Tracy Flahaven

Book Blog Assignment #3

1. “For at the end of each day, many Americans are still going to struggle to pay their bills” (Abramsky, 266).

            I choose this quote because I feel like a lot of people can relate to it. There are many people who are struggling to pay their bills. I like how Abramsky said “Americans” and not poor people, because this holds true for a lot of people in the United States. Obviously poor people will struggle more, but there are many working class families who live paycheck to pay check. I cleaned out my room the other day and found many clothing items and shoes to give away. If more people donated items such as these, people could worry less about clothing and more about their bills. I did some research, and I found that “The mean credit card debt of U.S. households is approximately $5,700, according to most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances by the U.S. Federal Reserve” (Average Credit Card Debt in America). It is also important to note that high U.S. debt levels are drastically hurting Americans. According to the article, “How the United States' High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans”, there are “Higher interest rates on mortgages, car loans, and other loans would make it more costly for families to borrow money, and that families may have to delay purchasing their first home and other means of building financial security” (Boccia, 2013).

Average Credit Card Debt in America: 2016 Facts & Figures. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22,       2016, from http://www.valuepenguin.com/average-credit-card-debt

Boccia, R. (2013, February 12). How the United States' High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans. Retrieved April 22, 2016, from                    http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/02/how-the-united-states-high- debt-will-weaken-the-economy-and-hurt-americans

2. Another point Abramsky talked about was how children in poverty at such a greater disadvantage than children who grow up in rich homes and neighborhoods. Abramsky states that “ You will all too likely attend overcrowded schools reeling from teacher and staff layoffs as a result of endless local and state budget fiascos, in which you use out-of-date textbooks, no longer have access to non-core requirements courses, and rarely are exposed to music, art, and other vital, culturally enriching , aspects of life” (Abramsky, 277). Since growing up so fortunate and having access to all of these things, it is hard for me to realize that there are so many children who are less fortune. It is hard for me to believe that poor children will receive not adequate education. This is not fair, but it also is how life works. I watched a movie in my FCS 2270 Housing class this week and it was about children who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation. 85% of the town is unemployed and therefore their children are suffering to live each day. Many of the parents engaged in drug and alcohol acts, leaving their children to watch themselves. These children might never get the educational opportunities that we have, but a few of the strong willed children applied for scholarships. They said that they saw a future for themselves and that they did not want to grow up like their parents. It just shows that even if your parents cannot provide you with an educational upbringing, you can decide yourself and make decisions that will help you become successful in life. It also just amazes me how some children out there are so determined to succeed despite their hard upbringings.

3. Abramsky states that we need to act now on “economic security of aging Americans, Social Security system to be protected, and properly funded, benefits and cost- of-living adjustments” (317). He also states that “And, to repeat a point that I have made elsewhere in this book, to not act would, in the long run, be even more costly. I mean just like anything that is going on in the world, we need to act now, otherwise we will end up paying maybe even double in the future. We need to work as whole to help solve these problems. He states that we need to have “portable retirement accounts, have a 401 K plan extended for workers, and protect and expand the web of defined benefit pensions rather than run roughshod over the few that remain” (Abramsky, 317). 

Abramsky, S. (2013). The American way of poverty: How the other half still lives. New York, NY: Nations Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group.