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Poverty and crime connection
Poverty in the us
Poverty and crime connection
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Many Americans blame the poor for their own poverty. They stereotype the poor as lazy alcoholics or drug abusers who would rather stay in the welfare system than get an education and a job. I believe that question: Are the poor responsible for their own poverty? Can easily be debatable, first you must define who/what is considered poor. This definition alone varies amongst individuals and their opinions as well as statistics with specified numbers. Here, for the sake of not doing outside research we will consider someone who is poor to live in unruly circumstances, possibly someone without a job, someone who works very little, or although they work minimum wage just isn’t enough. We live in an entitled society where we blame everyone else for our misfortunes but ourselves. …show more content…
Due to this circumstance it is usually very difficult to get out the predicament in which you are raised in. I can relate I am a first-generation Mexican- American, just as my immediate cousins are, we come from a very poor, but hard working, lineage of agricultural farm workers who literally worked all day to make almost nothing and remain poor. While the areas and neighborhoods are filled with these exact alcoholic drug induced individuals. Outside of my own siblings, most of my cousins went into the exact “profession”—agricultural work. My siblings and I made it a point to do the exact opposite, growing up I told my self and instilled the idea in my brain that I would not go into such a laborious profession that you literally make nothing working harder than most. It was out of my control to be born into poverty, but it was in my control to make sure I didn’t continue that pattern and confine myself within the borders of
...th what little they have, however; why is it left to the poor to have to suffer the consequences of these political choices. The persistence of extreme poverty and social ills speak to a situation that bears for a different approach. It is clear that capitalism and free market solutions cannot spread wealth as advocated. American governments have shown their reluctance to admit this discrepancy through the strategic creations of welfare policies and welfare reform coupled with placing blame upon the citizens who possess little power to change market decisions that govern and effect their lives.
In addition, the poor are overburdened they always have been, especially in 2014. This is owing to the fact that the middle class is close to disappearing, which is forming a large gap between the poor and the rich. Furthermore, banking can be more expensive for nearly all poor people, whom are usually put in extreme circumstances where they are required to pay more taxes. And the poor are usually shut out from society and are left on the street as if they were a piece of garbage, which is why it is particularly difficult to attain a job as a poor person. Not many people in the world care for the poor. It is surprising to think that the poor had not been oppressed in 1791. Someone would think the poor have always had a heavy burden. The majority of America’s population is poor and they are ignored and portrayed as aliens whom we should have no contact with.
Before we can explain the causes of poverty, one must first define what poverty is. If you were to ask someone for their definition of poverty, you would get several different definitions. There has been much conflict in the United States over defining poverty, but according to Diana DiNitto (2007), poverty can be defined in six different ways. Poverty as deprivation, inequality, lack of human capital, culture, exploitation, and structure are the six different ways. When a family or individual does not have the adequate amount of income to meet all of their basic needs, they are described as being deprived. Poverty as deprivation explains that a family or individual is deprived when they are living below the standard of...
As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.
Today's news is full of speculation and debate about the national debt, taxes and potential cuts to vital programs that serve those in need. However, the conversation often seems overly caught up in the finer points of politics and media coverage rather than the real people that these decisions affect. I think it's fair to say that American attitudes toward the poor are more often than not, disdain and fear. There's a common myth that people are forced into poverty because they are simply lazy or inferior, the truth is it is harder to feed and clothe your family than ever before. Poverty in this country is not accidental, it is a direct result of funneling wealth upstream; the rich get richer and the poor suffer. " The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want " Mark 14:7.
Hooks says, “It is better to be poor than to allow another person to assert power over you in ways that are dehumanizing and cruel” (435). Weather poor or rich everyone deserves and opportunity to be successful in life and shouldn’t be stereotyped. Everyone deserves the chance to be successful in life and have the same equal opportunities. Poverty is everywhere in this world some worse than others. Living in poverty once in life it can actually be a learning experience. To see and experience the struggle gives them not only a better understanding but appreciate what they have.
Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.
Poverty is a potential outcome for everyone. It’s sneaky and many people fall victim to it every year. No one believes that they have the potential to fall into debt, but it can happen through a string of bad luck, time running short, and other possibilities that can’t be controlled. People who are struggling with difficulty believe that there is no way out because no one will help them. However, there are ways for us, as a society, to help those who are short on income receive the help that they need. Many of the impoverished are thought to be slackers, addicts, or self-destructive to their lives. Society can help each other by dismembering the stereotypes given to people who are underneath the “Poverty Line” that they used as wedges between the classes. Labels given to those who’re poor have nothing to do with who they are as humans.
