The Epidemiology of Poverty

While battling the flu over the last couple of weeks it forced me if nothing more to spend some time with my thoughts and one of the thoughts that seem to just keep finding itself at the forefront of my mind was my belief in the epidemiology of poverty.  What I mean by this is that like cancer and sickle cell, poverty in and of itself is a disease and when someone is affected they tend to show signs that are just as obvious as weight loss or lack of energy or any other obvious manifestation that the body is at a state of imbalance.  

It is my personal belief that there is a fundamental difference between being poor and being affected with the disease of poverty.  We can collectively agree that we know or even ourselves may be poor meaning we are lacking some economic resources that if only we had access to could change the trajectory of our life.  However, those that are affected with the disease of poverty no matter if they had economic resources it would only mask an ill state of well-being similar to the way pharmaceuticals mask larger disease states. 

 

It is further my belief that for those of us who work with challenged populations particularly in the educational or social service space we see signs of poverty’s disease state earlier than most.  However, most of us are NOT trained to see it with a medicinal eye rather we are taught to see it with an eye toward the sociological implications.  Therefore, forcing us to treat outcomes rather than defend against symptoms. 

 

The disease state of poverty impacts everything from belief systems to value judgments and in its most sever state it can manifest itself into debilitating anger, which the medical research is clear regarding prolonged anger and its effect on the body and health outcomes.  However, what my experience has led me to find most interesting regarding the epidemiology of poverty is how much of the disease is dictated by entertainment or visual untruths.  

The proliferation of “reality TV” paired with an instantaneous, conspicuous consumerism and a you owe me culture has created a behavior pattern, in particular amongst people who are struggling economically that ultimately leads to a disease state of poverty.  As I stated earlier not only does it impact judgment, but it often leads to a decision making process that is not functional in the “real world.”  Therefore, you have Basketball Wives, who are not real wives and have no discernible skill other than being a jump off and a bill to some NBA player, whose only economic value is tied to his ability to play to ball and we all know how that turns out for some in the long term.

Finally, this is not to suggest that there is not an economic consequence to being poor.  It is to suggest however, that being poor does not mean you are or will ultimately be subjected to the disease of poverty.  

This is my truth and I AM sticking to it…

Irvin PeDro Cohen