Weber

Caroline Weber's post - April 24th 2016

On page 236, Abramsky states that “far harder is how to break cycles of poverty so that eventually fewer people need to fall back on long-term state’s aid in the first place.” He explains that funding assistance programs is crucial, but the ultimate goal for American poverty would be decreasing the amount of people who are poor. This goes back to the idea of preventing poverty rather than treating it. Just like in health care, it is more cost effective to prevent diabetes through screening and education rather than treating diabetes with medications later down the road. On page 268 Abramsky states “making it easier for people like Aaron to navigate their worlds isn’t just a matter of charity but of simple, common sense: if states can provide a safety net for these young men and women at the start of their adulthood, they are far less likely to have to provide emergency interventions, be they shelter assistance, expensive emergency medical care, or the exorbitant cost of housing a person in jail or prison, down the road.” Many assistance programs were never designed for long-term use. However, we are currently in a state where this is required by many Americans. So how do you break the cycle of poverty? In this case, we are not taking about someone who suddenly loses their job or requires expensive medical care. We are taking about the people who are poor, whose own parents are poor, and whose children are almost guaranteed to be poor. In these cases, long-term aid may be required for the grandparents and parents, but I think the children are the easiest targets for breaking the cycle. Giving these children education that is competitive, building them to be strong candidates for college, job training programs, or trade schools, and keeping them engaged in the community is all important.

Abramsky mentions education in this quote on page 263: “Boosting wages, making higher education more accessible, perhaps setting in place minimum income standards- are all good starting points.”  These would all be efforts to break the cycle. Although I think it is important for higher education to be accessible, I have some doubts with total accessibility. I have seen in my life that some students were pushed into college when they just were not ready, or mature enough to take the responsibility. I have also seen students continue and struggle through college toward something that they do not even have passion for. As a society, we say “GO TO COLLEGE!” If you are graduating high school, you should be applying for college. At least I know in my community you were looked down upon if you were not going to college. I know a college education brings many opportunities and it is an investment in the future. But for some, this investment is not paying off. If college was less expensive, maybe that would be a solution for more access. However I also think it is important to remove this stigma. It should not be an all or none decision.

Abramsky continues on the pillar of education, with this point: “It is not that education is of less importance than housing and jobs, drug treatment and community safety, clearly, education is of paramount importance. Rather it’s that absent a host of other changes occurring either before, or at the same time as, shifts in how schools approach teaching, educational reforms in isolation strike me as disconcertingly Sisyphean in nature: exhausting, and too often, futile” on page 275. Sisyphus is a figure in Greek mythology who was punished by the gods by being forced to push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down, repeating the process for the rest of his life. Education in Abramsky’s opinion is something that cannot be changed before there is a greater impact in place on American poverty. I think this probably better reflects my opinion. I think everyone should have the opportunity to go to college if that is what they would like to pursue. However, our education reform needs to start with reducing poverty and giving schools in low income communities the ability to focus less on poverty and more on educating the children. Unfortunately, energy goes into poverty. Poverty takes away programs and opportunities in schools. And likely the staff of the school is also dealing with the stresses of being poor. My favorite quote from Abramsky so far has been: “The central idea is simple: As a community, we strengthen ourselves when we find ways to protect our most vulnerable” (page 317). We cannot ignore poverty anymore. Poverty in American is something we should all be ashamed of and it is affecting ALL of us.