The United States is currently fighting a prolonged war on its home soil. Day by day, the casualties rise as the violence escalates and the children weep as they slowly begin to lose faith in all things possible. The conflict has continued on for so long that one does not seem to recognize how horrific the battlefield has become until he or she is attempting to survive on the frontlines themselves. This dispute does not involve a rival country or insurgency. Instead, it is a war against an inanimate, destructive force: poverty. As poverty becomes increasingly prominent in the United States, the lasting impact it has on the American society, economy, and government can drastically affect the future of the nation in a substandard way.
BACKGROUND …show more content…
This is considered a very stereotypical idea of what a poor individual would look like and can be very accurate in its description. Despite this common outlook, victims of poverty vary on a wide spectrum in the United States. The bankrupt neighbor that lives in the brick mansion down the street may be in as much poverty as the homeless man asking for money on the street corner. It is safe to say that poverty is no longer associated with how one may present him or herself to the rest of society (Carlock). In the United States, poverty can be defined as having “a lack of basic necessities and a lack of security, so an uncertainty as to where you’re going to get food, an uncertainty as to how you’re going to pay your most elementary bills, and it’s about a reliance on either very imperfect government institutions or very overwhelmed private charities” (Carlock).
According to the Census Bureau, the three main causes of poverty in America are poverty in other countries, the political and economic system that keeps the poor from elevating to a higher status, and physical and behavioral problems associated with the impoverished (“Hunger in America”). Other factors that make poverty more prominent in the United States include, but are not limited to, bankruptcy, lack of infrastructure and resources, competition for jobs and income equality, lack of education, and imprisonment (“What Is
BACKGROUND …show more content…
This is considered a very stereotypical idea of what a poor individual would look like and can be very accurate in its description. Despite this common outlook, victims of poverty vary on a wide spectrum in the United States. The bankrupt neighbor that lives in the brick mansion down the street may be in as much poverty as the homeless man asking for money on the street corner. It is safe to say that poverty is no longer associated with how one may present him or herself to the rest of society (Carlock). In the United States, poverty can be defined as having “a lack of basic necessities and a lack of security, so an uncertainty as to where you’re going to get food, an uncertainty as to how you’re going to pay your most elementary bills, and it’s about a reliance on either very imperfect government institutions or very overwhelmed private charities” (Carlock).
According to the Census Bureau, the three main causes of poverty in America are poverty in other countries, the political and economic system that keeps the poor from elevating to a higher status, and physical and behavioral problems associated with the impoverished (“Hunger in America”). Other factors that make poverty more prominent in the United States include, but are not limited to, bankruptcy, lack of infrastructure and resources, competition for jobs and income equality, lack of education, and imprisonment (“What Is