Cycle Of Poverty In Their Families example essay topic

"Poverty is no disgrace but it is damned annoying. In the contemporary United States it is not annoying but it is a disgrace" Galbraith 257. Galbraith, a professor of economics at Harvard University and economics advisor to John F. Kennedy wrote "Position of Poverty" a selection from his book, The Affluent Society. This essay illustrates his ideas on how society can break the cycle of poverty. Galbraith's involvement with politics seemed to have stemmed from his personal views on social issues.

Galbraith has been criticized for oversimplifying complex concepts that a layperson could understand. According to Galbraith the only sound way for society to break the cycle of poverty is to help people to help themselves. He tells us that in order for society to do this; they need to dedicate time and energy to the children from families afflicted with the misfortune of poverty. He suggests that the cycle of poverty can be broken if society will provide the smallest amount of income essential for respectability and well-being for the poor, first rate school for the children, and adequate housing for the poverty stricken families.

Specifically, Galbraith believed that a sympathetic and prosperous society would, no doubt, give to all in need the lowest amount of income needed to secure decency and comfort. He advocates, "the corrupting effect on the human spirit of unearned revenue has unquestionably been exaggerated as, indeed, have the character-building values of hunger and privation" (Galbraith 254). To ensure that the misfortunes of the parents are not carried through to the children a secure minimum income must be given to these families. Most of the adverse reactions toward giving this income to the poverty-stricken families come from old-fashioned attitudes.

An affluent society can use the remedy of providing income for those who are in need. This minimum income would do so much to ensure that poverty was not continued through the children. As a matter of fact, Galbraith goes on to say, "If there is opportunity for advanced education for those who qualify regardless of means", then there is a chance that the children of the families of the underprivileged, without their hindering inconveniences, will come to their full potential as adults (255). The effects of a good education will help these children to triumph over the shackles that their surroundings have forced upon them.

Much can be done to treat the isolation of being poor, which causes people to be discarded by modern society. Galbraith believes that the availability of a good education to the children of the poverty-stricken families comes second to adequate income in breaking the cycle of poverty. He believed that if education and training were made available to the children of poverty-stricken families then these children upon reaching adulthood would have the means to secure a well paying position thus alleviating the cycle of poverty in their families. To break the cycle of poverty, obviously, well built, clean housing must be made available to the poor families; then, of course, there would be none of the health problems caused from filth and rodents. Galbraith argued this matter further by stating, "especially in the case of urban communities, if housing is ample and housing standards are enforced, the streets are clean, the laws are kept, and recreation is adequate -- - then there is a chance that the children of the very poor will come to maturity without inhibiting disadvantages" (255).

The need for adequate housing is required to counterbalance the very low amount of money these families are able to spend on their own children. By giving good efficient housing and by making the surroundings pleasant and safe, society can help eliminate many health problems and disadvantages. Clearly, Galbraith believed that helping people to help themselves would, in the long run, alleviate poverty and thus help the community. He continues with his opinion on poverty by saying, "the remedy for poverty leads to the same requirements as those for social balance", (Galbraith 256). Galbraith understood that for society to break the cycle of poverty they had to make available to the poor necessities of life in order for the poor to be able to help themselves. Thus, the smallest amount of income essential for respectability and well being, first rate schools, and adequate housing are necessities and not luxuries.

In order for the disadvantaged to escape from the restriction that held them in a state of poverty and to break their hold on future generations, society had to help them to help themselves by supplying the necessities needed to break the strong hold poverty held on them. Ultimately, Galbraith blames the continuing cycle of poverty on society's refusing to see what is before them when he argues, "in the United States, the survival of poverty is remarkable. We ignore it because we share with all societies at all times the capacity for not seeing what we do not wish to see. But while failure to notice can be explained, it cannot be excused" (257).