Ben Carson says poverty is “really more of a choice.” What do you think about that?

Did Ben Carson choose to have his father abandon his family, leaving his mother to look after Ben and his older brother?

Did he choose to have a mother with low literacy skills?

Did he choose to take advantage of tax payer funded schools, the library, social programs that helped him get his first pair of glasses?

If Ben Carsons autobiography is on point and accurate, getting out of poverty was due to a combination of:

• His hard work
• Some good decisions
• Social safety net programs
• A scholarship to Yale developed for promising young black men
• Programs and services that were funded by people who likely paid far more taxes than Dr. Carson and his family did
• His faith community
• His intelligence

Ben Carson himself DID NOT get where he is solely on his own elbow grease. No one does.

People are in poverty, or at high risk for poverty for myriad reasons, not all of which will apply to every individual case.

Decisions that people make that can keep them in poverty, or at risk for falling into it:

• Impulse purchases, beyond one’s means ( something Americans at all SES do)
• Leaving or skipping school
• Drinking or experimenting with drugs, failing drug tests
• Having unprotected sex
• Skipping work

Things that influence ones risk of being in poverty or staying there:

• Being born to parents with a low level of education, addiction, or learning disabilities
• Being born a member of a racial/ ethnic group that has been marginalized and discriminated against
• Being born addicted, to a mother who had poor prenatal care
• Having mental health issues and/or learning disabilities
• Living in a place where there are high levels of air and water pollution
• Being abused as a child
• Getting laid off or downsized
• Being born or growing up during tough economic times

I have worked in healthcare with urban and rural poor Americans, and everyone has a story. The similarities are quite evident. High rates of substance abuse, high rates of community or domestic violence, poor quality schools, substandard housing, pollution, making unnecessary purchases, dearth of jobs.

Anyone who thinks that a slogan like “ Poverty is a choice” is accurate is being a simpleton. And intellectually dishonest and lazy. And pretty cruel.

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