In Evicted by Matthew Desmond, Desmond examines the complex nature of poverty and elucidates on the housing dilemma that prevents the poor from breaking from the vicious cycle of poverty. Desmond examines the lives of eight American families from different backgrounds and races and records their life stories. By documenting the struggles and difficulties that they face, Desmond demonstrates that even though the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it still has much ground to cover to try to untangle the complex nature of poverty in order to find productive solutions. Poverty is not just an issue reserved for third world countries. Instead, poverty is a multifaceted issue that even the most developed nations must battle …show more content…
In “The Big Short”, this movie about the economic collapse of 2008 in America highlights how Americans of all racial backgrounds were hit hard when the housing market collapsed. The film provides a very compelling argument and describes how the market crashed because banks began to give out more unstable loans out to people in order to sell more properties, which eventually led to the housing market to be built upon millions of risky loans. This practice grew until the housing market became too unstable because of all the risky loans and resulted in an economic crash. The housing market collapse led to millions of Americans to lose their homes because of foreclosures and led to massive amount of homelessness and unemployment since the Great …show more content…
Since poverty affects a wide array of people, poverty has evolved into a very complex issue. And even though the government has passed legislature to try to ameliorate the situation, many of these means-tested measures like food stamps, have only been able to help the surface of poverty and fails to rip out the long roots poverty has grown throughout history. Poverty’s deep effects are seen especially in minorities as they struggle much more to leave a current situation that has been created by historical process. Even though government assistance like food stamps do help alleviate some of poverty’s burden, these measures fail to recognize the reality that many of the impoverished minority have undervalued homes or no homes at all and even if they can rent, that rent can be high enough to take up more than fifty-percent of their paychecks. Overall, poverty in America is a vastly complicated issue rooted throughout history. And even though the government has attempted to pass legislature to help provide relief from poverty, America still has yet to provide measures that target the roots of poverty and until then, the government assistance it does provide will only be superficial and fail to provide long-term solutions to a complicated
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Show MoreMany reforms in the UnitedStates have been passed to help fight against the “War on Poverty”; but it has not been effective in eradicating poverty in the U.S. There are about 46 million people who are living in impoverished conditions and poverty continues to be a social issue in this country (Heritage Foundation, 2011) In the beginning, our country was formed under the belief that “this land is the land of opportunity and if we worked hard enough the American Dream can be gained” (Schwarz, 1997). People immigrate to this country today in hopes of becoming rich so they could gain a better life. In spite of coming to this country for a better life, many are faced with the lack of skills and money to succeed. In the end, most will end up in unskilled labor jobs that can barely support their families. Poverty continues to be a growing social issue because people have the “ inability to provide necessities like clothes, healthcare, and shelter” (Heritage Foundation, 2011) to help themselves and their family; therefore, many sacrifices have to be made to insure their survival. Yet many reforms made to help people living in poverty are based “off of outdated statistics” (Henslin, 2014, p.276) and are not enough to help the lower class maintain a sufficient standard of living. Poverty relates to conflict theory since the poor are struggling just to get by. Government programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing assistance, and food stamps provided by the government are not enough to help the poor gain social mobility.
Poverty is a social issue that has be a problem for humanity since the beginning of time. Poverty has been a consistent and ongoing problem throughout history all over the world (Rasheed, 2013). No matter what the society is like or the median salary inside that society there have always been people who are homeless and starving (Rasheed, 2013). Despite the United States being a modern, developed country we still struggle with poverty and unemployment (Rasheed, 2013). Every day there are people struggling to find food, clothing and shelter. This problem in society has various effects on different government institutions (Rasheed, 2013). The federal government measures poverty by the numbers (Rasheed, 2013). “In 2007, the federal “poverty line” was set at $16,530 for a family of three and $21,203 for a family of four (USCB) (Rasheed, 2013).” If a family makes less money a year than they can live on they are officially classified as poor (Rasheed, 2013). “According to the Census Bureau, about 12.3 percent of all Americans were living in poverty in 2006 (Rasheed, 2013).” That means there are 36 million people at or below poverty level in the United States (Rasheed, 2013).
1. Valentine, Charles A. CULTURE AND POVERTY. Thee University of Chicago Press, 1968. 2. Engendorf, Laura K. POVERTY, OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS. Greenhaven Press, 1999. 3. Lynn, Laurence E, and McGeary, Michael G.H. INNER CITY POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES, National Academy Press, 1990. 4. Shein, Lori. INEQUALITY-OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS. Greenhaven Press, 1998. 5. Katz, Michael, THE UNDERSERVING POOR. Pantheon Books, 1990.
The crippling effects of poverty is one of the main themes explained in “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond. The author illustrates the poor state of the housing market in Milwaukee. The housing markets state explains how poverty is affecting people and the economic exploitation that was also experienced. “Evicted” explains how private properties were rented to the poor and disadvantaged tenants. A large portion of the poor population are excluded from homeownership and public housing which consequently leads people to rent in the private housing market. Renting in a private housing market, allows landlords to charge more, to then make a profit. Vouchers are intended to help assist people with rental expenses, “In Milwaukee, renters with housing vouchers were charged an average of $55 more each month, compared to unassisted renters who lived in similar apartments in
The connection between poor living conditions, low income families, and inequality of varying groups go hand in hand when dealing with poverty as discussed in Evicted by Matthew Desmond. These issues are often swept under the rug for those not immersed in the situation and can even be unknown. There is gender inequality which can affect every aspect of life, including dwelling. There is also racial inequality which also renders the quality of life. Both themes have a deeper meaning and are connected at the source of poor education and job discrimination.
