All in the Family

Submitted by Yuko Nishizawa


For the most people, the family is where we belong and is where we learn values and social skills. An institutional marriage is the start of any family and has encouraged by society and almost all nations. 

Families are essential to forming the communities, societies and their cultures. not only is marriage vital to society, studies show other benefits. In general, married people live longer, have higher incomes and have greater emotional support. Children raised by both a mom and dad are less likely to live in poverty or drop of of school and are more likely to finish college. They are also at lower risk of becoming sexually active in their teen years. 


While benefits of marriage are clear, our society faces unprecedented challenges due to an increase of divorce, cohabitation, out-of-wedlock births and fatherlessness - trends which contribute to a weakened family and therefore a drop in individual and community welfare. The juvenile court judge in this video says there is a correlation in crimes committed by people who come from broken family ties. 


I do believe divorce is necessary when family is totally dysfunctional. It is sometimes better for children to be in an environment that it displays more love and care instead of being involved in hatred and violence between a mom and dad. On the same note, parents must think a great deal about children's position and work hard to minimize emotional damage when they decide to break their commitment as a family. We learned recently in the sociology class that there is a trend toward "individualized marriage" that focuses more on development of the couple's own senses of self and the expression of their feelings, as opposed to the satisfaction they gained through building a family and playing the roles of spouse and parent (Andrew Cherlin 593). I understand the point but I have mixed feeling about the individualism approach in a family. Once we become a parent, there are other responsibilities we have to take care of. 

She Worked Hard For The Money!

Submitted by:  Rasheedah Abdullah

Who are the poor anyway?  Are they the lazy, non-white, lacking moral virtue individuals in society?



 Controversially, according to US Department of Labor an increasing  percentage are "working" but their incomes fall below the poverty level, they cross all ethnic barriers and they are striving to be decent people.   According to the National Poverty Center, families headed by single women, particularly if they are non-white, have the highest poverty rates. Many of these working moms have net incomes that fall below the poverty thresholds but have gross incomes that prevent them from receiving any noncash benefits such as public housing, medical assistance, food stamps.  In addition some reasons noted for the  problematic situations of the working poor is that many minimum wage workers are the main breadwinners and that the needs of the typical family's spending exceeds their income.  Even working as hard as they can their cost of living is increasing but their wages appear, in some instances, to be decreasing.   Opportunities for better paying jobs are often not viewed as realistic due to lack of skills or education.  Often the role of parent and primary wage earner clash adding additional stress on options to improve income while at the same time  trying to provide a healthy family life. 

Currently their are demonstrations going on throughout the country demanding that the policymakers increase wages for workers to reflect rising economy costs. 





 Is this the answer to end poverty?  Or is it more complex?  Surely demonstrations are needed to make inequalities and injustices visible but they must be meshed with extensive examination and adjustment to reflect social strategies dealing with issues of the privileged and the poor.  Having recently retired after 40+ years of employment I have changed socially from the working poor to the retired poor.  Longer weekends.

America Gets Hungry Too

By: Christina Tun

For a person from a third world country such as Senegal or Angola, it would be hard to believe that America, being a  First World country, would have such an alarming poverty rate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau,  43.6 million people (14.3 percent) were in poverty in 2009. In 2010,  15.1 percent of all people were in poverty- that being the highest poverty rate since 1993. With poverty, nonetheless leads to hunger. There are many promoted organizations in America specializing in helping feed starving countries, but what about ours? Why is  it that we are able to feed other nations when some of the people right under us in our own homeland struggling to get a meal? 1 out of 6 Americans are silently suffering from hunger and more of us need to be aware.

 Many people would agree to the starving as being the homeless on the streets. Hunger is faced by folks all around us. It is such a big misconception that hungry people are the ones without jobs and are unwilling to work but rather feed off of others (etg, welfare.) It isn’t just the non-workers who are facing hunger, but the hard working class too. It is the single mother of three who can’t seem to make ends meet. It’s the man of the house that recently gotten laid off and doesn't no where else to go to support his family. It is the hungry child whose parents are never home or addicted to drugs. These stories aren't just things you hear about or see in the movies, but are real life struggles.

According to a survey on hunger and homelessness conducted by the United States Conference of Mayors, 88.5% of cities participating in the survey cited unemployment as one of three major causes of hunger in their city. With that being said, no work equals no funds to buy food.  Another major problem to hunger is medicare. High costs of medicare and little help  from insurance leaves lower class to have to choose between buying a meal or paying for their health. It's unfortunate for people who live in such a highly esteemed country to have to choose between the two.

So whom exactly suffers from hunger? Most may assume that people from urban areas do. That is true but not entirely, for suburban and rural areas suffer too. For example, in rural areas, affordable childcare and public transportation is hard to come. Unemployment rates are great and the jobs that there is to offer are those of minimum wage. The saddest part is that these folks have to turn to food banks at the same place food is distributed.

America may be a First World country and not have higher poverty rates as other places, but that percentage still counts. Poverty occurs everywhere, resulting in many hungry people. There is no reason for America to try and save face (as being a rich, giving country- or whatever their objective is) by trying to feed other nations when our people in the shadows behind those tall shiny buildings are silently starving. 

Inequality ties into Poverty

Submitted by: Eddy Lantigua

What is an American dream? Some people today do not even know what this means, some are stating that it’s an illusion a great example of those who do not have hope in the “American dream” are the poor. Poverty has always been defined in our society as not having any physical materials to maintain a comfortable lifestyle or to someone else it can be defined as the lack of money. Terribly today we are no longer defining the word but experiencing the action of it and it’s making a great percentage of society understand the meaning in a deeper sense. The concept of poverty has come a long way but today it goes beyond the lack of material possession or the survival needs of a human being. Sadly more people live in poverty in the United States than in any other developed country. So many people are suffering from poverty and class inequality has a big part to do with it. As seen by Weber and Marx who believed in class structure but differed about how to divide the classes, Marx believed in the working class and the middle class as oppose to Weber who believed that there were three dimensions; class, status and power. Well sadly Weber’s belief was right, our society today is currently experiencing a large gap between the poor and rich and class has always played a big part in America since the beginning of time but now more unequal than at any time. Let's face it some people are born with better opportunities than others giving the less fortunate fewer chances to succeed. 

A common phrase once said “the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer” relates to society where the wealthy is gaining money while the poor is only losing so much more than money some are losing dignity. It’s a horrible feeling knowing that you are at the bottom of the ladder, having a lack of resources in a land of freedom. A sad reality in our society where people thrive for success in a world with inequality leaving others at the bottom and sadly a majority of people suffer from others gaining extra. Another sad truth is that a majority of the higher classes of our society are the ones who are are not doing actual hard labor. If you really think about it they are the ones that capitalize from the hard work of the poor working class, sweating blood and tears, thriving for success working two to three jobs going through role strain just to make a minimum amount of money in other words being cheated. Fortunately, the number of homeless people in America seems to only rise drastically with no concrete solution.

                                      

Poverty

Elona Perllaku
Have you ever wondered how many people  in America live in poverty? What causes it? How does it affect those around us?  Is there a solution to it? Why is it still an issue in today's society? How much has it changed and whether it has changed? When people think of America the term Dream follows it. Many others including myself that have grown up in another country, have always wanted that dream to come true. The lucky ones who have the opportunity to finally make it here, come with the impression that America is this magical place where everything is just handed to you and that if you work hard you will achieve and prosper. However, that impression changes as soon as you step foot in the country. Poverty is everywhere; in the streets, in the communities, in schools, in work places, and media.

(Poverty during the Great Depression)

Poverty reached its peak during the Great Depression when the stock marked crashed. The Great Depression started around the year 1928 and it ended in the late 1930s. It was the longest and deepest depression in the United States history. Ironically in the 21st century, it hasn't changed so much. People in today's society still have to deal with the complications of finding a job. Jobs have been passed to other countries where the corporate make the biggest profit by paying employees extremely low wages. The people here do not have a choice but to settle with what they get. Finding a job is a big challenge for Americans in today's society given the fact there is none. Families struggle to feed their kids and pay their dues.

(Poverty in Today's Society)

The United States is suppose to be the richest country in the world but our economy suffers. Millions of Americans are relying on food stamps to survive. Food stamps are the number one symbol of poverty. As Americans it should be our duty to try to do something about it. We can make a change. All we have to do is work together and protect our rights. We should go out there and protest and fight hard for those rights. 

We the people are the solution , even though poverty is a big issue all together we can change it.

