On the surface it seems this poster (below) promotes social justice; however, read the last two lines and the moral high ground falls away.

In both the UK and the US, your socioeconomic status as an adult is nearly 100% related to the socioeconomic status of your parents.   This poster clearly blames the poor the fact that it is nearly impossible to climb up from poverty. The poster says “your own poor choices.” is the cause.

Well in all my years working as a social worker, I never once found someone who chose to be born into an impoverished family. I never once found someone who said they chose to enter kindergarten impossibly behind their middle class peers. I never once found someone who was happy their family could not afford the resources that would improve their chances to escape poverty.

Look at the “foreigners” in the poster and ask yourself “What is the chance any of them were born in a slum?”  There are many foreign born professionals in the US and the UK, but virtually all of them were born into wealthy families in their home countries.  To attack the native born poor for”making poor choices” that caused their poverty will not lessen the resentment to foreigners. Instead, it will reinforce the feelings of alienation and anger.  People around the world keep wondering why working class whites in the US are flocking to Donald Trump.  This poster might just be the answer.

We must not blame the poor for being born into poverty, even if we are doing so with a “good cause”

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