The weather was typical of winter in Oconee County, South Carolina: wet, hazy, and cold. I wheeled my rattling Rambler into the driveway of a small frame house. Walking up the poorly-kept lawn, I shuffled toward a screenless front door. Behind that door I would find two small children walking stark naked through the dirt on the floor. No heat would comfort them this day when the temperature had plunged to near freezing. A television set, a broken-down sofa, and a bed comprised the entire furnishings of the house. An invalid father and a mother pulling two eight-hour shifts a day in the mill cannot break the vicious circle of poverty in which they have their being.

Actually, though, this family’s situation does not bother me as much as some responses I encountered when trying to help allevia…