Hardships

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The essay written by Lisa Tirado, “This Is Why Poor People’s Bad Decision Make Perfect Sense” is a fascinating story of her personal experiences struggling to overcome poverty.  Therefore, it gave us the inside story based on her everyday routine as a mother, wife and a worker.  Working on low wage employments does not seem to get her nowhere and due to the lack of stability and poor financial decisions evades her from making long-term plans for the future.

Many families across America dealing with poverty and similar issues like Lisa, try to live a stable life with dignity and provide necessities for their children, appear to be difficult . In terms of annual wages increasing a low percentage, and the cost of good highly rising. However, many corporate companies may be responsible for not giving equal opportunities to employees based on discrimination and lack of support. Tirado justify that due to her image, lessen her chances of being promote into a position based on expectations of appearance and the only image she fit was working on the back hidden.  Many people experience these difficulties that keep them from being successful in an employment as well as overcoming poverty and risk of homelessness.

option-> obligation

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From the readings, to videos, to class discussions I have become more intrigued with the lives of those who are trying to survive hunger and homelessness. One of the discussions that got my attention was the discussion about the mistreatment of workers. I have read about the mistreatment in the work place and have experienced it first hand. It got me thinking about the lack of self worth I let myself undergo simply because I cannot afford to lose my job. Managers and co-workers degrade me in some fashion yet I continue to go beyond the simple task my specific job entails so that hopefully I get a raise or ‘earn’ my spot. It is true what was mentioned in class, most of the workers seem to be to terrified of saying anything about the mistreatment that is being done to them because the poor cannot afford to lose the job. I personally struggle financial,  getting one of the jobs I currently had was a mission. So I can imagine the struggle of those who are homeless and are in need of one job. It was hard to obtain a job in this economy being a college student and like mentioned in the class discussion the managers\ boss engrave into the minds of their employees that they are replaceable. At any point in time the can fire you. The poor become powerless and must undergo the harsh treatment sometimes because the educational levels are fairly low and or they can’t afford to not have the little income they are being given. Thus being said this reminded me of  Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed (2010 edition) in which this women who has a good income (privileged) decides to try and see the lives of those low-wage workers, their were stories of women who were supporting not only themselves but their children, people who where sick or hurt but managed to go to work. Going to work for those below the line of poverty and even those that may be classified as higher isn’t an option it becomes an obligation in order to survive.
Survival is hard, so is it better to give up and get sent to jail for being homeless?

The Least of These

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When someone is hungry and is given food, thirsty and is given drink, homeless and is given shelter, it can be regarded as a holy thing. (Matthew 25:31-46 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’)

 

In America, where “least” is defined quantitatively by the almighty dollar, giving to others in need is typically regarded as an act of charity.  The country that has maligned the words of Karl Marx “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” as dangerous and communistic, the country that touts its “dream” of rugged individuality wherein hard work guarantees the good life (home, a chicken in every pot, etc.), is a country that has many citizens for whom realizing the good life is an impossibility.  Lost here in the land of opportunity is the person, the humanity, the understanding that we are all essentially the same.  When the real – if usually cloaked – god is the almighty dollar, things can get pretty mixed up for people who are not lucky enough to be “born well.”  The value of “unskilled” laborers is faint, and these individuals are often despised.  At the same time, a demand for the hardest (physical) work remains ever-present. The people who have money to eat out, hire a house cleaner or gardener, and spend carelessly to satisfy their wishes are concerned with the service and not with the humans who provide the help.  They give at church and feel very holy and sanctimonious.  Where is the equality, the justice, the holiness in that?

 

In an OP-ED piece by Barbara Ehrenreich in the New York Times entitled Too Poor to Make the News, Ehrenreich notes that Larry Mishel, the president of the economic policy institute, offers data showing that blue-collar unemployment is increasing three times as fast as white-collar unemployment.  What a shock…not.  Our systemic failure and policy that support the dominance of the affluent and overlooks the suffering of those doing the actual life “work” is a natural byproduct of the unequal capitalist system that we enjoy.

