Quite a few people Wednesday were outraged, offended, shocked, etc., to learn that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson had said during a radio interview Tuesday that poverty “is a state of mind.”
Ben Carson: Poverty is "a state of mind" https://t.co/crsF2zo0lo pic.twitter.com/AbunDorQY7
— The Hill (@thehill) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson calls poverty "a state of mind" during interview https://t.co/DDS1J7bgEj
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 24, 2017
Barack Obama’s (former?) senior adviser Valerie Jarrett managed to strike just the right balance of disbelief and self-righteousness, though there were plenty of runners-up. Look at all these super-smart folks.
Say what?!!!! Explain a hungry child's state of mind. https://t.co/kyukif9zXF
— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) May 24, 2017
He needs to believe he is full and then, magically, he will be
— (((Amy Vernon))) (@AmyVernon) May 24, 2017
If poverty is a "state of mind" Doctor Carson, then how would you diagnose hunger, homelessness and
addiction – mere hallucinations? https://t.co/xDaUenf1Ws— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 25, 2017
As is idiocy.
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson, wealthy neurosurgeon in charge of affordable housing for the poor, says poverty is a “state of mind” https://t.co/EgdHEHuDB9
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson believes you can "think" your way out of poverty. https://t.co/1NLkdyGqza
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) May 24, 2017
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Ben Carson has no state of mind because he is a fucking moron
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) May 25, 2017
We need to stop listening to what Ben Carson says and we need to stop mentioning his name. He might be legitimately insane.
— Chuck (@CP_Numenor) May 24, 2017
As a sociologist with a master's in psychology, and having been homeless and in poverty, I can tell you Ben Carson is completely clueless.
— Dr. DaShanne Stokes (@DaShanneStokes) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson is a disgrace to black people and humans everywhere! #BenCarson #IgnoranceIsAStateOfMind #Jackass @RealBenCarson
— Jessica Fleurimond (@jessfleurimond) May 25, 2017
Maybe it’s experience, or maybe it was just a hunch that inspired us to see if maybe there was more to Carson’s statement than the bit that made all the headlines.
"I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind," @SecretaryCarson explained to @Arightside. pic.twitter.com/XyGAYNYYkT
— SiriusXMPolitics (@SXMPolitics) May 24, 2017
According to the Hill, what Carson said was that a person’s mindset could have a huge influence on getting them out of poverty or keeping them in it:
“You take somebody that has the right mindset, you take everything from them and put them on the street and I guarantee in a little while they’ll be right back up there,” he said in a SiriusXM radio interview released Wednesday. “And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world, they’ll work their way right back down to the bottom.”
So, Carson’s solution is to strip away all government assistance and force people either to “think” their way out of poverty or starve? Not quite; Carson went on to call a defeatist attitude “real poverty” that no amount of assistance can cure.
“I think the majority of people don’t have that defeatist attitude, but they sometimes just don’t see the way and that’s where government can come in, and be very helpful,” Carson added. “It can provide a ladder of opportunity, it can provide the mechanism that we demonstrate to them what can be done.”
Wow, it’s crazy that that didn’t make all the headlines: “Ben Carson says government can be very helpful in providing poor a ladder of opportunity.”
What right does wealthy neurosurgeon Ben Carson have to talk about poverty anyway?
https://twitter.com/Hublife/status/867505676553039872
Ben Carson says "poverty is a state of mind"
He grew up in a Detroit ghetto & became a neurosurgeon
Maybe he knows what he's talkin' about
— Cloyd Rivers (@CloydRivers) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson is correct. Look at the last eight years. Obama manipulated people into believing they were victims. Is it a state of mind? Yes! pic.twitter.com/TxDWeL8Nam
— ??♥️✝️ʂɧąʑ Ƈơ۷ʄɛʄɛ✝️♥️?? (@lellygal) May 24, 2017
Ben Carson is the American Dream. If anyone knows about poverty, it's him.
He's a role model & so is his mother. Go, Momma Carson.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) May 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/davidsheldon79/status/867569102679941121
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Related:
You’re joking, RIGHT?! Joyce Carol Oates tweets poor people are ‘very lucky’ cannibalism is taboohttps://t.co/J0A2Y5Fr9N
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 2, 2017
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