There are many different visions that can be found throughout the 1964 movie and the Enduring Vision and Voices readings. The two visions that stuck out the most to me were the fight for equality, and the war against poverty.
As the year 1964 started people were hoping for a fresh start, it had only been 5 weeks since the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the American public was afraid of its own vulnerability. Lindon B. Johnson was sworn into presidency, which Conservatives thought would destroy the country, and he turned his focus towards poverty. In the film 1964 Johnson called Poverty an “Unconditional law” and then declared a “War on Poverty.” In one of our readings from Zinn and Arnove called “Mechanic” it talks about the troubles that poor people endure every single day. The unknown author states “I once got 25 pounds of bacon for a day’s work. What do I get now? Only two” (“Mechanic,” in
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202-204). The film shows the same struggles as Voices as Johnson is working to fight against poverty issues that we see from our primary sources have been going on for hundreds of years. Also in the film 1964 it talks about how the middle class had more money than usual because people were starting to move to suburbs but that just broadened the gap between the poor and the middle class. In the film 1964 it best states it as “Change is inevitable.” Many different events began to disunify the larger society. Teens started to rebel against their parents, boys grew out their hair to look like The Beatles. The Beatles and the outspoken Muslim Muhammed Ali showed teenagers and young adults that they don’t have to live the life that their parents lived. Another huge disunifying process was the Vietnam war because many people thought that the war was pointless. In 1964 Johnson is talking about how he wants race to not determine peoples jobs, he wants equality for everyone. Johnson
Inter-reliant poverty comes with its own stresses- and certainly isn’t the American ideal- but it’s much closer to our evolutionary heritage than affluence.” (Junger 21)
In the novel Poor People, written by William T. Vollmann asks random individuals if they believe they are poor and why some people are poor and others rich. With the help of native guides and translators, and in some cases their family members, they describe what they feel. He depicts people residing in poverty with individual interviews from all over earth. Vollmann’s story narrates their own individual lives, the situations that surround them, and their personal responses to his questions. The responses to his questions range from religious beliefs that the individual who is poor is paying for their past sins from a previous life and to the rational answer that they cannot work. The way these individuals live their life while being in poverty
In the Working Poor, David Shipler shows the different levels of poverty in the United States. Although many people work every day, they still do not have enough money to live their lives comfortably or contently. In chapter 1, Money and Its Opposite, we discuss the different people that worked hard their entire lives only to remain in or below the poverty line. For instance, in the book Shipler speaks of the disadvantages that the working poor are susceptible to. Often being taken advantage of by employers that do not give access that they are entitled to, the working poor are more likely to be audited than the wealthy, and become victims of cons that point toward money for a small payment, first.
Racial segregation hits its peak in the early 60’s and goes on into the 70’s with the civil rights movements become a know event around the world. In this time period we see the rise of people such as Dr. Martin Luther
In the 1960’s America was divided over the voting rights of African Americans. It was a time of racial and political unrest as president Lyndon B. Johnson encouraged Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. On March 16, 1965 “We Shall Overcome” was delivered to congress. Lyndon B. Johnson was elected vice president of the United States in 1960 and became the 36th president in 1963. Throughout his speech Johnson uses a variety of strategies to persuade the nation that African Americans have the right to vote. Some of these strategies include ethos, logos, and pathos.
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions. 8th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 7-15. Print.
After substantial decreases in the 1990s, poverty rates stopped their decline in 2000 and have actually started to again creep upward. The great conundrum of how one simultaneously alleviates the multiple causes of poverty has become a central obstacle to poverty reduction. Into this debate comes author David Shipler, a former New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner, with an aptly titled look at the state of poverty in America today, The Working Poor. Shipler's book is more anecdotal and descriptive than analytical and prescriptive. Yet it is a valuable portrait of poverty in America, just as Michael Harrington's landmark book, The Other America, was in 1962. While he does not offer many concrete solutions, Shipler provides readers with an intimate glimpse of the plight of the working poor, whose lives are in sharp contrast to the images of excess w...
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.
...War and the Civil Rights Movements in order to illustrate how the 1960s was a time of “tumult and change.” To Anderson, it is these events, which sparked the demand for recognition of social and economic fairness. He makes prominent the idea that the 1960s served as the origin of activism and the birth of the civil rights movement, forever changing ideals that embody America. The book overall is comprehensive and a definite attention grabber. It shows how the decade had the effect of drastically transforming life in America and challenging the unequal status quo that has characterized most of the nation's history. Despite the violence and conflict that was provoked by these changes, the activism and the liberation movements that took place have left a permanent imprint upon the country.
Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2008.
The 1960’s and early 1970’s were a time that eternally changed the culture and humanity of America. It was a time widely known for peace and love when in reality; many minorities were struggling to gain a modicum of equality and freedom. It was a time, in which a younger generation rebelled against the conventional norms, questioning power and government, and insisting on more freedoms for minorities. In addition, an enormous movement began rising in opposition to the Vietnam War. It was a time of brutal altercations, with the civil rights movement and the youth culture demanding equality and the war in Vietnam put public loyalty to the test. Countless African-Americans, Native-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, women, and college students became frustrated, angry, and disillusioned by the turmoil around them.
...o grew up in the tight nit-pick culture of the 50s who were influenced by this new wave of music of rock ‘n’ roll. The gap between values of parents and their children grew. As teens became more rebellious, the civil rights movement came to play. It was the same teens and young adults that took this rebellion from rock and made it lead the civil rights movement into action, realizing that not all tradition is right.
Americans need to accept and understand that poverty is mainly caused by factors out of the individual’s control and failures economically, and politically. These results in a very low measure of decent paying wages. In fact, there is a rise in low paying jobs, part time jobs, and jobs that do not offer benefits, which leads people further into absolute poverty. Capitalism and economic growth are the real reasons why American society has failed to address the issue of poverty. This poverty paradox leaves people out of the competition based on factors such as lack of education or skill, transportation, mailing address, or banking
This film was written and produced in the middle of the Great Depression, and the depiction of the poverty and unemployment is very evident throughout the entire film.
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.