America the Land of Contradictions

Submitted by Imane Khaddouch

          Poverty is a universal phenomenon that exists in all nations and can be obviously seen in our quotidian life through hungers and homeless people. Even in the most sophisticated countries, like The United States, there are many people who struggle to maintain the basic standard of living, while a little  portion of society monopolize wealth, prestige and power. According to Schaefer, the U.S Census Bureau reported that “one in five households has trouble meeting basic needs, from paying the utility bills to buying diner.”             
          The American society is a mixture of different races and cultures who brings with them the hope to find better opportunities to live better and realize the American dream. Unfortunately, many people fail to realize even the moderate dreams because of the inequality of opportunities or sometimes the hard luck. But, the inevitable truth is that there are many people who are ingrained in poverty and live a marginalized life.  In fact, even middle class people can experience poverty when they can’t afford their credit card bills, home mortgages and medical bills (in the absence of health insurance). Furthermore, many hardworking people lost their beautiful houses through mortgage foreclosures as they can’t pay their monthly mortgage, which is unfair punishment.

Poverty  continues to rise by over 40% as result of spending cuts and sharpest fall in incomes in 35 years, IFS Report Warns

The picture shows the high income inequality that helped early societies spread.

 Homelessness is one of the most dramatic aspects of poverty that is a real reality in the American society; however, wealthy people enjoy the luxury life. Every time you walk in the street, you will see victims of poverty, who are usually elderly people, who don’t have a permanent shelter or even food. Paradoxically, upper class families spend a lot of money to buy pets` food. Furthermore, the working class also struggles to afford a decent living because they support a huge family or they get low wages.
the following video talks about how the U.S poverty rate continues to raise.

The stratification of the American society becomes more and more obvious.  The inequality of access of education and medical coverage increase the gap between the upper class and the lower class.  Indeed, poor people should be aware of their rights as American citizens and have equal opportunities as the wealthy people have. On the other hand, they also should consider the importance of getting higher education, which is the key of success in the U.S. It is shameful to blame poor individuals about their situation, instead, we should give them a hand to improve their social situation and give them the hope to have a better future for them and their children.

Poverty in the world

Submitted by: Amira Eldisoky

          Samar Wahba is a Lebanese mother who abandoned her son and left him in front of a hospital because of poverty. That single mother who has five children was not able to afford the cost of the healthcare for her sick child. She said "I hope if I can get him back to me again, and I regret what I did, but that was for him. If he stayed with me, he would be dead.” That story is one of millions stories that poverty creates every day. The Lebanese mother lost two daughters because she was disabling to provide them the medicine and the food that could save their lives, and she made the decision to leave her son to save his life. Poverty rolled individuals’ lives and force them to do unexpected behavior such as Samar when she decided to leave her child to someone else to take care of him to save his life instead of raising him and see him growing up in front of her eyes. 

          "The world today has become an island of the rich surrounded by a sea of ​​the poor" as the description of South Africa President, "Mbeki" last year at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg about poverty which increase day after day, despite the progress that made by individuals in various fields, and despite their effort to provide welfare for the six billion people in the world. The United Nations Day is 17 October of this year has just passed with no changes in the situation but only adds another year full of death, disease and hunger to the age of the world's poor. The questions that everyone wondering everyday are, Has poverty in the world became really a dangerous issue? What are the underlying causes of this dilemma? Are the rich people in the world make any effort to solve this problem? Are there any hidden results of this phenomenon more than hunger, disease and death?

          There are 6 billion people living in the planet. 4.3 billion who live in the developing countries and 3 billion of them lived below the poverty line as low as two dollars a day, and among these there are 1.2 billion earn less than 1 dollar a day. In contrast, statistics show Western terms as the industrialized countries have 97% of privileges all global, and international and intercontinental companies owns 90% of the privileges of technical, production and marketing. Moreover, more than 80% of the profits of the total foreign direct investment in developing countries go to 20 rich countries.

           In developing countries, we find that the rate of 33.3% of people has no clean drinkable water, and 25% don't have adequate houses. 20% don't have basic health care standard, and 20% of children do not attend schools for more than the fifth grade. And 20% of students suffer from poverty and undernourishment. In contrast, the wealth of three richest men in the world is equivalent to the GDP of the poorest 48 countries in the world, and the wealth of 200 of the world's richest people exceed the income rate of 41% of the population of the world combined. Studies show that if they contributed 1% of this wealth will cover the cost of primary education for all children in the developing world. While the die of 35 thousand children a day because of hunger, disease, and poverty.
             All of these numbers show the disorder in the concentration of global capital, a disorder cannot be ignored from our side because it has negative effects on humans which seriously threaten the Social Peace. Poverty is a global problem which leads to hunger, homelessness, ignorance, and death. Also, nowadays, it became a dangerous issue that threatened the Middle-class people that they can become poor under any circumstances as consequences of economic crises and financial issues. Also, in developing countries, poverty increases not only because of ignorance, backwardness and lack of democracy, but also because most these countries wealth goes into the pockets of the rich which make the rich richer and the poor poorer.