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Stairway to Micro-Heaven

When will politicians shift focus on helping people out of poverty?

By Maria ParshevaPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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When it comes to the "poor and huddled masses" in terms of taxes, education, and healthcare all political candidates just wanna do is slap a bandaid on it. Slappin that bandaid and skiddadle on your way now! Never have I ever heard any of our lovely politicians speak about microfinance and the role it may play in aiding the poor on climbing out of darkness.

The poverty crisis is truly multidimensional but a hush-hush because the only way to get elected is to focus on healthcare and education. Poverty is a side effect systematically ingrained into the unconsciousness of humanity. A side-effect of massive blindness. Destitution was never borne out of thin air; it was created, for generations replicated, nourished in the hands of the powerful and finally enlarged. Politicians think that employment all by itself will help the poor find their way out of the warm and comforting swamp of destitution. However, being employed, having affordable healthcare, and free education still does not account for those that have nowhere to live.

As I sometimes stroll the streets of New York and San Francisco I see more and more people on the streets. Some are with children, others with pets, and all of them most certainly alone and helpless. Well what about government programs? What about welfare checks and food stamps? It takes just about forever and a minute to get your driver's license at the DMV. How long do you think it would take a single mother on the street with her baby, with no documentation and housing to enroll in the program? And, while doing so she will lose whatever income she is making on the street that day and come home with a receipt stating that she will receive her coupons 4-6 weeks from then.

This is the story of a man I met who lived on the streets of New York. His story touched my heart because I believe that every single person that ends up on the street has a story to tell. A story of utter and lonely darkness.

I would stroll by Dan to and from work every day for months leaving a dollar in his cup every so often. He interested me because he looked like a professor. He was always clean, dressed in the same clothes that never smelled wrong, always kept his hair and beard trimmed, and almost always was reading the newspaper.

One day my curiosity took over and I came over to him. He recognized me immediately, probably from all those times I contributed to his breakfast. I sat next to him on a cut out paper box, ignoring the surprised and confused looks from the good ole folk passing by.

I learned that his name was Dan and he was 46-years-old. He used to serve in the military, eventually got discharged, got married and became a teacher. He then secured a second job worked in construction to support his family and make ends meet. After an injury Dan sustained at his job site, he could no longer work. He got fired from his teaching position, his wife left him and sued him for alimony which was being paid out of his service and disability accounts. Unable to secure a job because he was still disabled he ended up on the streets.

We chatted further. He had trouble getting employed because he was still recovering from his injury, he could not get housing because he simply could not afford it, and he couldn't waste a day trodding to the social security office because that meant losing his daily charitable income. No bank would give him any credit because he lived on the streets and was unemployed. He was stuck in a vicious rinse cycle set on high.

To people like Dan, with unfortunately bad luck situations a micro-loan would pull him out of poverty.

Microfinance is an aspect of investment banking that is not widely utilized in the US. It is the process in which a bank lends money to poor people so that they may use the money for sustenance. The interest can be determined according to the situation of each poor individual or poor family.

Microcredit is a way for the poor to start handling real money lifting themselves and their families out of poverty. So far, microcredit has been launched by numerous agencies such as nonprofits, for-profits and government administrations in OTHER parts of the world. Unfortunately, it is not the way of life in US. The main goal of microcredit is to aide millions of people in finding their way out of a lost world.

Special lending programs may help the poor pay for housing and possibly even the education of their children. Thousands of people die each day from illnesses which they have no money to treat, malnutrition and the absence of adequate sanitation just because they have no other choice but to live on the street.

For argument sake only; say if the microcredit system was to be divided into programs where interest rates would be charged at varying degrees depending on each individual’s situation. The microcredit revolution can serve as a way to remind people that the poor are in reality credit worthy and can pay off their loans just like anyone else, all they need is a chance and some faith.

Will microfinance and microcredit become a standard way of life for the poor in the United States? It is somewhat hard to believe. The poor have these great, strong enemies such as human indifference and the corporate structure which gives zero fucks about people living in poverty.

Why is microfinance not taught in schools? Well, it is not meant to maximize profit. If you want to see some real altruism and empathy for the poor turn on Home Alone 2. In our country where everything is just "great", the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming what politician are aiming to throw food stamps at.

It could be that implementing microfinance into our corporate world may even stimulate some healthy competition creating a completely new investment banking niche. Microcredit banks are a great way to help the poor prove to the world that money taken out for survival can and will be paid off.

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About the Creator

Maria Parsheva

She had eyes like ocean water, deep sea glass with rugged edges

She had lips as hard as pearls and coral moonlight in her hair

Hi, I'm Maria and I've been writing poetry, stories and books since I was very young. To me writing is breathing.

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