Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace (Reflection)

Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace reading was a real eye opener to me.  I come from a small town in Rhode Island and never hear or see the things that some of these people see everyday.  Honestly, I couldn't imagine seeing that, I would probably run away from it because it is scary to me.  Reading about how they all live on a day to day basis really opened my eyes.  There was a part in the reading where a professor from NYU stated that "If poor people behaved rationally" then they wouldn't be in the situations that they are in today.  I completely disagree with that.  We don't know the backgrounds of each person, so how can you jump to a conclusion like that?  Some of these people were born into debts already and it's not their fault.  Money plays a huge part in our society and if you don't have any, then likely you cannot even get a loan.  It really bothers me when people assume that someone is lazy or that if you give a poor/homeless person money, that they will go and buy useless things or even alcohol.  Some may, but not everyone is like that.  This reading has really moved me, to realize how lucky I am to have the things that I have.  But, at the same time it makes me want to help and give back. Then it frustrates me because I don't know how I can help.  I look forward to reading more of these articles, maybe some of them can answer more of my questions.