My biggest concern at this point in time is poverty in the United States. Poverty in this country is at a ridiculously high rate, especially during these times of economic depression. I find it extremely puzzling that a country as rich as this one can find 20% of its citizens (40% within a 10-year period) fall below the poverty line at all times. I feel passionately about improving the condition and quality of life of those at the bottom who are working as hard as possible to lift themselves up.
However, where should we draw the line? While I believe in redistribution to a certain extent, I don’t believe that hard working people should have to give up their honest pay to bums sitting on the couch eating Cheetos. The hard working lower, impoverished people, though, should certainly receive government aid to boost them up. I think that the fact that the US has the highest “relative poverty” rate of any other industrial nation reflects the country’s high income of the top of society and the inequality we face (30% of African Americans are below the poverty line and the rate of impoverished Hispanics is even higher). The wealthiest group in the country is composed of upper class, white, older males.
While there has been a lot of discussion about Obama’s new tax policies, I think that they make sense. Obviously, the country is in a drastic state. And, while a select few at the top may be holding on, the economy cannot run when only the upper class participates in it. Like the problems we faced leading up to the Great Depression, a country cannot run when 1-10% can participate and the other 99-90% cannot. Obama’s plan of decreasing taxes for the lower classes and raising taxes for the middle to upper classes makes sense in my mind. While this plan may not be the best for the long run, at this point in time we need to stimulate the economy by getting money to the lower class and beginning to create more jobs. I do not think that a single mother raising 5 kids working 3 jobs should have to pay the same amount of taxes as a inherently wealthy, easy working family at the top. And if the uppermost class rejects to redistribute just a fraction of their wealth to the lower classes, the selfishness of America is certainly being reflected.
Although my ideas and views of poverty have changed and continue to change, at this time I feel that it is greatly necessary for the government to act and to implement the new revolutionary tax system. While the wealthiest at the top may find this annoying, I believe that they can sacrifice a bit of their hefty income to get the economy rolling again. The issue of poverty should not be a competition between conservatives or liberals, but should be an issue for our country to think about as a whole and fix through unselfish, new and smart means.
- poverty rate in the US by age
- poverty rate between 1959 and 2007
Grace, you are tapping into an issue that brings two values we hold dear crashing into one another: the values of equality and freedom. Equality meaning the right of every citizen to have the same opportunity to make something of his or herself. Freedom meaning the right to do what you want free from govt. restriction. Certainly, Obama’s new tax plan will curtail some of the freedom enjoyed by the wealthiest Americans — but that lose of freedom will be compensated by greater equality of opportunity as more of those tax dollars are devoted to programs — like Headstart or Medicaid–designed to help people get to the point that they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. You’ve got a lot of numbers in this entry. How about linking us to the sites where you are finding them? I’m going to challenge you to come to a more sophisticated understanding of this topic over the next couple of months. You need to learn more about the causes of poverty in our nation –and the conflicting points of view about how to address this problem. The big question: are the causes structural–meaning part of our society–or are the causes individual? I’ve got a great book for you to start with if you’re interested: The Working Poor.
i completely understand you wanting me to become more sophisticated on the subject of poverty. i knew that it was and issue but there’s so much out there to learn about it, especially in the state of the economy right now. i think i need to zero in on a few aspects of poverty that i can really focus on (i like the idea of freedom going hand in hand- or not really- with poverty and the fact that we aren’t really providing the “American Dream” to everyone in the country”. I also want to focus on the opposing sides of the arguments, mainly the Republicans versus Democrats and how each side plans on dealing with the immense issue of poverty today (and deciding which one i feel is more effective). once i have this 100 pages of HUCKLEBERRY FINN down, i’ll drop by and get that book.
thanks for the feedback.