On Downward Mobility
Written by Mark Van Steenwyk : November 2, 2006
There is a certain nobility to downward mobility…but only if it is intentional and you are middle class. These days, lots of us talk about voluntary poverty…me included. But voluntary simplicity is different than real poverty. Those of us who willingly lay aside our wealth for the sake of justice and righteousness have a vastly different experience than the individual who is desperately trying to get out of their low-income status. Solidarity with the poor is a nifty idea, but is very difficult in practice. And is impossible unless you spend gobs of frustrating time building relationships with people who see things differently.
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Amen!
I think that the biggest challange is that it requires years in order to build the kind of relationships needed for the goals of voluntary simplicity and we live in a culture of instant gratification.
This sort of fits with the earlier post. Solidarity with the uninsured is a form of poverty. Hope, you are doing better though.
I’d rather NOT have solidarity with the uninsured.