Poverty. Good, Bad, or the Truth?

Why is poverty seen as a bad thing, when in fact it is the truth? Our media depicts images to us that will get our mind in a vulnerable state of mind where it is easy to be controlled. “In 21st century America, the poor are no longer just the permanently unemployable, the recently incarcerated, or the mentally ill” (Pg. 13). In order to be considered above the poverty line you must make twenty two thousand a year despite the rising cost of living in America we have yet to see a rise in minimum wage in America. California is one of the most expensive states in America to live in yet our minimum wage has not risen in eight years and has been at standstill eight dollars an hour since 2006. “Poverty refused to discriminate on the basis of religious creed or ethnic identity” (Pg. 14). Poverty affects so many Americans the word poverty is now broken up into two classes, the new poor and the old poor. The old poor can be described as citizens who were poor before the “new poor” took meaning in 2007; the new poor can be described as citizens who were once “bona fide members of America’s middle class” (Pg. 14). The unemployment rates were above ten percent and bank foreclosures on homes that many people have had for more than twenty years has left many people displaced and scattered; without a home and a job to provide the necessities for everyday living many Americans have turned to general assistance in order to provide “substantial” living necessities. We are all on the growing edge of poverty, “While the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans, those earning $380,000 or more, have grown by 33 percent over the past twenty years, the income growth for the other ninety percent of Americans, including the middle class, has been at a virtual standstill” (Pg. 15). Many Americans work very hard day to day to provide necessities and we are unaware of the world around us causing it eat us alive and spit us out. When we realize a problem it usually is too late to react, many of us feel cursed by something that we worked so hard to not fall into. “They remain sober…faced with the frightening possibility of being dependent on meager public assistance” (Pg. 14) many of us dread being associated with the stereotype of people living off of food stamps and other government assistance programs but in today’s America we really have no choice. As I stated in a previous paragraph minimum wage has not increased in eight years, imagine what it is like to be a college student in America. Prices of books go up every year and so does tuition, many of us rely on financial aid but to even get a good substantial amount to last all school year, you basically have to be poor. For example, my mother is a single mom paying all the bills and as the oldest child, of two, I of course want to help but I'm being paid barely above minimum wage at $8.65 an hour. If I ask my mom for money I have to pay her back, on top of pay for my own books, school supplies, and my own necessities. “The number of Americans who had been unemployed for six months or more in 2009 reached the largest number since 1948”(Pg. 18) . The easy thing to say is get another job but until you lived the life you really have nothing to say that can help anyone because the story is usually the same if you talk to other people who live similar lifestyles.