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Professor Gretchen Pratt

Exploratory Essay
UWRT 1102-014
4/27/2015
Americas Poverty Scar
Push to Privatise Education in Global South Challenged (Buist), Thousands of New
Yorkers living in dangerous 'cluster units' as homeless population tops 59,000, a record high
(Stevens), and GM soy farming displaces indigenous people, raising rates of disease and
poverty as corporations profit (Barker). Three different titles, but all equal boil down to the
same thing. That thing is Poverty. Poverty is one of those things that gets talked about a lot, but
doesnt get the work it needs. My understanding of death for the most part is unknown, but what
I do know about it is that its going to happen to all of us. These two issues need to be discussed
about and brought to the surface of many conversations.
Poverty has a few shapes and forms. For many people poverty is not having the
opportunity that many others have in their country. All they know is their neighborhood or city
and feel as if they cant get anywhere in life. As if theyre stuck there. Poverty can also be
generational. Your past couple of generations could have been struggling with poverty. And some
people live in poverty where everyday are a struggle to stay alive. It is a struggle where you
dont know if youre going to make it the next day.
Death is such a weird thing. Its weird to think that a person could be alive for one minute
and dead the next. The body of a dead person or animal is still there, but they dont respond to
anything. The body starts to decay, and eventually the person is reborn into the soil.
Whats the big deal about this anyways? Why should I care?
The big deal is poverty being the main source to all of problems weve faced in society.

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People ask why do others steal, rob, and kill others and poverty will usually give you the answer.
I was born into poverty and the things Ive seen people do for a little fast money is ridiculous. I
was playing outside in my neighborhood when I was around 11 and an argument erupted a few
feet away from me. Then next you hear is a loud noise. A man had just been shot. Now at the
time I really didnt understand why this happened, but I did know that man had just been shot
and he wasnt coming back from that. When I got older, I realized what had transpired. The two
men were arguing over money from a drug transaction. What I also learned is two children lost
their father that day, one permanently and the other temporally. These incidents ultimately stem
from poverty.
Some people ask, Why dont these people just move out of their neighborhoods? My
response to that question is life isnt that black and white. People cant just up and move. Where
will they go? The reason they live in that place is because thats all they can afford. The places
are run down and theirs a crab in then bucket mentality. A crab in a bucket mentality is when
a person or community tries to bring another down because they are prospering and the other is
failing or staying the same. Some people may ask, Why dont they go back to college so they
can get more money to support themselves? And to that I say again, its not that easy. Most
people living in poverty arent living in poverty by choice. I use quotations on choice because
it is true, we all have the ability to make choices that will change our life for the better, or change
or life for the worse. But motivation to do that is scarce. People who live in these conditions
believe that it is all they know. Some people believe that no matter what they do It will never get
better. With such low motivation its not hard to see why these people remain stagnant. Those
questions proposed come from a very American point of view. Poverty around the world is really
different depending on where you come from and the conflicts you and your nation face

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everyday.
The Different Types of Poverty
There are a few different types of poverty. According to Eric Jenson of the Association
forSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment the types of poverty are situational poverty,
generational poverty, absolute poverty, relative poverty, urban poverty, and rural poverty. These
are the definitions of the different type of poverty according to (Jensen).
Situational poverty is generally caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often
temporary. Generational poverty occurs in families where at least two generations
have been born into poverty. Absolute poverty, which is rare in the United States,
involves a scarcity of such necessities as shelter, running water, and food. Urban
poverty occurs in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 50,000 people.
The urban poor deal with a complex aggregate of chronic and acute stressors and
are dependent on often-inadequate large-city services. Rural poverty occurs in
nonmetropolitan areas with populations below 50,000. In rural areas, there are
more single-guardian households, and families often have less access to services,
support for disabilities, and quality education opportunities.
Situational poverty, generational poverty, relative poverty, and urban poverty are the most
common types of poverty in this country. Its also a type of poverty thats Ive faced in my
lifetime. I briefly described some of my childhood experiences with poverty and my community
earlier but now I want to state how it plays a role with the different types of poverty. A way Ive
had to deal with situational poverty is my family having to help take care of a friend after his
mother was forced to file for bankruptcy. We would provide clothes and school supplies for him
while his family recovered. Generation poverty has affected many people that I grew up with,

