Kathleen Eccles
POLS 1100
Persuasive Essay
03/02/2012
On The Economy
In this essay I will answer the question “What is the situation with respect to the wealth
and income gap between the rich and poor in the United States? Should something be done about
it, or is the gap a healthy part of capitalism?” In this essay I will talk about what makes a
person/family poor and where the poverty line is in perspective to the majority of Americans are
financially. Secondly I will go into what groups of people are more likely to be poor in their
lifetime and for what statistical reasons. I will then talk about how location and education impact
a poor persons life, and the impact that location and education play on being poor. I will
demonstrate how social behaviors are born out of and lead to poverty. I will show how poverty
relates to crime and social discrimination. I will then discuss what is being done in politics today
to address the issues created by poverty. And finally I will form an answer to “Should something
be done about it, or is the gap a healthy part of capitalism?”
First to define what poverty means to Americans. The National Poverty Line is set at
$18,310 for a family of three according the National Center For Children In Poverty.(1) Keep in
mind this table was created in the 1960’s when it was estimated that families spend 1/3 of their
income on food. Today food is 1/7 of a family’s budget and the majority of the costs that families
experience is divvied up between heath care, childcare, housing costs, and transit. Now take into
consideration that even using this completely out dated statistic according to the same source in
2007 43% of Children under 3 and between the ages of 3 and 4 are in families considered to have
low income. 21% of the same age groups are considered poor.(1) That means that 64% of
children in the United States under the age of 4 are living in low income or poor families. If these
statistics were a test score that the United States Government had taken they certainly would not
have passed.(1)
Going a little bit further we can talk about who poor people are, and which groups of
people are most likely to live below the poverty line. According to the National Fatherhood
Initiative single mothers are five times more likely to be impoverished in their lifetime.(2) In
2007 it was reported that 55% of children who were reported to be low-income were either black
or Latino.(1) According to the U.S. Census people who live below the poverty line usually live in
clusters.(3) If poor people in the United States are living close together we must then look at what
their location means to their quality of life and overall ability to receive education, aid for their
needs, and other things. Common sense would dictate that if people who have financial need
cluster together it might make it more difficult for those people to receive aid. Take the food bank
or homeless shelters for instance the more people there are to feed and house the less food and
space there is to go around. Education is certainly a factor that would be impacted similarly by
clustering. The more students that are in a classroom means less individualized time with teachers
additionally less materials that are available to students. Schools that are in low-income areas are
less likely to be properly funded because the parents of the students who attend are less able to
provide financial compensation to schools which in turn means they receive fewer and lower
quality materials.
Education takes us to the next level of poverty. According to the 2007 U.S. census 22.9%
of people without a high school education are reported as being poor in contrast to the 3.6% of
people with a college degree or higher.(4) People who are living in low-income or poor situations
are less likely to afford a college education and thus more likely to be poor in their lifetime.
Those who attend poorly funded schools in areas that are considered to be low-income are also
more likely to find it difficult to get into college due to poor quality of education and suffering
test scores. Which honestly seems like a merry-go-round of poverty because poverty leads to poor
education systems, which leads difficulty in attending and receiving a higher education, which
leads to poverty. So those who are born and/or raised poor are more likely to remain poor
throughout their lifetime.
Next lets look at what is caused by poverty. According to the National Center for
Children in Poverty children who live in low-income families are more likely to experience
behavioral, social, and emotional problems.(1) The NCCP also notes that a low-income status for
a family can cause children to have obstructed cognitive development.(1) This could indicate that
people who live in low-income situations are also more likely to commit a crime. Which is simple
to understand on few levels. The first is what poverty does to a family and an individual. When
you are hungry it is very difficult to resist the temptation of steeling food. When it is established
that it is difficult to find proper assistance for nutrition in areas that are overwhelmed with poor
people it is easy to see why people might turn to theft or crime to balance out the poverty.
The second idea goes further into development and behavior of these groups of people.
Poverty can lead to social and behavioral problems. Social inequality can lead to racism or
resentment of those who appear to be of higher economic standard. People committing crimes
because of anger influenced by extended poverty, lack of education, and poor representation.
Consider too that of the people who are put into prison more than once in their lifetime become
more and more likely to be repeat offenders throughout their lifetime. This will come from an
obvious lack of social influence. People are taught how to survive when they are in prison, they
behave in ways that are appropriate for the situation however once they leave prison they have
less of the qualities that are required to adjust to society.
Society also strongly discriminates against those who have been incarcerated or
committed a crime. Those who have a criminal record find it hard to find quality work that can be
called gainful employment after a crime. Many people who are unable to find work find
themselves back in the situation that put them in the criminal category in the first place. So there
are people who are literally impeded in their life from advancing any further than the mess they
are already in. Which makes it easy to understand why people band together in gangs to commit
crime, if it is mutually beneficial and if you are more likely to survive with higher numbers when
committing a crime why attempt any type of criminal activity as an individual. This is the birth of
gang formation. This might also be what contributes to the stereotype of racial minorities being
apart of a gang. Because minority groups make up a large percentage of those people who
experience poverty in their lifetime it is understandable that people see the crimes committed by
these same minorities more often. Racism is thus born out of poverty. People have grown to
expect stereotype gang activity is almost directly linked to race rather than considering what
circumstances brought the situation around in the first place. However, it does not dismiss that the
other racial groups are also committing these same crimes. The merry-go-round of crime also
exists where those who commit crime are more likely to commit more crimes but also the
perpetual formation of new offenders. People who live in families who are involved in criminal
activities are more likely to justify crime and further likely to become criminal offenders later on
in life. It simply follows the idea that a person is more likely to be ok doing what has already
been a natural or rational part of their lives. We can see an amazing demonstration of this in Utah
by those who drink and those who don’t. People raised in families who consider drinking to be
wrong are more likely to consider drinking wrong. Similarly it is easier for someone who grew up
in a household who either advocated or indulged in the habits of drinking to drink. The idea is as
follows a person is taught to understand and accept something early in their life once it has been
something accepted it is not considered a violation of their moral protocols. When we take this to
the extreme of poverty and criminal activity it is easy to understand why poverty thus becomes a
merry-go-round because people learn to accept it and rationalize it.
