Kayla Goodwin: FCS 4840

Have any specific passages from the book have struck you so far? if so, which ones? 

          Within the book there were a couple passages that really stuck out to me, however one passage that I found to be very interesting was the following:

"By 2008, at the end of Bush's two terms in office, the poverty rate was up to 13.2 percent. At the same time, tax rates were cut for high-end earners, for investors, and for corporations, resulting in a massive expansion in wealth for those at the top of the economic pyramid" (Abramsky, 2013, p. 45).

          I have often heard that the richer get richer and the poorer and get poorer, however didn't always believe that, however with the information above I know believe that saying. I don't agree that individuals who work hard for their money should be penalized, however they shouldn't be receiving tax breaks when the poverty rate is increasing. Too often I believe that the reason for the tax cuts for the wealthy, are due to the fact that the ones making these decisions will benefit from the tax cut.

On page 51, Abramsky wrote "There is, after all, a reason Swedes... tolerate far higher taxes than Americans do." What does Abramsky mean by this? 

          Abramsky (2013) points out that the Swedes receive quality services from their government and because of this they are willing to pay more in taxes. Where in the U.S., we feel that we don't receive quality services from our government and in-return do not like the paying the required taxes. Swedes government takes care of them, and, they take care of their government.

Why are most poor individuals and families concentrated in the southern part of the country?

          Ambramsky (2013) explains that in the Northeast and upper Midwest parts of the country they are generous with their safety nets and provide for individuals who are in poverty. However, within the Old South and parts of the West, the government doesn't view individuals who are in poverty in a positive light, and because of this they don't provide a safety net (p. 67). With no safety net, the families who are in poverty have a tendency to stay within poverty, and to often generation after generation the family continues to be in poverty.  

Abramsky, S. (2013). The American way of poverty: How the other half still lives. New York, NY: Nation Books.