Is it now a crime to be poor? According to the New York Times it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09ehrenreich.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/crimreport_2009.pdf
And begging in Melbourne is a punishable offence, attracting 12 months imprisonment.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/soa1966189/s49a.html
I find it increasingly disturbing that people living in poverty or those with mental or physical disabilities are perceived (like criminals) as less than worthy or less human! Are we still in a eugenic phase - trying to rid the human population of undesirable traits.
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At some time in the recent past of any organised social group someone has promised to end poverty (we had Bob Hawke and no child will live in poverty). When they can't end poverty the poor end up with the blame.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember Bob Hawke saying that! And when Kevin Rudd handed out the 'stimulus package' the 'poor' were blamed for not spending the money and thus not helping the economy - their fault again! Those who spent money on gambling were contributing to the coffers of Casino owners, but the government still blamed the poor, because they weren't spending their money in retail shops.
ReplyDeletePetra made some value comments on my facebook site today in regards to this topic.
ReplyDelete'Yes, perhaps all societies have stigmatised poverty to some extent, but I think that capitalism has a LOT to answer for. It makes sense that 'being poor' would be totally stigmatised in a capitalist system, because poverty renders the citizen unable to consume (and the ideology of individualism fixes the blame firmly & squarely on the shoulders of the sufferer, rather than recognising broader socio-economic structures, uneven playing field etc etc). At the same time, the very existence and continuation of capitalism is predicated on systematising poverty -- where would we be without the exploitation of the third world for cheap labour, for instance? Re disability, again a capitalism paradigm reifies utilitarianism -- if something/someone doesn't fit into the production/consumption model (be productive!! consume consume consume!) it is immediately divested of value, rendered 'worthless.
This applies to the disabled, the poor, the aged. And don't even get me started on the increasing fixation on 'self-improvement' (newer car! slimmer body! less wrinkles! renovated kitchen! better holidays! more more more ...). Again, this marginalises those who don't (or can't) 'conform'. Perhaps if we aspired to a model based less on individual satisfaction and acquisition (which isn't working anyway -- incidence of depression increasing in western world etc) and more towards a system based on respect for all living creatures irrespective of their circumstances, we might eradicate or at least lessen the 'criminalisation' of poverty'