The Endless Cycle of Poverty and Our Indifference
February 11, 2025
I find myself talking about poverty again. And again. I may be repeating myself, but I believe it is necessary because poverty and inequality remain our biggest problems, and yet we are entirely ignorant and uninterested in addressing them.
This morning, by chance, I was listening to a parliamentary debate in the car about a law requiring everyone to have a bank account. How is it even possible that this is not already the case? According to research by the central bank, 16% of the population does not have a current bank account, and 12% have no relationship with a bank. It is unclear whether these numbers should be added together, but nearly 30,000 people are excluded from banking and society. Unsurprisingly, this group overlaps with the 30% living below the poverty line and the 80% who survive on less than 3,000 guilders per month.
Later, I arrived at a Colombian café for a coffee and ran into an economist I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. Our conversation inevitably turned to the topic of poverty. His conclusion was clear: the Curaçaoan is lazy and refuses to work. His argument? Foreigners take on jobs, but locals consider themselves too good for work in tourism, for example. The welfare state here is too generous—social benefits, subsidized housing, assistance with water and electricity bills, and free medical treatment for undocumented people. That’s why people don’t work.
I suggested he read Armoede uitgelegd aan mensen met geld. I tried to explain that emigration is a selection mechanism. Curaçaoans who move to the Netherlands do take on work. We only hear about the ones who fall into crime. Similarly, some Latinos in Curaçao also end up in criminal activities. If someone wants to work in Curaçao, they must first solve the transportation issue because public transport is not a viable option for most workers. Sandals, for instance, has its buses to transport employees.
But his conclusion was already set in stone. My conclusion, however, is different: if you have been unemployed in Curaçao for more than six months, your best option is to leave. The system will not help you find a job, nor will the people around you. Our so-called intellectuals already know the answer: you are lazy and unwilling to wash dishes or clean gardens. Ironically, these same intellectuals should be developing policies to combat poverty. And if the poor are the problem, it is not the inability of the intellectuals to develop policies to reduce poverty.
Miguel Goede
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