Issues of Poverty in the U.S. Have Solutions

The ego engages in secondary process thinking and uses this rational, realistic and problem-solving orientation to satisfy the id’s desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. In many cases, this can be accomplished by delaying the desired gratification until the appropriate time and place. Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to its rider. The horse provides the power and motion, while the rider provides the direction and guidance. Without its rider, the horse may simply wander aimlessly. Ali used a similar image to describe the nafs al-ammara.

Freud’s “ego ideal” (“ideal self”) includes the rules and standards of good behavior to which one should adhere. If one manages to do so, he/she will eventually experience feelings of pride.

The superego, which consists of the conscience and the ideal self, develops when children are around 3 to 5 years old. Incorporating the surrounding society’s values and morals via one’s parents, it continues to grow over time so that children can adopt moral standards from people they admire, like teachers. The superego controls the id’s impulses, especially those that society forbids (e.g., non-marital sexual relationships and immediate gratification); acts to perfect and civilize our behavior; works to suppress the id’s unacceptable urges; struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards; and tries to persuade the ego to turn to moralistic goals and strive for perfection.

If the ego gives in to the id’s demands, the superego may make the person feel bad by giving rise to feelings of guilt. For example, an individual with an overly dominant id might become impulsive, uncontrollable or even a criminal, as immediate gratification is his/ her only concern. On the other hand, an overly dominant superego might lead one to become extremely moralistic and judgmental and thus unable to accept whatever he/she deems “bad” or “immoral.”

Those who have a strong ego can manage these pressures effectively, while those whose ego is too strong or too weak can become too unyielding or disruptive. One can only acquire a healthy personality by striking the correct balance among the id, the ego and the superego.

NIETZSCHE’S SUPERMAN Nietzsche presented his Superman as a man who possesses his own independent values and is therefore able to affect and dominate others. He therefore lives with pleasure and happiness in the present, but with the purpose of leading humanity. A biological product, as opposed to a product of moral and spiritual forces, this individual creates his own morality based on his own experiences, which are grounded in the secular physical world.

The poet, scholar and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), who published his “Asrar-i-Khudi” in Persian in 1915 (“The Secrets of the Self,” trans. Reynold A. Nicholson; http://www.gutenberg. org/ebooks/57317) noted, “It is probable that Nietzsche borrowed it (Übermensch) from the literature of Islam or of the East and degraded it by his materialism.” In footnote number 8, S. A. Vahid states that Iqbal dictated this note to Sayyid Ivazir Niyazi during the summer of 1937) (http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/ oct82/3.htm#_edn1).

In comparison to Freud and Nietzsche, the Quran gives a clear understanding of the concept of nafs and its role in developing a person’s character in such a way that it can reach the level of al-nafs al-mutma’inna (the soul at peace). ih

Issues of Poverty in the U.S. Have Solutions For many Americans, the “American Dream” recedes even further into the distance

BY S. A. REHMAN

The COVID-19 crisis has brought to the fore issues associated with hunger and homelessness, unemployment and hopelessness. However, these can be solved and reduced if we pool our resources.

The common denominator for all of these issues is the lack of education. Every year, more than 1.2 million Americans drop out of high school — one every 26 seconds, or 7,000 a day, writes Tony Miller (“Partnering for Education Reform,” www.ed.gov, July 7, 2011). David Silver, Marisa Saunders and Estela Zarate find that about 25% of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s high school freshmen fail to graduate on time (https://www. dosomething.org).

In 2017, the average high school “event” dropout rate — that is students between grades 10-12 — was 4.7%, contrasting with 3.5% in 2007; while 54% of students who drop out of high school left in 10th or 11th grade, reported educationdata.org. The study also found that nearly 83% of incarcerated persons are also high school dropouts.

They usually find jobs in fast food outlets, grocery stores, factories or the construction industry. The National Employment Law Project found that entry-level jobs at fast-food restaurants are more likely to be dead-end jobs than stepping stones to more advanced positions (Stephanie Levy, June 10, 2015; https:// groundswell.org/fast-food-misconceptions).

Adults need to explain to youth the importance of graduating from high school. Sometimes the parents insist they do, but in other cases they need the student’s income to improve the family’s economic status.

Lyndsey Layton, author of “National public high school graduation rate at a four-decade high” (Washington Post, Jan. 21, 2013),

found that a dropout will earn $200,000 less than a high school graduate over his lifetime and almost a million dollars less than a college graduate.

What is needed is legislation stipulating that only graduates should be given jobs. Aren’t athletes barred from being recruited as professionals without graduating? In addition, they should also be given financial or other incentives to encourage them to graduate. If they want to go to college, they should be given financial or other support that will enable them to excel and earn their degrees, particularly in the sciences, so they can get good jobs, become independent and help themselves, their family and the economy as a whole.

