Forgetting the American Dream

I won’t normally post blogs two days in a row, but today I just wanted to share what was on my mind. I just finished doing my laundry for the first time in India. Using two small buckets filled with unsanitary water on a porch less than three feet wide, I hand washed each item one by one. And let me tell you - IT WAS HARD. I was out there for nearly two hours profusely sweating in the Indian heat as I scrubbed my clothes with my bare hands. I found a scrub brush (I had absolutely no idea how it was previously used) and used it to scrub any stains out of my clothes. By the time I was finished, I was physically exhausted, dehydrated, and emotionally drained. 

I know a lot of people might read this and think “Wow, that really opens your eyes to how lucky we are to live in America and have these modern comforts.” And I see your point; I really do. It’s sort of like that old phrase “You never know what you have until it’s gone.” That just isn’t what my eyes were opened to. 

Now you might be expecting me to go on some rant about how we in America have way too much and “how can we be living like that when there is so much poverty all over the world?” But that isn’t what was laid on my heart either. 

My eyes were opened to how messed up our attitude is in America. Now I know everyone doesn’t feel like this, but where I am from I hear an awful lot of “We have what we do because we work hard for it.” 

Pushing all political ideologies aside, I think that’s how most Americans think deep down. Conservatives would phrase this belief much different than liberals and Christians much different than Atheists, but deep down I think most Americans believe if you work hard, you become successful both in riches and in pleasure.

It’s the American Dream. 

But I think it’s flawed. 

By stating that those who work hard succeed, we are implying that the unsuccessful (or the poor) don’t work hard. And that is just not the case. 

I see poor people every single day. My apartment is in a poor colony on the edge of town. Every night I see people sleeping outside, some on woven cots and many on the ground. I see entire families living in one roomed huts without power or plumbing. I see children running around naked, playing in fields of trash alongside wild hogs. Across the street from our little neighborhood, there is a slum. Every day I walk past tents made out of ratted pieces of tarp, bedsheets, and towels. There are far more people in that slum than there is room for. 

These people aren’t living in poverty because they don’t work hard. In fact, I think the opposite is true. There is nothing easy about hand washing your own clothes. And that is just a daily chore. Driving a little rickshaw auto around town for 10-12 hours a day making 10 rupees (that’s 16 cents USD) per rider isn’t easy. Leaving your family and the village you’ve lived in your entire life to go work 24/7 at an orphanage as a nurse or ayah isn’t easy. 

Some of these people are considered well off in India. Many of them are not. But compared to what many Americans and people in other developed countries are making, most of them are poor. And let me tell you, it certainly isn’t because they aren’t working hard. 

Now in India there is a caste system and a lot more plays into social mobility. But I won’t go into that right now. There are poor people here in India. I am living alongside some of them. There are poor people in all parts of Asia, all parts of Africa, all parts of South America, all parts of Europe, Australia, and North America. There are people living in poverty all over the world.

And I think if we ever want to end poverty, if we ever want to help those in need, our attitudes need to change. 

We have to stop giving to charity or dropping an envelope in the church offering plate with the thought “I’m glad I can help those who are less fortunate.” Whether you’re Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist, or any religion, whether you are conservative, liberal, or in between, you have to get rid of these notions we have about the poor. You have to quit thinking that the poor are poor because they don’t work hard. You have to forget the American Dream.

Because the American Dream doesn’t always work. Some people work harder than I ever have in my life yet they can’t escape the cycle of poverty. They can’t afford a college education to get a good job. They were raised in the ghettos or slums and never got the chance to get out. That happens here in India, it happens in Africa, it happens on the streets in Europe and on the streets of your hometown in America. 

Poverty happens everywhere. We are never going to be able to end it unless our attitudes start to change. So stop thinking “Man are we blessed/lucky/fortunate to have what we do.” Stop thinking “I’m proud that I’ve worked hard so that my family can have a comfortable life.” 

Acknowledge that people living in poverty work just as hard as we do. Acknowledge that some people living in poverty work harder than we do. Get to know someone living in poverty and form a relationship with them. Stop giving out of pity and guilt and start giving to help out a new friend, an entire family, an unseen face, an orphan oversees, just give to someone in need. But don’t stop there. Don’t give and then check “helping end poverty” off your list. Form relationships with people in your community. Read blogs of people living oversees and find ways to help their communities. Listen to the needs of the poor and meet them. Instead of giving someone $20, help them fill out a job application. 

I firmly believe that ending poverty is possible. But it isn’t going to happen until the attitudes of the rich change. My prayer for you is this: 

May your eyes be opened to people struggling everywhere. May you become aware of needs in your own backyard and across the world. May your attitude change and may you lose sight of living the American Dream. May your eyes be opened to all of those working hard and still living in poverty. May you be led to form relationships with them. May we all band together, the rich, the poor, and the in between to put an end to poverty.