The above quote is attributed to Kin Hubbard, as written by Kurt Vonnegut in his seminal book, "Slaughterhouse Five". Vonnegut's book was published in 1969, and if anything, the legal situation for the poor and disenfranchised in America has gotten appreciably worse. America has so many laws on the books in so many different communities that in actual fact and practicality, being poor, is not only a disgrace but often a criminal or a civil offense against the State. While we read in Luke 9:3, that Christ made the charge to his apostles to: "Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece," this would in today's world, mean almost certainly monetary fines, or jail time, or harassment, or possibly physical abuse. Further in Luke 9:58, we read: "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Unfortunately, for the Christ, if his incarnation had come about in modern day America, He wouldn't be preaching in public, but would be spending most of His time in jail, under vagrancy laws or perhaps for inciting civil unrest.
The poor in America get the short end of the stick in just about every situation that they come across. For instance, traffic tickets are an important source of income for many communities, to which, the cost of the ticket for someone gainfully employed is the same as someone suffering from limited opportunities and a limited income while still working the same forty hours as the more fortunate person, but simply being paid appreciably less for doing so. Further to this point, a traffic ticket has ramifications beyond just the ticket and its payment, to which if you don't pay it on time, or fail to make your court appearance, there are additional penalties and fines imposed, which can lead to a sentence of community service, which is essentially the use of your labor for free, the possible suspension of your driver's license, an increase in your car insurance costs, and should all these events merge together, possible jail time.
When it comes to banking, the poor too are treated like so much chaff, because often they do not have the same sort of access to the traditional banking system as those with money and means. For instance, many people are able to avoid banking fees, because they have the appropriate balance in their account and further they are able to avoid debit fees because they make sure to use their debit card only at their own bank's ATM or other banks that are networked into the same system. Whereas, for poor people, often they can't maintain the necessary minimum balance in their account, initiating unwanted fees, and if they should become short of the balance needed to cover a check, they will suffer with additional fees for overdraft protection in order to make good on these checks. Then there are the unbanked, that have no traditional banking relationship, but instead have to use check-cashing services at a local store, which will charge them a fee for doing so, a fee for money orders or other cash instruments, and a fee and a very high interest rate to borrow money against their paychecks.
The poor are squeezed by every side, and those that have little or no income, and nowhere to rest their weary heads, are often harassed, herded, and/or placed in jail, under the charge of criminal trespassing, for the crime of sleeping in the streets or for general vagrancy.
The reason that the State is so hard on the poor, is seldom because of a real safety concern for residents, but in reality as a way to break their spirit and to control them, as if they were animals; never once recognizing that the poor are our fellow brothers, created by the same God, and entitled therefore to common decency, respect, and love.