> 3. Having lived large parts of my adult life on a sub subsistence level has helped me be empathetic towards poverty etc.
It is unclear how having enough enough resources so that you could not produce anything for 6 years makes it easier for you to understand poverty than people who never had such privilege. I'm sure any person actually in poverty would much rather do nothing productive for 6 years while still having a roof over their heads, a dry place to sleep and food to eat.
I think if being empathetic towards poverty is something that is important to it may be better obtained by just sending people to an impoverished place with no resources, social support structures or accommodation for a week.
It is unclear how having enough enough resources so that you could not produce anything for 6 years makes it easier for you to understand poverty than people who never had such privilege. I'm sure any person actually in poverty would much rather do nothing productive for 6 years while still having a roof over their heads, a dry place to sleep and food to eat.
I think if being empathetic towards poverty is something that is important to it may be better obtained by just sending people to an impoverished place with no resources, social support structures or accommodation for a week.