Paulette Horton

My thoughts about the second reading were something that I can relate to. I’m currently in school and I have other family members who are in high school and middle school. Since education is key and cost, I felt people in poverty would struggle with education. In a section in the book on page 117, discusses the situation of cut backs and when I was in high school that’s when I first heard about cut backs. I felt like they were taking away programs that helped financially and programs that allows students to express themselves. “In a desperate attempt to save money, states also began cutting back the number of weeks in the school years, one unintended consequences of which was that hungry children, whose main meals came through free school breakfast and lunch programs, spent more each year hungry” (117). It’s interesting that the state would have to make their school systems cut back on programs that help students eat or cutting back on how much education a student should get.

A question that I would like to pose is, what was the argument against feeding student  everyday throughout the school year? The answer is “If you feed them three square meals a day during the school year, how can you expect them to feed themselves during the summer” (118).

Candace Williams book review

After reading the second reading assignment in the Ambrasky book a few of the passages stood out to me. Specifically Chapter 5: The Wrong Side of the Tracks. On page 124, I was moved by Vicenta, the 61 year old woman who was undergoing chemotherapy for her brain tumor. Long story short, she talked about how she could barely afford some of the medication and nutritional supplements that she needed due to her lack of income and small social security checks and money she received for food stamps. Vicenta talked about waiting for several hours in the long line at a food pantry just to pick up fruits, vegetables, and other items that she needed for the week. She would do this every Saturday morning despite how much pain she was in and how sick she would be. In my opinion, it is sad to think that there are people with serious chronic illnesses who are living in poverty and who can not even afford the food and medicine that they need. Vicenta also talked about transportation and how if she needed to get somewhere she had to pay gas and it made me realize how blessed I am for the simple things in life I sometimes take for granted. It also made me wonder what all was being done by the government for individuals with chronic illnesses when they can not afford their medication. Vincenta talked about going without her medicine if she could not afford it, but surely something must be done about that or else innocent lives will be lost due to their lack of ability to afford necessities. Another passage that stood out to me was in chapter 6: Stuck In Reverse. After reading a passage in chapter 6, a line on page 186 stood out to me the most. It states "Americans born into poverty move up the income ladder less frequently than their peers do in areas of the world such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Canada, France, and many other advanced industrial democracies" (Ambraksy, 2013).  In my opinion, this line speaks volumes because it is sad to think that the individuals living in underdeveloped areas are receiving less pay. I thought it was interesting to read in this chapter that individuals who were skilled and educated would pack up and move to developed areas leaving behind those who were not as educated to work in places for minimum wage.

Test question: What does Ambrasky mean by Inequality is a good thing...unless you're poor"?

Amanda Graf discussion post

In the second part of the book “The American Way of Poverty”, Abramsky presents the individual, real-life stories of people living in poverty day-to-day. He was very diverse in the locations and people he chose to share stories from, and it was much more interesting and intriguing to me as a reader to hear people’s real life testimonies of the hardships they’ve been through. I think many Americans believe that because we live in the best country in the world and are free, that there aren’t actually many homeless people suffering everyday and living on the streets just fighting to stay alive. Since the recession in 2008 the amount of individuals needing financial assistance had gone up tremendously. Most individuals needing assistance struggled to become eligible and they are not getting enough to take care of their families. I couldn’t believe all of the stories about parents hurting to feed their children. Children in poverty are at a high risk of danger; dealing with more frequent hospital visits, missing school, and other activities. You could never imagine being in someone’s shoes until you read about their daily struggles most take for granted. There are more children living in poverty now than ever before, and we are the generation that needs to acknowledge this detrimental problem in our society and come together to take care of our fellow Americans.

Potential test question:

Is there an alternative to the TANF program that our government can implement that would better serve Americans living in poverty?

