e have all heard of and discussed racism, sexism, homophobia and many other forms of bigotry, but one thing we have left out of the discussion is the poor. Why are the poor getting poorer while the rich are getting richer? This appears to be a fundamental problem in America today for a number of reasons all of which hinge on the simple question, "If we are the land of opportunity, then why don't the poor get opportunities?" This is a question of education, families, community involvement, job placement, and much more.
To look closer at this problem we notice that the inner city schools are consistently lower standardized test scores than the private or suburban public schools. With just this one indicator we have a number of problems we must face. Maybe the quality of education is lower. If this is the case we have to ask why. In many areas of America, only a small portion of the schools funding comes from the federal government, most comes from local property taxes. This makes it clear how the inner city school would have fewer resources. The poorer neighborhoods have lower property values, so they collect fewer taxes and have fewer resources. Inner city students also face problems of gang violence and drugs at a completely different level than any other type of school. For example, take the existence of metal detectors at the junior high schools so that kids don't enter school with knives and guns. Another common rule at inner city schools that are prone to violence is the abolition of book bags because you can conceal a great many things in a book bag. These are all little things that point toward a larger more menacing problem. What is happening to the poor?
The results of this dichotomy between the rich and the poor are great in variety but feed off of one basic idea. Without an education in our society you don't have the ticket to opportunity. You have a much smaller chance of becoming a lawyer if you can't make it past highschool. In America today we require an education to reach many of the top paying professions. So if there is a fundamental breakdown in education in the lower income areas, they are being denied the equal opportunities that someone in a private school that specializes in teaching for the college advanced placement tests. This lack of an educational opportunity perpetuates the low-income status. If you are forced to flip burgers for a living and that has been your best job, what is to keep you from dealing drugs? What is to keep you from stealing from the wealthy? Sure there is the threat of the "man" bringing you down, but if the situation appears futile, what can you do?
So what causes this perpetual hell? I believe it is an effect of our well trained capitalism. In our society we have been brought up to think that you always can work your way out of a bad situation and "make something of yourself". With that ideology and the belief that whatever you earn is yours, America is in need of some revitalization. The market economy's strong drive to compete ad outpace your competitors has lead to the a stagnation of the income of the poor. Politically people blame poor education on the teachers union. They claim help programs as failures because of a few "welfare mothers" having kids for tax breaks. They refuse to create job programs in the name of "anti-socialism". They refuse to assist with day care expenses, drug rehabilitation, and career re-training programs all in the name of republicanism.
How can we stop this tragic episode in the American history? The answer is not simple and it lies at the foundations of our society. Can we ideologically support the poor and capitalism simultaneously? Yes, we can. We can reorganize our governmental ideals and budgets. We can place a higher priority on helping the people rather than paying huge quantities for corporate welfare. We have a lot of small scale examples of how people have overcome their poverty to reach greatness, but that is not necessarily what we are after. We should provide opportunities to all Americans, poor or wealthy, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, and religion. I think that isn't too much to ask.
e have all heard of and discussed racism, sexism, homophobia and many other forms of bigotry, but one thing we have left out of the discussion is the poor. Why are the poor getting poorer while the rich are getting richer? This appears to be a fundamental problem in America today for a number of reasons all of which hinge on the simple question, "If we are the land of opportunity, then why don't the poor get opportunities?" This is a question of education, families, community involvement, job placement, and much more.
