The Pope is a Tourist

I keep hearing about how great the Pope is because he drives a reasonably priced car and lives in a modest apartment. To me, and many others, this behavior is more insulting than comforting (although to many others it's ok because the pope is the one doing it) At the end of the day he still has no financial worries, his car is, I'm sure, in perfect working order, he will never be stranded on the side of the road, he'll never have to worry about his breaks wearing out, or even if the oil has to be changed. He will never face an eviction notice, or have to choose between getting to work, or keeping the heat on, or food on the table.

He's not "living like the people" he's a tourist putting on the stereotypical trappings of a poor person to make the Vatican look better, and it does more harm than good. When someone in power does things to "act poor" like drive a crappy car, or trim down their belongings to what they can carry, they are a) diminishing the struggles of people who are forced to live that way b) enforcing the stereotype of the poor c) they are doing it for themselves, to make them look better. These actions further the FoxNews narrative that poor people have to be absolutely destitute to be poor, and that they have other means to live their life because hey, the Pope can do it, why can't everyone else? as well as the line that poor people aren't allowed to have nice things, because to be like the poor you have to give up most of your possessions and forms of entertainment until you fit the narrative of poverty.

This isn't exclusive to the Pope by far, I know several well off people who do this stuff, and all those shows about people living off the grid gloss over privileged you have to be to be able to do that sort of thing. , It's a tool used by those in power to diminish the struggle of those they persecute while simultaneously making those they keep down like them better.