Brooke Kimball: Abramsky Reading Reaction

This section of The American Way of Poverty has been much easier to read than the former. With each page I am getting more and more frustrated with what is going on in this country in regards to how we are or are not helping those living in poverty. In the book on page 105 it mentioned that with our government becoming more conservative in its way, having access to benefits or welfare is becoming more and more difficult. Another topic that frustrated me was the fact that the government isn’t giving people access to basic health care so instead of fixing an issue when it’s minor like a cavity people have to wait until it becomes a major problem and then go to the Emergency Room. Instead of fixing the problems when they wouldn’t cost so much with the help of medical insurances the government lets it become a bigger issue costing even more money.  Lastly, many if not all states still have so many people that are not receiving any assistance all because the government is putting tighter restrictions and giving less and less money. An example given in the book was that, a family of 4 in Mississippi would receive less than 200 dollars a month in assistance which if impossible to survive on (Abramsky, 106). I know I couldn’t survive on that by myself so how would our government expect a family of 4 to? On page 173, the book discusses the issue with people being targeted by predatory lenders that convince people that can’t afford to pay off what they borrow later, thus causing mass amounts of foreclosures. This isn’t the governments fault obviously, but maybe by offering classes about housing people would be more educated thus less likely to get in over their heads in housing debt.

Possible Test Question: Should people applying for government assistance be drug tested? Why or why not?

Shondell Bohanan

A very interesting part that I came across while reading The American Way of Poverty by Abramsky, is when she talked to a student by the name of Juan. He said that college had became a second priority for him now, because he feels as though finding a job is much more important since bills have become a major issue in his life. I thought that was interesting seeing how when he first herd bout college he's been wanting to go. Now, things have gotten so bad financially, a job s much more important. This touched close to home for me, because there are many people right here at my college who are going through similar, if not the same, situations. Here at Eastern alone the charges that are given to students puts them in a position where they feel as though a job is much more important, because of all the unnecessary expenses, such as campus improvement fees.

Dionna Slaughter's Thoughts

After part two of The American Way of Poverty was easier to read. I actually enjoyed it, but there were many things that I stuck out to me. One aspect of the second part was the stories that portrayed the different levels of poverty. The author mentioned many stories of people living in poverty and how they became impoverished. Many people expected people who are poor to be terrible people, but the passage revealed that there are people who qualify for food stamps and medicaid, but not cash. As a result, they may have committed crimes or fell behind on their rent. However, they were not bad people.He also mentioned Vicenta, who was received thirty-four dollars in food stamps, was battling cancer and lived in poverty. In addition to battling cancer, she was on four medicines for depression, had high blood pressure, had diabetes, chronic back pain, and could not drive. All of those conditions made her dependent on someone and did not help her situation. Her conditions complicated her situation. Another story that stood out to me was the story of Cruzanta and Paul. They were living in a closet with a bed basically. They were living without a toilet, without running water, without heat, and without electricity. They used a commode, which involved a trash bag, to use the bathroom. They also washed their dishes in rainwater. I can only imagine how difficult it is to wash dishes in rain water. Yes, they were living in poverty, but they were considered undeserving poor. Undeserving poor means that they are poor due to poor decisions or communal dysfunction. Cruzanta and Paul both went to juvenile halls as teenagers. Cruzanta assaulted a girl at school; Paul was involved with drugs, assaults, and grand theft auto. Despite their lives not being amazing, they were awesome parents to their three year old son. It's easy to stereotype them, but they were trying to make it and that's all that matters. There were other stories that stood out to me like this one, but I cannot explain each story he hinted on.

"At that level of poverty. the basic realities of daily life become so difficult to navigate that people end up facing not just temporary hardships, but permanent handicaps."

"The kids are feeling like they're not learning what they need to learn; the teachers aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing; the administrators aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing; the adults aren't taking care of the kids in terms of education; the parents aren't involved in the schools."

These two statements relate to my life. I cannot exceed like a student who lived in the suburbs all one's live because I did not have quality education all my life. In high school, I went to Hyde Park Academy in Chicago ; then I transferred to Downers Grove South in Downers Grove. I struggled at DGS because I was handicapped from my temporary hardships at HPA. HPA's curriculum was behind academically compared to DGS, so I was behind academically. The second statement was literally my life. When I attended HPA, I felt just as the author described in that passage. I did not feel like my teachers cared, so I did not care as much as I should have. I did get good grades, but I did not have someone cheering me on like I did at DGS. DGS's approach was "we know you will succeed and go to college." HPA's approach was "we do not care if you pass or not, if you are here or not, you probably will not pass or go to college,so we do not care whether you do the work or not."

