Preview

The True Meaning Of Poverty Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
759 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The True Meaning Of Poverty Essay
The True Meaning of Poverty:
A Definitional Argument for Poverty
What is poverty? Poverty is not being able to afford basic needs. The poverty line in America is different third-world countries. Some people who are in poverty here would be considered rich somewhere else. A lot of people confuse need and want. They buy things they want instead of what they need. People take the things they have for granted. For example, if they have a house, they want a bigger one, but there are some people out there who just want somewhere to live.
People in poverty are considered to be in the lower class in society. An American in poverty usually do not have a high paying job or they do not have a job at all. Most people in poverty probably do not have a college education so it is hard to find jobs. They may be receiving government assistance to be able to buy what they need. There seems to be different levels of poverty. Some people in poverty are starving and live on the streets. They wish they could have the things others in poverty have.

I do not think some people should be considered to be in poverty if they have relatively decent living conditions
…show more content…
I think people should know what poverty is. It is important for people to look at poverty in a different light. Poverty is more than just about material things. It is about people who are desperately in need. Children all over the suffering from hunger. Those people are truly in poverty. People need spend their money more wisely. Some people may be able to come out of poverty if they go back to school and try to find a better job and life for there families. A lot people spend so much money trying to look like they are not in poverty that they put themselves in that position. Society should not determine if some one is in poverty. If you are happy with your life and getting along fine with out being above the poverty line then I do not think you are in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Poverty is a state of being extremely poor. In the “What is poverty” essay it talks about the struggles of a woman that has three children and is trying to survive with little to no income. Jo Goodwin Parker describes her life living in poverty and her daily struggles to raise a family. In the essay she goes in depth and describes what goes on in her daily life. It is sad to say that Jo describes herself as dirty, smelly, and with no proper underwear on and with the stench of my rotting teeth. She talks about how she has no luxuries while being poor due to the high cost of simple things such as hot water, soap, medicine and clothing. She continues by writing that while there are government programs to help the poor, none exist in her area and if there were she has no means by which…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Poverty. Poverty has many definitions depending on the type of different people in this society. It can range anywhere from not being able to pay bills to not being able to feed a family and not having a place to live. Although, according to the definition found on dictionary.com, it articulates that poverty means the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. Two motivated authors, Muhammad Yunus and Lucy Lameck, wrote two different short stories in the book “Reading the World: Ideas that Matter” that have inspired me to write this essay on the poverty and social class in third world countries.…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Define Poverty In America

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the world, there are many definitions and variations to words, but the world falls short when attempting to define the word poverty. People in the world, claim to easily define poverty with definitions like anyone who cannot afford basic resources or if one is homeless they suffer from poverty, but little do they know that they are greatly mistaken. Poverty owns a median, a median that only a select few fall under, which is truly unfair. There is a median that poverty carries along, drawing out the boundaries, for who is considered to be under poverties grasp, while the world decides who gets the support needed to break free from its hold. . Many can define poverty by the definition of “the state of being extremely poor” but little do they…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What does it mean to be “poor” in America? For the average person, the word poverty implies significant physical hardship. For example, the lack of a warm, adequate home, nutritious food or reasonable clothing for one’s children is a hardship for the average person. By that measure, very few of the 30 million plus individuals defined as “living in poverty” by the government are actually poor. Therefore, I have to agree with Segal, “What is poverty to one person may not seem so bad to another” (Segal, 2010, p.173). The United States government definite poverty by “absolute power” (Segal, 2010, p.173), which they use to determine if an individual or family is poor. Absolute power is a fixed predetermined annual pretax cash income of individuals or families. The Census Bureau deems a household poor if its income falls below federally specified levels (US Census Bureau).It is referred to as the threshold and guidelines for poverty. The thresholds are used mainly for statistical purposes- for instance, preparing the estimates of the number of Americans in poverty for each year’s report. For example, for a four-person family unit with two children, the poverty threshold is $21,834.00 and for a one-or two-person family units, the poverty threshold differs by age (Census…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Poverty can be described in many ways, such as the state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support. Some measure their standard of living according to number of material items they possess, such as internet access, cable television, and luxury vehicles.…

