re: #9 CuriousLurker

Good question.

Thinking about the poverty question in relation to what Bob was saying, if you have the means to meet all your needs, the basics (food/water, shelter, clothing) and then some extras, than you don’t need anyone’s help. Or, if you need help from others, at least you can be a bit more critical if your situation isn’t desperate. Not the case when you are suffering. That gives room for lots of groups to move in. Hamas considers themselves a “humanitarian group” because they provide those basic needs so the people don’t care what else they do, even when they’re threatening and violent or put the population at risk. So when you have a little bit of $, you have the room to question and criticize. You don’t have to be particularly wealthy for that either.