funds to meet all essential needs (Susser, 1997). While life is not opulent, it is far from what the popular consensus understands by poverty. Poverty is the inability to secure for onesself the benefits of 'civilization': necessities, comforts, pleasures. What are the causes of this 'shortage'? What was formerly done by human hands is now done by machines (technology). These machines are owned by the minority (the rich) and are worked by the majority (the poor) for the benefit of the minority (the rich). The minority also own the land. The majority must pay the minority for the 'priviledge' of being permitted to live in the place of their birth. Generally, the majority works hard and lives in poverty so that the minority may live lives of luxury without working. Poverty is caused by Private Monopoly; landlordism, employerism, ownership. Until recently, poverty has never been simply the existence of poor people. It was that, combined with a set of understandings about how poor people fit into the overall scheme of things, how economic destitution and its possible eradication relate to ideas about divine providence, human nature, and the ideal society (Russel 1997). These larger meanings inspired the non-poor to take an interest in poverty and to commit their selves to do something about it. Today, however, the idea of poverty has been reduced to a drab, predominantly economic issue. It is a social problem encompassing other social problems --drug abuse, violence, panhandling, children having children--inspire few visions of opportunities to enhance compassion, equality, and justice (Bracey, 1997; Goldman 1999; Russel 1997; Susser, 1997). Their vileness is stark, encouraging the rest of society to block out poverty and retreat to its own more comfortable and intelligible world. In these circumstances, increasing numbers of non-poor are opting for an alternative posture. Lacking confidence in and commitment to the propositio...
