Christian Bovee: Poverty Treated as Crime
on Monday, September 17, 2018Christian Bovee Money Quote saying we should not see being poor as unfortunate circumstances except that everyone mostly sees poverty as a crime. Christian Nestell Bovee said:
“We should not so much esteem our poverty as a misfortune, were it not that the world treats it so much as a crime” — Christian Nestell Bovee
Share the Christian Nestell Bovee Money quote image above on your site:
Short Link to this Quote:
In this quote, Christian Nestell Bovee seems to be commenting on how poverty is often stigmatized and viewed with disdain in some societies. Some key points:
- Bovee suggests that poverty itself would not feel so unfortunate or burdensome if it were not for how “the world treats it so much as a crime.”
- This implies that poverty is frequently seen as some kind of moral failing or character flaw by others, rather than an outcome outside an individual’s control.
- Bovee appears to believe that poverty becomes a much heavier burden psychologically due to the shame, blame and social disadvantages that come from how others tend to judge and make assumptions about those experiencing lack of financial means.
- For Bovee, it is the tendency of societies and communities to condemn and ostracize the poor that makes their circumstances truly miserable, beyond just the lack of resources itself.
Overall, the quote conveys Bovee’s perspective that poverty is exacerbated and its impacts compounded by the stigma, disapproval and disadvantages imposed by wider societal attitudes that treat impoverishment as a personal defect or transgression rather than an outcome with many potential contributing causes beyond an individual’s choices alone.
Birthday: February 22, 1820 – Death: January 18, 1904