What Made Being Poor Less Stigmatizing at the Beginning of Western

What made being poor less stigmatizing at the beginning of Western society than it is in the U.S. today?

A) people lacked communication and media, so no one found out that one was poor
B) instability due to crop failures and illness, combined with the fact that most of the society lived at close to subsistence levels, created a context where everyone knew that they could become poor themselves
C) people were more compassionate and moral back then
D) poverty did not become stigmatizing until the creation of formal 'welfare' programs