The Author of
“Poverty in Florida” would most likely agree with the statement “America has a
problem with income equality that needs to be fixed”. Barbara Ehrenreich says,
“During a month of poverty no one recognized my name…” This means that in
society people do not care for the poor, as they should and that there is a
huge inequality gap between the rich and the poor. She also states that it is
very hard to move up in the income gap. She believes that when somebody is poor
it is very hard to move up to then become rich and have money. She undergoes
the struggles of being poor and says that at one point she would be $100 short
on rent, which could possibly make her not have a home. She believes that life
in poverty is a had life in which it is very hard to acquire wealth, which then
makes it even hard to sustain life off of such a little income furthermore make
it very difficult to sustain a family off that income. This leads to my
conclusion that Ehrenreich would agree that America has a problem with inequality
in income that needs to be fixed in order for the poor to stop struggling as
much as they do.
I agree that Barbara Ehrenreich would back up the statement “America has a problem with income equality that needs to be fixed”. She put herself in the situation that a majority of Americans often find themselves and their families in and she experienced their struggles to some extent. She noted how living is often the biggest problem faced, whether it be financial or creepy roommate/landlord problems. If people don’t have a reliable place to call home it becomes very difficult to keep up with other expenses while trying to resolve living problems. She also noted the difference between corporate and “humane” jobs, being those of managers and employees. Employees help each other out and customers as well, while managers and other corporate positions are primarily interested in whether or not the money quota has been reached. This impersonal difference is where the inequality problem begins. Once people get past a certain job title or position they begin to lose empathy for those below them. They begin to only care about what is making them money and keeps them doing so. Ehrenreich would definitely agree that the income inequality issue needs resolution, but the question I’m sure she asks along with so many others is how?
ReplyDeleteI agree that Barbara Ehrenreich believes that "America has a problem with income inequality that needs to be fixed," but I feel that you misinterpreted when she says "During my month of poverty, no one recognized my name..." It seems that she meant this as in no one in the lower class has time or resources to appreciate things like literature. This could be due to lack of education and lack of interest. When you are worried about how you are going to eat and pay your bills in order to not get evicted, it is unlikely that you concern yourself with fine literature to pass the time. Forwardly, you make a valid point when you quote Ehrenreich on how she realized she would be short on rent. Ehrenreich goes on to explain the situations of her coworkers in order to convey the lack of resources impoverished people have access to in order to meet their basic necessities. In the end it is true that Ehrenreich would agree that America has an inequality issue.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the author of “Poverty in Florida” would agree with the quote about the rich always being rich and the poor always being poor because she believes that America has a problem with income equality. Barbara Ehrenreich would be correct because even in today’s society we still don’t have income equality. For example, most women still make 75¢ per $1 a man makes, and decreases with what race and ethnicity as it continues. This goes to show that poor will almost always be poor because they are not making the same amount of money as the rich people. As for the rich people, the majority of them make so much money that they nor their grandchildren’s grandchildren will ever have to face poverty.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the author would agree with the statement “America has a problem with income equality that needs to be fixed”. I mean after all, she experienced and saw this problem first hand. Although, it is important to note that Barbara did not grow up in this particular lifestyle that she transitioned to. She even describes her father as having “managed to pull himself and us with him up from the mile deep copper mines of Butte to the leafy suburbs of the Northeast, ascending from boiler-makers to martinis before booze beat out ambition”. So, knowing where Barbara came from, to her present lifestyle, it would be very easy for her to recognize these inequalities. She herself struggled to find a job that paid $7.00 an hour, and when she did eventually find a suitable job as a waitress, the people that she was serving were low minimum wage workers just like herself. Now although I do feel that there is most definitely income inequality here in the United States, however I do not agree with her statement that “moving up in the socio-economic ladder is too difficult”. I just believe that just as her father, everyone has to work hard to get to where they want to be.
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