There were many efforts to help and destroy the impoverished community. Politicians and law makers fail to realize that they are many reasons why people fall into poverty. Some people fall into poverty and commit crimes to survive. Some people make bad decisions like Katie to escape one's harsh reality. Some people who appear to be criminal might not have been a criminal if they were not poor. If I was living in poverty and my children needed food, I probably would steal to feed them if I did not have any help. When you are living in poverty, you do not think of every rational thing because you are only thinking of that moment. One reason people have multi-generations impoverished is because they were never taught to think of the future and to save money. Yes it's hard to save money when you have nothing, but once you start it gets easier.

Question: Does being poor make you not value education? Why or why not?

Desiree's Book Discussion

Desiree Utz
11/17/2015
Discussion 2
FCS 4840

I really have grown to love the tone of The American Way of Poverty, the author does a good job of illustrating the changes that our nation has made to safety nets throughout U.S. history. The book uses extensive forms of data to make it easier for the reader to relate too. Abramsky really strips down to the core information and allows you to see the sad truth that millions of Americans face each year. Throughout this read I was shocked by the data I read, for instance, page 127 “In the late 70s, there used to be a bumper sticker: ‘Last one out of Michigan, turn out the lights.’” (Abramsky, 2013) This really hit me because it seems like the bumper sticker was a little of a joke when really this is a terribly sad event. These people were losing their jobs, homes, and communities. They were completely uprooting because there was no glimpse of hope in their near future. It makes you wonder about the endurance and strength the people who stayed in Detroit must have. Over 40 square miles of the city was abandoned and still people tried to remain loyal to their homes. Whereas, outsiders observed the empty buildings as though they were ancient ruins. That is left of these building is the said story of what once was. It makes you wonder why American didn’t plan for the shift in the labor force and prepare citizens with adequate ways to transition. Another thing that really just seemed ridiculous was on page 145 where Abramsky talks about how New York City made programs to help homeless people receive housing but by making their applications too difficult very few people actually benefit from this program. That being said in these areas more people are turning to shelters and it cost the state more money to run the shelter than to help people in the program. “Instead of paying $800 per person in rent subsidies, it runs an emergency shelter system that can cost up to $25,000 per year per resident.” We can see history repeating itself by not serving the needs of the majority, we having a lot of people living housing cost burdened and even homeless and the government act like it is not a problem. This book makes me extremely frustrated at times because you want someone to listen to the evidence Abramsky has found and wake them up to the reality that people are still struggling in a 1^st world, capitalist economy. The question I would pose to my classmates would be: How do you think you could incorporate Abramsky’s writings into the FCS profession, how will you share this new knowledge? 

GREAT JOB SO FAR!

Been reading your blog posts on the book and I am impressed with your work so far!  :)

D'ARA Townsend

D’ARA Townsend

I personally this book is helping expose the injustice that those in poverty face on a daily basis. For example, the book mentioned how some want the poor to have to take drug test in order to receive assistance. This is a great example of how we are quick to try and make someone prove something; especially the poor. As stated I the reading “The state’s conservative political culture makes the life of the poor as unpleasant as possible.” In addition to my previous point the book really helped put things in to perspective that a lot of the things the government did under out nose without us knowing. For example, the government pretty much sat and let people go in to debt by not showing any action when was experiencing a “slowdown” they encouraged people to take out unaffordable loans instead of regulating banks. I had no idea this occurred until reading this book. To know the government could have helped the tons of people who are in a financial crisis is quite shocking to me. The book is in a way one’s “third eye” when it comes to poverty and how the government ultimately handles it.

A good test question could be: Should individuals be required to drug test for government assistance?

Alexis Brown Book Review

The American Way of Poverty is getting better as I read it. As I read more into this book I get a sense of anger because it shows that the rich is getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. As I read more into the book, I notice government assistant that was helping families survive is being cut back. People are losing their jobs, and there is no safety net to catch them.  The safety net is getting weaker as the years go on. Pretty soon we will not have a safety net to catch families.  As we read in the book unemployment is increasing and TANF (government assistant) was decreasing. As we read about Raquel and her family we can see the many struggles she faced.  In the book, he talks about individuals being homeless. As a society we see it has the individual issues instead of the government problem as well.  As we discussed in class, as a society we like to point the blame because of a person’s ethics.

Test Question- What type of programs can we come up with for families and individuals who are slipping thought the safety net? How can we get rid of that stereotype of the poor, so many people can understand the struggles of the poor?