​Seizing Opportunity: The Role of Personal Dysfunction in Poverty

Rising costs, growing levels of poverty, fewer well-paying jobs, increased competition on a globe scale, and scarcity in general mean there is an opportunity gap that prevents people in developed countries and underdeveloped countries from achieving healthy, sustainable lifestyles.  There are, however, still opportunities available.  A great deal of the problem is that most people do not have access to these opportunities. Another part of the problem is that people, especially the poor, do not seize upon opportunities when they are presented with them.  At times, there is a material reason, i.e. they do not have the finances to start a business or reliable transportation to a job.  Other times, it is due to personal dysfunction. 
 
All people suffer from dysfunctions that prevent them from seizing opportunities.  Dysfunctional people can be given opportunities and everything needed to succeed, but their dysfunctions will always stop them from pursuing those opportunities.   Where the Middle Class and wealthy have sufficient incomes to either forgo opportunities they want to pursue or avoid the consequences of their dysfunctions, the dysfunctional nature of the poor prevents them from achieving financial success and a sustainable lifestyle.  In order to help address poverty, as well as help others pursue their goals in life, these dysfunctions must be identified and addressed.      ​

People will tend to make decisions that they perceive are in their best interests.  When the poor make decisions, they are not simply selecting a rational course of action.  They are making decisions within a limited number of choices due to the constraints of their incomes.  If they enjoy a consistent, sustainable income capable of paying for all of their basic necessities, choices mean forging necessities for other necessities and wants.  When they face disruptions in their incomes or unrealized expenses, such as emergency medical bills, car repairs, or spikes in utility bills, their limited budgets force them to intentionally neglect needs.
 
Face with a persistent shortage of income and other resources, the poor are forced to make decisions that favor low-cost, short-term options.  This often means taking on higher long-term costs.   In term of debt, they take on high-interest, long-term debt, which means they pay a lot more than what their purchases are worth.  Payday loans and credit cards are two examples where the poor borrow money to make up for their limited incomes, yet create long-term debt they cannot easily pay off.  For this reason, they tend to find themselves trapped in cycles of debt.  If they do not embrace debt or do not have access to credit, they find themselves in cycles of neglect. 
 
Eating inexpensive, nutrient-deficit junk foods, which leave people feeling full, is a another way in which the poor exchange short-term food costs for long-term health costs.  Ignoring a broken sink or leaky roof is also a way to avoid spending money, yet the inconvenience and structural damage is far more costly in the long-term.   Although all people tend to make short-term decisions, the limited resources and opportunities of the poor prevent them from addressing the long-term costs they are accruing.  Because their incomes rarely grow, and actually tend to shrink in relative terms, even minor short-term costs can become crippling long-term costs.  Where the poor are trying balance their constrained budget by forgoing expenses, they are actually taking on higher long-term costs that they cannot afford to repay.
 
Another way in which the poor avoid expenses in the short-term and cost themselves in the long-term is by risk-taking.  It is necessary to take measured risks in order to succeed.  It is tempting to conclude the poor are risk averse and avoid risk-taking whenever they do not seize upon an opportunity to improve their situation, i.e. apply for a job, ask for a raise, or open a small business.  Considering the poorest of households “invest” nearly 10% of their incomes into the lottery, the poor consume high-cost, deadly tobacco as a cheap luxury, and the poor often go without healthcare, it is clear the poor are actually making high-risk, low-reward choices.  They are not risk averse; the value of risk-taking for the poor is just distorted.  Investing a hundred dollars into a stock, for example, is far more risky to the poor than the middle class, so they invest one dollar into the lottery, which is less likely to deliver a profit. 
 
Furthermore, people are not just economic creatures.  Those who act solely on their economic interest have a mental defect, i.e. they are sociopathic.  As such, people will tend to make decisions that they perceive are in their best economic, emotional, and social interests.  Like everyone else, the poor do not just make rational economic choices.  Their decisions are also governed by their emotional responses and the responses of their social circles. Because the poor have failed to achieve their economic interests, they tend to compensative by pursuing their emotional and social interests.  In other words, they learn to be motivated by social and emotional opportunities while, economic opportunities become demotivational. 
 
All people avoid discomfort.  Most learn to embrace lesser discomforts to avoid greater discomforts.  Because the poor have experienced greater failure when it comes to financial decisions and they are unable to comfortably participate in high-cost activities, the poor learn to experience opportunities, which could help them increase their incomes or network with people who could offer them financial opportunities, as uncomfortable situations to be avoided.  Poor, middle class, and wealthy individuals find things like paperwork and job interviews uncomfortable, or even frightening, but the avoidance of these things is particularly problematic for the poor.
 
Among the numerous dysfunctions that the impoverished share, their demotivated nature is probably the most detrimental.  Because the poor work to simply survive, their attempts to improve their lives are generally met with a lack of reward while they tend to face continually worsening situations, thus they become discouraged, instead of encouraged, when opportunities arise.  Between a combination of broken aspirations and the avoidance of discomfort, i.e. failure is the most likely prospect, the poor learn to feel discouraged by opportunity.  It is, therefore, helpful to build viable financial opportunities that offer strong social and emotional benefits.