2018 - Book 9

This book was okay. Not great. Way too repetitive. The profanity in it got tiring. 

The interesting thing was hearing a first hand experience of how the poor is trapped in a cycle that is hard to break out of. For example: how the author had no idea how to apply for college loans or what foods were healthy or how to budget money well. 

I found it helpful in thinking about things from another persons perspective. I used to wonder why all the kids in my old neighborhood didn't obey traffic laws when they rode their bikes. Then it hit me one day, I bet they didn't have a parent that took the time to teach them. Some times the answers to questions about another persons behavior aren't clear unless you have lived through the same events. Books like this help me think about things differently. And they make me grateful for the family I have been blessed with. 

I mainly finished it because it was an easy read. 

I leave you with one statistic:

Children who come from a working-class family in American face a level of instability unseen elsewhere in the world. In France the number of children that will live with more then three maternal partners is 0.5%. The second highest country is Sweeden at 2.6%. In America it is 8.2%. The percentage is higher in working-class and poor homes. 

Researchers have proven that a child's brain will rewire itself to deal with stress and instability. This rewiring is permeant and causes a "flight or fight" feeling even into adulthood. These children also have no model of what a healthy relationship looks like. 

Who will teach them? 

Pouring money into a broken system doesn't work. As the author acknowledges, too many people know how to game the systems that are in place. 

How do we help? 

What can we do?

Again, I feel rather helpless. I know that it will take time and relationships, getting down in the trenches, walking through life with people, being burned, giving up things, doing hard things, and loving like Christ. 

Pages: 370