RantCrush Top 5: May 25, 2017

In an interview with columnist and commentator Armstrong Williams, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said yesterday that if you are poor, it could largely be because you have the wrong mindset. “I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind,” he said during the conversation, which was broadcast on SiriusXM Radio. He claimed that you could give all the resources in the world to somebody, and if they have the wrong mindset they will end up destitute anyway. In the same fashion, he posited that if you take everything from a person who has the right mindset, he or she would just work their way up to success again. “A lot of it has to do with what we teach children,” the retired brain surgeon added. “You have to instill into that child the mindset of a winner.” People on social media immediately reacted to the comments.

Dear @SecretaryCarson,

States of mind:
✔️ Happy
✔️ Sad
✔️ New York

NOT a state of mind:
❌ Systemic poverty https://t.co/HAuQrNzvTL

— Nita Lowey (@NitaLowey) May 24, 2017

Ben Carson said poverty is a state of mind.

Next month, I’m going to tell my landlord that I paid my rent with positive thinking!

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 24, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.