— Spring break, junior year of college, a town in the highlands of Guatemala
Med student (MS) is reading Jeffrey Sachs’ The End of Poverty.
Me: Oooh I’ve been meaning to read that book. What do you think of it so far?
MS: It’s okay. Some parts are kind of boring. I would probably understand it better if knew more econ.
Me: I don’t think poverty can ever end.
MS’s face is covered with shock and annoyance. Perhaps a peck of confusion?
Me: It can’t end because trying to pull people out of poverty is just ONE thing. When one level of poverty disappears, there’ll be another type, just another name for poverty.
MS…still annoyed look.
*Sigh* I had great professors in the fall of my junior year, the semester before this trip occurred. They taught me to question absolutely everything. (I used to be easily persuaded by “experts” without really polish critical thinking for myself.) They also persuaded me to focus more on inequality and relative comparisons, particularly of foundational systematic issues, instead of rungs of surface conditions.
By the end of our group’s service trip, I never found the opportunity to explain myself. We’ll probably not cross paths again.