Statistics also show that millions of Americans struggle every day to feed their families, and thus food pantries are valuable resources. As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed, job loss, an unexpected medical bill or a reduction in income can seriously affect one’s financial situation. In an emergency, free food pantries can offer a degree of help. Many low- to moderate-income families struggle to keep food on their tables as prices rise and the economy remains weak. As a result, every year millions of Americans receive some type of food assistance from food pantries.

According to the World Giving Index, which measures how likely residents of 128 countries are to practice acts of generosity, the U.S. has been the world’s most generous country for the past decade. The index, from the U.K.-based nonprofit Charities Aid Foundation, is based on Gallup’s World Poll surveys of 1.3 million people (Leslie Albrecht, Dec. 7, 2019, https://www.marketwatch.com).

The other problem is that the presence of so many charities divides their resources, and the associated processing costs mean that proportionately less of a small donation can be used for good cause. For example, if it costs $2 to process a donation, that is just 2% of $100 donation but 20% of $10 donation. And once you’re on their radar, charities typically start spending marketing dollars to chase you for more donations (Liz Weston, Nov. 25, 2015, https://www.reuters.com).

Donors can help reduce processing costs by bundling their giving into one or finding a way to lessen the number of installment payments.

Research shows that some fast food and regular restaurants throw away a great deal of food even though millions of Americans are going hungry. For instance, a single restaurant wastes about 100,000 pounds of food a year (https://www.dinegreen.com/ waste). Many restaurants are reluctant to donate their edible leftovers to hunger relief

WHAT IS NEEDED IS, LEGISLATION STIPULATING THAT ONLY GRADUATES SHOULD BE GIVEN JOBS. AREN’T ATHLETES BARRED FROM BEING RECRUITED AS PROFESSIONALS WITHOUT GRADUATING? IN ADDITION, THEY SHOULD ALSO BE GIVEN FINANCIAL OR OTHER INCENTIVES TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO GRADUATE.

groups because, states Eleanor Goldberg, they’re afraid of being sued if the recipients become sick.

But they shouldn’t be so worried about such a backlash, experts say. As Nicole Civita (professor and director, the Food Recovery Project with the University of Arkansas School of Law; assistant director, the Rian Fried Center for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems, Sterling College) writes, there is no public record of anyone in the U.S. being sued or having to pay damages in such cases.

In fact, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (1996) protects restaurants from civil and criminal liability should a recipient get ill or hurt as a result. Donors are only culpable in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Regrettably, however, even 24 years after its passage this act remains an underutilized tool (“Restaurants Officially Have no Excuse Not to Donate Leftover Food,” HuffPost, July 18, 2016).

Jean Buzby and Jeffrey Hyman, who used the USDA’s Economic Research Service’s Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data to study the amount and value of the food being wasted, estimated that 29% of all food is wasted (“Total and Per Capita Value of Food Loss in the United States,” 37 Food Policy 561, 565 [2012]).

But some fast food chains have found ways to help. Panera has a national storewide policy of donating unused food to local homeless shelters. In 2015, Bon Appetit’s 650 cafes offered a “low-ball” estimate of having donated more than 286,000 pounds of food. Some initiatives are striking. In 2009, Arlan Preblud launched “We Don’t Waste” (https:// www.wedontwaste.org) — a Denver-based nonprofit that works with restaurants, universities, distributors and major stadiums to collect food five days a week and deliver it to recipients on the same day.

Perhaps some Muslim nonprofits should follow these examples and retrieve halal foods for needy Muslims.

Although accurate counts of the homeless population are impossible to come by, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that at least 40,056 veterans are among the large number of transient homeless Americans on any given night (https://www.usich.gov/resources/ uploads/asset_library/Homelessness_in_ America._Focus_on_Veterans.pdf). This, in my opinion, is a profoundly shameful and dishonorable way to treat those who were deployed in wars and possibly mentally and/or physically injured while defending our country.

Homeless shelters help many people, but they obviously have a limited capacity. During periods of extreme weather, they only house people between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. This problem could be solved by erecting affordable-housing apartment complexes that contain a library, a rehab center and a vocational center. The latter center could help residents by training them to become electricians, plumbers and other blue-collar professionals who could then find jobs, take care of themselves and their loved ones, be happy and independent, as well as help the economy.

Those who are interested in such an undertaking could build and maintain affordable accommodations — especially if there were a tax write-off incentive. In the 1970s I purchased two affordable apartment complexes in downtown Cincinnati in lowrent districts and enjoyed a comfortable tax write-off for their maintenance.

Surely there are other ideas, but I feel that such initiatives can help people escape poverty and restore their sense of personal dignity and worth. ih