Favelas Essay

Affluenza is a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. It is a powerful virus that has infected the American society, threatening our wallets, our friendships, our families, our communities, and our environment. Since the United States has become the economic model for most of the world this virus is now flowing freely on every continent. The costs and consequences of this disease are massive even though they are often concealed. Left untreated however, it can cause permanent discontent. Affluenza is based on our culture and how it encourages its citizens to measure their worth by financial success and material possessions. The media such as the

Those who cannot afford the high prices of housing are often forced out into the streets where they face a very uncertain future due to the number of abuses they encounter daily from all walks of life, with the most damning being the vagrancy laws that come into vogue in areas that are getting gentrified, which many cities have passed to “protect” their newfound assets and tax base from the “lowering” of property values. Furthermore, when cities such as Los Angeles demand that property developers set aside affordable housing for lower income people, they get sued in court, such as in 2009, when real estate developer Geoffrey Palmer successfully sued in order to overturned an ordnance which required that. This was also the same man who also proposed building a footbridge connecting two of his buildings to minimize contact with people he deemed undesirable (Davis).

Parks’ portrayal of poverty begins as soon as he meets Flavio, a young boy who lives in the favela of Catacumba. When he first meets him, the author describes his appearance to be miserably thin and lacking pieces of clothing but a “filthy denim shorts”. Parks also recounts that his “legs resembled sticks covered with skin and screwed into his feet” pointing out the horribly mal-nutrient body of the poor boy. Furthermore, the author says it tragically that “Death was all over him, in his sunken eyes, cheeks and jaundiced coloring”(par.3) reminding again of Flavio’s deteriorating physique. The sickly boy was also known to carry “a tin of water on his head”(par.3), adding unto the physical burden he already had with his body. Parks captures poverty through Flavio in that the readers can see the brutal physical

The United States, a place where anyone can “pick themselves up by the bootstraps” and realize the American dream of a comfortable lifestyle. Well, for over 30 million Americans this is no longer possible. Though we live in the richest and most powerful country in the world there are many who are living under or at the precipice of the poverty level, “While the United States has enjoyed unprecedented affluence, low-wage employees have been testing the American doctrine that hard work cures poverty” (The Working Poor, 4). This translates to families of four making around 18,850$ a year. And as soon as they find work or move just slightly above that 18,850$ a year (which is still a meager and deprived way to

Sao Paulo is Brazil’s financial center and is well-known for its breathtaking views, its abundant cultural institutions and for their rich architectural scene. However, there are many negative issues that are ravaging the lives of the citizens in this city. For starters, Sao Paulo has terribly congested traffic, a significant amount of crime and gang violence, a lack of quality in the medicine-health field, a high amount of air pollution, and also water shortages. However, these are not the biggest of their obstacles. Sao Paulo’s most pressing issue of the moment is the informal housing that is plaguing the city. This essay will first analyze Sao Paulo, Brazil’s informal housing issue, then will compare Sao Paulo’s unique obstacle to similar

This is a picture of Downtown Hyattsville Arts District along the U.S. Route One corridor.This specific revitalized part of the Hyattsville Arts District is a very good example of urban renewal and is part of the Prince George's County Gateway Arts & Entertainment District. The district is just one district of many cultural districts recognized by the national organization, Americans for the Arts. According to Americans for the Arts: “Cultural districts are defined as well-recognized, labeled areas of a city in which a high concentration of cultural facilities and programs serve as the main anchor of attraction. They help strengthen local economies, create an enhanced sense of place, and deepen local cultural capacity”. In other words, these

Gentrification. More than a word but a statement that there is something new in town. A statement that allows one to see that there would be changes that will tear some families down but build some up. It had originated during times where blacks had been moving up on the ladder and was not wanted. Around the 1960’s there had been powerful upgrowing black businesses that many do not know today due to gentrification. Many things have kept culture alive in the district during the times of gentrification such us the music but things that people love. Teenagers and adults all over the globe, but mainly in the district have felt the empowerment and movements of Muhammad Ali. A man who had been more than a boxer, someone who fought in the ring and his people.

For the past two decades, gentrification has become a widely-known phenomenon in the U.S. as more wealthy cohorts of population move to quiet and cheap suburban areas instead of bearing the busy and costly lives in a big city. Changes brought by the influx of affluent newcomers in the suburban areas are often praised for fostering urban renewal as well as animating the areas’ local economy. However, the impacts of gentrification cause several types of new problems which now afflict long-time, low-income residents in “gentrifying” neighborhoods. With the soaring prices of the real estate market, landlords’ harassment against low-income tenants, and rising living expenses, gentrification further augments the inequality and conflicts between the poor and rich inhabitants.

