The problem with people with advantages is that they are unable to understand how a world outside their own works. From the perspective of the marginalized, most assume that wealthy people have enough money to throw at problems so that they do not become overwhelming. This perspective does not change anything about the world of the wealthy because poor people have no power. However, when rich people make assumptions about the life of the distressed, they speak and act from a position of power, and can devastate communities.
Many disadvantaged people do their best to live in affordable housing, and often struggle to traverse their neighborhoods to get to work. Unfortunately, people with money disagree about whether housing is a human right, which means that developers will only build when profit is possible. From a business perspective, that makes total sense, and such a mindset is responsible for the rise in luxury housing. However, if loitering and homelessness are crimes, it is irrational to only make housing that will fetch a high price. Mathematically, only wealthy people can afford it because of wage stagnation.
Wealthy people view public transportation as a nuisance that blocks traffic and generates unpleasant scenes for those who would otherwise enjoy a city’s amenities. Poor people look at public transit as the only way they are able to function when they are forced to live on the margins. Consequently, most bus routes are changed to accommodate those who least need it while diminishing access to living wage work for those who live on the boundaries of town. In theory, the marginalized can get cars, but since there are laws about carrying insurance, car registration, and environmental standards with emissions, it stands to reason that it is a poor choice to force people without means to purchase vehicles. That takes away too much income for an inanimate object, a problem that could be solved by public transportation–but those without it cannot appreciate such circumstances.
Finally, food is a necessity, and because it is trendy again to be “healthy,” having access to good food can mean the difference between being able to work or constantly being sick. Rich people are courted by a variety of vendors, and literally have the option of ignoring food choices because of what is available in their communities. Underprivileged people function at the whims of the wealthy who choose which stores to place where and whom they hire. If the wealthy want poor people to eat fast food, they will not only market fast food in poor communities, but since they have hiring power, they will make the hours of residents so erratic that poor people have no time to cook or make better choices. Those that lack have little power to combat such manipulation.
It is assumed that deprived communities make poor choices, but reality demonstrates that people will little power have little opportunity to make choices. Income, location, and health determine the lives of many without human beings able to actively participate. If the privileged respect those without, they will acknowledge their positions and not further agitate the reality for those they choose not to understand.