 

I know that I am privileged…not only white privilege, but economically and socially privileged.  Reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” helped me understand the living circumstances and day to day routine of someone who is working multiple minimum wage jobs in order to survive. It also led me to question the ‘unskilled’ terminology associated with these lines of work that are so essential to everyday existence and social progress.  The outlay of energy and the effort and physical consequences of the work do not in any way match the amount of money earned or the social value imbued. In a nutshell…how dare we???

 

I am humbled by our readings.  I am incensed by our readings.  I am inspired by our readings that we can be the change that we want in the world.

“A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”

Causes of Homelessness, Causes of Hunger, Causes of Poverty, Homelessness, Hunger, Poverty

It is amazing how far our country has come from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s declaration. There was concern about what workers’ should make for their labor. Where has it gone? In Arindrajit Dube’s’s opinion piece, The Minimum We Can Do (The New York Times, 2013), he discusses and asks questions concerning today’s federal minimum wage policies. Dube wants to know what should be done. Yet, isn’t that what everyone would want? What is fair?  However, the amount of minimum wage is what is creating inequality.

This article brought me back to a previous course assignment which truly changed my perspective. The assignment was to visit the internet website inequality.is and interact with the program. It showed statistics and situations that have led to where inequality is today. It provided comparisons of my possible income based off of my gender, ethnicity, age and education, which are all factors Dube discusses in his article. It was insightful to see the varying amounts depending on if I said I was White or Hispanic. No matter what, I had a lower income because I was a female.

Could it be that prejudice is a factor in those suffering from hunger and homelessness? Reflecting back on people I have seen on the streets and gave money to, the factors seen in both Dube’s article and the inequality.is interactive hold true. The concept of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” is no longer relevant. Our country needs to stop doing the minimum in order for all to receive the maximum.

“Homelessness is a Crime”

About being poor, Portraits of Homeless, Poverty, Reflections on our Reading

In  Kenan Heise’s The Book of the Poor (2012 Edition), he discusses the topic of impoverished women being put in jail for simply trying to act in ways necessary for survival. As one narrator named Betty recounts, “People don’t comprehend. My child was hungry. I took him to the A&P, and I took a can opener and a spoon along. I fed him right there in the store. They called the police. They took my child from me and sent me to the 11th and State” (Heise 40). This is an important epidemic to bring to the table and examine more in depth, as it is a topic that not many consider. While some people view any aspect of law-breaking inexcusable and punishable, I think it is important to first put oneself in the shoes of these women and mothers. Without any help or education on the means of support that is available, it seems that the desperation of these women lead to law-breaking as a means of basic survival. The fact that an increasing number of women are coming into contact with law enforcement in order to obtain fundamental necessities to live off of shows that programs to work with these individuals is crucial. As a direct result of lack of options, these women see no other path besides crime in order to get by, an issue that is both heartbreaking and frustrating, knowing that there is so much more assistance that could be provided in order to avoid this unfortunate fate for these women.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect learned from The Book of the Poor and other reading so far, is the comparison of the image society holds of those who are poor and the reality of those who are impoverished. While most members of mainstream society have the misconception that the poor are people who are unintelligent and without basic skills, in actuality this is not always the case.  It is so surprising to learn that many people who fall into homelessness are educated and some of which used to maintain a high quality of life, having an education and earning decent pay. Some people in society are ignorant to the true facts of homeless and poor individuals, thinking that they are freeloaders and law breakers who are constantly looking for handouts and refusing to be productive. However, this is simply not the case. “I held up my end of the bargain. I worked, paid taxes, and mistakenly believed I would be protected by a safety net should the need arise…caseworkers have lost compassion and are forced to look for scams more than to a person’s needs.” (60). This illustrates perfectly how people who find themselves in positions of homelessness and extreme poverty can become discouraged, a viewpoint that others rarely consider. Overall, this quote shows how much society has failed these people, many of whom have worked hard and been productive members of society throughout their lives.

