Poverty in America

Poverty is a problem that affects people greatly. In 2002 the number of people below the poverty level in the United States was 34.5 million. Poor people are often thought of as lazy people who don’t want to work, but that’s not always the case. Many people below the poverty level have jobs, and still are struggling to make ends meet. People have bills to pay, and most people have children as well. Children, who has well as themselves need clothes, food, and a place to live. All these things add up and the people below the poverty level don’t have the best paying jobs in the world. There are also some people below the poverty level who are living off of retirement, disability, social security, or some other form of government aid. Having lived with my grandmother for six years who receives a retirement check and social security I know what it’s like to live below the poverty line. Luckily we had family that helped us whenever we needed it, but there are some that don’t have that kind of help. As we discussed in class the government isn’t going to write policies that hurt their status, so what is being done about the issue of poverty? One thing is that minimum wage was increased from 5.15 to 5.85. While 70 cents may not seem like much according to an article I read the increase will lift as many as 1.7 million people above the poverty level. That doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be able to live comfortably, and be able to afford all the things they need, but I guess it’s a start. Here’s the website that I read the article from. It also has a lot of other information about poverty. http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/

Same Sex Marriage

Same sex marriage has always been a problem in our country. Many people against same sex marriage say that equating it with opposite-sex marriage changes the meaning of marriage and its traditions, but exactly what does marriage mean today. With people choosing to just cohabitate rather than get married it’s really doesn’t seem like that much of a tradition anymore. Marriage was once thought of as a binding commitment to another person in sickness and in health, and until death do you part. Although those are still the vows taken when you are married it’s really not as big a deal as before. I mean people get divorces all the time, and divorcing someone isn’t until death does you part. But in today’s society not many people care about the meaning and traditions of marriage. So why is it such a problem for two people of the same sex who love each other and want to take those same vows of in sickness and in health, until death do them part, to get married? James Dobson, in Marriage Under Fire and elsewhere says that same-sex marriage would redefine the family, damage traditional family unions, and lead to an increase in the number of homosexual couples, but a study done by the American Anthropological Association supports the conclusion that a vast array of family types, including families built upon same-sex partnerships, can contribute to stable and humane societies. I know that what I think really doesn’t matter but the traditions of marriage have changed a lot over time from woman being ruled by their husbands to interracial marriages being accepted, and if people can accept those changes to the tradition of marriage then why can’t two people who love each other and want to be married get married no matter what gender they are?

Roger and Me

The documentary Roger and Me by Michael Moore is about the downfall of the city of Flint, Michigan after General Motors CEO Roger Smith closed down the plant, leaving many of Flint’s people jobless. The people and the city severely suffered due to the closing of the plant. Most people couldn’t find jobs and were left with little or no money to pay bills, causing many of them to be evicted or move away. The plant closing also caused many businesses in Flint to close down, which also decreased the number of jobs available. The documentary also shows the ignorance that the wealthy had towards what was really going on with the unemployed people in the city. Most of the wealthy people made comments about them just being lazy and said that if they wanted to find a job they could. They really had no knowledge about the real struggles that the people were facing. The unemployment also caused the crime rate to go up, and eventually the city was named one of the worst in the country. The city tried to make comeback, but sadly failed. The luxury hotel and added tourist attraction didn’t bring the crowd that the city had expected. After all who wants to spend time touring and visiting a city that’s was named as one of the worst in the country. The impact of closing down the GM plant was major. It not only caused problems for the people, but for the city of Flint as a whole. Maybe if Roger Smith had thought more about the effects of his decision he would have seen that closing down the plant wasn’t such a good idea, but then again when Michael Moore finally talked to him at the end of the film he didn’t really seem to care that much about what his decision had done to the people or the city of Flint at all.