The Poli-logy Of Doing For Poor Folks
” What about the poor folks” ? ” What are we going to do for the poor in America” ? I have practically heard these two questions most of my life. Such statements are constantly made by politicians and social activists. However, I would like to know, when will poor people, get up and do something for themselves? Or when will they get up and do something, for somebody else? This is what I would like to know. Instead of constantly sitting around expecting for others to always do for them, the poor must start doing things for themselves. First of all, we must understand, that poverty is a mentality, and not just a social and economic condition. If the poor would change their mentality, then they would come out of poverty. According to Professor Yecats, people are poor due to the following reasons:
(a) They come out of families which do not value education, and many of these families, downplay the importance of education;
(b) They do not have any get-up- and- go about themselves;
(c) They come out of environments which foster negative attitudes;
(d) They have been made to believe by the agents of political socialization, such as the family, church, schools and education, and the mass media, that they are victims of society, and, therefore, view their situation as helpless;
(e) Many of the poor, do not perceive themselves as being poor, and, therefore, feel that there is no need to change their situation. In fact, many of them have become comfortable in their poverty.
The two major programs which were designed to alleviate poverty in America, were Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, New Deal, and Lyndon B. Johnson’s, the Great Society: War On Poverty initiatives. Such programs were also designed to have ethnic and racial equality, to develop decent housing, and to have a greater sharing of the wealth in America. By far the New Deal and the Great Society programs, were the peak of modern reform liberalism or the social welfare state. Tons and tons of money has been spent, and still is today, being spent on programs to get rid of poverty. But yet, poverty still remains a blight on the record of one of the richest countries, (the United States) in the world. By some estimates, the U.S., has transferred well over trillions and trillions of dollars to eliminate poverty out of its territories. However, poverty still exist within its parameters. Why? It is very simple. As stated earlier, poverty is a mentality, and, not just a social and economic condition, and too many intellectuals and politicians fail to understand this. Change the mentality of the poor, and they will come out of their poverty. Money alone cannot bring individuals out of their poor conditions.
The Bowtie Professor Speaks!
Tags: The Class Struggle
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Politics And Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I agree that they poor are partially poor because of what they do to themselves. They need to stop being lazy and try to become succesful. It is not hard to acquire a job and to have a steady income. And once you have gotten a job and money is steady, you can turn your life around and start going to school and even become more succesful. Being poor is not something that should be taken lightly or thought of as something that can not be solved. Nothing is impossible if you erally try. They need to value their education! Take school very seriously, do not skip out on college. Go to school, learn, get a job, and then you will not have to deal with the issue of becoming poor.
Bowtie professor you are so right “money alone” can not stop indivduals from being in their condition. I believe that the government needs to find ways to get their families involved. Support groups for the families and the individuals so they grow together. Rather than letting them travel from different bridges every night. Lets stop giving them money for no reason and lets make deadlines for government funds.
Many people are poor because they want to be poor. They tend to blame their poverty on society and family. I believe that every individual has an inborn talent that can be used to create positive things for oneself. More naturally, many of the poor folks on streets and roads are human beings without disabilities on the surface, but it amazed me to see them streets begging for aids from individuals. It makes me asked myself this questions, Are they not the same as other folks who struggle to acquire something useful to do? The poor folks have closed-mindset. They tends to accused others because of their level of ignorance not really illiteracy. One thing I realized is, when people are ignorant about something is like injecting some deadly diseases in them which requires a lot of time, energy, disciple and hard work to get such mind-set into reality of understanding the facts about real world. Yeah, they may quote from the bible “be your brother’s keeper” and that same bible written “there is no food for a lazy man”. I believe that people two arms and legs are not poor people but they are looking for easy way to acquire money to use for their hypocritical behaviors. To my surprise, I rarely see a person with disability on the streets or roads a begging for ends- meet. The thing American government should is to create jobs for poor folks instead of giving them aids. I believe this will enable them to think and act wisely and by this way I believe American government can eradicate poverty way from this nation.
I agree with this only up to a certain point. I believe the government makes it too easy for someone to live off of the system . I believe the government should follow up , check on these homes and see what poeple are really doing with the help they are getting for FREE. i believe a person who gets help , should have to do a little something in return like help the community. I’ve seen it too many times where people who get food stamps,aid, or any help from the government drive nice cars, hane name brand purses, sale them to get money instead, just makes me think do they really need it. Is that what im paying taxes for , im working for people just to sit at home and watch tv. There people out there who really need it and people like this take help for granted. Anyone can do anything the set there mind to , that can be to getting a higher education, a job, help the community , or just try to help themselves and be a better example for their children. In life nothing is free. Anything that takes time to do is worth the sacrifice.
I agree with the points that Professor Yecats has given for people being poor. In this country it seems we are more occupied with being given things then earning them. Why is this? I feel it is like this because the US has it set up to try to make it easy for “everyone”. Instead of making people really have to work and earn for themselves. I feel this is one of the greatest reason for the poor condition. If you have everyone in a mindstate that they can always fall back on the Government why would they ever want to go and work. As the Professor points out we have been trying for 70 years to end the poverty with the New Deal and other programs like that. We still have many poor, hungry people. It seems evident that throwing money at the problem is not the solution. The solution is most likely through education and allowing people to suffer through with the consequences of their own actions. This would cause people who really want to change to change and those who just dont care to not be a continuous cost to society.
