Actually, In the USA - poor does equate with lazy... or crazy.
Actually, that isn't true. It is what would generally be considered a prejudiced, or bigoted, opinion. Poverty has many causes. While laziness and mental instability can lead to poverty, they are by no means the only two reasons that poverty exist.
13 states revolted over a ~15% teatax.
Perhaps I've been mislead. It was my understanding that the "Boston Tea Party" and the American Revolution had more to do with lack of representation than with taxation.
On Bigotry: Poverty isn't a persistent (like a genetic disorder) or a permanent (like death) condition. It's a situation, the 'cause' doesn't matter in the slightest. Everyone has been down and out at some time or another. The will to change the situation is all that is needed. The people who live in poverty in this nation do so because they choose to... the only reasonable explanation for that choice is mental disorder or laziness.
On the American Revolution:
http://www.americassurvivalguide.com/declaration-of-independence.phpJust read that, then tell me it was about lack of representation. Really it was about defending the colonies from tyrannical rule that was generally abusing, killing and plundering what they were building.