Tom Wolfe The Effects Of Poverty On America
The Effects of Poverty on America All over the world, disparities between the rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly “successful” and wealthy while a disproportionately larger population is also becoming even poorer. There are many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government’s) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the poorer nations. The book, The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, illustrates clearly
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the disparities which separate these two social classes. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to diminish so that our economy can grow stronger. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as “developing”? A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. The Black community of the Bronx in The Bonfire of the Vanities brings to light the degree of poverty that many Americans endure daily. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Henry Lamb, the black boy who Sherman McCoy and his mistress run over in their car, represents the poor and doesn’t get a fair chance for a decent life, as his life comes to an end after being in comma. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $19,350 in 2005, and “the poverty rate in 2004, according to the HHS, is 12.7 percent, or 37 million Americans”. (Census). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and the economy’s condition of the working poor are just a few examples of what needs to be considered when measuring the poverty levels in our nation. Poverty expands and contracts and its definition changes in accordance with temporary exigencies, including the interests of those who propound the definitions and do the counting, which means that there is no concrete definition of poverty, except for the numbers. (Census). It appears that the rich are exempt from these statistics though, and of all the groups mentioned in The Bonfire of the Vanities, the rich are thrashed the most by Tom Wolfe. They are shown to the reader as snobs, who care only about their high-class society, and cannot be bothered with the rest of the world. The only way they measure a man's worth is through his paycheck. The poor are rejected. This parallels the real world. Unfortunately, poverty is not something that has just recently become an issue; it has been around for many years. The economy has been a major influence on the levels of poverty in our nation. In 1973, poverty increased because then the economy worsened. Real wages and productivity decreased, and “the economy could not grow fast enough to absorb the large number of potential workers, which caused unemployment to increase” (Katz 11). Ever since then our government has tried to reduce the poverty in our nation, and so far has had a difficult time in doing so. “In 1996, Bill Clinton addressed the welfare bill, and that resulted in an estimated one million children being thrown into poverty” (Egendorf). However, assistance from the Government has also been helpful. Programs such as Social Security, Food stamps, housing assistance are safety nets that have helped lower the high risk of poverty. Without these added benefits, people would be a lot worse than they are now. The safety net programs reduced “the child poverty rate from 24% before the benefits were counted down to 16%” (Egendorf). “Supplemental Security income, local general assistance, and earned income tax credits have also been popular components of income in the United States” (Lynn, McGeary 235). Education levels are not as high in urban areas, which means that the people who are living in these areas are not qualified for the high paying jobs. High skilled jobs are beyond the reach of those who live in areas of concentrated poverty, and those who are going for the high skilled jobs, are finding their way out of these areas of concentrated poverty. Higher standard of living also attracts immigrants, which makes it hard for people living in urban areas to find good paying jobs, because the immigrants will work for lower wages. In The Bonfire of the Vanities, Wolfe illustrates how the Black community is relegated to sub-standard living as many residents lack the qualifications to get better jobs. What about the myth that America is the land of opportunity?
“With such a high standard of living, many believe this is not true”( Katz 13). Those who work hard and have the opportunity to be financially successful are rewarded with healthy, enjoyable lifestyles, while those who are disadvantaged and cannot receive these opportunities are punished and miserable. Sherman McCoy a rich white Wall Street bond trader in The Bonfire of the Vanities is one who lives such a lifestyle. Disadvantaged does not mean those who are on welfare, or those who are too lazy to find work. People who have disabilities that make it hard for them to find jobs, and those that are born into poverty, who cannot escape it, must be tortured and remain helpless until a solution to this social problem is reached. “In America, only 1% of the people own 50% of the wealth, 20 % of our children live in poverty, and a half a million people are homeless” (Katz 15). It is statistics like these that says our economic system depends on inequality in order to survive, an idea demonstrated throughout Wolfe’s novel in that Sherman McCoy and the rich white Manhattan minority always separate themselves from and look down on the poor and view blacks as barbarians ready to storm the gates of civilization. How would this world be if the wealth were evenly spread out for all to share? What would we do without poverty? Our society has been deeply divided for so long that it has become embedded into our culture. An …show more content…
example of this is “ in 1985, 2 million adults worked full time throughout the year, yet they and their families remained in poverty”(Katz 16). However, the wealthy kept working all year long, and they became wealthier. There are class systems to separate races, sex, and gender, but there is also a class system that distinguishes between the rich and the poor. These five classes consist of: 1. Upper/Capitalist-which are the wealthy, 2. Upper/Middle Class-which are the professionals, 3. The middle class-white collar, 4. The working class-semi-skilled workers and, 5. The chronically poor. So not only are people classified by their race, and gender, but they are also classified by their income. The conflict theory states that poverty is a side effect of the capitalist system, where those with access to resources and power exploit those who don’t have the same type of access to maximize their profit. This results in employers paying their employees lower wages, and giving them the least amount of benefits possible. A surplus of laborers decreases the wages that each employee receives, and if the employers make investment decisions, without regard for the employees, then they are reducing costs for themselves and hurting their employee’s salaries. This illustrates an example in The Bonfire of the Vanities in which a character called Reverend Bacon leads the black community to believe he will deliver them from the bondage of the white and rich. I believe they follow him because they all feel they have been exploited and oppressed by the rich and white. Poverty is a very unfortunate lifestyle to have to endure. By saying that they have to suffer from it, I mean that they have no choice. There have been no successful solutions to this ongoing social problem despite our government’s many attempts. The people who are living on the streets may be unimportant to those with no financial limits, but they have not been forgotten.
