Hollie (Taylor) Atchison - Blog Post #2

Sasha Abramsky continues to impress upon his readers the importance of understanding the struggles of Americans living in poverty. He then goes on to provide solutions to many of the issues that are failing to lift our nation’s poorest citizens out of poverty. There were a few passages that struck me in particular.

1.      In Chapter 4 Abramsky remarks on the recently prevalent opinion that welfare recipients should be drug-tested. He points out how ridiculous and unlikely it would be to drug-test seniors accessing Social Security, home-owners seeking property tax relief and bankers seeking bail-out funds. Why do these scenarios sounds preposterous, yet memes suggesting drug-tests for people seeking government assistance are so prevalent on social media? I believe it goes back to poor-shaming and blaming those in poverty for their problems. It is an unhealthy, grossly incorrect and increasingly irresponsible attitude to place on our nation’s growing poverty class.

2.      Accusations of manipulation are directed at both sides of the poverty argument. In Chapter 5, Abramsky speaks of the attitudes toward the poor, accusing them of being “crazy, manipulative, lazy and dysfunctional”. I believe that when people refer to the poor as manipulative, they are insinuating that some people inappropriately claim disability, use children to obtain benefits, lie about income/household size to collect SNAP benefits, etc. in order to avoid work. Abramsky observes the alternate manipulation of Americans to blame the poor for their unfortunate situations. Ultimately the political machine that is against taxes, regulation and welfare convinces many citizens whose wages and benefits have fallen (or worse) to align their votes with that party’s intentions, which is against their best interests. It is so unfortunate that some of our nation’s poorest citizens are being tricked into voting against their own interest, but I also feel the success of those manipulations may highlight less-than-desirable traits of racism, xenophobia, and shame.

3.      Abramsky also offers potential solutions to combat poverty. One particular suggestion is to automatically enroll individuals in benefits when they apply for another benefit. There is so much waste within and among governmental and social service agencies. Waste, not only of governmental resources, but also of people’s time. If agencies were able to communicate, share data, and automatically enroll qualified individuals and families, those beneficiaries will gain access to food, medical care, and supplemental income quicker. Accessing benefits is not a quick or easy process. There are many obstacles and “trick questions” (I have been tripped up myself). I’ve often wondered if this was intentional to “weed out” applicants who do not actually need the support to survive. If a family qualifies for one service, it is likely that they also meet criteria for other services. Coordinating these efforts would streamline the process and help families in need be able to access services necessary for survival and progress.