakers and voters as an illustration of how efforts to aid the poor actually cause them to “breed,” creating more poor.

As one might imagine, the response to his speech was rather angry.

And rightfully so. In fact, I don’t often wish violence upon those I’ve never met, but I might be so generous as to make an exception for this Mr. Bauer fellow.

My anger has made it difficult for me to write, so let me offer an alternative view in the words of Gustavo Gutierrez, the father of Liberation Theology:
"In our days we are witnessing an insistent and concerted effort to return to one of the most tired reasons that has been trotted out in the past to explain poverty: the poor themselves are responsible for the situation in which they live. If at other times in history it has been said that poverty was a punishment for moral failings, now it is said that poverty is the responsibility of the poor due to their incompetence, negligence, or laziness. This understanding gives excuses for not facing the current situation head on."

Don’t worry, though. Mr. Bauer seems to have issued an “apology,” referring to the poor as domesticated animals, taken in by loving people, but unable to fend for themselves when their people go on vacation. I see, now! Poor people are domesticated animals, not stray animals.

Ah, I’m so glad that’s all cleared up…