2: Untapped Talent
Cultivate skills and talents required to survive under poverty into success in industry Other Information:
On a personal level, there needs to be a better understanding of where we all are. We all have basic human needs that must
be met, and people in poverty, by definition, cannot meet even their basic needs. Often, they don't feel like full participants
in society because their needs are not met. Poverty is in your face, so you may be in one role or another, but that role is
constantly being reminded. It is a persistent wound. Once in poverty, occupation with where the next meal will come from and
if there will be shelter for another day eliminates the possibility of enjoying opportunities associated with good nutrition,
educational options and creative exploration. Each day is occupied with concern about surviving instead of living. With basic
needs unmet, the wound cuts through any sense of self-worth. This creates a situation where people are coming from decades
and decades of not feeling worthy while they, on a daily basis, demonstrate their resilience and persistence. It should be
commonly recognized that the skills and talents required to survive under poverty can be cultivated into success in industry.
Our society has shamed people around being poor, but there is an untapped well of supercharged leaders when that shame is
stripped away. There is a need to get away from the pervasive savior complex suggesting that "those poor folks are empty vessels
to be filled by my bounty" and to acknowledge that all people have a right to be active agents, free to express their talents
and create the life they envision for themselves. However, this brings up another question: Who gets to create? Who gets the
space, time and privilege to fail without their family becoming homeless? People have got to make a living, and the desperation
that results from the inability to accomplish this becomes homelessness, imprisonment or even death. When an individual is
shamed or crushed by it all, it is cruel to view the economy as a game where there is a clear demarcation between privileged
winners and losers who have no one but themselves to blame because they didn't play the game right. Obviously, we need a massive
restructuring of our economy, but where to start? We really need to focus on creating a safe environment, connecting people's
skills and talents with opportunities through accessible and effective education and other services, and, maybe, a guaranteed
annual income so that the wounded could regain self-worth, be creative without putting their basic living conditions at risk
and ultimately step onto a path to prosperity.
Objective(s):
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