Power Lines, by Jason Carter: on Welfare & Poverty


Jimmy Carter: Being "rich" means decent home, education, & health

My grandfather delivered the graduation address at my school. He said, among other things, that all of us sitting in that stadium were rich. "I'm not talking about bank accounts," he said. "A rich person is someone who has a decent home, a modicum of usable education, and access to reasonable health care. Rich people like us feel that the police and the judicial system are on our side and think that if we make a decision, it'll make a difference, at least in our own lives." And then he went on to ask how many of the rich people in that stadium knew a poor family well enough to invite them over for dinner, or go to their house and have a cup of coffee. He suspected it was very few. "Why is that?" he asked. "We tend to live in an isolated environment which we create, and we rarely look toward other people as equal or deserving." He then told stories about several of his friends, "rich in every way, who decided to live their lives among the poorest people on Earth."
Source: Power Lines, by Jason Carter, p. 6 Jun 1, 2003

  • The above quotations are from Power Lines
    Two Years on South Africa's Borders
    by Jason Carter.
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