Key Ideas

a) People that care about improving the state of poverty have a lot of work to do.

b) We know how to improve and/or reconstruct all of the factors that contribute to poverty in the U.S.

c) The will of the people who hold the power in this country must be combined with the will of those who are downtrodden in order to create the kind of dramatic change that is necessary. Everyone has a part to play in the transition from a system that isn’t working to one that is functional.

d) Those that are disenfranchised by the government lack the impetus to vote.

e) This results in a government filled with policy makers that represent the needs of those who are generally unconcerned with the issue of poverty.

f) Many voters are ignorant as to where they fall in the complicated economic system. This leads the uneducated to vote for policy makers whom they erroneously believe will benefit them.

g) The solutions for the wealthiest nation in the world to rid itself of poverty requires its power structure to have a balance between federal influence and state influence. We know for a fact that lending too much power to any side of the binary system results in disaster.

h) The concept of minimum wage is inherently flawed and cannot support this nation.

i) Setting the minimum wage based on regional cost of living or instituting the “living wage law” (Shipler, 291) are two effective ways to combat the dysfunction of the current minimum wage system.

j) The number of workers in labor unions has dropped more than fifty percent since 1950 (Shipler, 292).

k) In response to the lack of unions, education programs that facilitate upward mobility, such as job training programs and vocational training should be improved and increased.

l) The education system cannot facilitate necessary, improvement causing, changes due to a lack and/or poor distribution of finances.

m) The education system needs to pool and redistribute the property taxes that fuel it equally. Or, the education system needs to break away from its dependence on a financial structure that leads to the disenfranchisement of its people.

n) The current health care system in the U.S. is beyond improvement. If it is not replaced with a single-payer system it must allow for the private insurance companies to be regulated and subsidized by the federal government.

o) Programs that educate families and children are grossly under funded and short reaching. Teaching people how to change the negative life issues that they have control over will have a far reaching and beneficial effect on society.

p) Programs that provide interventions for children and families who are suffering are not meeting their potential to save people from the situations that they cannot change with knowledge and will power alone.

q) American society has been making slow, but steady, progress concerning humanitarian issues since the end of World War II.

Reaction

David Shipler’s mind awakening book, especially chapter eleven, left me with the ambivalent feelings of exacerbation and hope. In his final chapter Shipler illuminates the societal and economic issues, which more often than not go hand in hand, that he analyzes in the main body of the text. This book often left me frustrated at the amount of work that needs to be done by people in every position in society in order for positive and effective improvements to be made. Many of the systems used to run this country are flawed beyond repair and the systems that can be repaired lack the funding and man/woman power necessary to spark anything beyond slow and gradual change. The participation in voting, the current minimum wage system, the lack of programs that provide job/skills training, the need for careers that facilitate upward mobility, the current way of financing education, the private health care system, and the near absence programs for child and family education and interventions are all systems that need to be either smashed and rebuilt or problems that desperately need to be addressed.

Shipler’s work did not just shine light on the many problems that contribute to poverty in the U.S. It did an extraordinary job of illustrating the fact that our society is educated enough to solve the seemingly inexhaustible list of social welfare issues that effect the nation. We have been working for many years to gather and create the tools necessary to improve and advance our position. What all too many of those who seek change are lacking in, is the education and impetus to make an ideal, or at least acceptable society, a reality. Advancement can only be made if everyone works together to improve the many contributing factors to poverty all at once. The economic and social welfare issues cannot be ignored and have already improved dramatically since the twentieth century. However, the living condition for too many of this countries’ citizens remains unacceptable.

This dynamic commentary on the status of the disenfranchised in the U.S. addressed the political and social problems that affect both children and adults in the U.S. Not only did it highlight problems, it also provided potential solutions. These solutions, as discussed in class, require the participation of every individual. The collective effort of those people who choose to work towards the greater good is the only way to guarantee the success of the ever raging battle for progress. Pointing out the things that are wrong with this country are not enough. Advocacy, unity, and action, are necessary to keep those who acknowledge our nations many issues from becoming an army of whiners. Applying a collective solution to all of the economic, social, and educational injustice that affects the people of our country is the only way to make noticeable improvements.

If I were to add to the final chapter of Shipler’s book I would include two things. First, I would note the success of other countries who have already implemented the changes necessary to improve social, economic, and political reform. It is one thing to point out the changes that the U.S. needs to make, but the impact on the audience might be far greater if Shipler were to point out the fact that many other nations have already made the changes that our country desperately needs to make. The social welfare systems of these other nations are generally successful. No nation is perfect but the way the U.S. treats its disadvantaged members of society makes our education, health care, and welfare policies look sadistic when compared to those of other, thriving, countries.

The second addition I would make would be a call for the improvement of nation wide education. In order to incite the masses and facilitate the sweeping change, that many desire, we must first teach people about the power of the individual. Those below the poverty line need to realize that they have enough voting power to change things in a dramatic way. If no one interested in improving social welfare conditions makes their voice heard, nothing will change. Those who are fortunate enough to be ignorant of a life of poverty must realize where they stand politically. Many of those who do vote lack knowledge of who they vote for and what they represent. These voters must also realize that change is necessary and will not decrease their quality of life. The kind of change needed to improve our current system will benefit society as a whole instead of a chosen few. Many conservatives fear and despise change and many liberals seek a kind of change that is flippantly aggressive. Knowledge must be shared so that both sides of the political spectrum can learn to appreciate balance between change and tradition. The aforementioned additions to Shipler’s already superlative work could potentially strengthen his argument. The societies at all levels of functioning will continue to improve as it has since the inception of a social structure. However, this seemingly natural evolution of the status quo is dependant upon the efforts of those who refuse to accept the way things are. Those few people will come and go, making small changes until a tipping point is reached and noticeable improvement is achieved. I, for one, am sick of waiting for those courageous few to complete the work of many. Positive change, drastic enough to have a noticeable impact, could potentially occur within the lifetime of my generation. By educating people about the power of the individual to create a balanced system of equality I believe we can make our desire for revolutionary change become a reality now.