How the Other Half Lives Reflection

The Progressive Era had a distinct separation of social classes, differentiating economic positions within the cities themselves between the poor and the wealthy elite. Through dangerous factory conditions, horrid living circumstances, and the overall experience within the slums of the city, those living below the poverty line had all but nothing to take advantage of in regards to purchasing decently crafted goods, partaking in leisure time, and even having the funds to move into a two bedroom home for their larger sized families. Through future Progressive Era reforms, the lives of the poor had substantially improved as the result of between housing

Riis shows how society had long turned a blind eye to this less reality. As he informs the readers in How the other Half Lives, the upper classes had long harbored fear from the poor. This fact proved very useful for Riis as it gave him room to use fear-evoking arguments to convince the higher class that the social reform is essential for everyone’s good. Riis argued that the ever- growing poverty in America posed a high risk not only for immigrants living in the slums. He employed statistical data correlating the ever-growing poverty with the increase the crime rate as well as the rapid expansion of tenement, to warn the middle and high class that poverty is a serious risk for them too. Hi goes on to argue that the cholera epidemic showed Americans how devastating such widespread illness could be, especially in urban areas. He warned the middle and high class that the tenements were the hotbeds for such epidemics and reminded them that such deceases never discriminate but bring death to the rich and poor alike.

Riis covers many aspects of the poverty that has stricken the tenement lodgers but when talking about one end of the spectrum (poor) you also need to discuss the other (rich). With out telling people how the other half of the other half lives he’s leaving out a crucial part of how people live in New York. By avoiding, that topic he’s giving the illusion that all people in New York live in such cramped housing as tenements. When in reality New York was and is presently not composed of strictly tenement housing. There was a ‘rich’ part of town where the thought of not having any money was never even contemplated. In addition, where the industrial revolution only touched higher societies on positive outcomes such as economics the industrial revolution only made it harder for the immigrants to get ahead. By this, meaning, that they worked harder, got paid little to nothing, and still had to compensate for the short comings that where being pressed against them because they were in fact immigrants.

(F) Men such as Carnegie and Rockefeller prospered enormously under this system at the expense of foreigners, women, and children, who were simultaneously "dwarfed" due to harsh working conditions. (G) While 10% of the population reached new economic pinnacles, the remaining 90% struggled to maintain a steady income. Lacking government support, the common man suffered while the rich man thrived.

In How the Other Half Lives, the author Jacob Riis sheds light on the darker side of tenant housing and urban dwellers. He goes to several different parts of the city of New York witnessing first hand the hardships that many immigrants faced when coming to America. His journalism and photographs of the conditions of the tenant housing helped led the way of reformation in the slums of New York. His research opened the eyes of many Americans to the darker side of the nation's lower class. Though it seems that he blamed both the victims and the board forces of society, I believe that he placed more of the blame on the board forces for the conditions that many immigrants faced.

Poverty has been a big issue over the past century or so and continues to be a problem to this day in the United States. Due to the Civil War, rural areas and industrial areas were affected by poverty. The poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877 was different from the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939. Even though both situations were dealing with a form of poverty, both were two completely different situations. There were several major events that happened that caused poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877. Although there were various events leading up to the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939, poverty in the year of 1877 was just as bad, if not worse, as in the year of 1939.

Supposedly, both the individuals with ascribed statuses with hereditary wealth and the poor and homeless have equal chances to become successful although, Orestes Bronwnson in The Laboring Classes, pointed out that this is not true. “Do the young man inheriting ten thousand pounds and the one whose inheritance is merely the gutter, start even?” (219). As a result, the harsh separation of the rich and the poor, where capitalism thrives and,” the division of the community into two classes, one which owns the funds…the other provides the labor” (216). The inhumane apprehension of a capitalist society that keeps its workers “in a permanent system, [has] given preference to the slave system” (214) says a lot about the evils of capitalism corresponding with the false American Dream. An outcome of capitalism is the frustrating rivalry between the poor. “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining the country. The competition is maddening”

many of the wealthy families although aware of the reality most ignored it. The new incoming immigrants were not as aware of the actuality of western life. Despite their lack of knowledge, in their native countries their lives apparently were much worse when compared to America. There were many reasons that native Europeans left, the lack of democracy was one. As stated earlier a majority of Europe was a monarchy at the time; the commoners had no free will basically. An insignificant amount of people who left for religious freedom. This book shocked society into facing these problems. The fact that Riis did not paint some pretty story for the reader to read and be happy; he stated the facts. He did this to clarify the need for reform throughout the city. Although Riis showed prejudice against certain members of the slums. Riis’s novel sparked interest in the readers the nation called for reforms. His book was written near the start of the Progressive Era. New reforms for the betterment of society were being made. One that helped tenements was the Tenement House Act of 1867 which clearly defined what a tenement must and must not have. Riis’s friendship with Roosevelt helped him to bring upon changes like the park that is now named after him; he said that crime would drop if only the kids who lived in the slums were able to have fresh air away from temptation. With Roosevelt’s

