The poor in our minds

Editorial

We can argue about the standards used to define terms like poverty and even about the causes and solutions to the situation of large numbers of Canadians – about one in 11, according to federal government standards – who live below what has been dubbed “the poverty line.” But a study just released by the Salvation Army paints a dichotomous – and discomforting – picture of Canadian attitudes on this subject.

On the one hand, we are capable of great judgmentalism, with 49 percent of Canadians saying poor people could always find a job if they really wanted one and more than one-quarter of Canadians – 28 percent – apparently concurring that people living in poverty “usually have lower moral values,” and 23 percent contending that people are poor because they are lazy.

These numbers are startling, given the prominence of health, family circumstances, geography and plain old luck in determining the wealth or poverty of most of us. The quick resort to judgment rather than empathy toward individual circumstance is a harsh snapshot of Canadian attitudes. Hopefully, faced with individual cases, most of us would respond better than we might in a hypothetical opinion survey.

In our collective defence, other results are more inspiring – for example, our willingness, despite our framing of the situation, to help out.

The report suggests that 89 percent of Canadians think that people in poverty deserve assistance and 81 percent of us apparently recognize that helping poor families puts their children on a path for better financial success than their parents.

None of us should be complacent, and it is worth reminding ourselves that tzedakah is a mitzvah, both a duty and a good deed. In our own community, we see examples every day of acts of generosity in support of those less fortunate, whether due to health or economic circumstances or other immutable causes. There are many Jewish names on Vancouver’s most important public buildings and the community has made great strides in recent years in confronting poverty and in supporting causes that alleviate need in both the local community and broader society, a testament both to the obligation to give and the opportunity to model good conduct. Whether Canadians – or Canadian Jews – subscribe to uncharitable attitudes, it seems, we are prepared to be charitable when faced with the need.

Given the implications of this study that Canadians may judge the poor but help them all the same, perhaps the most disheartening aspect of the report is this: 18 percent say poverty is a problem we can’t really do much about. This is an attitude we cannot accept.

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