An Essay On Poverty Though Galbraiths Perception Essay, Research Paper

Imagine a sumptuous chicken dinner accompanied by a bed of garlic mashed potatoes potato s, and a fresh baked apple pie permeated throughout the dining room. Then imagine a piece of bread accompanied by some butter with a glass of water. See the difference? Innumerable people take for granted the simple luxuries, such as eating a nutritional meal, while others struggle just to keep alive. Almost a third of the worlds population lives under the poverty line, earning less then one dollar a day. Although the gap is narrowing between the rich and the poor plenty of other problems such as families without medical insurance, to students attending lousy schools, are far from being solved. In both of my articles Poverty in America by Ann Therese Palmer, and Forgiving and Forgetting by Pranay Gupte, individuals make the effort to lessen the suffering of the poverty stricken. They explore society s effort to hand workers at the bottom of society real economic progress, but how much longer can we keep the good times rolling? (pg1 Pov. in Amc.)

Poverty is self perpetuating partly because the poorest communities are poorest in the services which would eliminate it (246) is a principal motif throughout my first article Poverty in America by Ann Therese Palmer. The US economy is recently seeking expansion opportunities in America s toughest ghettos. They are so desperate for workers that they go to cities no one would consider. As a result these cities have shown an amazingly lower crime rate, an increase in employment, and more money to spend. All in all, central cities are seeing the largest drop in poverty in 30 years.

For the last three decades, workers who have earned on the lower end of the wage ladder have sunk further and further behind inflation. There are several contemplation s to why individuals get caught up in the downward spiral of poverty. They range from environmental disasters, to pure laziness and ignorance. Now for the first time since the 1960 s, workers at the bottom of society are being given the opportunity for real economic progress.

Companies like Starbucks and Disney now see inner cities as a vast hiring opportunity. Ghettos provide cheap real estate and tax breaks for companies who are willing to take the risk.

In Galbraith s essay, he elucidates on the theory that We ignore it (poverty) because we share with all societies at all times the capacity for not seeing what we do not wish to see (247). This, however, is not the case in this news article. This is why I have come to the presumption that Galbraith would be elated with the country’s effort to do away with the afflictions of poverty. Destitution might not be eliminated, but the attempt to raise the standards of living is a conception Galbraith does not think is viable. Such steps to eliminating poverty demands the nations will, however, and he warns that the nation may lack the will (238).

A similar endeavor to assuage poverty arises in my second article Forgiving and Forgetting by Pranay Gupte. In contrast to the above editorial the effort to eliminate poverty is made by one specific person, President Clinton, instead of a group of people

Clinton announced last week that the U.S would forgive all the debt that the world s 36 poorest countries owe to America. He feels that the unsustainable debt is keeping to many poor countries and poor people in poverty. He emphasized that almost 1/3 of the world s population lives under the poverty line, earning less then one dollar a day.

The forty-one indebted countries owe the U.S. and other Western lenders nearly three-hundred-million dollars. But the question is, will debt cancellation truly boost development? The problem with underdeveloped countries is that they lack skilled and honest leaders, as well as institutions to lure companies back with tax breaks and other incentives. So who is to say if these countries will ever end the borrow-steal-spend- and plead for forgiveness cycle?

Galbraith would most likely be surprised that a political figure is making the effort to do away with poverty. Because the poor are a minority, few politicians make them a campaign issue (238) Galbraith would probably not agree with just nullifying a countries debt all together do to the fact that in his essay he clarifies poverty by providing two definitions: case poverty and insular poverty. Alcoholism, ignorance, mental deficiencies, discrimination, and specific handicaps fall under the category of case poverty, where as insular poverty relates to problems with the environment. If a country or community does not fall under one of these categories, most likely it is not making the effort to raise the standards of living, and is leeching off more prosperous countries to help it survive. Intern I believe that Galbraith would be in discordance with the theory of forgiving debt because poverty lies in remedies that allow people to look after themselves- to participate in the economy (245). If countries or individuals are not willing to make the effort to better their lives, he would probably feel that they are not be worthy to scrounge off more affluent societies.

In both articles, Galbraith would presumably be pleased that countries and individuals are putting forth the effort to attempt to pull others out of poverty. As established in the essay his main concern is that people ignore what they do not wish to see. Anciently this has enabled the nobleman to enjoy his dinner while remaining oblivious to the beggars around his door (247). Galbraith would probably be in accordance with my speculation that the endeavor to depreciate the effects of poverty by seeking expansion opportunities in the ghetto is a more practical plan then forgiving and forgetting . I feel this quote best explains my theory that people can only help themselves, if they are willing to put forth the effort to better their lives, The only sound way to solve the problem of poverty is to help people help themselves (245) .