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Social Inequality - Poverty throughout the United States ABSTRACT Being the only remaining superpower in the world, it is difficult to imagine that extreme poverty still exists in the United States. How can the country that boasts of Hollywood, Broadway, Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive have millions of destitute and homeless people? Indeed, what most people see is the hedonistic, devil-may-care attitude characterizing the American lifestyle, which to an outsider appears little more than an endless parade of expensive clothes, sports cars, cocktail parties and yoga sessions. Every now and then, however, the world do get a glimpse of a totally different picture occasional reminders that poverty is indeed a fact of life in the United States. A recent example is the aftermath of hurricane Katrina which devastated the largely poor populace in New Orleans. The present paper explores the real cause of poverty in the United States.
The culture of poverty thesis maintains that the poor are largely responsible for their own poverty. Others, however, argue that this attitude essentially blames the victim and that poverty is cause by society's unequal distribution of wealth. This paper takes the stand that poverty is condition brought about by the unequal opportunities and distribution of wealth. To start off, one sees that for the huge majority of Americans, the days of high quality jobs with decent wages, security, and full health and retirement benefits are a thing of the past.
This is especially true of people who had little or no education and are therefore barred from great companies. As for cashing in on the success of companies like Microsoft, or becoming a venture capitalist, to make money more quickly, as James Fallows in The Invisible Poor notes many Americans to have done, even the smallest business entails ample capital, not to mention financial risk, which people like Tanya could not afford to take. Hence the solution is more suitable for middle class people with money to spare (Fallows). Given that the situation is characterized by the need for jobs with a salary that would cover, at the very least, the basic needs of a family, it seems plausible that the best solution is to promote economic growth. According to Charles Clark in Ending Poverty in America: The First Step, the rationale for making the economic pie larger is so all can have more, that is, to minimize scarcity (not enough to go around) that results in income inequality and poverty. This solution not only prevents a class warfare, but also benefits the business sector, eventually leading to a trickle down effect that benefits the workers.
Clark made this solution more specific by advocating what he called a basic salary system, that would provide a decent minimum income floor to ensure economic security for the poor so they can seek further education (and to concentrate on education without oppressive work requirements) and training to try different market strategies. (Clark, 2004). An article entitled Meritocracy in America which appeared in The Economist tackles a similar issue this time focusing on educational inequalities and shows evidence that social mobility, i. e. people climbing the income brackets, has declined since the 1970 s. Among the cited studies is the one conducted by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston who found that 40 % of families remained stuck in the same income bracket in the 1990 s, compared with 37 % of families in the 1980 s and 36 % in the 1970 s. (Meritocracy in America, 2004). The article goes on to explain how the educational system has become increasingly stratified by social class, with three-quarters of the students at the countrys top 146 colleges [coming] from the richest socio-economic fourth, compared with just 3 % from the poorest fourth (the median family income at Harvard, for example, is $ 150, 000).
Elite universities further disadvantage the poor through policies like affirmative action and legacy preferences. The first is designed to help members of racial minorities regardless of social status, and the second is a program that makes admittance easier for children of alumni, e. g. in most Ivy League institutions, legacies make up between 10 % and 15 % of every class (Meritocracy in America, 2004). Thus, the situation results in the poor remaining poor and the rich becoming richer than ever. People who come from poor families have even less chance of being accepted into schools that hold the key to the best jobs.
In the end, their options become limited to either attending second-rate schools promising second-rate jobs, or dropping out of school altogether to get blue-collar jobs. Although the main federal program supporting poorer students, the Pell grant, largely go to poor families with incomes below $ 41, 000, Meritocracy in America reveals that the federal government has been shifting resources from Pell grants to other forms of aid to higher education, such as student loans and federal tax breaks that benefit both the rich and the poor. The article further questions the motivation of many colleges for giving student loans, pointing out that financial aid is being increasingly used to attract the best students away from competitors rather than to help the poor as it should (Meritocracy in America, 2004). Conclusions The paper concludes that there are solutions available to eliminate poverty such as a establishing a basic income system and reforming the education system to allow easier access for poor children. However, the government, schools and concerned wealthy people can only do so much.
Poor people cannot go on laying the blame for being poor on other people and should start to take responsibility for their own destiny. While it is true that being born into a poor family is often large enough an obstacle to financial freedom, at the same time, having children out of wedlock, taking illegal drugs, being an alcoholic are not the types of choices that pave the way to success. It is not enough to think of the poor as hapless victims of an oppressive class structure, but to analyze their active role in their own oppression. Only through an objective understanding of the reasons why poor people remain poor for the rest of their lives can these people learn how to finally break free from the shackles that bind them. REFERENCES Fallows, J. (March 19, 2000). The Invisible Poor...
New York Times Magazine, Retrieved Nov. 1, 2006 at: web Clark, C. Ending Poverty in America: The First Step (February 2004) USBIG Website. (USBIG Discussion Paper No. 80). Retrieved Nov. 1, 2006 at: < web > Meritocracy in America. (December 29, 2004). The Economist. Retrieved Nov. 1, 2006 at: < web >
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Research essay sample on Social Inequality Poverty Throughout The United States
