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...or their ability to make some simple improvements in their situation.I think it's almost impossible to understand if you've never been completely destitute, but, ironically, for most people as their situation worsens their ability to cope becomes overwhelmed and their ability to make rational decisions disappears.
This is probably the number one problem of poverty, and it applies to the poor and homeless in developed countries, as well as to the populations of completely broken nations. For example, as they become poorer and poorer, many people become more and more irrationally attached to their "stuff" and refuse to part with it, even if leaving it behind and moving on would dramatically improve their situation. They become extremely reluctant to try anything new. I think their psychology is such that they've been overwhelmed by the failures of everything they have tried, and they don't feel like they can handle a whole new failure; they seem more comfortable repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Malnutrition and stress also do a really nice job of exacerbating any latent mental issues they have, and those won't go away after a year of comfort, which frustrates those people that would try to help them.
So, I don't know what the answer to all that is, but I am convinced that the earlier it is addressed, the better, and that it's unreasonable to expect most people to resolve their own situation.
I think it's almost impossible to understand if you've never been completely destitute, but, ironically, for most people as their situation worsens their ability to cope becomes overwhelmed and their ability to make rational decisions disappears.
This is probably the number one problem of poverty, and it applies to the poor and homeless in developed countries, as well as to the populations of completely broken nations. For example, as they become poorer and poorer, many people become more and more irrationally attached to their "stuff" and refuse to part with it, even if leaving it behind and moving on would dramatically improve their situation. They become extremely reluctant to try anything new. I think their psychology is such that they've been overwhelmed by the failures of everything they have tried, and they don't feel like they can handle a whole new failure; they seem more comfortable repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Malnutrition and stress also do a really nice job of exacerbating any latent mental issues they have, and those won't go away after a year of comfort, which frustrates those people that would try to help them.
So, I don't know what the answer to all that is, but I am convinced that the earlier it is addressed, the better, and that it's unreasonable to expect most people to resolve their own situation.