Poverty and Food Stamps
Poverty: Bottoms Up
Poverty is an issue that surrounds us whether we want to admit it or not. There are many reasons that poverty plays an active roll in today=s society. It is part of everyday life and affects everyone. Social workers have been trying to help these people for many years now, but only with limited success because the poverty rate keeps climbing and there is not enough help available to give everyone personal treatment. There are many efforts that are being made in order to help this struggle. There are food stamps, welfare, WICS (Women Infants and Children Support), etc. The arguments with these programs are that are we making it easier for the poor to remain poor. AIt=s important to recognize that these figures [that I use] are a year old. They cover 2003, not the current year. Given current economic conditions, it is extremely likely that poverty fell during 2004, although the official figures won=t be available until the fall of next year@ (Fox News, par 1). In order to interpret the causes of poverty in America, we must first understand how poverty is defined. AFor most Americans, the word >poverty= suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter@ (Rector, par 2). The issue is not that poverty is defined too broadly, it is that many people do not understand that our socioeconomic structure means you must make much more money just to survive. Poverty use to be Aconsidered a responsibility of society as a whole . . . Now poverty is often blamed on the poor and on the system of government support created to help them@ (Stengel, par 5). Is our over materialistic society to blame? Society seems to Ahave sought to convince us that in addition to the basic human needs of air, water, food and shelter, we all have a fifth human need for novelty@ (Sine 89).
If you make even a dollar or two an hour above the minimum wage, you still suffer. Okay, suppose you make seven dollars an hour
Poverty is an issue that surrounds us whether we want to admit it or not. There are many reasons that poverty plays an active roll in today=s society. It is part of everyday life and affects everyone. Social workers have been trying to help these people for many years now, but only with limited success because the poverty rate keeps climbing and there is not enough help available to give everyone personal treatment. There are many efforts that are being made in order to help this struggle. There are food stamps, welfare, WICS (Women Infants and Children Support), etc. The arguments with these programs are that are we making it easier for the poor to remain poor. AIt=s important to recognize that these figures [that I use] are a year old. They cover 2003, not the current year. Given current economic conditions, it is extremely likely that poverty fell during 2004, although the official figures won=t be available until the fall of next year@ (Fox News, par 1). In order to interpret the causes of poverty in America, we must first understand how poverty is defined. AFor most Americans, the word >poverty= suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter@ (Rector, par 2). The issue is not that poverty is defined too broadly, it is that many people do not understand that our socioeconomic structure means you must make much more money just to survive. Poverty use to be Aconsidered a responsibility of society as a whole . . . Now poverty is often blamed on the poor and on the system of government support created to help them@ (Stengel, par 5). Is our over materialistic society to blame? Society seems to Ahave sought to convince us that in addition to the basic human needs of air, water, food and shelter, we all have a fifth human need for novelty@ (Sine 89).
If you make even a dollar or two an hour above the minimum wage, you still suffer. Okay, suppose you make seven dollars an hour
Cited: Jensen, Phillip, and Tony Payne. The Beatitudes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. 1999. Sider, Ron. AA Biblical Foundation.@ Justice in a Pluralistic Society. Eds. Sandy Bauer, Paul Brink, Nate Coleman, Kathy Lee, Sheri Robinson, Monica Smith, and Van Weigel. Littleton, MA: Tapestry Press, Ltd. 2003. Stengel, Richard The NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1985.