Kozol

My first impression of this article was it made me very depressed and my heart ache for the people and children in that part of New York that live there, because they have to. The statistics he offers about the murders, and it being the deadliest area shocked me. I thought that his account of the seven year old Cliffe was very interesting about the values people living in poverty (at least in this area) have come to adopt.  Cliffe had a very solid understanding of the neighborhood he lived in and the dangers it presented, as well as a very comprehensive idea of religious faith.  The boy was very intelligent, he knew the differences between make believe and reality, but his education failed him when it came to the historical aspect of our nation.  And with the incinerator, are they kidding? They won't put it in one area because it upset the parents, but they will put it here ? Why? because they aren't as rich as those people? They have a dump around the corner and the cruelest of living conditions its criminal almost.  I Think the whole neighborhood functions as a social system.  The overwhelming danger, poverty, and depression of the area seems to have every person who lives there belonging to it.  I dont think the idea was born out of Kozol's article, I think many people believe the classic idea that people who are poor are lazy, and are that way by choice.  The quote that the poor need to behave rationally, has no standing.  If I were brought up to think of my situation one way, as if getting a leg up in the world were pretty impossible, and I had never seen it, I would be obligated to think there is no such thing as getting ahead.  Is it possible that people have developed a similar mind set belonging to this community and that there is an overwhelming theme regarding the people who live there ? Sure, it reminds me of religion.  People configure their thoughts according to a set of guidelines.  These guidelines for the people who live in this neighborhood aren't as holy as the bible but it has the same affect. If religion said miracles do happen, and everyone I know believes the same thing, I'm inclined to believe they really do exist.  However, if religion says there is no such thing as miracles and life is miserable, and everyone around me lives that mindset, i would have to believe it, unless I was a strong willed person to see past what is around me.  But how does that happen if I'm not being taught these dreams by my parents, friends, or teachers? It doesn't, it's a cycle that plays over and over especially here, in the poorest of the poor. If acting rationally was all that was required, I'd be a millionaire with a house in Boca by now...