All of us being college students, we are privileged. We have access to a world-class education, and we can probably afford it, along with other things -- food, shelter, transportation, as well as other non-essentials.
But how real is the prospect that one day, some of us (maybe that includes myself) might be homeless? Not very real. Or at least, it seems that way.
Spent is an interactive "game" that challenges realities like this. Starting with just $1000, you are forced to make decisions that in the end, cost you a lot (both economically and emotionally). The purpose of the game is to reveal the complex issues involved with poverty and homelessness. During your challenge, you are forced to make decisions like whether you want to pay a hefty portion for health insurance, whether you send your kid to a birthday party with or without a present, and whether you keep the $10 you saw someone drop, or return it to them.
The first time I tried a hand at the game, I lost after 15 days. I'm sure that if it was reality, I would've lot much sooner. I was impressed with the content of the game- it does present very real challenges with some choices that I personally winced at. For example, if your kid isn't eating his meals from the free-lunch program because the other kids are making fun of him for being poor, do you give him money to buy lunch everyday, or let him go hungry?
You can take a shot at the game here: SPENT
As the director of a clinic for homeless and low-income individuals in the Berkeley and greater area, I have heard people's stories-- stories of how they became homeless, stories about their childhood, etc. Many of these, if not all of them, are based on misfortunes that have left them with no options. For example, my friend R who, at my age, got into a car accident killing his mother and paralyzing half of his body, or, my other friend H who had to sell his house to pay for his sister's cancer treatment. Such accounts are all too real, and horrifying.
Everyday I am reminded of my privilege. I have a car, I can go home at my own leisure, I don't have to worry about getting the money to pay rent, and I certainly don't have to worry about having enough food to get through the week. In fact, we are all privileged. With healthy lives, families, education, homes, money, options, and more. But, what do we do when our luck runs out?
This blog is for the Global Poverty and Practice 105 course. Here you can share updates about your projects, news articles, other materials regarding our topics of confronting forms of poverty and inequality, and any other useful links (ex: fellowships). The primary purpose of this sharing of information via blogging is to learn more about each other's work in a dynamic and engaging way, and to be able to share important, interesting and innovative ideas and resources.
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Thank you for sharing this post Liz. With so much talk about Global Poverty, I sometimes feel that I have become slightly jaded and, guiltily, have experienced the cynical notion that the world’s problems are not mine to fix. However, websites such as SPENT offers good reason to recognize my own privilege and understand poverty on a more personal level.
ReplyDeleteWhen I initially began “playing” this “game”, most of the decisions I made were strictly financial, and extremely logistical, i.e. taking the higher paying job and buying clothes at a thrift store versus full retail price. However, I had the most difficulty making the decisions such as restricting my child from playing sports because I couldn’t afford the uniform. Though I made it through the month financially, I cannot imagine the emotional onslaught of bills and misfortune that perpetuate into a positive feedback loop that is seemingly impossible to overcome.
Participating in the SPENT “game” taught me two important things. The first is to be less frivolous and more cognizant of the way I spend my money. Although I may feel financially secure at the moment, I never want to be in a position where twenty dollars a month would make the difference between feeding my child, or going hungry. This comes from a lesson of moderation and recognizing the difference between wants and needs. The second lesson the SPENT “game” reinforced for me is to be less dismissive of poverty. I cannot take poverty as what I see in it’s face-value, but instead I should recognize the complex undercurrents that have led to a person’s present situation.
Coming to Berkeley and taking on the Global Poverty and Practice minor has taught me one of the most important lessons I have learned in college, and that lesson is the recognition of my own privilege. It is easy to look out onto the world and dismiss the poverty and misfortunes of others, but sometimes the hardest place to look is within myself. Though self-inflection is not easy, it fans the fire of the “audacious hope” I possess, a term coined from Professor Roy. Recognizing my own privilege has concocted an internal emotional brew of frustration, shame, guilt, and incredible luck. It is this combination of nonsensical sentiments that fuel my desire to do something in my life that has meaning beyond myself and purpose for that which is not my own.