As regular readers know, I’m a big advocate of Social Emotional Learning (The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources).

I’ve also been a critique of those, like NY Times columnist David Brooks, who promote what I call “The Let Them Eat Character” strategy by suggesting that all people have to do is develop some of those SEL skills, like grit and self-control in order to escape poverty (see The Best Resources Showing Social Emotional Learning Isn’t Enough).

Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, became the latest person parroting that line this week saying that people in poverty just have “the wrong mind-set.”

Today, The New York Times published a response to his comments, and it’s the best rebuttal imaginable. Columnist Emily Badger basically took all the research you can find in my “Best” list and summarized it succinctly. In the future, you won’t have to bother reviewing all those links – just reader her column, Does ‘Wrong Mind-Set’ Cause Poverty or Vice Versa?

Here’s an excerpt: