Poverty has been around for as long as history dates back
and has been shown during medieval times, the Great Depression, and current
times in America. There are stories in
the Bible, such as when the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptians, about
poverty being very prominent in cities and that the disabled and injured would
be forced to live on the streets. But
even if someone does not believe in the Bible, there are still plenty of people
such as those who were poverty stricken throughout history from the dark ages
and Medieval Times to the present. Many
paintings, such as Peasants at the table,
and movies, such as Oliver Twist,
portray people who live in poverty wearing ragged clothes and having diseases
to show how affected the community was with poverty. Poverty was especially shown in Medieval Times
because it was used to signify how corrupt the monarchy was. Many monarchies raised their taxes very high
so that the kings could live in luxury and also use the money to pay for a
stronger army. This kind of poverty was
from a bad economy (Nash). As mentioned
before, poverty can be caused by a lack of a desire to work, a bad economy, and
addictions. A bad economy is probably
the biggest reason out of the three listed above that a person would be in
poverty. If there are no jobs in an
economy and there is no way to earn money, a person has a reason to be in
poverty because he was not able to prevent it by any normal means or correct it
by himself. The medieval times is a
great example of this.
Another
major time that poverty was shown to be an epidemic was during the Great
Depression ("Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression"). This was also a result of a bad economy
because after the stock market crashed, many people were left with no money and
no place to live. Economy plays such an
important part in poverty’s history because the economy is the source of jobs
and income, which is what keeps people off the streets and out of debt in the
first place. There are many other
instances of poverty in history, but the last parts of poverty to touch on are
poverty in this present time in America.
Poverty
right now in America is not mainly because of the bad economy. There is always going to be some of the
economy to blame whether it is a lot or a little, but the main reason that
there are so many people in poverty right now is because of a lack of a desire
to work, drugs, or they are born into poverty ("National Poverty Center |
University of Michigan"). Many
people in the United States who live in poverty sit on the streets and hold
signs asking for money or walk up to cars and ask people for money at their car
windows. Very few of the population of people
who are homeless and sit on street corners will offer to work.
Addiction
is also another major factor of the homelessness and poverty in America. Many homeless people will use the money they
collect from others on drugs, alcohol, or any other kind of addictions they may
have ("Homelessness in America").
This is a major problem because instead of using the money they have
been given by people to get food and water, they are using it for something
that kills them. They have become so
depressed with their poverty that it makes them feel like they have nothing
else to turn to besides drugs and alcohol to make them feel happy, even if it
is only temporary. Because of the
reputation of many people in poverty to turn to their addictions, it hurts
other people who are needy, as well, because people will automatically assume that
they have addiction problems ("Institute for Research on Poverty"). Many people are born into poverty as well and
is what will lead them to be in poverty much of their lives because they do not
have any education or knowledge of anything.
Poverty has been found throughout history ever since history has been
recorded and has had been shown clearly through the Medieval Times, the Great
Depression, and present day America.
Examples of this epidemic can be seen in inner cities and
in the community through their houses and living conditions. Poverty is found very commonly in inner
cities because they are targeted by people.
Many people in inner city areas are known to be criminals and make bad
decisions, which is why there are people who will try to target them with their
businesses, especially children (Ferguson, Bovaird, and Mueller). People will try to get them addicted to drugs
so that they can use them to make money off of them very easily, knowing that
they will more than likely come back for more and never stop wanting drugs from
them. The youth of a community are the
main targets because they are easily persuaded and do not have anybody to guide
them. This will cause the little money
they have to go into a worthless and bad cause.
Inner cities are some of the biggest poverty stricken areas because of
this problem (Elizabeth Kneebone and Natalie Holmes). Many people in inner cities also do not have
any sort of father figure which means that a mom is doing all the work to get
money. Their salaries are not big
either, so the money that they make going to a bad cause winds them back into
poverty. Another area that poverty is
seen is in the community. Just by
looking at buildings, roads, and the atmosphere of some communities, it is
clear that they are affected by poverty.
People in rundown communities are normally not living with much if their
community around them is also in bad shape.
Another indicator is the amount of people who are left without homes or
jobs who are living on the streets and begging ("Poverty Facts and
Stats"). This can be seen in many
streets and in downtown areas. These two
places are prime examples of where someone can find poverty in everyday lives
and how it is an epidemic that affects a large group of people.
In conclusion, poverty is a very common epidemic to come
across from people who struggle economically.
Poverty can be seen throughout history and has been around ever since
history had been taken record of. It has
been clear that poverty was a very strong epidemic during times when monarchies
were dictators of their country and when economies crashed. People are constantly at risk at being struck
by poverty because it can happen to them when they find themselves in debt or
broke. Many people do not see poverty as
a huge epidemic, but it is one of the most common epidemics out there. People do not give a second thought about how
sever poverty is to society and that it changes the economy and environment.
Poverty is found in most inner cities and in many communities and affects much
of the youth and area. Poverty is an
epidemic that affects places all over the world because of lack of money.
Poverty is a very hard
problem to overcome because it is hard to gain any footing when you have
nothing to help yourself. People in
poverty do not have anything that they can use to help give them a start and
become working class citizens. This
makes it extremely hard to get out of poverty.
Although it is very hard to get out of, there are still solutions to
poverty. Solutions to poverty are
getting help, welfare, and using money and opportunities wisely.
One way that people can get out of poverty is by being
helped by someone else. This is not
necessarily saying that the person will set there life on a completely stable
course, but a person could give them a temporary house or food every day to
help get them back on their feet. This
will not defeat their poverty completely.
The person responsible is the person in poverty. Once they are given this opportunity, they
cannot let it go to waste. If they are
given this, what they should do is try to find a job or get an education to
help them get a job. This would be the
best use of the opportunity given to them because it would be like giving them
a second chance to help them live a normal life.
Government has also tried to help defeat poverty. The government made welfare programs to help
people struggling financially to have a way to make it by with a very little
amount. Although this system is not
ideal for a very large percent of the American population, it can be a way to help families that are
less fortunate and that are going through an economically rough time. This program was initially made during the
Great Depression to help people who had lost everything when the stock market
had crashed, however in this present time it is not near as fair or useful
(Elizabeth Kneebone and Natalie Holmes.).
When the stock market crashed, it was citizens who were workers who had
lost everything. The welfare systems
were much more beneficial back then than they are right now. It was helpful because they worked and got
back on their feet. This helped benefit
society because they gave back to it.
With the welfare now, very few people use the welfare to try to get back
into working("Institute for Research on Poverty."). The welfare that they are given is used to
just help them live, but with a very below average lifestyle. The problem is that they do not contribute
anything to society after they receive welfare.
The rational thing to do would be to try to use the grace you are given
to make something out of it, but the reason that these people even need their
welfare is because they do not want to work.
This just makes welfare money taken from people who work hard and giving
it to people who do nothing with their lives ("Social and Cultural Effects
of the Depression."). This does not
just hurt society by them not contributing anything, but also the tax payers
which can lead to them also finding themselves in poverty. Welfare is a solution to poverty, however
when it is in the hands of people who do not use it to help contribute to
society.
Another way to get out of poverty is to work your way out
of it. This is the most difficult way to
get out of poverty because you are not given any footing to start off. Very few people can actually climb out of
poverty on their own. The people who are
most likely to get out of poverty are the ones who have gotten an education or
a degree because they are more likely to get a job from somewhere because of
their education. The people who do not
have any form of education have to go back to schooling, which is a hard thing
to do when you have nothing to pay for schooling because you are in poverty
(Ferguson, HB, S. Bovaird, and MP Mueller.).
Poverty can be solved by hard work, but without anyone to initially help
fund or provide something for poverty stricken people, it is very hard to get
out of.
Poverty does not just apply to people who do not have
homes or who do not have much education.
There are still plenty of people in poverty outside of those
boundaries. People who live in run down
areas and have a very low income also fall into the poverty category. While they might not be given things extreme
to help them get out of poverty, there are still way that they can they can use
to help them get out of poverty. Many
people that are in poverty do not have a very good concept of spending. Often, people find themselves in poverty
because they have very poor spending habits in the first place ("Poverty
Facts and Stats."). By saving money
and not spending money on unnecessary things, people in poverty can save a vast
amount of their money to be put to a much better use. The main people who use their money poorly
are the people who waste their money on drugs and alcohol. These are some of the main things people in
poverty use their money on because they believe it will help give them a sense
of relief or help their troubles go away ("Homelessness in
America."). These things will
actually end up just destroying their bodies and be a complete waste of
money. This is a major problem because
it is just two bad things happening to them at one time, wasting money and
destroying themselves. By saving money,
people who have low incomes can get out of poverty.
Poverty does not relate to absurdity in much of a way,
but there are a few points that they have in common. Poverty displays how Camus said death is
inevitable. Just as how death is
inevitable for everybody, poverty will always be an inevitable part of
society. Poverty will always exist
because society is far from perfect. The
only way for society to become perfect is if everybody all had the exact same
amount of stuff and was treated equally.
This would practically be socialism, but socialism has proven to fail in
the past because there has always been some form of inequality which is why
poverty cannot be cured. People all have
a different view of what they think perfect society is which is why socialism
has never worked. Everyone will never be
treated equally which is why poverty will always exist. Another way absurdity relates to poverty is
that people do not use what they are given to get out of poverty. People who are given things from others
normally put them to bad use which is preposterous. This makes absolutely no sense logically and
is why it is very absurd. These are the
ways that absurdity relates to poverty.
In conclusion, poverty is an epidemic that many people
dismiss when thinking of epidemics.
Poverty is spread just like a disease from one generation to another who
were born into poverty and have never come out of it. Like a disease, it also targets a specific
type of people, the lower class. It is
nothing to be taken lightly because its effects have been shown in the past to
destroy cities and countries. Poverty
will always exist and there is no getting around that. However, people as a group can try their best
to prevent it from happening to the best of their ability. Of course they will not always be successful,
but trying to help the population suffering from this is much better than
watching it happen without trying to help at all.
Work
Cited
"Homelessness in
America." National Coalition for the Homeless. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar.
2017.
Ferguson, HB, S.
Bovaird, and MP Mueller. "The impact of poverty on educational outcomes
for children."
Paediatrics & Child Health. Pulsus Group Inc, Oct. 2007. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Institute for
Research on Poverty." Research | Institute for Research on Poverty |
University of Wisconsin–Madison. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
Elizabeth Kneebone and
Natalie Holmes. "U.S. concentrated poverty in the wake of the Great Recession | Brookings Institution."
Brookings. Brookings, 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
Nash, Tim. "Life
of Peasants in Medieval Times." Life of Peasants in Medieval Times |
Middle Ages. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar.
2017.
"National Poverty
Center | University of Michigan." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Poverty Facts and
Stats." Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
"Social and
Cultural Effects of the Depression." Independence Hall Association, n.d.
Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
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