Aporophobia is a negative attitude toward poverty that often culminates in an irrational fear of very poor people. It is the plight of being terrified by physical destitution when having to walk by a boozed-up bum. The word comes from the ancient Greek áporos (without resources). It sums up the horror the well-meaning citizen experiences seeing clear evidence that the system doesn’t work for all.

The roots of aporophobia are difficult to pin down. Most people, living in a safe comfortable home and regularly eating nice square meals, cross the street without thinking twice at the sight of a lunatic panhandler, or reflexively clutch their pearls. They try to avoid eye contact as if their lives depended on it. There’s an unenunciated belief that poverty is contagious if you brush against it, even ever so lightly.

If severe, aporophobia can interfere with daily activities such as making loads of cash or going on luxury vacations.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most commonly used treatment, although sometimes medication has to be prescribed to alleviate anxiety attacks.

Final note on aporophobia: Next time you bump into a deranged derelict, say a prayer for his soul, and also thank somebody up there that you’ve survived the encounter. Let’s call it what it is, the compassion of the Twenty-First Century.

The post Aporophobia first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.