Connected to these changes were rapidly declining sanitary conditions in tenement housing and rising prices. Immigrants came to America with visions of “streets paved in gold” and a chance to rise through hard work. Americans who had lived longer in the country and who harbored rabid anti-immigrant sentiments greeted them with derision and abuse. They saw immigrants as competition in an already dwindling job market, and bearers of the dreaded Catholicism, socialism, communism, and other “foreign evils.” Social Darwinism, in vogue at the time, only compounded the problems of the poor. Darwin’s work in animal dominance was translated into social beliefs that benefitted successful businessmen and capitalist bullies. Social Darwinism claimed that the wealthy were dominant because they were superior, and the poor were so because they were inherently flawed. The effect of this theory was that no help was offered to the poor because they deserved none, and there was no call to level the playing field because the rich had triumphed through natural selection. With more and more people pouring into the major industrialized cities, new arrivals were forced (often tricked) into cheap and dirty tenement housing in the more dangerous areas of town, in order to afford bare subsistence in a society already glutted with humanity and twisted notions about nationality.

Riis covers many aspects of the poverty that has stricken the tenement lodgers but when talking about one end of the spectrum (poor) you also need to discuss the other (rich). With out telling people how the other half of the other half lives he's leaving out a crucial part of how people live in New York. By avoiding, that topic he's giving the illusion that all people in New York live in such cramped housing as tenements. When in reality New York was and is presently not composed of strictly tenement housing. There was a ‘rich' part of town where the thought of not having any money was never even contemplated. In addition, where the industrial revolution only touched higher societies on positive outcomes such as economics the industrial revolution only made it harder for the immigrants to get ahead. By this, meaning, that they worked harder, got paid little to nothing, and still had to compensate for the short comings that where being pressed against them because

As the author moved from locale to locale she identified a variety of recurring hardships faced by the working poor. The chief concern for many was housing. Finding and maintaining economical housing was the principal source of disruption in their lives. For many of the working poor it’s not uncommon to spend more than 50% of income on housing. These leaves a scarce amount of money left over for anything else and creates a situation where the person is always worried about losing their shelter. In a nutshell, it’s Ehrenreich’s conviction that wages are too low and rents are too high. She does speak with many individuals who simply cannot afford the high rental rates and are forced to live with family, friends, or in some

The housing crisis in New York City disguises itself well, hiding in the back of commercial zones or illegal tenements. Jacob Riis, a reformer at the end of the last century, spoke through photographs of the City’s poorest neighborhoods to impress the issue upon the world. His book, How the Other Half Lives, was a cry to the public for affordable housing and livable conditions for the city’s poor. Ironically, as an October 1996 New York Times article points out, 100 years under the bridge has not created even a marginal move of progress. Contrary to the popular belief that hard work and fair play yield access to the “American Dream,?the Times article depicts the conditions of the working poor, the “all but homeless?class that exists day by day.

During the start of the 1800s major poor citizens of New York City outer the South bears a resemblance to poor of Europe. These people were majorly widows, orphans, seasonal workers out from season, or persons too sick or too old to do work. Local governments provide them “Outdoor relief” comprising of firewood, food, or slightest amount of cash named as alms, initially from an intellect of communal responsibility or paternalism. State poor Laws innate from customs of English, necessitates cities to care for their poor citizens.

Firstly, the Have Nots, or the working class, could barely afford housing. “Most urban resident, however, could

Homelessness has always been a problem in major cities across the United States and even the world. This problem also affects out local community and even all of us individually. (Daily) A majority of the American people lives paycheck to paycheck, and according to statistics, we are only one or two paychecks away from becoming homeless. While there are many reasons a person or family can become homeless, a majority of those problems come from a lack of income. The job market of today is quickly dwindling and shows no signs of improvement. This market mixed with new government policies is becoming an issue for struggling American’s on the poverty line. Homelessness is becoming a vast problem