According to Elizabeth Kneebone, author of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America”, the growth of suburban poverty is partly due to the dark economic situations that forced people beneath “the line” and by migration. She added that most low-wage jobs in America are in the suburbs, and that people mistakenly believe that more services are offered in the suburbs than in the cities. Looking at the fast-growing poor population in the suburbs, this phenomenon has become a community situation where anyone is susceptible of. Furthermore, it indicates that there needs to be a synergistic, universal change to better the situation (the government and organizations should change as well). Even if I had been working in a position that was considered …show more content…
In her Chicago neighborhood where she grew up at, Sheila described that there were gang violence, drug trade that limited educational opportunities. And as a result of crimes, drop outs, and poor education, people were only able to earn ten to twelve thousand yearly with federal help. Furthermore, as Sheila’s sister was killed by a gun shot, her family went into deep poverty due to the traumatic experience and was never able to recover. Ronald says from his past experience that people in his area had depended on the environment. Those who were jobless came to his boat and worked on spot to earn money by picking oysters and fishing. However, Ronald adds that it has changed through time due to the failing environment. As hurricanes hit and oil spilled on the coastline, the produce that was crucial in preserving their lives had disappeared. People had started to worry about the future as well. If hard working and intelligent people are unable to find any work, people will become hopeless. People who have jobs will do all they can to guard their jobs, while those who are jobless will desperately compete to get into the limited amount of space. Thus, society’s standards and expectations toward people will drastically elevate, making it harder for …show more content…
The film informs that in the mid 1900’s, America was able to reduce poverty by half with private organizations and charity, various government programs, and effort. Governmental aid such as food stamps, James was able to finally start again and get employed. And it is absolutely the government’s responsibility in doing so, because it exists and functions to promote the general welfare of the country, which includes the poor. The American Dream suggests that every citizen of the United States should be granted equal opportunity in bringing about achievements and affluence through intelligence, hard work, and perseverance. However, I’ve seen many people who work extremely hard and yet are having trouble going above the poverty line. I almost think that the idea of an American Dream is perhaps an ideal, not something that is achievable anymore. Each story unites as they suggest that hope is crucially needed and wanted by the people under the line, whether it comes from government aid, communities, or ministers. And with the sources of encouragement, people should be learned that being poor is not their entity, but is only part of what they
The author explained how the government established policies and initiatives that created ghettos and suburbs. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a program that helped citizens become homeowners by lending loans. However, only certain neighborhoods qualified for those loans. Research and data were used to prove that certain areas were considered a loss of investment. The
The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of a real problem, media misrepresentation, and to try to have the reader change the way the think, feel, and perceive the poor. She gives examples of encounters she has had that are a result of the damaging depiction and conveys to the reader why those thoughts are wrong by using her own personal experiences. She mentions that before entering college she never thought about social class. However, the comments from both other students and her professors about poverty were alarming to her. Other people viewed the poor as, “shiftless, mindless, lazy, dishonest, and unworthy” indigents. Hook opposes that stereotypical image of the poor, referring back to being taught in a “culture of poverty,” the values to be intelligent, honest, and hard-working. She uses these personal experiences to her advantage by showing she has had an inside look at poverty.
Overall, this exercise showed me the very real struggle that those who live in poverty face when trying to simply provide the bare necessities such as housing and food. Even so, the need for reform in intense. The first step in overcoming the financial barriers of poverty is not merely raising minimum wage or providing more governmental assistance, but the main area that needs reformation is in the eyes of the American populace. By changing the viewpoint of Americans who are not in financial poverty, the rest of the reform will follow
Anyone coming or currently living in the United States has a dream, or better yet known as the American Dream. What is the American Dream? Well, Brandon King, author of “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” quoted James Truslow Adams, who wrote that the American Dream “is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement, regardless of coral class or circumstances of birth”(610). Everyone’s American Dreams are all different, but a majority of them all have a few things in common, that is becoming financially fit, acquiring a good education, and pursuing the opportunities that were not available. Brandon King expresses that the ideals and values of the American Dream are very much alive. However, Paul Krugman author of “Confronting Inequalities” bring up several excellent points as well, regarding that not all Americans can pursue the American Dream because of all the inequalities Americans currently possesses. Achieving the American Dream is not impossible, but it is harder to attain now than how it used to be with social, income, and racial inequalities being the primary cause. As of now individuals has to overcome many of bias barriers to reach the American Dream which used to be a lot easier to gain back in the 1940s-50s.
Many of the poor face the issue of finding a job while struggling to survive. Rae McCormick is another one of the $2.00 a day poor in the book. She like Jennifer had been maintaining a job at Wal-Mart until she was let go for being unable to come to work one day. After being let go she ended up in the position that so many others in poverty have faced, desperately needing employment with no one wanting to hire them. Even Susan Brown had applied online for five months without hearing back from any potential employers. When it comes to the poorest people in the country, having a safe & reliable job is crucial for maintaining some order in life. Being able to find and maintain such a job on top of receiving some support from the government is the best chance some can get at lifting themselves from poverty, for awhile at
The American dream, for most people, is exactly that – A dream. It’s make believe, fiction. It’s what we think American should be like, not what it actually is. The American dream will always be out of reach for common people. The majority of people I interviewed said something along the lines of, “the American dream is to be given a chance to do something or be something you want to be.” This opinion seems to be too optimistic. Everyone wants more than what they have. It’s not enough to be given the chance, you have to succeed. What it takes to succeed is an entirely different aspect of the American dream.
