Inspired by Fade2Black767's recent post on what gross income actually constitues the middle class, and mainly the additional discussion on what it means to be poor as well, I wanted to share this De Standaard paywall interview with Tim 'S Jongers.
It's a long article, but might be (in my opinion) one of the best insights in how poverty propagates itself, how many factors that are in play that people who did not grow up in poverty, don't even consider. Snide remarks about their bad eating or spending habits is something i hear often myself.
Link: https://archive.ph/JRAVd
I don't have much to add myself, the more people read it, the better.
by vVvoot
6 comments
Moeten, moeten, moeten … Weer zo ene die denkt dat een ander al zijn problemen moet oplossen.
Bijna iedereen wordt op een bepaald ogenblik ziek van de enorm veeleisende maatschappij en politieke regelneverij. Ik kan me voorstellen dat het voor degenen die achterop raken, de stress enorm is.
I haven’t read the article yet, but I wanna say Belgium provides a shitton of support to people in poverty, and AMPLE tools to get out of poverty. Until 25 years old you can get a university diploma while being supported for living money by the ocmw. There is verhoogde tegemoetkoming for health, there is studietoelage. After 25 (and before probably as well?) you can get a bachelor diploma for free though VDAB. If you were receiving unemployment money, you will receive it the whole time you’re studying via VDAB. There’s all kinds of monetary support to get you out of poverty.
The biggest problem in Belgium is that none of these benefits are automatic and you need to know about them and apply for them. I can imagine that lots of people in poverty simply don’t know about all the free help and don’t apply, and stay in their situation.
Like, if you’re a disadvantaged child in Belgium, there are not even entrance exams to prevent you from going to university. Literally anyone can go, and often for free.
If i judge by myself, I had a super shitty abusive in every way (physical, sexual, psychological) childhood, I literally flunked out of high school and never finished it. After I turned 21, I wanted to start my real life, so I enrolled in university. You don’t even need a high school diploma to enroll in university in Belgium, let alone any entrance exams. That’s how accessible education is in Belgium ( [https://www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/student/doelgroepen/toelating_bachelor](https://www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/student/doelgroepen/toelating_bachelor) ).
I got a KU Leuven diploma with magna cum laude (grote onderscheiding), without ever finishing high school (and Dutch being my non-native language), not having done one bit of studying between the ages of 14 and 21 years old.
There is also tweedekansonderwijs for 10 euro per year for adults who DO want to get their high school diploma.
Basically, Belgium provides you all the super accessible or free tools, often with monetary support, to pull yourself out of poverty.. People just need to be aware of it.
Ima go read the article now. Thanks for the link
Everybody was poor here, 4 decades ago. Hard work and the will to educate yourself remedied that. Poverty became something of the past.
Now people are wathing the Kardessians, Below Deck, Tik Tok or visit the mosque. They embrace a mogonamistic culture of nothingness and elevate stupidy as something to strive for.
“Cruciaal is financieel kapitaal. Heb je dat niet, dan kun je geen ‘cultureel kapitaal’ opbouwen – kennis en kunde – noch werken aan ‘sociaal kapitaal’ – een netwerk uitbouwen. ”
Cultural capital is obtainable, not by means of money, but by means dicipline, education and upbringing. But culture prevents sharing the right information? Ever noted why many youths are driving in expensive cars, that you can’t afford? That network is doing fine. It is about choices and how much energy someone is willing to spend.
Inequality is real, but a large part of the inequality is selfimposed. Our educational system treats everone by and large equal, but if peope refuse to take the changes society gives them, it will be impossible to reach that equality. Equality is a baseline, don’t expect equal outcomes. Not by choices of the outside world, but by choices of the individual.
luiheid* waarom zou iemand werken voor 1200 als die kan “ziek” zijn aan 1100.
moet maar eens in rusthuizen kijken, ze staan daar te springen en dansen alsof ze kleuters zijn maar vanaf als er controle is om meer geld te krijgen kunnen ze nog niet eens hun gat afvegen.
He makes some good points but also comes across as quite resentful towards the rest of society, which I guess is understandable, but unfortunately will probably also affect his chances of being taken seriously by the people he is trying to educate. Hope I’m wrong.