What is Poverty Mentality?

I would like to expand on georgesplane's remarks and say that even in a third world country like India, China, Brazil etc., if you're not able to "move up" economically, that doesn't mean your life is void of friends, family and other local "rich" experiences in life. Essentially, having money is only half of the happiness equation. Believe that!

I think the poverty mentality is a state of mind that keeps a person poor because they're too busy not doing what's required to get them on the right track. And 'poverty' isn't about financial wealth. In many respects, 'riches' can be paraphrased using the elusive term, 'happiness'. There's too much focus on financial wealth - it's a means to an end, not the end itself.

Which is why, "In today's world, even the rich are poor..." - Ansaa B.

Your argument about the wealthy supporting the poor through taxes as a justification of the poverty mentality theory is absurd. The wealthy should shoulder the burden of higher taxes since they control larger portions of resources thus contributing more to the externalized costs that are a detriment to those on the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. The wealthy are also the first ones to benefit from most of the significant subsidies given out by the government.

It is not the poor who own the mineral mine, bank, auto manufacturer, or oil company that receives billions a year from the government. The amount paid out in corporate entitlements is far greater than the amount paid in entitlement programs for the “poor” (education, welfare, fuel assistance, etc.). You could eradicate hunger in Africa with a fraction of the money paid to energy companies, the same companies that pay no taxes, are owned by the wealthy, and charge exorbitant amounts that keep the poorest Americans right where they are...spending almost a third of their income on their products.

@ Georgesplane- While you may be right about the poverty mentality issue applying only to industrialized countries, I think that was the point of the idea. It was used to describe the American mentality that keeps people stuck in poverty. I believe that there is actually a poverty mentality in this country, and many of the impoverished would not be so if they broke through this mentality and actually applied themselves. I am not saying that success guaranteed for everyone, people often make their situation worse than it has to be. In many cases, wealthy people became so by working their tails off. They also carry a significant portion of the tax burden, which in turn pay for most of the social programs in this country.

I believe that the poverty mentality theory is only relevant in industrialized nations that have some form of safety net to protect the poorest members of their society. The theory would be completely irrelevant to poverty in countries of the developing world, countries that subscribe to a caste system, or countries ravaged by war. In these countries, society expects people to accept their socioeconomic fate, or the people are simply happy to be alive. For example, someone in India may not be able to move up the social hierarchy because they are born into the lowest caste, regardless of what they do, the other members of society will not allow them to move up.

Another example would be in a war torn region like Darfur, where there are simply no resources. People in this region have no means of upward mobility. They are simply trying to avoid the bloodshed, and scratch together the resources to stay alive. Even if they do escape and become refugees, very few will make it to a place where refugees are not considered the dregs of society.