Income inequality has a direct relationship with middle class Americans’ destructive and poor lifestyle. In the poor areas of South Chicago, the black communities suffer “higher crime rates, poor performance in school, and family management,” said Robert Sampson, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago. Similarly, Harvard University sociologist William Julius Wilson found “patterns of racial exclusion” and “concentrated poverty” among the middle-class Americans in South Chicago “are much more likely to be exposed to crime and other manifestations of social dislocation and social problems…” Poor minority groups are not only affected by destructive and poor lifestyle due to income inequality but also, poor whites are affected. Poor
Poverty is a main part of life for many people in the world, more specifically the United States. Jeanette Walls displays how immense of a problem poverty is in her memoir, “The Glass Castle”, with her stories of how she grew up and her family’s struggles. How her family was treated along with what the people living around them found important unmistakably shows their economic class. The problem of food scarcity, or not having the bare necessities are some of poverty’s key problems. In “The Glass Castle”, the issues of poverty are displayed through not having the basic necessities, not being able to provide for children, and how there is not always enough food to feed everyone in the family.
The author describes various solutions to fighting poverty across the U.S as well as how poverty can affect individuals. The authors research focuses on the life of Tianna Gaines- Turner and her husband in that even though they both work. It's not enough to cover the expenses they are having to do for themselves and children. And since they can’t sustain the family they can get food benefits such as SNAP. Furthermore, the author also mentions some solutions to fighting poverty. Like increasing federal aid, federal housing programs, as well as individuals that have businesses can help to ease poverty in the U.S.
In The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America (2007), Katherine Newman and Victor Tan Chen explore the lives of several urban, working families who live above the official poverty line, but who are one catastrophe away from it. Entrenched within the stories of these families’ lives, the authors explore themes and key issues which permeate many discussions of poverty, including gentrification of neighborhoods, credit card debt, lack of health care, childcare and education challenges, and the complex web of family relationships which serve as a support system for those who need it most. Yet, this book also tells the story of how we, as a society, ignore the near poor, preferring to focus on those living below the poverty line
What is the American Dream and is it still achievable? If it is still achievable, then how can the American Dream be achieved? The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. The American Dream provides unequally for the modern-day society of the United States by limiting the types of people can achieve this dream and an example of which would be that someone that is a homosexual would have a lesser chance of getting a job than an average heterosexual but can still be achieved by the homosexual community. The American Dream is still achievable because those who work hard with determination can achieve it.
Poverty is a terrible condition, which as unfortunate as it is, many people across the globe suffer from. Poverty can present itself in many ways and in many different circumstances, which is shown in the following stories. In ' Angela's Ashes' by Frank McCourt, young Frank is burdened with the responsibiliity of providing for his family. Similarly, in 'The Street' by Ann Petry, Lutie, a single black mother, is struggling to find shelter for her family. In both 'Angela's Ashes' and 'The Street,' a key member of each family is desperately trying to support their loved ones and meet their basic human needs. In both passages, the author uses specific characters, events, and settings to demonstrate the theme that one needs perseverance to overcome poverty.
Overall, the book gives an incredibly unique outlook on such an underserved community and exposes the harsh economical and social realities these people face under the ruse of “family” and “community.”
These three pieces of literature explore the evolution of poverty in America and the actions taken by those who fought to combat it. The Invisible Land by Michael Harrington clearly establishes the new definition of poverty nearly fifty million Americans experienced in the 1960’s (Harrington, 1970: 5). For the impoverished, the mass production and mechanization that fueled the expanse of the middle class ironically camouflaged the poor. Through inexpensive, mass produced clothing, the poor were able to blend into society. Additionally, the new and efficient highway systems linking the suburbs to the city, cleverly hid the slums of the poor, thus blinding the commuting middle class (Harrington, 1970: 5). Impoverished America truly became out
The pinpoint cause of poverty is challenging to find. People who live well off and are above the poverty line may be quick to assume that laziness, addiction, and the typical stereotypes are the causes of poverty. Barbara Ehrenreich, a well known writer on social issues, brings attention to the stereotypical ideology at her time, that “poverty was caused, not by low wages or a lack of jobs, but by bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles” (17). Ehrenreich is emphasizing the fact that statements like the one listed, often influence readers to paint inaccurate mental pictures of poverty that continue to shine light on the ideology of stereotypes being the pinpoint cause to poverty. However, there are many other causes that are often overshadowed, leaving some individuals to believe that poverty was wrongfully placed upon them. Examples would include: high rates of unemployment, low paying jobs, race, and health complications. Which are all out of one’s ability to control. There is no control over a lack of jobs and high rates of unemployment, nor the amount of inadequate wages the working poor receive. Greg Kaufmann, an advisor for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and The Half in Ten campaign, complicates matters further when he writes, “Jobs in the U.S. [were] paying less than $34,000 a year: 50 percent. Jobs in the U.S. [were] paying below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually: 25 percent” (33). Acknowledging Kaufmann’s fact, the amount received for a family of four is fairly close to the yearly salary of a high school graduate, which means, receiving that kind of pay for one man may seem challenging, now imagine caring for the needs of four individuals. To make matters worse, certain families receive that amount of money and carry the burden of paying for