Watch: Woman Courts Criticism For 'Privileged' Take On Poverty And India's Poor

The debate over what causes poverty and what keeps people poor is something academics, activists and society have been discussing for a long time now. Recently, a short clip of a woman expressing her views on poverty went viral. While a lot of people have described her opinion as that of a “privileged” person, some tried to understand the essence of her argument. But there weren’t many takers.

In the clip, the woman says that a poor person does not want to rise above poverty and improve his mindset. She believes they have accepted their situation and have settled on the idea, “I am poor and I can spend my life that way it is.” Speaking of the rich, the women said such people have wealth because they work towards it and aim to change their surroundings and to “support their families.”

“Privilege is truly invisible to those who have it,” read a comment.

“This is what privilege sounds like,” said another user.

A third remark read, “The funny thing is that these folks are closer to poverty than they are to true wealth.”

Mentioning how biased the view is, another user said. “This is similar to people thinking most children from economically weaker homes don’t want to study despite having the opportunities to. No babe the kids don’t have the right environment to thrive and can’t virtue signal like you to get jobs.”

“This is what happens when one watches too much of Bollywood and grows perspectives based on that,” said another person.

One of the users, disagreeing with her, said, “I just want her to spend one day on the streets and want to listen to her statement “gareeb ko footpaths se uthna hi nahi hai” again. Be humble, girl, nobody wants to stay on the streets by their choice. Anyways you’re lucky that you’re privileged enough.”

However, some also supported the idea the woman was trying to present.

One user said, “This might not apply to extreme poverty where a person needs to struggle for food. But for people with education, roof, food it does apply.”

Another individual stated, “My grandma taught two under-privileged kids. One kid wanted to work hard and gain exposure. The other couldn’t care less about getting out of poverty. I see what the woman was trying to say, but I feel it can be said in a better way.”

Furthermore, people also said, “She isn’t entirely wrong. Being poor is incentivized in India. You get all kinds of free stuff, quotas, etc.”

What’s your opinion on the video?