The Rich and the Rest of Us Homework Chapter 1
1.What surprised me the most?
There is a big difference between what people saw as "poor" in the 20th century compared to the "21st century. Poverty can affect anyone and you don't have to be some deranged dirty "bum" pushing a shopping cart to be considered be living in poverty. After the recession many middle class and upper middle class families were displaced from their homes. Ordinary families fell below the poverty line with little to no support to recover from their losses. The 21st century "poor" could be anyone struggling that is just trying to pay bills and make ends meet.
A lot of people fell into poverty because we were taught and influenced to be consumers. Media, such as tv commercials, helped to promote the idea of wealth as being someone who owned a lot of things. People become materialistic and soon having the latest and greatest without money upfront led to abuse of credit cards.
2. What are you thinking?
As I was reading, I had a good idea about these ideas and subjects. Surprisingly, it is not something that comes to mind very often. I'm blessed to not live in poverty, but I know it is not something that is impossible to reach. When i think about how a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck with little left over to save, I realize that poverty is very real.
Personally, working a job that is minimum wage gives me the idea that living the american dream is just a hoax. Low income jobs result in people not being able to close the gap between the rich and the poor and the gap is amazingly large. Without substantial change in our government, the gap will only continue to grow; as the rich continue to get richer and the poor, poorer.
