Daily Gamecock

I saw this article on poverty in the Daily Gamecock by Paul Bowers, a second year student who writes for the paper. Below are a few highlights:

A close friend recently made a remarkable observation: As children, one of the first things we learn to fear is people. Before we shy away from the deep end of the swimming pool, and before we know better than to pick up wild animals from the ground, we know that guiding maxim: Don’t talk to strangers.

There is of course an element of self-preservation in this folk wisdom, but its tragic side effect is that, even as adults with developed faculties and an active sense of compassion, we are reluctant to help a stranger in need.

I see evidence of this nearly every time my classmates are approached by a homeless person. Here is the scene: A group of friends is walking down the sidewalk when a man wearing everything he owns enters their path and requests a little cash. The students’ response is to huddle closer and quicken their pace.

Later, they will offer rational explanations. “He was just going to spend it on drugs,” they’ll say, or “He was looking at my girlfriend funny.” But the truth is that they were afraid…

You can read the rest here, What do you think?