Tom Wolfe The Effects Of Poverty On America

The Effects of Poverty on America All over the world, disparities between the rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly “successful” and wealthy while a disproportionately larger population is also becoming even poorer. There are many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government’s) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the poorer nations. The book, The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, illustrates clearly
“With such a high standard of living, many believe this is not true”( Katz 13). Those who work hard and have the opportunity to be financially successful are rewarded with healthy, enjoyable lifestyles, while those who are disadvantaged and cannot receive these opportunities are punished and miserable. Sherman McCoy a rich white Wall Street bond trader in The Bonfire of the Vanities is one who lives such a lifestyle. Disadvantaged does not mean those who are on welfare, or those who are too lazy to find work. People who have disabilities that make it hard for them to find jobs, and those that are born into poverty, who cannot escape it, must be tortured and remain helpless until a solution to this social problem is reached. “In America, only 1% of the people own 50% of the wealth, 20 % of our children live in poverty, and a half a million people are homeless” (Katz 15). It is statistics like these that says our economic system depends on inequality in order to survive, an idea demonstrated throughout Wolfe’s novel in that Sherman McCoy and the rich white Manhattan minority always separate themselves from and look down on the poor and view blacks as barbarians ready to storm the gates of civilization. How would this world be if the wealth were evenly spread out for all to share? What would we do without poverty? Our society has been deeply divided for so long that it has become embedded into our culture. An
According to the World Bank, the international plan to reduce poverty by half was originally supposed to be reached by the year 2015, but the high number of poor people is high, and they are spread out everywhere. The developing states are trying to recover, but the financial crisis’ that have occurred have stunned the growth and opportunities that we are supposed to be experiencing. The conflict theory is not a solution to the problem of poverty; instead it aggravates the problem. To start to reach a solution to this problem, I think that the government should focus directly on the poor and offer them opportunities for advancement in order to create an environment of equality. I think that employers should offer specialized training to employees so that they can further their knowledge about different positions allowing them to climb the job ladder within their