ABSTRACT
This chapter proceeds from theme to theme, showing what the author have learned and, ultimately, what remains to be done. The first theme deals with the emotional baggage associated with poverty, from their negative monikers to difficult affective states. The second theme reveals restrictions faced by the impoverished as they seek to navigate marketplaces that disallow appropriate access. The third theme shows that not all impoverished people fall into "learned helplessness" as they seek alternative ways to gain access to possessions that they cannot acquire through normal channels. The fourth theme examines different ways that poverty plays out in affluent versus impoverished nations around the world. The fifth theme recognizes the integrity of the poor despite circumstances that would make many people give up hope. This first theme resonates within the author's research on poverty and consumption, and it comes in several varieties. Emotional reactions can be devastating, leaving people nearly comatose.
