A man was questioned. Why is poverty so prevalent today?
He said as much. I believe that loudness, more than poverty, is the problem today.
What we refer to as poverty today actually refers to not getting what one wants.
We have also witnessed times of destitution when wet soil was used in place of Argillite on the classroom blackboard. On school boards, there weren’t any ink pennies like there used to be (sail coins).
People who used to purchase school clothing did so only around Eid and Christmas. They used to stitch up broken clothing and keep wearing it repeatedly. Even if the shoe store, would repeatedly patch it together because it was made of plastic and was not branded.
Inquiring for ghee, pepper, and salt from neighbors would be something I would do if I had visitors. Today, every home has enough for one month. This is not poverty because our every need is fulfilled but our desires are at rest.
Seven pairs of schoolchildren’s clothes are now ironed and stored at home for the duration of the week. Each day, a fresh pair is worn by the kids.
For every function and event, separate outfits and shoes are purchased today if you want to attend someone’s wedding.
In our time, a person on the street might have had empty pockets and shoes that cost up to $100 and $300, respectively.
The teenager of today who complains of poverty while strolling has a watch in his palm, at least 2,000 pairs of shoes, 30,000 mobile phone clothes in his pocket, and at least 3,000 gold chains around his neck.
In those times of hardship, cotton was burned by being dipped in mustard oil because there was no oil available to light a lamp inside the home.
In the modern era, desires are scarce.
He considers me to be impoverished if I can’t sew three pairs of garments for someone’s wedding or three pairs for Eid or Christmas.
Poverty is available but not as much as we consider. Every person tells others that they are poor because their desires are so many and they are unable to fulfill them, due to lack of funds. But it is not poverty.
Poverty means hunger, the nonavailability of shadows, and the nonavailability of wearable clothes. We should keep our desire aside and help really poor people. We should focus on fulfilling needs like hunger, shadow, and clothes of poor people instead of fulfilling our desires.
Poverty is the modern term for the lack of satisfaction of desires. Because of our lack of gratitude, blessings have increased.
