The critical questions that Black philosophical thinkers such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois propose about the status of the Black community find their answers in a range of different social conditions that continually perpetuate an inferior position. The cycle of poverty that has been attached to Black bodies for generations creates an economic, social, biological, mental, and political disenfranchisement that would be irresponsible to ignore. This disenfranchisement and its effects can be proven on both a philosophical and scientific level as it relates to altruism and selfishness, the ability to create a stable society where Oppressed Peoples can self-determinate, and the inability to create this society due to the hermeneutical injustice that stems from not having the proper infrastructure to both comprehend an altruistic and stable society and to, therefore, create one.
The effects of poverty are a lot more encompassing than the inability to purchase items that one wants. According to Martha J. Farah in “Socioeconomic Status and Brain: Prospects for Neuroscience Informed Policy”, “…in addition to the obvious deprivations related to food, shelter and other basic needs, social science research shows that poverty is associated with shorter and less healthy lives, higher rates of mental illness and lower cognitive ability” (Farah 1). Poverty can also manifest itself in serious physical illnesses that have a significant impact on the quality of life that one has and their access to the world. The visibility of resources and opportunities that inhabit inaccessible spaces around Black people creates a burden mentally by constantly being in contact with good and necessary things vital to a better quality of life that one simply can not acquire due to circumstances that are uncontrollable. Also, the ability of Black People to improve their conditions are reduced as a better way of life becomes more unreachable and therefore considered unrealistic. This continued cycle of poverty can lead to Marginalized Peoples not only living less healthy lives physically and mentally but also creating a culture of immediacy that results in less altruism and more selfishness.
The journal article, "Rational snacking: Young children’s decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability" by Kidd et al. is a great example of the way that precarious conditions can create an increased lack of self-control among children. While young children may already lack self-control, it significantly becomes worse the more unstable their previous social background was. “Consider the mindset of a 4-year-old living in a crowded shelter, surrounded by older children with little adult supervision. For a child accustomed to stolen possessions and broken promises, the only guaranteed treats are the ones you have already swallowed” (Kidd 110). This example can be related to Black People whose entire lived experiences for generations is one that is enshrouded in poverty and who are used to having promises broken and valuable items stolen. The hostile environment that poverty creates on the psyche of Black people prevents stable infrastructures where one can even consider a society outside of broken promises. This lack of self-control, induced by previous societal conditions, can also be correlated to a discrepancy in altruism. A critical question that the philosopher JeeLoo Liu proposes in Moral Reason, Moral Sentiments and the Realization of Altruism: A Motivational Theory of Altruism as she discusses altruism is, “When the pursuit of the gratification of one’s own desires generally has an immediate causal efficacy, how can one also be motivated to care for others and to act towards the well-being of others” (Liu 94). This is an important question that delves into the power dynamics that are present with being altruistic and the overall concept of altruism. The motivation to do good towards others is not something that can be intrinsic when one’s circumstances does not give them the luxury of thinking and acting generously towards other humans, even those within your own social group and with who you understand the problems that afflict your group uniquely. However, it is generally believed and argued by philosophers that altruism and the ability to be altruistic is an example of a sort of elevated human and moral state. Yet, only those that are privileged and who live in a stable society where they are reliably certain that their livelihoods will be protected can then consider thinking and acting altruistically. Kidd et al. brings up a situation of, "…an only-child in a stable home whose parents reliably promise and deliver small motivational treats for good behavior" (Kidd 110). Growing up in this situation, it is obvious that this child would be more willing to exhibit self-control. This example can be connected to arguments of altruism and its connections with privilege since those who are in stable conditions have ascended the struggle to simply survive and have enough resources and material wealth that it becomes logical and beneficial to give in order to create a better quality of life and society. The scientific article, "Neural Responses to Taxation and Voluntary Giving Reveal Motives for Charitable Donation" by Harbaugh et al. discusses how, "Individuals with such a motive receive satisfaction from increases in a public good, such as the provision of basic services to the needy. This altruistic concern provides a motive to give… Only those people with a very large pure altruism motive would give voluntarily" (Harbaugh 1622). This is further proof that those who have enough material wealth to give receive satisfaction from doing so. This ability to see past oneself is necessary in the creation of a stable structure especially when philosophers such as Giles Deleuze discusses how, “…the realization of altruism cannot be founded solely on the individual’s moral sense, but must also rely on the society’s moral expectations” (Liu 116). And so it seems that those more privileged are able to be more altruistic, creating a more moral and stable society while people who are Marginalized and who live in impoverished conditions are not able to behave as altruistically and instead act in a more selfish way, leading to a less moral and unstable society. Just like how poverty is associated with mental illness and a lesser quality of life, it can also be associated with the creation of two types of livelihoods, one where there is instability and depravity and one where there is wealth and the ease of life that comes with structure, inhabiting space side by side but rarely intersecting.
The dichotomy of these lived experiences may not be able to be fully articulated by Black People as there is, “…a gap in collective interpretive resources [that] puts someone at an unfair disadvantage when it comes to making sense of their social experiences” (Fricker 1). Since Black people are already at a disadvantage due to poverty and the way that poverty can affect their physical and economic access to the rest of the world, they do not have the resources to first begin to understand and then comprehend the nature of their discrimination and mistreatment. Furthermore, it is difficult and near impossible to unify and build a stable society that reflects their experiences and a better quality of life when they have not made sense of their condition. Therefore, the ideas that Washington proposes about vocational education in order to build Black wealth before political enfranchisement does not truly work over a long period of time. Although Washington may have a vision of a better way of life, the people within his social group do not and due to past societal conditions where there was a habit of broken promises, do not have the patience to follow through with an idea that they can not conceptualize. The same logic follows with W.E.B. DuBois who already defies reason within his social group for being a Harvard graduate. While he is thinking of political enfranchisement such as the right to vote, the people in his social group are barely surviving. This gap between philosophical thinkers and their social groups is common among all groups but the difference in this context is that Black people, especially, lack the foundation and resources to begin to think of a society outside of struggling to survive.
A possible solution to combat the poverty that Black People are entrenched in and the effects of that poverty on their livelihood rest in a re-education of both Black people as a Marginalized group and also of oppressors within society. It is a critical pedagogy that is required in order to humanize Black People and the struggles in which they face due to structural and systemic poverty. “To surmount the situation of oppression, people must first critically recognize its causes, so that through transforming action they can create a new situation, one which makes possible the pursuit of a fuller humanity. But the struggle to be more fully human has already begun in the authentic struggle to transform the situation” (Friere 47). This pedagogy is also needed in order provide the necessary infrastructure for Black People to recognize and understand the injustices done to them and by virtue express those struggles to each other, humanizing themselves enough to unify and create a more altruistic and stable society.
Poverty is a multifaceted issue that when attached to a social group for generations creates disadvantages that affect not only the livelihood of the group but their ability to create stable and altruistic societies. This unstable society hinders their ability to self-determinate and mobilize, further trapping Black People in a continual cycle of poverty. This creates radically different ways of existing throughout the world and an inability to comprehend and express these struggles. In the pursuit of creating a more equitable world and society for all, it is critical to design new systems of re-education where Marginalized Peoples are humanized to the point of unification and order.