One of the very first things that stood out to me
was the quote, “poverty is when the money that you need isn’t there, and you
have to make choices that compromise your health or your future or your ability
to care for your family,” because I have dealt with that before. There have
been times when I did have health insurance because I could not afford it. The
last part of the book brought me so much joy because it was actually the author
was thinking of ways to end/fix poverty. Another thing that stood out to me was
how he explained how the justice system sets you up to fail. For example, if I got
to jail for aggravated assault in the first degree, then I have the label of a
convicted felon. This means that I have a felony. Now when I get out of jail I will
always be labeled a felon and have to categorize myself in that way on job
application and college application. This indicates that I will not matriculate
into the college I want or get the job. This leads me to do some criminal and I
end up back in jail with more charges. The justice system should identify and fix
the underlying problems a person has instead of wasting money. The money spent
in regards to prisons could go elsewhere in the country and state budgets.
The last part of the book was about the solutions of
poverty. It was also about the fact that everyone deserves a few second
chances. Life will happen and that’s okay, but there needs to be someone or
something there to help a person if he or she needs help. This part of the book
was the best part to me because she brought up how stable economic
neighborhoods tend to not have gangs, homelessness, or drugs. Stable economic
neighborhoods have less disruption in the classroom and the students can
actually learn and engage. Most of the solutions she mentioned were ideas I had
before because I lived in poverty before. I must say I really did enjoy the third
part of the book. From investing in education, reforming the prisons, and treating
the vulnerable populations (drug addicts and the mentally-ill), poverty can
end, but it will take a lot of work and time.
Test Question: What are some other ways to fix the poverty we have in America?
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