A Point of View: Why the rich look down on the poor

[DanaC]

This week's A Point of View comes from Professor Mary Beard:

In the ancient world, the rich held themselves to very different standards from the poor. Not much has changed, argues classical historian Mary Beard.

Low life in ancient Rome could be very low indeed.

There were gangs of ne'er-do-wells and down-and-outs who spent all night in cheap bars, drowning their sorrows. Apart from talk about the top chariot racers (the ancient equivalent of footballers), the only entertainment on offer was brawling and gambling.

They would sit hunched over their gaming tables, making horrible snorting sounds through their quivering nostrils.

(The Greeks and Romans seem to have been particularly sensitive to odd nasal noises. One pundit in the early 2nd Century - the aptly named Dio the Golden Mouth - gave a whole lecture to the people of the city of Tarsus, urging them to control their snorting. It must count as one of the most curious works of ancient literature to have come down to us.)

Needless to say, this picture of the life of the Roman poor as one of wall-to-wall boozing and gambling does not come from the poor themselves.

I've been quoting, more or less word for word, the description of social conditions in the capital city of the Roman Empire given by a decidedly upmarket historian of the 4th Century, Ammianus Marcellinus

This bit I found really interesting:

But whatever slurs and nicknames were used, the misdemeanours attributed to the ancient Roman poor by their rich critics are strikingly similar to those we still hear now.

For a start, the poor were often said to be guilty of abusing the services offered to them - not by the welfare state but by rich benefactors.

Read the rest here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20235692

[SamIam]

Interesting read, Dana. I think it's not just the wealthy who look down on the poor, but society in general. Xenophobics R Us! This attitude is helped along greatly by the large numbers of racial minorities in today's American and British societies - something ancient Rome didn't have to contend with.

The modern day poor come conveniently color coded. Of course, plenty of white people are poor, as well, but in the US at least, the stereotypical poor person is the African American welfare queen. This person is mostly mythical, but some people seem to run into her all the time - often at the supermarket checkout where she can be found buying filet mignon, lobster, and caviar with her food stamps card. The Welfare Queen's best friend seems to be the illegal immigrant who also got on the welfare roles the moment she crossed the Rio Grande. I don't know why I see so many hispanic women working as motel maids and the like. I guess they haven't figured out the welfare system yet.

Whites get in on the fun, too - like Adak's disability cheat who was featured on some unknown TV program on some unknown channel at some unknown time in the past. I've heard of other sightings of this individual. Sometimes he's a truck driver somewhere in western Colorado, but my informant can't remember which town he was spotted in or how he managed to con what is a remarkedly difficult system. But never mind, there are thousands more like him out there. Somewhere.

Ancient Rome had it good by comparison. They could just feed their poor to the lions.

[DanaC]

If you just went off the news you'd be forgiven for thinking that crime was more of a problem than ever before in human history, because people just getting on with their lives not being robbed doesn't make for a riveting news item. By the same token, you could be forgiven for thinking that half the people on welfare are gaming the system. Again, people just getting on with their lives submitting medical assessment claim forms, jumping through hoops and waiting a few months for a pitiful assistance because they're unable to work due to multiple schlerosis or debilitating mental illness don't make for a news story.

Nor do the single mums who struggle to raise their kids, claiming what help they can and scrimping and saving and counting every penny to try and get them through whilst also applying for countless low skill jobs and getting turned down.

None of those people are worth noticing. They never make it onto the radar because they are the norm. It's the unusual, the egregious and the barefaced who come to our attention on the whole. And that skews the picture terribly.

[SamIam]

Sad but true. I'm sure this sort of reporting is part of the reason people have such negative attitudes toward the poor.

[Undertoad]

[DanaC]

ha! Yes.

[Sundae]

My family were part of the working poor.
Living in a council house, not owning a car or a freezer. Relying on catalogues to buy new clothes (weekly payments) and hand-me-downs for the rest. Dad was paid weekly in cash for most of my childhood. I get cross sometimes when people assume that if you work hard you are rewarded. And if you are poor it's because you didn't work hard enough. Someone has to do the drone work.

Grandad was a barman, a cocktail mixer, a scene shifter at the Royal Opera House and ended his working life as a hospital porter. He moved into my brother's room when he was over 50 in order to get a job here. Because he still officially lived in London he was moved up the housing list, and he and Nanny got a place about a year later. That's not the actions of people who want to sponge - it's inconvenience endured for the sake of family. Bloody good job he did so too. Who nursed Nanny through her last weeks? Mum. Who looked after Grandad? Mum (and me).

Grandad made enough money to support his family, never drank excessively, or gambled (apart from a flutter on the Grand National) never cheated on his wife or ran up any debts. He lived in council housing all his life and never expected to own property. He was a hard worker, but functionally illiterate. To suggest he "failed" at life because he didn't go to night school while holding down two other jobs is offensive to me. In his eyes, yes, he knew his place.

[footfootfoot]

Have you met them at all?
Who?
The poor.
The poor?
Oh you must meet them. I just know you'll like them. Charming people, of course they haven't got two pennies to rub together but that's because they're poor.