Poverty Capitalism

I’ve Been Thinking… About Poverty Capitalism

I’ve been thinking about how often we praise the idea of hard work in America —
how we celebrate the person who “made it,”
who “pulled themselves up,”
who “worked harder than the rest.”

It’s a story we tell so often it feels sacred.

But when you look closer, the system doesn’t really reward hard work.
It rewards ownership.
It rewards access.
It rewards the people who already had the leverage to win before the game even started.

The Myth of Fairness

Capitalism, in theory, is supposed to be fair — effort meets opportunity, innovation meets reward.

But in practice, it’s become a machine that extracts as much as possible from the labor of the poor while cushioning the wealth of the rich.

If a business gets a tax break, that’s called an incentive.
If a person gets food assistance, that’s called welfare.

Same dollar — different moral story.

The ones with money are told their success is proof of character and discipline.
Everyone else is told that if they just tried harder, they could be next.

But most of us aren’t climbing a ladder — we’re running on a treadmill.
Every pay raise disappears into rent, groceries, and insurance before it ever reaches savings.

The “middle class” is one medical bill or layoff away from learning how fragile comfort really is.

When Strategy Becomes Survival

Meanwhile, corporations do exactly what we shame the poor for — they maximize what they can get from the system.

They lobby for tax breaks, push for subsidies, shift profits offshore.
They call it strategy.

But when a working mom applies for housing assistance, we call it dependency.

That’s the part that stays with me:
the poor and the rich both respond rationally to the incentives of capitalism —
but only one group gets applauded for it.

The Starting Line Illusion

That illusion of fairness starts early — right at the starting line.

Because when we say “everyone has the same opportunity,”
what we really mean is everyone runs the same race —
but some start at mile zero, and others start at mile twenty.

If you’re barely making rent, working two jobs, raising kids, you don’t have the luxury of time to “invest in yourself.”

College, career changes, certifications — all sound noble until you’re juggling childcare, double shifts, and a car that needs new tires.

The system praises personal growth but punishes the conditions that make it possible.

Survival as a Full-Time Job

When people already ahead talk about “discipline” or “grind,”
it ignores how survival itself is a full-time job.

The poor aren’t lazy — they’re exhausted.
Every decision costs money they don’t have and time they can’t spare.
When you’re just trying not to sink, planning for the future feels like fiction.

An Economy That Depends on Poverty

What we’re left with is a kind of poverty capitalism —
an economy that doesn’t just tolerate poverty but depends on it.

It needs people living paycheck to paycheck.
It needs desperation to fill low-wage jobs and fear to keep them quiet.

Entire industries — payday loans, rent-to-own furniture, overdraft fees — profit from someone else’s survival.

And still, we tell ourselves it’s fair because “everyone has the same opportunity.”

But opportunity means nothing when the starting lines are miles apart.

A Better Question

Maybe it’s time we stop asking why the poor need help —
and start asking why the rich keep getting ours.

If you’ve ever worked hard and still struggled to get ahead — you’re not broken.
The system is.

I’ve been thinking… maybe opportunity shouldn’t be a race.
Maybe it should be a guarantee.

Stay curious. Stay human. And always, be kind.