David Brooks The Nature Of Poverty Summary

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The article, “The Nature of Poverty,” by David Brooks, discusses how the focus on poverty in America has changed over the past few years. Brooks mentions how the problem with addressing poverty is not the attention or the funding for poverty, but rather anti-poverty spending. It has significantly increased since the 1980s, while poverty rates continue to stay the same. The transformation of neighborhoods in Baltimore from urban poverty has not happened, so poverty reduction has been minimal. Other problems like crime and unemployment have risen as the poverty rate continues to spread throughout the Baltimore community. Brooks also suggests that all of the efforts made were not strong enough to create a permanent solution to poverty. Rather than just focusing on the economic …show more content…

I disagree when Brooks underestimates the economic structure of society. While showing the importance of social and psychological factors in poverty, and showing how these factors can help fight poverty, the actual economic structure is important to maintain. Without having a good economic system, like a stable, well paying job, this can contribute to the poverty rate in these communities. Economic structures and conditions of individuals help to shape the opportunities and limits they have in society. The importance of economic factors should be mentioned along with social and psychological factors as all three can impact poverty in a community. This connects to the lecture in Module 8 called “Understanding Social Stratification.” In the lecture video, it discusses how moving up in a class rank is not solely about making more money, but also moving up in socioeconomic status. The video uses an example of how certain workplaces will require a higher education background, like a bachelors or a PhD

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