The book Evicted is a story about the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee, Matthew Desmond tells devastating stories of the eight families that faced eviction. In this locality, eviction has become a daily event and families spend most of their income on accommodation. Arleen the single mother who tries her best to raise her sons gets evicted just a couple days before christmas by Sherrena, the landlord who thinks that love does not pay the bills and has a successful real estate business because most of her tenants are below the poverty line. These families fate is being held by Sherrena and Tobin Charney, who's the owner of the trailer park that was forced to evict tenants from his park by common council if he wants to keep his licence. Scott was a nurse before he got addicted to heroin, he lived with his best friend, Teddy. Tobin gave them an eviction notice after office Susie tells Tobin that Pam and Ned were staying with Scott and teddy. Lamar, a man who has prosthetic legs, lives in the neighborhood and looks over Luke and Eddy, his sons. Desmond’s discussion in Evicted is successful because he uses his own writing style, interesting discussions, speaker organized , and reality.
The impoverished communities of America are in shambles. “The urban populace is becoming increasingly Latino and Asian, with a slight increase in black residents,” (RACE). Racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally dealt a bad hand have filled the inner cities. In order to combat poverty rates in these neighborhoods the federal government must: make more programs in the community to help the youth, be more proactive in creating job opportunities and provide equal educational funds to the public school system. People claim that those that are living under these circumstances need to look deep inside of themselves, instead of blaming the government for their downfalls. On the other hand, it feels as if the government has left these people trapped and have not provided any aid.
In our American society, we are often painted the picture that poverty only occurs under certain circumstances. Some turned to drugs, committed a crime, or were just born unlucky. I believed, just like our society, that these were the root causes of what drove someone into poverty. I soon however, found out that the problem was structured over my head this entire time. In the book Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, Desmond explains the widespread problem of eviction across our nation,“Jackson County, Missouri, which includes half of Kansas City, saw 19 formal evictions each day between 2009 and 2013. New York City courts saw almost 80 nonpayment evictions a day in 2012.”
In 2014, the United Census Bureau recorded that 46.7 million people or almost 15 percent of people in the United States lived in poverty, struggling to survive every single day. Furthermore, 21.1 percent of the U.S. population under the age of 18 begins their lives below the national poverty line (Census, “Poverty”). These people, the ones who do not have sufficient resources to prosper, arguably have one of the largest problems in America. Due to government regulations, communities’ inability to adjust to new surroundings and the lack of education, poverty has reached hundreds of thousands of individuals, causing an increasing number of people to experience health problems and even death. Instead of watching the percentage of poverty grow
This paper will discuss poverty, the different types of poverty and their definitions and who is affected by each type of poverty. It will look at the some of the major reasons why poverty exists and what causes poverty, like such things as inequality, stratification and international debt. Some of the impacts of poverty will also be analyzed from a national and global perspective; things like education, literacy rate, and crime. This paper will demonstrate that poverty affects almost everyone in some form or another and exists because those with power and wealth want and need poverty to exist to force a dependence on the wealthy. A few of the main approaches that this is achieved is through economic systems, influencing government policies, and global stratification. Defining poverty is not a simple task and this is what this paper will tackle first.
Thousands of individuals living in poverty. Why is it that this worldwide dilemma is still rising in rapid numbers to this day? Is it the fault of a lack of authority power, or a lack of one’s self control to do good? Despite the unknown cause, it has managed to drastically affect the lives of many. Poverty is like a curse, one that is wrongfully placed, difficult to get out of, and resistant to many forms of help.
In today’s world, the word poverty is well known throughout the societies. It has been a recurring issue for people throughout the history and still continues to be a problem. It is strange how people are still poor in the best economically developed countries. Poverty is not when people consider themselves poor for not being able to buy a bigger house or a fashionable car. Poverty strikes when a person is unable to provide food or shelter for their family members. These type of people are afraid to even get sick because they don’t have money for treatment. They lose their family members. The real word poverty means hunger, shelter, not having
Within the United States poverty is an enormous problem. Extreme poverty or poverty suffered by people who live on less than $1 a day, can be found in a wide variety of different types of people. Children in the United States suffer tremendously from poverty, which contributes to the problem itself and allows poverty to evolve more rapidly. People who range from ages 18 to 64 as well as the elderly are affected by poverty everywhere. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2012, “more than 1 in every 3 poor people in 2011 were children” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). This class has shown me that poverty stretches its hand to wide variety of people in a vast amount of different places. Before this class I was not aware that the southern part of the United States has historically been the part of the country that suffers the worst from poverty while the midwestern part of the country has fared better. I also di...
Abraham Lincoln once stated, “Whenever there is a conflict between human rights and property rights, human rights must prevail.” Upon the foundation of this country, a person’s basic rights are granted under the Declaration of Independence. Our democratic political system is constructed to ensure every citizen their rights are protected by this document. The founding fathers of this country formulated this document to keep this nation together and establish a sense of freedom, justice, and liberty. Race, gender, economic and political status, and types of communities are various factors that come into play when deciding means of action on a national and local level. Social determinants constrain and predict the quality of living in particular geographic locations. In many struggling communities, equal opportunities are not made available for residents compared to a community where they are not deprived of resources because of their social status. Although there are an ample amount of federally funded programs offered throughout the country, the process of gaining access and acceptance into these programs complicates the situation on many people. With such tight regulations on who is eligible to apply for government assisted programs, it increases the numbers of victims of poverty. Imagine being denied because your income does not meet the criteria or getting denied because you were previously evicted due to lack of funds. It is unjust for people to be put under this type of stress if they are potentially falling into the lines of poverty and homelessness.
Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an