Stephanie Flier Blog post #1

Stephanie Flier
Blog post #1
What is the central idea or premise of the book thus far?
In my opinion, I feel that Abramsky is expressing his pure disappointment on how poverty is handled in our country. While reading the first few chapters, Abramsky vocalized various alternatives to combat or even attempt to alter the amount of poverty American’s face everyday. I found it interesting that he was able to give alternatives for poverty, but yet many of these ideas have been given before just not acted upon. While reading the passages talking about the alternatives to poverty, I was interested to know that someone outside of politics is so obviously aware of possible solutions. I feel that the main idea of this book is to convey the apparentness of poverty in our country, as well as for Abramsky to get his views and opinions out there while opening the eyes of his readers.

Have any specific passages from the book have struck you so far? If so,
which ones?
Page 4, “Too poor to participate in the consumption rituals.......a sense of being shut out of most basic rituals of society”
I reread this passage three times because it was the most accurate description of poverty I think I have ever read. Throughout this class it has become apparent that poverty doesn’t mean you are homeless, begging for money on the street. Poverty falls anywhere from absolute, to someone that is “too cash strapped to go to malls”, before this class and reading this passage, my mind wouldn’t have ever classified that as poverty but now I am more aware and I hope others are too.

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 expresses that Swedes pay higher taxes without hesitation or backlash because they get something worth it in return. As he puts it, “pay good money get good quality services”. In America, you don’t necessarily know what type of quality childcare, or health benefits you are receiving you are strictly paying for what you can afford.