think-progress:

What Kansas basketball star Ben McLemore can teach us about poverty:

Barring injury, McLemore will sign a multimillion-dollar contract in the near future, allowing him and his family to escape the horrors they have long faced. And while his focus, ability, and accomplishment are worthy of more praise than he could possibly receive, Ben McLemore remains the exception.

That we are cutting our already-stingy social safety net, that we have perpetuated the “Hoop Dreams”-style society in which millions of children think the way out of poverty is a lottery they’ll almost surely lose, is not a cause for celebration. It is an American tragedy.

Read more from Travis Waldron.