Sociological poverty is defined by receiving assistance, not lacking means

Evidence

In this way, poverty is a unique sociological phenomenon: a number of individuals who, out of a purely individual fate, occupy a specific organic position within the whole; but this position is not determined by this fate and condition, but rather by the fact that others—individuals, associations, communities—attempt to correct this condition. Thus, what makes one poor is not the lack of means. The poor person, sociologically speaking, is the individual who receives assistance because of this lack of means. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 448

Categorization

• DEFINE: Simmel’s famous formal definition of the poor person as one who receives assistance, inverting the commonsense economic definition.
• QUESTION: This relational definition — identity as social position conferred by others’ corrective acts — parallels how the blasé attitude and stranger role are also socially assigned rather than intrinsic. Worth pursuing for the essay.
• XREF: connects to: Poverty is defined by social reaction, not by material deficiency — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 444; Poverty, like crime, is defined by social reaction rather than inherent state — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 445; People from impoverished conditions do not always recognize their poverty. — Crews, Harry, A childhood the biography of a place, 21 (+3 more)

Related

• Poverty is defined by social reaction, not by material deficiency (similarity 0.94)
• Poverty, like crime, is defined by social reaction rather than inherent state (similarity 0.92)
• Classifying poverty as social rather than moral or economic enables political change. (similarity 0.84)
• Society aids the poor to neutralize a threat, not to help them (similarity 0.83)
• A person can be socially poor yet individually wealthy (similarity 0.83)
• The poor form a social stratum united by society’s attitude, not by interaction (similarity 0.80)
• Class norms can render poverty invisible by forbidding both asking and offering help (similarity 0.79)
• Welfare can target the fact of poverty or its individual causes (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• A person can be socially poor yet individually wealthy #corroborates (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 439
• Poverty is defined by powerlessness and cannot be simulated by renunciation #contradicts (0.70)
• People from impoverished conditions do not always recognize their poverty. #corroborates (0.60) — Crews, Harry, A childhood the biography of a place, 21