Cathy Young on Linda Tirado and the Politicization of Poverty

The issue of poverty and responsibility starkly
divides leftists and liberals from conservatives and libertarians.
Is poverty caused by conditions beyond individual control, or by
bad personal choices? Can the poor help themselves, or is it a
social responsibility? In recent days, this debate has been
dramatized by the saga of Linda Walther Tirado, the woman who
(depending on which side you take) either perpetrated a brazen hoax
by offering “poverty porn” to the gullible left, or told a brave,
honest tale of American poverty only to be savaged by the heartless
right. As is often the case with conflicting politicized
narratives, writes Cathy Young, neither one quite matches the
facts. Tirado’s story is not a quite hoax; but there is nothing
honest about it. It is a combination of partial truths and dramatic
embellishments spun into a false narrative with a political
agenda.

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