Another interesting topic that came up throughout my readings this week was the issue of crime and homeless individual’s experiences with police.  As Jessica Morrell’s book Voices from the Street (2007 Edition), a collection of interviews with homeless individuals, illustrates most homeless individuals have negative experiences with law enforcement. She recalls a story shared by a woman about a well-respected police officer that she knew who had been involved in brutality towards homeless individuals. She recounts “with tears in her eyes, she shared with us that he and some fellow officers had more than once come to Old Town/ Chinatown to beat up people who were homeless” (Morrell 52). This raises awareness to the fact that police officers in some instances use their force and power over individuals who are unable to fight back or seek help. As the book goes on to say, those who are homeless are given tickets for sleeping, told to leave public parks, are physically abused, and basically singled out in ways that other members of society are not. As one homeless interviewer sums up his experience with the law, “homelessness is a crime” (Morrell 69).

Smart Solutions from the Homeless

Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Poverty

Jessica P. Morrell’s Voices from the Street (2007) is a collection of over five hundred interviews with actual homeless people who were willing and eager to share their stories. All of the interviews provide insight into how life really is for the homeless and several of the folks shared their ideas of improvements to be made to the very broken system that is available for people living on the streets. There are many stereotypes against homeless people – that they are uneducated and therefore not smart, but many of the ideas brought forward by the “narrators” of this book were very simple and plausible. For example, in the chapter entitled “Barriers to finding work,” one man expressed the need for a sort of day center where homeless could have access to “More phone usage, more laundry services, more clothing – appropriate clothing – more showers perhaps” (p. 108). Though several of the people interviewed acknowledge that there are places that offer these types of services, many of these places are not open at convenient times for the job hunting process. Another man, in the same chapter, assesses the problem of not having anywhere safe to place one’s belongings while applying to jobs. He mentions that there is a place where people can store their belongings temporarily in exchange for volunteer hours, “but those hours you got to volunteer over there are the hours you want to go somewhere else” (p. 107). So although there are many existing services that provide solutions for the homeless, there needs to be an improvement of operations for the convenience of the people for which these services are providing for. The most important and helpful way to find these improvements would be to go directly to the homeless to observe their needs.

Stereotypes of the Homeless

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The homeless are a demographic of people who are often misrepresented. Negative stereotypes about homelessness often mask the truth of their situations. The course readings describe the realities of being poor. Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed is an ethnography based on her fieldwork.  Ehrenreich steps into the shoes of the poor as she works a variety of low-wage jobs. She observes and interacts with her co-workers as she struggles to make ends meet. Her revelations about her co-workers allows for the reader to get a glimpse of the challenges they face. Enrenreich is in a position of privilege and is a ‘guest’ in this world, her observations are told through her voice. We get first hand stories, in the people’s own voices in Kenan Heise’s The Book of the Poor.

Americans are told that persistence and hard work will allow you to reach ‘the American Dream.’ However, in reality (as seen in each of these readings) there are bigger issues at play. Working hard does not automatically guarantee that you will have a ‘successful’ life. On the Invisible People website,  many of the people sharing their stories mentioned that ‘it can happen to anyone.’ Once you are in the lower class, it becomes extremely difficult to get back on your feet. Hunger and homelessness is a micro result of a macro problem. Poverty occurs because of our society’s structural failures rather than an individual’s failures. After an exercise in class where we were prompted to create a budget, it was made clear that there a few options given to this demographic of people who are struggling. Sometimes are forced in to the common negative stereotypes that we see because they have no other options. Homeless is often dismissed by many, but the issues surrounding this phenomenon are far more complex.

Does a Home Make You Trustworthy?

Homelessness, People

Rewind three days to last Saturday in Redlands, CA. It’s a sunny afternoon, a far contrast from the weather on a January day elsewhere in the country, as I pull up to the Chevron station on the edge of the downtown section of Redlands. I’m driving my hand-me-down Lincoln Town Car from my grandmother, which has been running on “low” gas for about a week now. One of my roommates, who had owed me over a hundred dollars towards the water bill, has just paid me back and I’m excited to be able to finally fill my tank; a task that will consume fifty of the sixty dollars that I am gleaming to have received.