So poverty seems to be something that is almost pre-determined by situation, crime is
also something that seems to be almost pre-determined by situation. Something similar to a roller
coaster ride that you are unlikely to get off of once you are on. So where do people turn to other
than other people to understand? It is understandable that people cluster together when they are
poor because a feeling of connection and understanding among community members that have
the same or similar life situations. Children are thus just further inheriting poverty from their
parents, friends, and neighbors.
With all of this information about poverty in America what is the right move to make?
What can Americans do to end poverty? To begin with take the changes that have been proposed
by our current President Barack Obama. Obama Care made it easier for people living with
disabilities or pre-existing medical conditions to purchase their own medical insurance. Which in
turn means that these Americans, some of which are highly educated and capable of gainful
employment, are able to go back to work instead of relying on federal assistance and remaining in
the low-income category. Additionally the tax cuts that Obama was in the very least proposing
cut taxes for the middle class as well as the top 2% of wealthy people in the United States. Take
also into consideration that these kinds of reforms have met a lot of opposition from those in
Congress. Tax cuts that had been blockaded for extensive periods of time and continuous threats
and opposition to Obama care still exist. But who is really impacted by these changes? The
wealthy certainly are not impacted in the same way the poor people are. Yet we have
representatives who are fighting for tax cuts for the rich who most of which are finding loopholes
so that they are not actually paying a fair amount of taxes to begin with. Take the Romney
scandal for example, Romney who is paying the bare minimum in taxes if that.
Should there be reform to the income gap between the poor and the wealthy? The United
States is a capitalist state, which most people do not fully understand. People hold that Capitalism
is the idea of the American dream where people rise up out of the trenches to be successful and
gainfully employed. When in reality this is certainly far from what it actually is. Capitalism gets
its name directly from the name capital, which means money. It is easy to understand how
business works money spent ends up being money earned. You cannot start a business without
capital i.e. investment. To sell product you must first have product to have product you have to
have money to acquire or make product thus capital is necessary. Capitalism is thus the process of
in order to make money you must first have money. This certainly does not seem to be an easy
solution for those who have no money.
So if capitalism is in fact only really furthering poverty why is it something that people
are so strongly fighting for? As Americans we consider Communism and Socialism four letter
words. We fear this kind of development because we are taught that it is to be feared.
Government control of our resources, our goods, and our “wealth” are not something we want to
even consider because what happens when the Government takes it away? We are terrified that if
the Government had more control over these things that it would mean we are less likely to be
able to have hard-earned money. Incentive is also called into question if people all receive the
same amount of money for the jobs they do what is to say that people will work hard at their jobs
rather than be lazy and not do as well. Which is a good consideration to make if you are worried
about the quality of goods that are produced and general work ethics. Any type of recognized
socialism is more likely to meet reproach than any other tactic so it is important to stay far
enough away from the idea yet still able to incorporate the structure of the idea.
What is Socialism? Many people will have Americans thinking that Socialism means
more government control and other voodoo things. Realistically Socialism is defined in the idea
of social order and control. The idea of cooperatives where many people have ownership rather
than an elite few. Take credit unions for example credit unions are a cooperative because many
people have ownership rights and are able to influence the direction of the company. Rather than
thinking about Socialism as a solution or a problem consider cooperative instead. Working
together to create change.
An economy with a cooperative basis could be more likely to provide equal assistance to
those who experience poverty in the lifetime. Cooperatives combine their resources to create
better products. The idea behind using cooperatives as a relief method is not unused in American
society today. Take the Peace Corp or any number of non-profit companies that band together to
provide aid to those affected by poverty or disaster. This type of community involvement also
mainly comes from many middle class people rather than elite. So we see people who experience
low-income or mid-range income levels assisting others and improving the overall situation. The
idea is if person A has a quarter and person B has a quarter and shoppers can buy a orange for
0.50 cents it is in the best interest of person A and B to combine their efforts and split an orange
than remain hungry with a quarter.
Bibliography
(1) The National Center For Children in Poverty, 2012, http://www.nccp.org/faq.html#question2
(2) The National Fatherhood Initiative, 1994, http://www.fatherhood.org/media/consequences-offather-absence-statistics
(3) U.S. Census, 2011, http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-17.pdf
(4) The Heartland Alliance, 2008,
http://www.heartlandalliance.org/whatwedo/advocacy/reports/causes-of-poverty.pdf
(5) Pictures in Essay provided by: The National Center For Children in Poverty, 2012,
http://www.nccp.org/faq.html#question2