MWF 8:00AM
Those in poverty or living in an undesirable fortune with an attitude of entitlement do not deserve any kind of helping hand from the government and hard-working, tax paying Americans who have to bend their backs having been blessed with a decent job and then have their money stolen out of their pockets to feed and provide for the lazy. The majority of poor people, not all, are more than capable to work sufficiently at whatever job available and make a difference for their lives and families. When it comes to the issue of entitlement, most poor thrive in the mentality of their destitute state from generation to generation in that they are so conditioned to believe that their place is to NOT have to work like everyone else whether it be the job preference or set beliefs in each poor families household. Well, beggars CAN’T be choosy, and to make the problem even more dire is the fact that these particular individuals have more resources to go to from the government than most who can say they work and are proud of it. It really does stem from a mindset not just a condition of society and until that mindset is changed, the world will always have the poor, the poor who are a burden to the system.
I completely agree with you Professor! The poor people in America are always me, me, me, give me, give me, give me. It is honestly annoyng. I cannot stand when I see people begging on the streets. Yes, I know God says give to the less fortunate, but I do not consider them “less fortunate”. They are just lazy and thats it. Why should I go to school for over twenty years, earn an education, go to work over 40 hours a week, and on the way home give someone who had the similar opportunities my hard earned money? I would rather see them get up and actually try and succeed in this world. If you work hard and keep working hard, you will be successful in this world, you cannot just expect things to b handed to you.
I do agree with professor Yecats that we can not always keep giving to the poor if they not willing to work for themselves. It is said that if you give a man a fich he will have a meal but if I think that there have to be some time limit to however long aide can be provided to the poor. If there is limit set the aide provided wil be used carefully and the poor will learn to fend for themselve. There is no such thing as being poor by nature so if anyone is willing, they will not remain poor for life. So many people started life from scratch no where but from their hardwork and dedication they have manage to make it for themselves and their societies as well. It is always easy to mismanage and misuse something if you do not work for it but it is rear to do the same when you spend your time and energy to work for something. I do think we should help the poor but the best way to do so is to give them the opportunity to work their way up and not just hand it to them always.
In this tough economy juggling finances can be a struggle. This is where sound judgment comes in. Many people labeled as poor and receiving government assistance are inefficient at managing finances, especially money they did not have to work to earn. Yet these individuals manage to find ways to afford material possessions of nil long term value. As long as a person continues to live above his or her own means he or she will remain poor regardless of the size of his or her income.
GOV 2302 T 7:05
I agree to a certain extent on your points. Welfare has always been around in some form or another dating back to the days of the Bible. It is a form of life for some. Why work when you can have all you “need” without lifting a finger. What people, that are habitual welfare recipients, don’t see is that they are at the mercy of the people that hand out the government. In other words should the government stop handing out food stamps, rental assistance, etc then they would have to wait on the government or organizations until other subsidies are handed out. Instead poverty is celebrated and looked on as an easy way to make it in this world. To certain extent I also believe it is of great convenience for the government to have poor people. Poor people are easier to manipulate because they usually have a lack of education or lack of drive as Professor Yecats stated. They will not do anything to ruffle the system of the government because it is their meal ticket. Why fight something that you desperately need and want. My example is the politician that strives to be elected on the backs of the desperate. Will he not do more to help those in need when they got him/her elected in the first place? The politicians and political parties also play into the hand of the needy so they can stay in power through elections. It’s a win win for all that are involved. The needy get what they want in subsidies and the politicians get to stay in office to control the money.
I say all this in mind. I do not consider it a crime to be poor nor to be desperate. However I do consider it a moral obligation to habitually look for ways to stay below the poverty line to play the system into your favor. The mindset among the poor has to change.
This can not be done when the entertainment industry celebrates the 1st of the month as a pay day or when people celebrate the fact that they are “crazy” to get disability from Social Security.
As a society we will always have those in need and we will always have those willing to help the needy. However, we will always have those who choose to be needy and those who choose to help to elevate their status in society.
I too agree with the professor, being poor is a state of mentality. If a person does not have motivation, or will power to better their life then there is no hope of every getting out of poverty. Just because someone is born into poverty doesnt mean they cannot succeed in life. the child could take a look around them and see that this is not the life they want for themself, and would take the initiative to go to college, or getting a second job if they have too. Democrats giving money to the poor would not solve the problem, because its a hand out and thats the main reason why they have lack of motivation.
Why is it that a young lady like myself must give a big strong man my hard earned money when he can stand on a corner for hours in 100 degree Texas sun. If you are strong enough to do that then you are strong enough to find a job Wal-Mart is always hiring people to stock. Even people in section eight housing are considered poor when the have cable tvs wic and other things like that. Visit a third world country where they have none of that and then you will really understand what poor is. People in those country are really poor they eat air for dinner and mud for breakfast. I personally do not think Americans really know what poverty really is. They are food shelters all over and so many non-profit organizations that are there to help out. People die trying to come to this country to take advantage of what so many Americans take for granted. Its time they wake up and stop blaming everyone else for their problems. 7.05 Tuesday