The Poor aren’t a charity case…
I have always taken issue with the altruistic goal of “helping The Poor”. Not because I don’t want to help people in need. But because of the arrogance involved in labelling an action as “altruistic” and because of the dismissive attitude towards an “Other” group which was given the lowly name of “The Poor”. Yes, absolutely we should help people in need, but we must recognise that they are people that may have some way of helping us even in their challenging situations – they are people that may have knowledge that we would benefit from; they are people that may have a story to serve as a warning to us; they are people that we might trade places with one day.
Labelling a group as inferior isn’t restricted to financial circumstances. When someone’s body is visibly different due to health conditions, when a person is known to have a long-term illness, when someone has physical difficulty communicating – do we see them as the person that they are with all their human potential, or do we instinctively find ourselves wanting to ‘take care’ of the “poor person” in these awful circumstances. Maybe some people like to be “saved”, even when they are not in a ‘saving situation’. But I’d hold the opinion that it is better that we remember and that they remember that their health condition does not define them, but rather their character, their actions… and their sense of humour. Speak to them and let them resume their role of the person that they are and hand them back their responsibility to offer to the world all that they are.
Don’t be fooled by labels of Intelligentsia. Letters after one’s name, or lack thereof, are rarely a sign of actual intelligence. “Street smart” vs “academic smart” makes the “smart” pointless if there is no communication or amalgamation of the two. Few live in a bubble, and all would benefit from learning from the other so as to enhance their knowledge, sharpen their points of view, and overall respect each other’s journeys and stories that brought them to the knowledge that they have acquired. Being right is only being right “now”; “wrong” points of view have oh-so-often proven to be “right” in the long run. The more you know, the more chances you have to act upon “right” information, from the street or from the school, and bettering your situation in the world. Hear what others have to say as a form of respect to them and as self-preservation for you.
The responsibility of seeing someone as a person doesn’t solely lie on the observer, but also on the individual being seen. It’s not just about how others see you. It’s about how you see yourself and how you present yourself. Considering yourself as inferior due to financial circumstances, physical abilities, academic experience and so on, prevents you from presenting yourself as a worthy equal. If you assume the role of “The Poor” you’ll be looked down upon as poor; if all you are is your disease, then you’ll only be viewed as one who needs saving from your circumstance and not involving in everyone else’s; if you view yourself as dumb then your opinions and ideas will not be taken seriously, even if some of them are truly profound. You are a worthy equal to your human fellows. No one but you can share your thoughts, your skills and your spirit – and when you do, you make the world a better place. Don’t prevent people from seeing you for all that you are worth. Help yourself be all that you can be beyond any labels that people tried to stick on you.
Don’t be altruistic, help just because you do. Help because it’s another human being; help because you recognise that people who have hit hard times have the potential to return to greatness, help because you are humble enough to recognise that if it were you, you wouldn’t want to be dismissed as an “Other”; help because you recognise that lacking in means/ health/ degrees/ or anything else doesn’t take away from the wealth of knowledge and spirit in a fellow human being.
Help because knowing that everyone matters, no matter their circumstances, will serve as a good reminder that YOU MATTER no matter your circumstances. Be humble and help a fellow human because we are all in this life story together and we can make a better story of it when we help each other be the best we can be.