In order to further support low-income communities and improve this population’s health the federal government needs to not only continue with the supplemental food programs they’ve already put in place, but enhance them by considering the barriers and address them. The government can intervene by integrating other components to the programs that further support people and help eliminate the main barrier by providing them direct access to grocery stores and healthier options. In order for government resources to be more effective in areas where there are limited grocery store options in the community, the government could begin by providing transportation services in areas where grocery stores are limited or if any at all. Providing transportation to those who are receiving government resources like WIC and SNAP would allow families to exhaust

Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums, predicts the direction in which the world’s cities are headed, and how the changes in living conditions are only going to deteriorate if certain trends continue. The title of his book explains Davis’s vision for the future of cities as he feels there is enough evidence pointing towards an exponential rise in slum populations across the world’s largest cities. Additionally, he expresses his opinion on many issues regarding the rapid rise in developing cities’ slum populations, although he offers very one-sided arguments geared towards those who feel the current system is causing more problems rather than improving current conditions. This causes Davis to overlook the problems of slums as resolvable through different modes of assistance such as international aid programs. Instead, he views aid programs as the root cause of imbalance created during industrialization. Throughout the book, Davis presents information that confirms his preconceptions towards the slums. Therefore, all the evidence that is presented by him portrays confirmation bias as Davis fails to mention anything about the resolution of the problem of the growing number of slums and instead sees this problem as unavoidable. Particularly, Davis’ writing, although intended for the general population, is more geared towards critics who have similar ideas. Instead of providing the means through which the economy could be improved and the problem of slums could be resolved, it is

Gentrification can be defined as “the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle class taste.” This topic stood out to me because I 've witnessed a great deal of gentrification in my District over the past year. I 've seen increases in rent, new restaurants, hospitals and changes in my district 's culture overall.

Throughout the United States, homelessness and poverty have become an overwhelming issue. From people losing their jobs to others having to give up their homes, nearly 14.5 percent of Americans experience some type of poverty. This could look like a small percentage to some but in reality, it's more than 45 million people. While this number may be decreasing, the stereotype of those who are in poverty still remains. It is often thought that those in poverty are non-educated addicts and are generally criminal people. This, however, fails to be proven true. In my personal experiences, it was believed that the homeless and impoverished were of a lower social level and it was easy to assume the poor were in their walk of life for more reasons than simply not having money. Drugs, crime, and poverty all seemed to have the same definition.

American factories can comprise of about up to 1000 workers. If American factories are shut down and moved to other countries, this takes many American people out of work. Companies are now also importing jobs. This is where employers hire people such as immigrants to work less than minimum wage. For that reason, many Americans are stuck with the other minimum wage, and low-paying jobs that barely get them through life. Because of this, many Americans are working full time jobs that are below the Federal poverty line. These types of people are often called the “working poor”. Due to this the working poor have to run to welfare. This affects all Americans because taxpayers are the ones paying for welfare. The more jobs that are taken

Poverty and inequality exist in every developed culture and often are only patched in order for society to continue upwardly. Poverty and inequality in the United States exists for many reasons; reasons that very from the prospective lens. Interpretive theories in particular ask us to question our reality and its constructs. Interpretive theories require us to looks at the world as a social realm, one that we created and constantly change. Interpretive theories study the relationship between power and the construction of social roles as well as the invisible collection of patterns and habits that make up domination, (Delgado & Stefanic, 2001). Susan Kemp argues that the view of the world is dominated by the experiences of white western

Unfortunately, it was estimated that roughly 1.2 billion people in 1993 lived in extreme or absolute poverty, that which Robert McNamara regards “‘a condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality and low life expectancy as to be beneath any reasonable standard of human dignity’” (Singer 219, 220). These estimates can be projected at nearly 2 billion today. A large majority of the people living in absolute poverty resides in underdeveloped countries. Among the nearly 4.4 billion people in these countries, “3/5 lives in societies lacking basic sanitation; 1/3 go without safe drinking water; 1/4 lack adequate housing; 1/5 are undernourished, and 1.3 billion live on less than $1 a day” (Speth 1).