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The Biden-Harris admin has canceled $175 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million people.
Project 2025 seeks to get rid of student loan forgiveness programs and income driven payment plans.
The result? Monthly student loan payments could triple for many borrowers.
Gilded Age malign influence narratives about the "undeserving poor" keep getting recycled by an undeserving Leisure Class.
Republicans now classify renters & students as the "undeserving poor" & not as people beginning their lives & careers
Myths about poverty (paraphrased)
Myth 1: Poverty stems from individual problems
Truth: Systemic barriers carry more weight in engendering poverty than individual factors. The cost of living crisis is driven by inadequate social support...
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...programs, unaffordable housing & the lack of quality employment.
Myth 2: Poor people are lazy, unmotivated & need incentives to work.
Truth: People in poverty are working hard (& in multiple jobs) but aren’t getting any further ahead. It’s not a matter of inadequate motivation, but a fundamental lack of gainful work opportunities — jobs that pay a living wage & maybe raise families on.
Myth 3: Poor people are all mentally ill & drug-addicted.
Truth: Addictions are not...
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... not “the sole property of the poor,” rather they traverse all socioeconomic levels. Poverty does create immense worries for those subjected to it, but research shows mental health & substance use issues improve through interventions that alleviate poverty. Poor environments (often featuring trauma & childhood adversity) generate mental illness & addictions; enriching environments diminish them.
Myth 4: Poor people are criminals & prone to violence.
Truth: Criminal behaviour & ...
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... violence are not confined to people within a specific category or class, although the consequences of criminal behaviour can often differ. Wealthy people can afford high-powered lawyers who help them avoid prosecution and punishment. White-collar crime often receives little to no punishment.
Low-income neighbourhoods are regularly subjected to surveillance & heightened police presence. Racism (both systemic & overt) has led to the over-representation of marginalized people in the...
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...criminal justice system.
Myth 5: Poor people have different morals & values; they’re different from me.
Truth: Assumptions of dubious morality again play into narratives of poverty being about individual problems, & exonerate the economic & political structures that reproduce poverty. Almost everyone (even the richest) affiliate with the “middle class” and its ideals. Differences among people have much more to do with access to power & resources, not morals & values
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Myth 6: Poor people just need to be more resilient
Truth: Focusing on individual resilience suggests it's people who must be the ones to adapt & change, not the conditions they’re exposed to. Individual characteristics like emotional intelligence explain a measure of resiliency, but researchers are now embracing a contextual understanding of resilience that acknowledges how social structures often determine how resilient we can be. Supportive environments that provide access to resources...
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...and opportunities are more likely to produce resilient populations.
Myth 7: Ending poverty isn’t affordable, & people can rely on charity.
Truth: The system we’ve opted for now is hugely expensive. We pay dearly to address poverty’s symptoms, not its causes, & do so ineffectively.
These myths are incredibly damaging & hinder advancing workable policy solutions
We should be taxing super-rich corporations & individuals more to curb income inequality, known to be deadly for society.