Danielle Sheehy post - February 12, 2016 Blog 1


1. The central idea of this book so far is about poverty and how everyone is struggling to make ends meet. It's a lot of people throughout this book who is financially unstable, but then there are some people who are fortunate. As I am reading this book, it makes me realize how blessed I am and how I never want to complain again about what I do not have. It is clear that the Arthur wanted readers to realize that poverty isn't a joke and it is people who really suffer from it. You can be stable one day, and the next day you can be down and out. The central idea focuses on what could happen rather that is positive or negative. I'll always stay humble.

3. Chapter 1 is what struck me. It was 1 thing in particular and that was unemployment rates. According to the American Way of Poverty, "By-late 2012, the unemployment rate had significantly declined from it's national peak of considerably more than 9 percent, standing at 7.9 percent the month that President Obama won reelection. Yet even so, close to fourteen million Americans remained unemployed." This is sad and lets me know that poverty is real. Either people are without jobs , or their hours are cut and they are only working part-time. This leaves people devastated, and I know this from personal experience. This should let people know that depending on the government will get you nowhere. People are loosing access to a lot of things and it only seems to be an unfortunate situation. In this chapter I learned being unemployed is increasing.

4. On page 51, of the "American Way of Poverty, the reason Abramsky mentions this statement is because the people in Sweden pay good money and get good quality services. America by contrast, increasingly the public receives duds, vs Sweden who receives higher education, healthcare, childcare, etc... This is why he say that people in Sweden tolerate higher taxes than Americans do.