"The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All" Reflection

Gans Reflection As I was reading “The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All," I was enlightened to read about the social phenomenon of poverty that I had never come across. For example, how the poor “buy goods others do not want and thus prolong the economic usefulness," is an ingenious way to put the unique situation that is addressed in this essay. Although Gans is using satire to poke playfully at the rich for looking down upon the poor, I conceived from it that both sides need to open their eyes. When people view this essay, they understand it as something that’s meant to hurt the poor, but if you closely read between the lines, it is pointing fingers on both sides, and in the end has a solution for everyone. As we discussed in class, Gans comes off as stripping the empathy for the poor by the facts that he provides. But if you think about it, why would he come so strongly and hold nothing back with a cold, hard truth, if he weren't trying to say something to the poor and the rich? The fact that half of his essay is antagonizing the poor is something that should be thoroughly observed. As I was reading it myself, I thought that this was a tactic so that the poor can get up and do something for themselves so that they are not always in the position described in the essay. As far as people were saying in class about how this essay would only be read by the rich, may not necessarily hold up because anyone can get a hold of this essay. It’s meant for the public eye, so I’m pretty sure Gans knew someone poor out there would read this and probably get a clue as to how society views them and probably do something about it. There have been many success stories about people from poor dirt who’ve made it past the point of some people who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Hard work and dedication goes a long way, and with a little motivation from this article, almost nothing is impossible. My father was born in the village and hardly had any clothes to