Kennedy Gabel- book discussion part 2

The second reading assignment we were assigned to read from "The American Way of Poverty" shared very many personal stories of poverty and struggle just like the first reading section. Although there were many similarities throughout the stories shared, section two's central focus seemed to be around the fact that our society's programs that have been put in place to help individuals and families who are living in poverty and are in need of assistance seem to be failing. A quote on page 99, only the second page into the new reading section, really set the mood for what was expected, and proven throughout the second section. The short and simple quote went like this: "We force people to become very, very poor before we are able to help them" (Abramsky, 2013). This statement was more than accurate when it came to the personal stories throughout pages 98-234; so many people had stories about how they were only eligible for certain programs or were only receiving small amounts of money that added up to nothing when you have children to feed. Stories about children having no choice but to go hungry because their families benefits for the month ran out, as well as people living in extreme impoverished conditions were present in this reading section. One of the most astounding facts I learned while reading was how horribly children of all areas are affected by poverty, not just at home, but in their communities and schools as well. In counties such as Drew, the school system was failing horribly; half of the students didn't graduate, the school itself had been taken over by the state, the extra-curricular activities had been cut, and the children, parents, teachers, and administration had simply given up on the younger generation resulting in increased levels of drug abuse and many children ending up in jail. There were too many stories about children in poverty in the section, it made me absolutely sick to my stomach to read  the statistics and the data that Abramsky revealed. Another passage from the section that stood out to me was about the food pantry in the Appalachian Mountains; from 2008 to 2011, food supply went down by 85%, this affected so many families in this area. The second reading section was all about how fragile, or ineffective our government programs have proven to be when helping families in poverty, also about how coming from, or being located in certain areas around the United States can make a person experience poverty to more extreme levels, and finally the second reading section was about ways to improve or repair the holes in our nations welfare programs such as SNAP and TANF.      
Potential test question: In order to make all of our nations "assistance" programs such as welfare, mortgage tax relief, federal college loans, and Medicare fair, should drug testing be required before receiving these benefits?