According to the World Bank, the international plan to reduce poverty by half was originally supposed to be reached by the year 2015, but the high number of poor people is high, and they are spread out everywhere. The developing states are trying to recover, but the financial crisis’ that have occurred have stunned the growth and opportunities that we are supposed to be experiencing. The conflict theory is not a solution to the problem of poverty; instead it aggravates the problem. To start to reach a solution to this problem, I think that the government should focus directly on the poor and offer them opportunities for advancement in order to create an environment of equality. I think that employers should offer specialized training to employees so that they can further their knowledge about different positions allowing them to climb the job ladder within their
companies. I know that whatever it takes to reduce the levels of poverty in our world, it will be a long, slow process. Our nation must persevere and not cease its efforts to eradicate poverty, this way our country will truly live out its nickname as the “Land of Opportunity”. Not every person who is suffering from poverty will be motivated to take advantage of these opportunities, but the people who do, will greatly benefit from these emerging opportunities. Perhaps I’m being too idealistic and optimistic, but maybe one day equality will be the reigning characteristic of society. The world we live in, which is portrayed in The Bonfire of the Vanities can be greatly improved.
Works Cited
Wolfe, Tom. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Bantam Books. 1987
Katz, Robert. “Poverty-stricken”. World Bank. 7 Jan. 2004. http://worldbank.org/oed/oedg.nsf
Census. “Poverty”. U.S. Census Bureau. 5 Mar. 2005. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html
Egendorf, Mark. “Poverty a Subject”. WHO. 14 Dec. 2004. http://members.tripod.com/~sadshivan_nair/quotpovertyquotasubject/ Lynn, Howard, and Dennis McGeary. Eliminating Poverty. Canada: Wadsworth. 2003.
the disparities which separate these two social classes. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to diminish so that our economy can grow stronger. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as “developing”? A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. The Black community of the Bronx in The Bonfire of the Vanities brings to light the degree of poverty that many Americans endure daily. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Henry Lamb, the black boy who Sherman McCoy and his mistress run over in their car, represents the poor and doesn’t get a fair chance for a decent life, as his life comes to an end after being in comma. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $19,350 in 2005, and “the poverty rate in 2004, according to the HHS, is 12.7 percent, or 37 million Americans”. (Census). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and the economy’s condition of the working poor are just a few examples of what needs to be considered when measuring the poverty levels in our nation. Poverty expands and contracts and its definition changes in accordance with temporary exigencies, including the interests of those who propound the definitions and do the counting, which means that there is no concrete definition of poverty, except for the numbers. (Census). It appears that the rich are exempt from these statistics though, and of all the groups mentioned in The Bonfire of the Vanities, the rich are thrashed the most by Tom Wolfe. They are shown to the reader as snobs, who care only about their high-class society, and cannot be bothered with the rest of the world. The only way they measure a man's worth is through his paycheck. The poor are rejected. This parallels the real world. Unfortunately, poverty is not something that has just recently become an issue; it has been around for many years. The economy has been a major influence on the levels of poverty in our nation. In 1973, poverty increased because then the economy worsened. Real wages and productivity decreased, and “the economy could not grow fast enough to absorb the large number of potential workers, which caused unemployment to increase” (Katz 11). Ever since then our government has tried to reduce the poverty in our nation, and so far has had a difficult time in doing so. “In 1996, Bill Clinton addressed the welfare bill, and that resulted in an estimated one million children being thrown into poverty” (Egendorf). However, assistance from the Government has also been helpful. Programs such as Social Security, Food stamps, housing assistance are safety nets that have helped lower the high risk of poverty. Without these added benefits, people would be a lot worse than they are now. The safety net programs reduced “the child poverty rate from 24% before the benefits were counted down to 16%” (Egendorf). “Supplemental Security income, local general assistance, and earned income tax credits have also been popular components of income in the United States” (Lynn, McGeary 235). Education levels are not as high in urban areas, which means that the people who are living in these areas are not qualified for the high paying jobs. High skilled jobs are beyond the reach of those who live in areas of concentrated poverty, and those who are going for the high skilled jobs, are finding their way out of these areas of concentrated poverty. Higher standard of living also attracts immigrants, which makes it hard for people living in urban areas to find good paying jobs, because the immigrants will work for lower wages. In The Bonfire of the Vanities, Wolfe illustrates how the Black community is relegated to sub-standard living as many residents lack the qualifications to get better jobs. What about the myth that America is the land of opportunity?
