Enough With the Analysis Paralysis

When there are at least 39.8 million Americans living in poverty (that's a statistic from 2008, the most recent available from the Census Bureau), I can't help but wonder, "Do we now live in a world where we have been systematically desensitized to the poor?"

In April, for example, more than 20 people walked past a heroic homeless man named Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax as he bled to death in New York City. Unfortunately, the tragedy on that cold New York sidewalk is not a rare occurrence. The scientific term for such inaction is the bystander effect. The bystander effect tells us that when other people are present, we are less likely to offer support in emergency situations. We subconsciously assume that others will take the initiative for us. Forty years before the Tale-Yax episode, a woman named Kitty Genovese, also in New York, was stabbed to death as up to 38 people heard her cries for help but did nothing.

When I walk down the streets of Indianapolis, or any big city for that matter, I am bombarded by images of depressing poverty. When I drive by another vacant house, when I see our neighborhoods destroyed by piles of trash and graffiti, when more than 8,400 Indianapolis students are homeless, my heart hurts. I'm sure many of you reading this article feel the same way.

As we are inundated with the lure of materialism, individualism and every other 'ism' imaginable, it is challenging for many to subject themselves daily to the harsh realities of the urban poor. In tough times, we see problems everywhere, and this is where analysis paralysis prevents many from taking action.

The nearly 40 million individuals who live in poverty are obviously more than statistics, they are people. What we need in the war on poverty is a paradigm shift. We must begin to attack poverty as a human problem instead of an economic problem. The complexities of poverty are too large for our minds to grasp. As we continue to over-analyze poverty, we will continue to restrict ourselves from action. Our strategies must start with the building of the person instead of confronting the system. We need to understand that the solution to poverty does not rest in finite resources, it rests in producing healthy relationships.

We can start by condensing 39.8 million people into the one little boy who lives down the street, the neighbor who is out of luck, or the stranger who asks for assistance. There's strength in unity, and with all of us collectively helping those closest to us we are indirectly turning the tide against institutional poverty in America.

Photo credit: Shahnawaz Sid