poverty

A detailed Summary of poverty

As our nation and the rest of the world continues into the new century and millenium, there are many problems that we will have to encounter. Among the many is the case of poverty. The word "poverty" in the common dictionary is defined as "the state of being poor" or "lack of means providing material needs or comforts". But Poverty in America is not due to a lack of material resources. The United States, has for many years, been able to produce more than its people needs. Robert Adams, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, pointed out " During and after World War II it was commonly said that we could feed the whole world." However, the large amount of goods available in the United States is produced by employing only part of the work force; Nancy Folbre warns in A Field Guide to the U.S. Economy, "the unemployment rate, moves like a roller coaster , going up when economic growth slows, and back down again when the econimc growth increases, but overall the roller coaster has been heading up." However, unemployment is just one example of the several exponents that can cause poverty. New technolgies, economic growth, human welfare, corporate takeovers, government intervention in the labor market, and inadequate governm

ent assistance are some factors that can also lead to poverty. The issue of poverty also has its share of opposing viewpoints. In our media-intensive culture it is not difficult to find different opinions. As John Stuart Mill once said " The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about by persons of every variety of opinion...". In this scenario, it is liberal versus conservative where the liberals believe poverty is not due to the idividuals own fault, rather the goverment's, whereas conservatives believe it is the idividuals fault.

My opinion on the issue of poverty is more towards the liberal side. I believe that people will want to work more for themselves if they just had something to start with. If I had nothing left to live on, I personally, would lose all hope and just give. But if I had something to keep me going I would want to work more to build on that. I also think that poverty is underestimated. I believe that the people setting the standard for the poverty line, should walk a mile in a poor man's shoes, to see how hard it is , and how frugal a life he lives, only to hear that to the Census Bureau he is fifty percent over the poverty line. I believe that most of the time, hard work won't necessarily get you out of poverty. You can work from dusk till dawn and still have not have enough in your pocket to put food on the table. And that's where I feel government intervention is key in ge

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Approximate Word count = 1013
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics