Armut bedeutet für mich, dass...

Higher-level intermediate language classes are when things really get interesting, especially at the Goethe Institute. This is because we are comfortable enough in the language to have genuinely interesting discussions and we have students from all over the world. Today we looked into the issue of poverty. We actually didn't get to discuss a great deal, but there were a few interesting things said that got me to thinking.

First, we read a short article on poverty among children in Germany, and one young woman, who hails from the DDR, couldn't comprehend that there was poverty in Germany. Another classmate, from Ecuador, argued that it was really based upon a difference in definition; poverty in the Western World is far different than other areas. This is true, a homeless man in New York City probably has more material wealth than entire African villages, but one also has to remember that it basic needs will cost more in the developed world. As our teacher reminded us, it's complicated.

There are also different kinds of poverty. It seems that although the West has vast material wealth, we suffer from poverty of a different kind; I'll call it relational poverty. It seems that all the social revolutions of the last century have left our society with a huge void. Our familial structure has gone out the window, to the detriment of our children. Although my generation has so many opportunities for communication, studies have shown that we are more lonely than ever. This shouldn't come as a surprise; we have relational ADD, jumping from person to person, without building any real relational roots. We text or IM multiple people at the same time, without really focusing on any of them, it's no wonder that so many feel that no one really cares about them. Children now learn this from childhood, as they spend more time in front of the television, with its constant change, than they do with the consistent care of a real person. I find it slightly ironic when I overhear Westerners talk about the developing world just needs to change this or that mindset, when we are probably more screwed up.