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The American Dream: Poverty In The United States

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There are many ways to define poverty. Poverty is a state of being poor and not possessing enough means to survive financially. Although some people live a poor lifestyle, they have a rich person’s attitude. This can cause many problems and ruin their life. They will always want something that they cannot have, so some people will scam, steal, and kill to get what they want. Poverty affects almost everyone in the lower and middle classes because of the increasing dropout rate for both high schools and colleges, the high unemployment rate, and because nearly everyone wants to live the “American Dream.” For the people that grew up in a life of poverty, it will either make them strive to do better and use their education as a great opportunity to a better life or waste it all by wanting to do the same thing their parents do all their life. For example, some people may work a minimum wage job, live off of government funding, and fail with many get rich quick schemes. The high …show more content…

The “American Dream” was brought up primarily from these principles. All poor people should know that everything will not be given to them on a silver platter. There are a few people that live in poverty who think that they will live the “American Dream” by doing illegal things. The quickest way to earn money is not the right way. Fancy houses and luxury cars are not valuable if one did not earn it by getting a good education and job. In the fictional story “The Lesson” Bambara states, “Who are these people that spend that much on performing clowns and a thousand dollars on toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t on it?” (5). These children know that there is a better life out there compared to the way they are living. The “American Dream” is filled with eye-catching material items that many people want and will do anything to get them. A life of crime will lead to serious jail

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The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. The memoir is about her journey growing up in poverty with a dysfunctional family. Jeannette is one of four siblings who all learned how to take care of themselves. Her father was an alcoholic who used the money to buy alcohol instead of caring for his family. When sober, he taught his kids about science and how to be fearless.

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It seems that so often the subject of economic standing and wealth are said synonymously with the phrase “The American Dream.” To the enlightened individual the dream is not just a dollar sign, or desk name-tag at work, but the ability to walk into a room or a home, and know that their presence is welcomed and looked forward to. The dream is realizing that in America, we have resources to make an honest difference. In “Scratch Beginnings”, this quote says that “Hey, we all come from different backgrounds, most of which weren’t normal. We’re all messed up.”

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(Document A) Current residents also argue that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. (Document B) However, this is not true. The American Dream is not possible and cannot be attained since those who are already the less fortunate. The American Dream is only possible for those who have started off financially well with good social standings.

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The author continues to focus on poverty as it affect everyone in general, whereas we as a whole fail to see the actual concept. As we look upon our country we tend to spend billions of the U. S dollars on aiding those who need assistants. We as a society has fail to prevent poverty as it has stricken our country with a high rates of people who are affected by it. The author suggests that individually we have a perspective way of how our high rates of poverty raises.

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Poverty is affecting billions of people around our world and the number is growing with each day. Many people think they can avoid the effects of poverty, but it is something that affects all of our daily lives. Many people see poverty as a person who lacks money, although this is true poverty is caused by many more things than being without money. Just the fact that one in two children live in poverty can help people see clearly the impact it has on our world. Poverty truly does influence the type of care and treatment a person will receive when they need it.

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First off, the American dream isn’t accessible to impoverished families in the U.S. The American dream involves having money to occasionally blow on entertainment or extra purchases. But for 50 million Americans, according to the Huffington Post,

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No matter who you are or where you have come from, you have undoubtedly heard of the American Dream. The idea that no matter who you are or where you have come from, you can do whatever it is you desire in America. What was once one the main driving forces for immigrants to flock to the new world, has slowly changed over the years, but still holds its value in the eyes of those who are looking for a promising new place to live. The American dream might not hold the same awe inspiring sound that it once did, but for many generations before ours it was a beacon of hope that helped build the foundation that the United States was built on. And, still, today the American dream might not be as achievable as it once was, but it is still an important

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Therefore, the upperclassman gets the benefits of being taxed less and the opportunity to get a solid college education to help seeking up higher positions unlike the lowerclassmen. As of result, the problem of inequality of income between the lower and upper classes has diminished the opportunity of achieving the "American Dream" for some people. Therefore, income inequality is one of the main reasons why it impairs the “American Dream. Not only the “American Dream” is impaired by income inequality, it is also the problem of Americans’ lack of understanding of what the “American Dream” truly stands for.

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Although, the American Dream possess different challenges itis still an encouraging goal to achieve, many are challenged through the education system as they take the plunge into future endeavors of academics, which is used as a path to equality among the wealth gap in America. Since the American dream is still alive and the pursuit of equality remains in high hopes; many of today’s general public are after the same thing in reference to American equality; however, the standards of living may differ from one person’s perspective to another. Additionally, some feel that the American Dream has demised over the past forty years. In fact, polling numbers have shown that there is a huge increase in inequality of income gap between gender differences and ethnic diversity in the United States, one reason to accept these facts is a study done in the United States between 1970 and 2005, which proves that the American Dream has income gaps among the studied groups (584).

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In 1776, the Declaration of Independence, in founding America, laid the foundation of the American Dream with the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Jefferson 77). Jefferson believed that life should be better and richer for every man. He did not, however, necessarily mean that money is needed for life to be “richer.” As the American economy, society and culture have advanced, the interpretation of the American Dream has changed drastically. Nowadays, the American Dream values money and materialism over happiness.

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America’s wealth gap between middle class and upper class income is at its highest level in decades. According to Pew Research Center’s article “America’s Wealth Gap,” they report in 2010, the median wealth of upper-income families was 6.2 times the median wealth of middle-income families and by 2013, that wealth ratio grew to 6.6. This makes the American Dream a very difficult thing to accomplish, especially for the lower class. The American Dream means that all people have the equal opportunity to achieve success of rising in their social ladder through hard work, determination, and initiative. Some argue that the American Dreams is available and achievable by all.

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Poverty is one of the most horrific epidemics in our society today. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. It is a very serious problem that many people suffer from today. Many issues such as illness, hunger, and bad sanitation are all causes of poverty. Statistics show that there are over 35 million Americans that live in poverty.

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Defined, poverty means someone who lacks the socially acceptable amount of money to survive. Poverty often leads to a cycle of not being able to afford what is needed across generations. The US has about 12.7% of its population below the poverty line and the rate has been decreasing. The two perspectives that look at this topic in both a positive and negative light are the structural functionalist and the conflict theory. The structural functionalist theory believes everything is a working part of society and is needed to create a sort of well oiled machine and that every part has its own use and needed function.

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‘Poverty’- a simple word with unlimited connotations. Poverty is a universal issue that has been plaguing our Earth for centuries; thus it is essential that the immensity of the situation is acknowledged by everyone. If looked up, you’ll find the exact definition of poverty being: ’general scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. [1] Poverty is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. [2] Poverty may be defined as either absolute or relative.’

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Poverty is defined as the state of being unable to fulfill basic needs of human beings. Poverty is the lack of resources leading to physical deprivation. Poor people are unable to fulfill basic survival needs such as food, clothing, shelter. These are the needs of lowest order and assume top priority. Poor people are unknown of their lack of voice, power, and rights, which leads them to exploitation.

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