David Brooks’ recent piece on poverty piece is hopeful. Easy for him to say. There is no hope for it.

Let us go to the fundamental souls of Americans.

Let us not dwell on why we are who we are. We simply are.

Americans are mean and mean-spirited. They like seeing poverty, especially race-based poverty, because it represents punishment. Americans love punishment.

Americans are stupid. They are poorly educated, they put very little actual cash into education, they have deep, deep pockets of historical poverty such as Appalachia where there are schools that support a high percentage of children who have been removed from the home because the family has no running water.

Americans want a hero-figure to come down from the heavens to save them. They believe fervently in myths and lies. They love leaders who wheel and deal in a reality that does not exist. Deus ex machina complete with orange hair.

Americans are slaves. They do not own any of the manufacturing centers, they work hard for crumbs, the rich laugh at them, and keep them confined to their place.

Americans will not listen to voices that tell them there is extraordinary hunger in America.

Americans are sick. They are unable to maintain a medical care sector that does not exploit them because every institution they create exploits them.

Americans tolerate other Americans who have no place to live. 

Americans love to kill one another with guns.

American love premature infant mortality.

Americans are indifferent because they only know survival at any cost.

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/opinion/canada-poverty-record.html?comments#permid=31401948