Insular poverty, elucidated by Professor John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1969 essay, The Position of Poverty, refers to the collages of people who are poor because the designation of their lives trap them on ‘social islands’ where nearly everyone is living in these standards. (Galbraith 404) Poverty has flagrantly become a ‘back of the mind’ subject in America. The underlying question remains; is American society responsible for the uprise of insular poverty? Despite the "efforts" America puts off to relieve the world of insular poverty, American society is indefinitely responsible for its popularity due to the absence of will for the impoverished to climb out of the hole of poverty, the absence of opportunities given to poverty minority, the absence of compassion for the povertized.
The American dream is impossible for the more impoverished because over the years poverty rates have been increasing. The richest country in the world still has more than 12% of its total population, and almost 20% of all children under the age of 18, unable to meet, let alone be guaranteed coverage of basic needs. With that said the nation has fallen apart in the last 25 years. America has faced economic insecurity and it is up to us to change it. Furthermore, the three main issues why poverty in America continues are the high cost of living, a great percentage of people living (below the poverty line) and the economic inequality that the impoverished face.
Most people of the society still blame the poor for their own predicament. They believe that "if there is a will there is a way". However, they do not think about their government that might had made bad decisions and policies that could actually harm successful development. This causes of poverty and inequality are usually less discussed and often neglected. We must recognize the effects poverty could have on the society and seek ways to create better understanding and resolve the issue before it is too late.
Poverty is an enormous part of the United States that is highly overlooked. Poverty has an impact on the government, social groups, class, and communities. What exactly is poverty? Poverty in the United States is considered to be when a family makes less than the poverty line set for that year. For example, in 2005 if families of four, two of which are children have a yearly income of less than $19,806 then they are considered poor. One of the greatest sets of problems associated with poverty is drugs. The poor tend to have more legal problems when it comes to illegal drugs. Poverty can cause drug use and drug use can cause poverty. According to research poverty has a strong association to problematic drug use. The pharmaceutical Industry
Do the poor in this country have a choice not to be poor? Do the less fortunate have the same access to opportunities as the middle and upper classes? Do government programs designed to help the impoverished actually keep them in the lower ranks? These are all difficult and controversial questions. Conservatives and Liberals constantly battle over these issues in our state and federal governments. Local and national news media provide limited insight to the root causes and effects of the nation’s poor. There is obviously no simple solution to resolve the plight of these often forgotten citizens. Most of us associate poor as being in a class below the poverty line. In fact there are many levels of poverty ranging from those with nothing, to those with enough to survive but too little to move up. I believe many of our nation’s poor are so by their own doing. I will share observations and personal experiences to support the argument that being poor often is a result of individual choice. One needs merely inspiration and perspiration to move up the socio-economic ladder in the United States. We live in the land of opportunity where anyone with the drive and determination to succeed often can.
Poor people are not poor by choice. According to the article, Poverty Is Not a Personal Choice, “The idea of poverty being a cultural issue—the poor are poor because they are lazy—rather than a policy issue has become dominant in this country in the past few decades.” People of poverty are frequently categorized as uneducated or unqualified when this is clearly not the case. Opportunities are only offered to the educated which automatically lessens the poor’s chances of extricating oneself from poverty. In the United States, poverty has escalated due to the failure to increase minimum wage, cost of living, and lack of government assistance.
There are two ways to categorize poverty from a sociologist viewpoint. Absolute poverty simply refers to the condition in which one is unable to afford the necessities of life, whereas relative poverty refers to the condition in which one is unable to afford that which is considered a normal standard of living in society. Absolute poverty is far more worse than relative poverty because they could quite possible not have a house or food to live on for everyday survival. There are basically five different categories in which each poverty stricken person can be placed in. The first category are those who are not able to work because they are too old, too young, disabled, or tied down by social responsibility. The second category are those who are able and qualified to work but can not find work. The third category are those who are not equipped to fill available jobs either because they are undereducated or because their skills have become outdated. The fourth category are those whose social and personal problems have brought them to a point of self-defeating discouragement. The last category are those who are underpaid, or unable to get a fair price for what they have to sell. After defining which people are in poverty, these categories can answer my question of why are they in poverty and how they can be helped.