    • 2518 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty In America

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Poverty has been on the rise in America, mainly because of the recession and now it is reaching new heights. Even though the government is trying to make more beneficial tax cuts, and find other various solutions, poverty levels continue to rise drastically. But to first find the solution ourselves we must first know what causes poverty and what it is. A simple definition of it is, poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or finances. Absolute poverty refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Poverty in the United States is an unacceptable scourge on our society. Poverty is born out of situation and mindset rather than sheer laziness. To figure out the causes and solutions of poverty, we must understand what poverty is.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty is a very broad subject, but what is being mentioned here is people not being able to afford basic human needs (food, water, and shelter). Poverty doesn’t happen overnight, but” transitions into or out of poverty often happens after major life events such as marriage, divorce, or sudden changes in income. ”(UC Davis). Many people, especially after a divorce, have problems financially because divorces can cost up to $25,000. Another way to go into poverty is a sudden change in income.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the United States there are many families that live in poverty. Something that most people don’t understand is poverty is a state, not a characteristic. People are not poor by choice. The culture of poverty states that “the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor male them fundamentally different from other people” (Henslin, 2017). Poverty can be determined by many things, some important ones are the social classes in the United States, stereotypes that play along with race and ethnicity and finally, population and urbanization.…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Poverty In America

    • 1784 Words
    • 8 Pages

    To truly comprehend the profound impact that poverty has had on America, there must first be an understanding of what poverty essentially means and how it was caused. Webster’s dictionary describes poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions” (Webster’s Dictionary). The textbook however, offers a more in-depth perspective on the term stating that poverty is “a standard of living below the minimum needed for the maintenance of adequate diet, health and shelter” (Eitzen 181). This definition implies that the poverty threshold is based on those who can make the minimum amount of money required to maintain a decent level of life and those who cannot. Although these particular descriptions of poverty are not necessarily…

    • 1784 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty in the United States "officially" refers to people who fall below the "official poverty line." In general, however, poverty is a complex subject that depends not only on official definitions but on the perspectives of people as well. For example, if we were to look at the actual numbers of poor people, we may find that whites have a lower proportion of people in poverty than other racial groups. But if we looked at poverty solely by age we would find that children under the age of 18 are the most likely to be poor and that many of the elderly live only slightly above the poverty line.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty is defined as a deficiency in one’s financial ability to have their needs met. The United States has a system in place to measure poverty and give assistance to the poor when needed. To determine if an individual or family is living in poverty, the United States Census Bureau issues annual poverty thresholds that are considered…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Myth Of Poverty Essay

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What some people don't understand is that poverty is like a disease, It's like a disease because it could as well hurt your body physically as well as mentally. Poverty is a difficult situation to be in, once in it, it's very difficult getting out of. The only type of poverty that could be solved is self poverty, which could be simple if you put effort towards it. Ending poverty is an unrealistic goal for the reason that in order to end it, we would have to end violent conflicts, sustain high rates of economic growth, not to mention we would also have to avoid any recession in poor countries and make sure nobody who is disabled or seriously ill sees their income drop to less than $1.25 a day.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty can be defined by the necessities and amenities that one does not have in their life. Due to the expectations created by our society, we have a tendency to judge others based on the clothes they wear or the cars they drive, and we automatically assume that those who cannot afford these luxuries are either uneducated, unskilled or a combination of both. We completely disregard the fact that not all people have control of their financial stability and that anything can damage their current state of wealth. Even the wealthiest of families can find themselves making their way to the bottom due to an unfortunate tragedy such as a death in the family or being laid off from a job, both of which are aspects that cannot be predicted or prevented, and the only thing families can do is accept it. The American Myth claims that someone from the humblest of beginnings can achieve success, but this statement could not be more false. Although a major cause of poverty is financial trouble, a key component that factors in is how the past affects the future. Those who come from troubled beginnings often lead a life of poor behavior and bad decision making skills. Some even work their lives away and still continue to struggle financially, mainly because they had no foundation to build upon due to the fact that they had to start from the absolute bottom.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Acc to American dictionary, poverty = state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions/money.…

    • 636 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays