Sunday Musings: two very different bread lines
A dozen-plus people stood outside the local artisan bread shop, patiently waiting to buy a baguette or a scone. Less than half a block away, another group of people sat in their idling cars as they waited for the community food pantry to open at a nearby church.
Two groups of people occupying basically the same space, but facing very different circumstances.
The group waiting outside the bakery may not be wealthy; for some this could be a Saturday splurge. For the people waiting at the food pantry, buying artisan bread is beyond a splurge; it’s unfathomable. They will take the groceries they receive - possibly white bread, jars of peanut butter, boxes of pasta and a few fresh produce items - and figure out how to make them last for a family of three, or maybe seven.
How do people find themselves in one group versus the other? Is it family history? Hard work? Bad luck? Does discrimination have anything to do with it? How about an abundance of opportunities? Or a lack of resources?
Another important question is, how do people get out of poverty? Numerous solutions have been suggested through the years, including: raising taxes for the wealthiest 1% of the country, creating a national minimum wage; making college tuition-free; providing reparations for Black Americans (poverty rates for Black and Hispanic Americans declined significantly from 2020 to 2021, but remain well above average). Most people agree that it would take several tactics operating in unison to significantly lower the poverty rate.
One solution we can all get behind is advocating for better education. According to the organization Concern Worldwide US, “Education is the best way out of poverty in part because it is strongly linked to economic growth.” Learning is also the key to reducing inequality in the United States and throughout the world. “Education is a basic human right for all, and — when tailored to the unique needs of marginalized communities — can be used as a lever against some of the systemic barriers that keep certain groups of people furthest behind.”
Learning should be a life-long pursuit that includes, but goes beyond, a good K-12 education. Some ways to promote education include:
Reading to infants and toddlers
Encouraging families to read together
Stressing adult literacy and the importance of a high school degree
Ensuring that primary and secondary schools offer the types of knowledge that will help students to succeed as adults
Tutoring children and adults who need help with reading, writing, math, etc.
Supporting vocational training (plumbing, electrical, welding, etc.)
Offering resources for adults to find better-paying careers
Working with parents to help them build solid family relationships
Lending guidance and resources to the formerly incarcerated and others who need a second chance
Encouraging financial literacy
Offering guidance in life skills
This is not to suggest that the people waiting at the food pantry aren’t intelligent. They could be in need of one kernel of information that gets them out of that line forever. That, in turn, sets an entire family on the path to a higher quality of life, a pattern that can be followed for generations.
Imagine the line for artisan bread getting longer and the line for the food pantry getting shorter. Education is the best possibility to make that happen.