They are a strange lot - these poor people. They make up the majority of the planet (last count, over 50% of the 6bn earthlings earn less than a USD2.5 a day), they (on a per capita basis) suck less resources than their richer counterparts and, guess what, they are pretty sanguine about it.
In most countries undergoing deep social and political turmoil (springs in Arab and in other places), its the middle class that is the vangaurd of change. Infact that has been a fact of history. Defined as the people between the rich and the poor, the middle class is very noisy. It is THE chattering class. Its mood and its preferences dominates airwaves, markets and trends. Simply put (or simplistically put), its the class that the upper class (the top 1% and a few more percentiles) worry about. About the poor? Not so much.
And why is that? Cause the poor dont have a voice. And when they do, their loud speaker is normally some middle class/upper class crusader rebelling (being cool) against society/father/Hollywood.
After all, if the poor were vocal we would be hearing about them a lot more. Take India for instance. According to one measure, 620mn out of 1.2bn Indians do not have access to sanitation facilities. Yes, 620mn people are excreting under the open skies every day. Logic, and compassion, should suggest that Indian media and such would be having a lot more content about 50% of the population defecating out in the open. In reality, that is not the case. Indian media, print and digital, spends more time worrying about who Salman Khan (Bollywood superstar) is marrying rather than where that horrible stench is coming from.
Anyway poverty economics is a whole university degree in itself (and definately well beyond my knowledge-spent). However we can start by understanding the poor better. They might be sanguine most of the time. But when ruffled enough, the tsunami will come. They bought the revolution in France; the revolution in North America; the revolution in Moscow. Even closer to home - the masses thronged to the call of Gandhi and Jinnah. Yes the middle class led from the front; but the ground swell was the average poor. Whenever these poor have appeared in their true numbers, chaos and order find themselves as bed partners.
Closer in history? Take Benazir Bhuttos arrival home in Oct 2007. Before her arrival, she had made a deal with the strongman Musharraf; she and he were set to jointly rule. That never materialized cause it all changed. It all changed when she arrived at Karachi on that fateful chilly day in October 2007. Thousands and thousands flocked to greet her. One estimate placed the ground at approaching a million. Seeing that support galvanized Bhutto. She didnt need to compromise; Pakistan, apparently, lay at her feet. And the crowds that made up the millions? Not the chattering classes. Most of them were watching the spectacle on cable. It were the poor.
Lets start talking to the poor man and woman. Do not expect much in the way of a conversaton. The poor man is a scared, complexed, insecure and, probably, unknowledgable creature. Some, if not most, dont care for morality and might be indulging in drugs, pedophile, prostitution, etc. But can they really be blamed for their mental decay?
Lets start asking them how they feel about inflation, public transport, taxes and security. Lets ask them about social mobility, free speech and inequality. Lets ask them how things can be made better. We the chattering classes (atleast the ones that are left behind) bear this incredible responsibility. Giving a voice to the poor might not be the panacea for the troubles in the country. But it should, at a fundemental level, change the narrative of our national concience. And, sometimes, that is all that matters.
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