Sunday, April 24, 2016

Book Blog # 3 Nicole Niemann

The last part of the book “The American Way of Poverty” has really hit me hard.  Abramsky used words to describe what poverty is on page 237.  “Poverty is when the money that you need isn’t there, and you have to make choices that compromise your health or your future or your ability to care for your family” (Abramsky, 2013).  People should not have to worry or make a choice on whether to buy heat for their house or food for their family.  Health care should be something that is reasonably priced and should not be bankrupting anyone.  On page 251 “In 2012 America, six million people had no sources of cash income, relying exclusively on food stamps and the charity of friends, relatives, churches, and nonprofits to survive” (Abramsky, 2013). 
I really wish more people who have the power to change the world should read this book.  I think that there is great information in this book that needs to be publicized so the citizens of the United States can be made aware and given the chance to end poverty in America.  On page 257 Abramsky talked about giving money to babies that are born and while it would cost America around $2 billion a year in the long run it would save Americans.  This money would go into a college fund for infants and by the time they were 18 years old and ready to use the money the $500 that they started off with would have increased significantly.  This was called an equal opportunity fund.  If the child ended up not going to college the money could then be used for his or her retirement.  They should not have the opportunity to spend it as this wish.  It should help better them for their future.  This would help encourage families to save for college and make college more affordable for everyone.    
The book also discusses the prison statistics on page 269.  “In 2011, the California Senate’s office of research conducted a study of the state’s 171,000 prison inmates: it found that 14 percent had been in foster care” (Abramsky, 2013).  The book also states that the United States stops providing foster care for kids when they reach 18 years of age.  At 18 most kids are not mature enough to be on their own and if they had been in foster care they are more likely to be dealing with issues that hinder their thought process and make it harder for them to achieve success on their own.  Foster care should at least go through age 21 to help get kids on their feet and on the right track.  Even kids not in foster care their brains aren’t even fully developed by age 18.  They don’t always make sound choices for themselves. 

Abramsky talked about the EITC which is the earned income tax credit.  This was described several times in the book.  Right now some states do not offer this and some states do but it might be based on your income.  This needs to be given to all US citizens to help keep them out of poverty.  This quote describes how the EITC will help American’s.  “And partly, through designing them well, we make sure that these programs help fund themselves: Increasing the EITC, for example, by providing low-income families more money to spend on nutritional food and on preventive healthcare, reduces the medical costs associated with large numbers of low-weight and premature babies”(Abramsky, 2013).  The book also discussed adding a 1% tax to everyone to provide extra money and keep people out of poverty.  I really wish someone would try these ideas out just to see how well they work.  We could always go back to the way things used to be but we are not going to know how well something works unless we give it a try.

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