Hidden Networks

People generally learn how to survive while poor because there are other people who know how to survive poverty, especially since people understand that not having enough is a problem that several people have. Rather than communicate with the powers that be, most networks are hidden, because if businesses or the government learned about the system, there would likely be attempts to either monetize or control the networks, or both. Unfortunately, when many people have less to share among themselves, poverty becomes more of a survival effort, and the communities built to last start to compete with each other instead of collaborate, which is the point of deprivation from the “elite.

For example, there are multiple networks who form systems creating microloans, where everyone contributes and people can avoid predatory lending practices. Banks would be losing on interest and fees, so many of the predatory financiers intentionally locate in marginalized communities, which further strips such communities of resources. When living costs rise beyond the reach of working class citizens, there is no additional funding that can be pooled to create microloans. Sadly, more people are at the mercy of the predators because wages are not rising, and employers are looking to replace workers with technology instead of paying more.

Long-term marginalized communities also maintained hidden networks that allowed people services who were consistently denied. However, to make a neighborhood a slum or to claim that it is blighted, governments and businesses need to dissolve those networks so that “investors” can swoop in to make profits. If everyone has to work extra hours, lawn care and property maintenance become a thing of the past, and people have difficulties connecting with others to share resources. When displacement affects such a community, the residents become strangers to each other and the original residents become vulnerable without access to informal childcare networks and consistent neighborhood watch systems.

Even children were able to form networks in the past, which created lawncare groups, and began the grunge movement of garage bands. When I was younger, I remember the inspiration from the novel series The Babysitters Club which inspired me to babysit neighbors; I even saved up to buy Super Mario Bros 3. Just like kids of the past, I recently saw two kids pushing a tree that had fallen down, keeping it away from the bridge and into a nearby creek. Children who are able to connect also develop bonds with their communities, which inspires engagement once they reach adulthood. When parents have to drive everywhere, that autonomy is taken away, and kids become more vulnerable to malfeasance because they fail to develop relationships with safe individuals, even if they are neighbors.

When people have nothing, we do everything we can to not only motivate ourselves to help others, but inspire others to continue the trend. In the past, these networks have created groups that were able to organize and fight against the degradation of the dominant narrative. Sadly, when people need to be in control, they tear down those networks because there is a demand that those who would be autonomous depend on those with power and money. It makes sense that people have become more impoverished, because even the excessive lies of the empire are no longer believable, and the government is using pain to destroy communities.