Hopelessness

Hopelessness is not something I understand. I am rarely hopeless, in fact, I tends towards the stubborn side of hopeful. Which is why endemic poverty makes so little sense to me. How can you give up fighting for survival and advancement so much that you cannot support yourself?

But, consider the following situation. You have a fought childhood. You have no father figure at home, so when you are about twelve you start looking for someone to look up to. You find that someone in a twenty year old drug peddler, who personifies cool with his iPod and his car and his bravado. At age fifteen, you get caught peddling drugs. While in JV, you make the extremely mature decision to try to work yourself out of this lifestyle.

But where are you going to get a good job, with a rap sheet? Who is going to hire a convict? You don't have a high school diploma. The jobs available in the inner city are mostly downtown or from the same lifestyle you are trying to live. You have to scrape by.

I know about this story because of people I have met, not only this semester but so many others. People who realize life is hard, and envy my spoiled upbringing. People who would kill just to have my high school diploma, let alone my college degree.

Very well, so what are we going to do? The first is stop complaining about how long it takes to find a parking space or other such irrelevant nuisances. The second is stop feeling bad for people, and go out, and help people. Help them refurbish their dwelling space. Form relationships, and then give references for jobs. Start a business and hire poor people. Take risks. You might get hurt, true, but you might also change a life.