When we drive by the poor standing along the road we must remember that they are not there simply because of bad luck and poor choices, they are also there because of the system that has given us the car in which we pass them by. The underpaid masses are never far from catastrophe, and we must see the connection between their misery and our success. The same system which is so rewarding to those near the top, robs and exploits those lower down the hierarchy. To succeed in such a system comes at cost which is passed on to others, who then may fail. We do not solve this problem by simply giving them charity, although such stop gap measures may be necessary for a time. As Gutierrez says:
“…the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.”
We begin an inner revolution when we stop calling such people “the poor” and realize they are more often “the robbed.” They are not lazy, they are more often discouraged. And who would not be discouraged to have to work ten times as hard for a hundred times less?