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myself, and those that will continue to grow into it. Its probably the hardest poverty to come out
of just due to the physiological effect it has on people. The author of Community Colleges Must
Take Central Role In Eradicating Generational Poverty believes that we have an important role
of getting people that suffer from generational poverty into community colleges so that they can
overcome their psychological barriers, which in turn will get them to go to higher level
universities and receive well paying jobs (Community Colleges Must Take Central Role In
Eradicating Generational Poverty). Relative poverty plays a factor into my life because things
that are a bad for you are cheaper than things that are good for you. For example, my mother
would be at work all the time. Because of her being at work all the time, my siblings and I would
have to eat more processed and junk foods. While we did feed the quality of our food wasnt as
good as someone who was wealthier. That can lead to health problems later in life that puts a
person who can barely afford food in debt with medical bills. And I displayed urban poverty
earlier with my experience with someone getting shot and killed over a bad drug deal. Urban
poverty allows for people to involve themselves in dangerous activities that jeopardizes every
persons life around them. All the poverties are link to one another.
Solutions?
Withallofthatbeingsaid,somesolutionstopovertyhavegottobeinthemakingright?
Welltherehavealwaysbeensolutions;itsjustsomeofthesolutionschallengetheAmerican
lifestyle.AndbyAmericanlifestyle,Imeanthetypicalfreedomchanting,dontraiseour
taxes,donttakeourgunscrowd.Thosewhodobringupsolutionsgetlabeledasa
communist,socialist,etc.OnSeptember17,2014RebeccaVallasandMelissaBoteachreported
thattheCensusBureaustatedthatthere was no statistically significant improvement in the
number of Americans living in poverty (Vallas). It was also stated low and middle income

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workers have seen little to no income growth over the past decade, as the gains from economic
growth have gone largely to the wealthiest Americans (Vallas). This is alarming to me. How can
we overcome poverty if those who are at the top deny opportunities for people to grow in
wealth?
Some solutions for poverty are creating jobs, raising the minimum wage, supporting pay
equity, providing paid leave and paid sick days, reforming the criminal justice system, and
investing in affordable, high quality childcare and early education (Vallas). These solutions will
allow America to cut its poverty drastically. Its shown in states like Washington, New Jersey,
and Connecticut that raising the minimum wage has lifted more than four million families out of
poverty (Vallas). Reforming the criminal justice system will allow those who are put in jail over
non violent crimes are not punished as severely for petty crimes and are able to get jobs easier.
This reduces their likelihood of committing crimes.
With All That Said And Done
Poverty is a breeding ground for corruption, ignorance, and violence. It makes growing
up harder than it needs to be and discourages people. When you hear of stories of how people
made it out of poverty, you smile and think that others can do the same. From my own personal
experience and of those close to me its hard. I was lucky enough to have a mother who was able
to rise above, go to college, and make a healthy living for children. Its a great feeling knowing
that my siblings will not have to grow up in the same environment that I was forced to grow up
in. Others just arent that lucky and will continue to suffer from generational, urban, situational,
and relative poverty.

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Works Cited
Barker, Daniel. "GM Soy Farming Displaces Indigenous People, Raising Rates
of Disease and Poverty as Corporations Profit." NaturalNews. 12 Dec.
2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Bolland, John. "Hopelessness and Risk Behaviour among Adolescents Living
in High-poverty Inner-city Neighbourhoods." Journal of Adolescence
26.2 (2003). Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Buist, Kwame. "Push to Privatise Education in Global South Challenged."
Push to Privatise Education in Global South Challenged. Inter Press
Service, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Jenson, Eric. "Membership." Understanding the Nature of Poverty. Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
Stevens, Harry, and Greg Smith. "NYC Homeless Population Tops 59K, a
Record High." NY Daily News. NY Daily News, 1 Feb. 2015. Web. 26
Apr. 2015.
Vallas, Rebecca, and Melissa Boteach. "The Top 10 Solutions to Cut Poverty
and Grow the Middle Class." Center For American Progress. 17 Sept.
2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
"Community Colleges Must Take Central Role In Eradicating Generational Poverty." Community
College Week 09 Feb. 2009: International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference
Center. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.