“With such a high standard of living, many believe this is not true”( Katz 13). Those who work hard and have the opportunity to be financially successful are rewarded with healthy, enjoyable lifestyles, while those who are disadvantaged and cannot receive these opportunities are punished and miserable. Sherman McCoy a rich white Wall Street bond trader in The Bonfire of the Vanities is one who lives such a lifestyle. Disadvantaged does not mean those who are on welfare, or those who are too lazy to find work. People who have disabilities that make it hard for them to find jobs, and those that are born into poverty, who cannot escape it, must be tortured and remain helpless until a solution to this social problem is reached. “In America, only 1% of the people own 50% of the wealth, 20 % of our children live in poverty, and a half a million people are homeless” (Katz 15). It is statistics like these that says our economic system depends on inequality in order to survive, an idea demonstrated throughout Wolfe’s novel in that Sherman McCoy and the rich white Manhattan minority always separate themselves from and look down on the poor and view blacks as barbarians ready to storm the gates of civilization. How would this world be if the wealth were evenly spread out for all to share? What would we do without poverty? Our society has been deeply divided for so long that it has become embedded into our culture. An …show more content…
example of this is “ in 1985, 2 million adults worked full time throughout the year, yet they and their families remained in poverty”(Katz 16). However, the wealthy kept working all year long, and they became wealthier. There are class systems to separate races, sex, and gender, but there is also a class system that distinguishes between the rich and the poor. These five classes consist of: 1. Upper/Capitalist-which are the wealthy, 2. Upper/Middle Class-which are the professionals, 3. The middle class-white collar, 4. The working class-semi-skilled workers and, 5. The chronically poor. So not only are people classified by their race, and gender, but they are also classified by their income. The conflict theory states that poverty is a side effect of the capitalist system, where those with access to resources and power exploit those who don’t have the same type of access to maximize their profit. This results in employers paying their employees lower wages, and giving them the least amount of benefits possible. A surplus of laborers decreases the wages that each employee receives, and if the employers make investment decisions, without regard for the employees, then they are reducing costs for themselves and hurting their employee’s salaries. This illustrates an example in The Bonfire of the Vanities in which a character called Reverend Bacon leads the black community to believe he will deliver them from the bondage of the white and rich. I believe they follow him because they all feel they have been exploited and oppressed by the rich and white. Poverty is a very unfortunate lifestyle to have to endure. By saying that they have to suffer from it, I mean that they have no choice. There have been no successful solutions to this ongoing social problem despite our government’s many attempts. The people who are living on the streets may be unimportant to those with no financial limits, but they have not been forgotten.
According to the World Bank, the international plan to reduce poverty by half was originally supposed to be reached by the year 2015, but the high number of poor people is high, and they are spread out everywhere. The developing states are trying to recover, but the financial crisis’ that have occurred have stunned the growth and opportunities that we are supposed to be experiencing. The conflict theory is not a solution to the problem of poverty; instead it aggravates the problem. To start to reach a solution to this problem, I think that the government should focus directly on the poor and offer them opportunities for advancement in order to create an environment of equality. I think that employers should offer specialized training to employees so that they can further their knowledge about different positions allowing them to climb the job ladder within their
companies. I know that whatever it takes to reduce the levels of poverty in our world, it will be a long, slow process. Our nation must persevere and not cease its efforts to eradicate poverty, this way our country will truly live out its nickname as the “Land of Opportunity”. Not every person who is suffering from poverty will be motivated to take advantage of these opportunities, but the people who do, will greatly benefit from these emerging opportunities. Perhaps I’m being too idealistic and optimistic, but maybe one day equality will be the reigning characteristic of society. The world we live in, which is portrayed in The Bonfire of the Vanities can be greatly improved.
Works Cited
Wolfe, Tom. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Bantam Books. 1987
Katz, Robert. “Poverty-stricken”. World Bank. 7 Jan. 2004. http://worldbank.org/oed/oedg.nsf
Census. “Poverty”. U.S. Census Bureau. 5 Mar. 2005. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html
Egendorf, Mark. “Poverty a Subject”. WHO. 14 Dec. 2004. http://members.tripod.com/~sadshivan_nair/quotpovertyquotasubject/ Lynn, Howard, and Dennis McGeary. Eliminating Poverty. Canada: Wadsworth. 2003.