Appreciation of the dollar in both, "Money" and "The Logic of Stupid Poor People" is the controversy when comparing the two. Junot Diaz said that his mother's reaction to the seemingly heroic return of their stolen money was stoic and unimpressed. This would suggest that while she was relieved to be able to continue helping her parents living overseas, her dissatisfaction with her current life situation has not changed. No one choses to be poor, but everyone appears to handle it differently. Like in Tressie McMillan Cottom's article, she advocates for an understanding of why even the impoverished require the non-necessities to gain social mobility. She explains that her and those like her successes with job interviews is directly related to their professional appearance, especially when viewed by an interviewer who can't exactly relate. Cottom says that if "you change the condition of your not-poor status, you change everything you know as a result of being a not-poor." A person who was not born into poverty will not understand the attitude which society has towards them.
I have always been fascinated and concerned about the less fortunate. My parents are what I call "very middle-class." They have always provided for the family regardless of layoffs, financial surprises, or any circumstance in which they had not anticipated and for that I will be forever grateful to them and to God. That being said, my parents made it very apparent that nothing we had was gained from luck. They preached hard work, perseverance, frugalness. Equally, they made sure my brother and I knew that there were plenty of people just like us who had it much worse off for no good reason.
Money is a powerful thing and can be used improperly. I agree with both perspectives introduced in the articles and can appreciate the decisions made by the people involved. My takeaway from these works is that you can't really know someone's story until you walk a mile in their shoes.
I agree that money is a powerful thing. It's the "root of all evil." People would and will do anything in their power for money. Being poor is a contradiction of choice. Some people really cant help but be poor but some choose to be poor. If you are able to work but choose not too because you are too lazy to get up and do it then that's on you that your poor. On the other hand if you honestly cant work because of some disability and your poor that's a totally different story. Even though money is the main cause of evil its not all bad. People have and are using money in both good and bad ways. The authors of the articles use stories that paints a picture of what people have been through and get me thinking about how people actually use money. Using money in a good way is when people hold fundraisers to help other people who need it or lets say your a college student and your using your money to pay for your books so you can get a good education. Then you have the bad ways. People will just throw their money away at strip clubs or casinos just to get some excitement. The way people use money is that same as why people are poor. It depends on them.
ReplyDeleteWhen analyzing these two essays, my interpretations were very similar to yours. Throughout my life, I've also been incredibly blessed with a loving and supportive middle-class family. These works provided an outlook towards what life is like for those who are less fortunate than I am from two different perspectives, and they highlighted the value of money in our society and why it must be used wisely regardless of economic status. In Tressie Cottom's essay, her main argument is focused on how the way people spend their money on a daily basis can have a significant effect on the development of their socioeconomic status. She asks the question "Why do poor people make stupid, illogical decisions to buy status symbols?" because she believes those who do this will only worsen their economic situation. She shares her own personal experience growing up less fortunate, and she shows how her smarter spending decisions have helped improve her economic situation in a significant way. In Junot Díaz's anecdote, "The Money", he tells a childhood story that further reinforces how valuable the dollar is to those who are less fortunate. His story was very eye opening to me because if $300 was stolen from my own family, it wouldn't hurt us that much at all. When Díaz's home is robbed and this money is stolen from them, the repercussions are significantly more present than they would be for my family. Growing up in a household that survives on so much less than my own is something I will never be able to experience first-hand, but this story helped me realize just how important every single penny can be to those who are less fortunate.
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