Is it? Poverty isn't a choice...it's more like a system you are put in when you're born. The education you get (street education, school) and the things you learn are reflective of your community and surroundings. I'm sure there a percentage who just made bad decisions but a lot of people are just born into that culture. The question is then: does everyone in poverty have the potential to get out? Are only the "brilliant" (yet poverty-stricken) children able to find their way out? Take Malcolm X for example. After the assassination of his father, his family was left poor. He was, in fact, extremely smart, but the environment he was in forced him to use his intelligence for evil. Nevertheless, he freed himself from the shackles of poverty. It was only when he was placed in jail (a life change that was forced upon him) that he started to think differently. But even then, to keep his brain active and study was a choice he made. He very well could have say in jail and done nothing. It just so happens that the choices he made given his situation led him out of darkness.
So now, I guess I'm saying that poverty isn't a choice, but staying in it is THE choice, or number of choices that one makes.
