Growing up in America, I have witnessed and heard about many incidents in which America has deviated from a country that prides itself on freedom and opportunity. I have heard of instances of police brutality, of African American men, women, and children, who have gotten hurt, even killed, of instances where due to inherent racism, people of different races are thought of as “inferior”; of the protests and grievances of women who have not had an equal opportunity in life, and who have been put at such a low position in society, only to have their voices concealed by the louder voices of men who counter with “be grateful for what you got” or “it could have been worse,” as if that completely absolves everything that they have faced; and of the homeless out on the streets begging for money, only to be met with the condescending faces of people who possess more than enough money but are …show more content…
Those who work multiple minimum wage jobs necessary to provide for their families are unable to do so as the minimum wage in America is not sufficiently high enough to support said families. The number of people in poverty is higher than before, with over 40 million Americans in poverty, a factor that is also influenced by race and gender, as African American, Hispanic, and Asian families have the highest population of people in poverty. To remedy this issue, the minimum wage should be raised to a feasible amount that is able to adjust to our unstable economy and allow families to afford the most basic of needs.
As America continues to change, I can only hope that it can change for the better: that America will be a more tolerant country; a country that will not discriminate by race, religion, or gender; a country that does not shame the homeless or poor; and a country that will listen and not discredit the voice of its people, one truly fitting for its name as “the land of the
America is a façade hidden behind its notorious past, with an even more troubling present. The land of the free, home of the brave, and one nation claimed to be united under the presence of an omnipotent power, but is it really? America profits off of the so-called dream that is sold to the hopeful and broken. This nation has been riddled with violence, persecution, hatred, and a false sense of togetherness. Racism was not the beginning, it was the ending result of a power struggle between those who wanted control and those who had it. The systematic enslavement and dehumanization of blacks resulted in the concept of a racial caste division, creating the idea of us vs. them (Wacquant, 2002). The Jim Crow laws, prisons, and the creation of ghettos
Several contributing factors can be viewed as reasons for crime. Depending on the circumstances, it can sometimes be very difficult to resist the temptation to commit a crime. It is even harder when you are coming from a place where crime is considered to be a normal part of society and looked at as a way of daily living that is supposed to be incorporated into daily lifestyles, hence the city we are not too far from: Fresno. In fact, by having a city or group of cities nearby where violence, crime, and gangs are abundant, it has given me an incentive to dig deeper into this issue. Now the question can be posed: What is the significance of crime in areas where poverty is present? True, this is not an easy question to answer considering that crime happens for many different reasons and sometimes location is not the problem. The origin of crime date back to the beginning of man, and the thing is it will never be stopped, as it is almost a part of human nature nowadays. But for now, we must study how crime and poverty are linked to one another, and what other contributing factors influence the effect of crime where poverty is relevant.
Poverty continues to grow in America. The average minimum wage in the United States is $7.35 an hour- far too low in today’s society. Key expenses, for example, gas and housing prices, have gone up significantly since the minimum wage was last changed in 2007 (Wagner 52). The laws creating the minimum wage were intended to improve the standard of living and decrease poverty. Raising minimum wage is a vital step in decreasing poverty and giving every family the opportunity to survive and succeed. Millions of hard-working Americans are below the poverty line and need an increase in pay. Minimum wage must be raised because it will diminish poverty and assist the working class to support their families.
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.
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.
With a country as wealthy and powerful as the United States, according to Pam Fessler, who is a writer for npr.org, almost fifty million American live in the conditions of poverty. With most of these fifty million Americans, they are trapped in poverty due to lack of access to higher education, unable to obtain necessities, or unable to obtain aid from the government.
Poverty is an outcome of the mode of production and plays a large role in relation to production. Therefore, according to Marx, it is a contributor to the economic base. People who are living at poverty level struggles to meet the living necessities due to capitalist exchange values on productions. What I mean by this that people in poverty cannot afford to buy enough food, clothes, and most importantly a safe home for their kids. This is due to the fact that most people living in poverty are being paid minimum wages that does not meet the exchange values of commodities. People in poverty are the laborers in the capitalist world, they a commodity as well. Using Marx’s theory, people in poverty are the proletariats since they are the actual
The minimum wage today has a lot of issues; some people say it is not enough to live comfortably. Many agree that there needs to be an increase in minimum wages and by doing that it can help with our issues of poverty. Statistics show that a worker who is full time and earning minimum wage makes only $15,080 a year, which is under the federal poverty line for a family of two. (Gitis, 2013) The problem with that is $15,080 is not a sufficient amount that a person can live and grow on. “A family of two can consist of a mother and son or daughter, father and son or ...
People in America often suffer from poverty and the treatment that comes with it, throughout their everyday lives. The question raised is why are poor individuals dehumanized by high structures of power? Some people with a higher income feel like they have a choice and a real recourse to justice rather than a lower class individual. They also believe that they are entitled to the world and their opinion matters because of their financial status versus someone who doesn’t have material things. Lessin’s and Deal’s film , Natasha Trethewey’s Memoir, and Bell Hooks’ excerpts, depicts that the poor are often dehumanized and neglected by structures of power, such as the government and media, because of their lack of money and education, however some of structures of power are ignorant to how the lives of poor people really are.
Several citizens in America may not empathize with many social conflicts which transpire in America. Unfortunately, when poverty is mentioned people of diverse gender, race/ethnic, and age can relate to poverty in America. Although several societies have not experienced the undesirable measures of relative or absolute poverty; several people know poverty exist through many channels, such as the media, social networking, history and charities.
America is a country known for change, whether it is positive or negative. Many people believe that America has made changes that has improved society. One of the greatest advancements was the abolishment of slavery. Other positive changes have been the diversity of America. Many believe that America is the country where one can come to prosper, escape prejudice, and be freed from the chains of racism. What people fail to realize that America was created by prejudice and racism. Slavery was abolished, but we must not forget the suffering of the African Americans. The struggle and exploitation that Asian, Hispanic, Latin, European and other immigrants had to face. Has America truly changed?
What is the America you want to know? Do you want our country to be a good one or a bad one? Good, right? We want a good country where we are equal. A country where we don't have to be scared to live in. In this essay, I will be talking about our freedoms, our rights, equality and most importantly I will be talking about our hope for the future.
People say one of the biggest reasons people are poor in America is lack of education. But even people who took school through their lives can find them self in poverty. I believe a big reason so many find themselves in poverty is not because they didn’t go but because we weren’t taught the right things.
In today 's society, there is 1 in 7 people living in poverty which is costing Canadian citizens’ money as they are paying for taxes. There are many standpoints in which people examine the ways poverty affect society such as Marx’s conflict theory. Marx’s conflict theory goes over how social stratification being inevitable and how there is a class consciousness within people in the working class. Another way that poverty is scrutinized is by feminization. Feminization is the theory that will be explored throughout this essay. Poverty will be analyzed in this essay to determine the significance of poverty on the society and the implications that are produced.
The United States of America supposedly encompasses resilience and advocates equality. Apparently, the United States of America abides for progress on racial discrimination and understands, accepts, and respects all races. But in reality we are not united with all races; thus we just make up America, not the United States of America. President Barack Obama affirms, “....there is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America” (Obama). In pursuance to evolve into the United States of America, as opposed to a disembodied one, we need to act like the unrestricted, free willing, and affirmative country that we say we are.