Living and Decision Making Poverty

¶ … Living and Decision Making

Poverty is a deep and pervasive problem in America. Living as a poor person can affect all aspects of one's life, not simply impacting their economic status. The poor are subject to discrimination, differences in basic human needs like access to housing, and decent education, and suffer a larger psychic distress over their circumstances that do the middle and upper-classes.

The poor often are seen as being less than other people. This can affect how they view themselves. For example, a poor person who is otherwise motivated, intelligent, and capable, might grow frustrated with being unable to change his circumstances because of the lack of confidence others will have in him by virtue of his poverty alone. If he goes to apply for a job, he might be asked for previous employers, and if those jobs do not stand up to the new employer's standards, he will be turned away. Thus it creates a cycle of thwarted opportunity: He does not get that job, will not get the better job (and salary) that that job leads to, and so on. It creates a system whereby poor people must rely on government assistance and the benevolence of the middle and upper-classes, which is not readily forthcoming.

Welfare recipients are stigmatized in our culture. Without welfare, the poor might have no other access to some of the needs discussed, like shelter and food. But it is seen by many as a crutch for the poor, and that by having it provided to them, the poor will lose motivation to find gainful employment. Being on welfare, however, is not a preferable state. One loses one's own autonomy and a great deal of freedom by choosing to participate in the system. This takes a toll on a person's well-being beyond any economic suffering.

B.

The existing stereotype about welfare is that it is abused by recipients, who do not use the money it provides for basic human needs, but rather spend it on frivolous, high ticket items. Though welfare abuse does, of course, occur, it can not be as prevalent as the misunderstandings about it are. The problem comes from most people's lack of understanding about welfare, the amount of money it provides, who is eligible, etc. A lot of people will write off any poor person as a welfare recipient, which is not the case. In addition, people in poor communities with access to top of the line electronic equipment, clothes, etc. did not necessarily get those goods from government money, and thus a criminal element is unfairly tied in with welfare, which is a fallacy.