CULTURAL POVERTY

Nicholas Kristof is a columnist for the New York Times. He has traveled extensively in the third world studying the effects of poverty on families. His guest column in the Oregonian May 25 titled, "When the Poor Spend Aid Unwisely," discusses how the very poor spend their money. The man of the house will typically spend the money they have on alcohol and cigarettes, leaving little for food or school expenses for the children. Because of this, the increasingly popular micro-loan programs are focused on the women.

The underlying theme seems to be that it is not so much the lack of money which creates the problem, as it is the personal values and spending habits of the men in the culture. Nicholas makes the point that we need to do a better job of directing aid money away from wine and prostitution and toward getting children in school and providing mosquito netting. I don't think the issue of deadbeat dads is confined to the third world. The recently popular Angela's Ashes describes the same issues in the urban poor of the early 20th century in the United States.

Drugs have always provided an escape from reality. In our culture it crosses all social classes, so it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with poverty. Perhaps it has more to do with a sense of hopelessness and despair. I don't know why the rich use drugs. Perhaps they are bored. Meth is the latest scourge, and it seems to impact both men and women equally.

Now we are in a crises. Mexico is in a fight for survival, fueled by the demand for drugs in the U.S. In Oregon, the state owns the liquor stores, and most states have a monopoly on gambling. I think there is a disconnect here. We dispense liquor and promote gambling, and crack down on others who want a share of the action. We have a government with a mandate to serve the people making millions of dollars on their addictions and weaknesses. Am I the only one who sees a problem?