I enter the station and joke with the nice woman behind the counter about how the high gas prices for the Town Car’s V8 engine cause me to “walk and save money on a gym membership”. As I walk back towards my shining, freshly washed car, a young woman of about 25 years of age approaches me to ask if I can spare a dollar fifty to help her buy a one-day bus pass to get her home to Yucaipa (the neighboring town). Immediately my mind flashes to the discussions we had just a few days prior in my “Hunger and Homelessness” class at the University of Redlands. We had discovered how the expense of a bus pass, which I used to reference as “just a dollar-fifty”, was an extreme financial burden on those whom were forced to take the bus due to poverty. I then asked the woman if she took the bus often in order to get to work and back home. She answered that she rode the bus everyday. Immediately, without a single hesitation, I handed her the $10 that I had left over from paying the attendant to fill my tank.

While I am embarrassed to admit it, I would not have made this same decision a few weeks ago. Yes, I would’ve have given the woman some money, but I most likely would have followed her or accompanied her in order to make sure that the money was going where she claimed it was meant to go. In fact, I had that very experience about two months ago at Union Station in downtown LA. Following this interaction with the woman at that gas station and noticing my change of reaction, I’ve come to reflect heavily on a question of ethics and trust: “Do we trust homeless/impoverished people less strictly because they don’t have a home/look poor?” When you donate money to the Girl Scouts selling you cookies outside Vons or let a friend borrow $10 for dinner, do you question if they will actually spend the money you give them wisely? How about with the homeless man asking for a dollar on the corner just to feed his family? How quickly does your mind jump to assuming that he will just go buy booze and drink the night away until he asks you for that same dollar tomorrow? I don’t know the answer, just food for thought, but I would love to hear your responses, as I wrestle with my own in my head.

 

 

Below the Line

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In the readings, videos, and articles we have seen and read for class within the first two weeks of the semester, there has been one clear theme that has stuck out to me: struggle. There is nothing comfortable, relaxing, or remotely easy about the lives of those who fall below the so called “poverty line”. Those living paycheck to paycheck and barely making ends meet are never given any time to rest or relax or enjoy the money they worked so hard to earn. It’s a cruelly unfair life that most of these people lead and there seems to be no way out. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America” (http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681) Ehrenreich goes on an experimental journey to find out first hand what it is like to live on minimum wage in America. She works three different jobs (waitress, cleaning lady, and WalMart employee) and comes to the conclusion that it is nearly impossible to subsist entirely on minimum wage pay, no matter how hard she worked. Ehrenreich’s study is a one of a kind look at how the majority of people in our country live, and gives clear insight into the struggles of so many among us. To me, the most disturbing part of the book comes from when she is working at WalMart, and observes that many of her coworkers cannot even afford to buy the shoes at WalMart, because they are being paid so little.
The amount of disparity in income and wealth in our country both captivates and horrifies me. I have long understood the concept of class stratification in our society, but these last two weeks have really opened my eyes to what it all means. The activity we did last class was especially formative for me, because I truly realized that I had so much more to learn and how much I will need to expand my definition of what it means to be a working class American in today’s economy.

“We don’t want to just exist.”

About being poor, Reflections on our Reading

A constant theme found throughout Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, Kenan Heise’s Book of the Poor and Linda Tirado’s  “This is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense”, was the dissatisfaction of barely getting by or merely surviving. Though short and simple, one of the most profound quotes that resonated with this idea was in chapter eleven of Book of the Poor when one of the women stated, “We don’t want to just exist” (loc. 783). The amount of data we were presented contradicted her desires and reinforced the fact that a majority of the people in poverty are barely surviving.

Homeless people and people in poverty consistently find themselves on the receiving end of unfair judgment and scorn. Rarely do we understand the limited options that people in poverty are left with. When they are faced with the decision to starve, panhandle or steal, they will choose the option that allows them to live another day. No human being should die as a result of poverty or homelessness.

Reading the statistics in chapter four of Heise’s book were shocking, especially when it stated that over one hundred thousand people die as a result of poverty a year. It is a testament that our system is unbelievably flawed. Reading about individual’s lives and their experiences with poverty and homelessness is intriguing and offers a  perspective that data fails to depict accurately.  Their stories and the obstacles they are forced to overcome sends the message that despite constant efforts to remove themselves from poverty, they are met with even more obstacles and dilemmas. At what point do you decide that escaping poverty is an unrealistic goal? At what point does poverty become a way of life and living in a motel “a piece of the American dream”?