The Other half-

Gloria Winchester-OBrien's Post

February 14, 2016

The Other half- Blog

          

I had a hard time writing a blog about the first 96 pages of the author Sasha Abramsky’s “The American way of poverty-How the other half lives”. I was born in the 60’s and lived in poverty during many the eras described in this book. I remember that very often my family of eleven did not have enough food to eat. A big pot of spaghetti noodles and a can of tomato juice was a commonly prepared meal for us. I also remember when food stamps first became available to us. My mom was so embarrassed of having to use food stamps that we only used them when we shopped in a community outside our home town where we were unlikely to see anyone we knew. Abramsky’s book mentions the embarrassment felt by so many who were forced through their great need to accept government aid. This book brought these memories back to me.

One particular passage that totally struck me references that the well to do have somehow gotten God’s approval whereas the poor don’t have it. “I am rich because I am a good person; I am a chosen person; I am marked by God for greatness. You are poor because you can’t cut it with the creator” (Abramsky, 2013, p.65). I grew up poor but I think my family was much closer to be marked by God than many of the rich families I knew who said cruel things to my mom. For example, my mom belonged to a ladies club that played cards at each other’s homes, when it was my mom’s turn to host the party. One particularly well off lady refused to come to our old run down farmhouse, so my mom never did host the lady’s club and she dropped out of the club. Though our house was old it was always kept spotlessly clean which is quite amazing considering there were nine children and two adults living there. I remember her comment caused my mom to cry. I refuse to believe that people like her are the chosen of God.

I grew up thinking Nixon was the scourge of the earth, and after reading that he won the 1968 election by stoking popular resentment against welfare recipients (Abramsky, 2013, p.4) reinforces my early opinion of the man. However, despite his resentment federal systems were created but it was left up to the states to fund and administer them. In many Southern states anti-tax sentiments, combined with extreme racism and class stratifications made the creation and expansion of these systems for the poor nearly impossible (Abramsky 2013, p. 67).

After reading about the 2008 Village Academy video mentioned in this book (Abramsky, 2013, p. 21), I decided to see if it was still available. It was, so I watched the video. I’m not sure why Barack Obama chose this particular video to make a public comment on or to visit their town. Perhaps this was a publicity stunt to prove Obama really does care about the plight of underprivileged kids in America but he needs to do a lot more to prove this conviction. Especially, since the author tells us that all the hoopla surrounding the video did very little to improve the plight of the students and families featured in the video.

Abramsky, (2013) paints a depressing yet realistic picture of America’s economic decline. These first 96 pages offer little hope for what is currently being done to change the downward spiral from the past to today. There were a few rays of sunshine peeking through the clouds of our economic decline, but for the most part they are all but hidden from our view. I am hoping in the future pages of the book the author will offer realistic suggestions of how the fortunate half and our political leaders can improve the plight of America’s other half.