Poverty In America Analysis

As reported on google images “Poverty” is represented by starving children in third world countries, people living among trash, hunger, sadness and even death. These images are meant to evoke emotion in people but in reality all they do is numb the general public to the truth. American poverty though, is represented differently on google images. When American poverty is shown there are images of run-down cities, statistics and graphs. The images provided do not show any general representation of poverty in America. In fact these images even dehumanize American poverty by showing graphs and statistics rather than the people affected by poverty. Among America’s poor lie victims of the unjust criminal system. Although America is considered to

She shines light on the different forms of poverty throughout the world. She is able to provide the reader with examples of how poverty can even be hidden or ignored. One example that she uses is how the Bush administration “confidently announced that, after looking everywhere, they had discovered no real hunger in the United States” and that “poverty was just a myth that did not exist in the heart of capitalism”. She also goes back to the idea of the poor being imprisoned because they lack certain morals or values when she states, “he is part of those ‘undeserving’ poor, the drunks and addicts Engler would like to push off.” By using both examples she is effectively showing the reader that many times the poor are “covered” up and ignored rather than

George mentions throughout the essay the concept of the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor. The undeserving poor are usually what the public believes to be drug addicts, drunks and people lacking basic life values. These people commit minor crimes and are then sent to prison, once in prison their crimes are exploited by the media. This goes hand in hand with Barbara Ehrenreich’s article called “Is it Now a Crime to be Poor?” In the article Ehrenreich uses the example of a homeless named Al Szekely who was arrested in a homeless shelter. Mr. Szekely was facing court charges for criminal trespassing. Due to these charges he was taken out of the shelter and placed in jail. Many believed that Szekely was a drug addict and a drunk when the truth was that he was an “ordained minister and does not drink, do drugs or curse in front of the ladies.” Even though he was a normal citizen that did not commit any major crimes, just slept outside of a neighborhood, he was placed in jail with other criminals. When Mr. Szekely was released he lost his post in the shelter and ended up on the streets once