What it means to be poor in America

I have been involved in several conversations recently involving our welfare system. The common theme seems to be that more people abuse it than need it. I thought that I would take a moment and debunk one of the peaces of so called evidence used by opponents of the system.
1. "I see people who use welfare driving nice cars and wearing nice clothes, clearly they are not poor."
This is an interesting idea, the idea that all people who have nice things must have a nice sized bank account. The problem here is two fold, one, it shows a lack of understanding about credit. Most middle class people understand that the car in a persons driveway is not always bought and paid for, but when it comes to welfare users they tend to forget that. We live in an auto centric society, some communities would be very difficult to navigate without a car. As to why the car has to be nice, being poor sucks. When a poor person goes home to their crummy apartment they are constantly aware of their poverty. Some have such a hunger to escape that poverty, even if it's just for a little while. They figure there is no reason why the people at the mall, or at work need to know how poor they are, so they pay for a car and clothes that they cannot afford.
For as long as anyone can remember, being poor has been a source of shame. Throughout human history other things were thought of as shameful; having a disability, being cheated on, being gay, but society has advanced to a point where with a few exceptions these things are not seen as shameful any longer. A woman who is cheated on today, can talk about it, because it is no longer seen as her fault. 
Poverty has failed to undergo such a change. It is as if people think that if it is no longer seen as shameful, it will have to be seen as something to be proud of. This is not the case at all. Being poor should be seen as just one way of being. It should not define the whole substance of the person in that condition. 
Until our society advances beyond this limited view of poverty, poor people will still by nice cars and expensive clothes. As a result, they will be more likely to remain in poverty, wasting money trying to hide something that they should never be made to feel ashamed of.