"Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit"

This quote suggests that individuals that are staying in poverty are often unjustly penalized for conditions past their control. It indicates that hardship is not an outcome of individual options or activities, however rather a repercussion of systemic issues and also inequalities. Equally as it would be unjustified to penalize a person for a criminal offense they did not devote, it is also unreasonable to blame people for their hardship when they have not triggered it themselves.