Ben Carson Says Poverty is a “State of Mind”

Did you know that your financial state is all in your head? Thanks to Ben Carson, we now have all the answers

On Wednesday, the Housing and Urban Development Secretary made headlines for his comments about poverty, claiming “the wrong mindset” contributes to deficiency. Despite systemic obstacles and the fact that a positive mindset does not pay the bills, the retired neurosurgeon told Armstrong Williams in a SiriusXM interview that the right mindset can make someone work their way to the top.

“I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind,” Carson told his longtime friend. “You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they’ll be right back up there. And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you could give them everything in the world, they’ll work their way right back down to the bottom.”

He continued with suggestions on how to prevent the youth from developing the “wrong mindset,” revealing that it starts with the parents.

“A lot of it has to do with what we teach children,” he told Williams. “You have to instill into that child the mindset of a winner.”

“I think the majority of people don’t have that defeatist attitude, but they sometimes just don’t see the way, and that’s where government can come in and be very helpful,” he continued. “It can provide the ladder of opportunity, it can provide the mechanism, that will demonstrate to them what can be done.”

Many have since criticized Carson for his comments, refuting the idea that systematic poverty can be combated by a change of mindset. Rep Nita Lowey tweeted the HUD Secretary saying “States of Mind: Happy. Sad. New York. Not a state of mind: Systematic poverty.”

What are your thoughts?