Some of the interesting subjects in the documentary are how the permanent underclass came to be and how the low wages keep it in check. Back in the days, there were a lot of heavy industry in Chicago and many people worked in factories, where they had no need for education and many were not skilled. The times changed and it has become difficult to find jobs for those without an education and with few to no skills. The wages are kept low because of the high unemployment rates and even people with jobs live in poverty. The low wages keep people poor and the poor people keep the wages low. The documentary gives the viewer a good understanding and insight in the hopelessness the poor in Chicago experiences because of the vicious circle poverty is. The …show more content…
The impression the documentary gives of Chicago is not very good. It is mainly about poverty and homelessness. The good parts of Chicago is not revealed, because it would not contribute to get Mr. Schodorf’s message across. His message about how the ‘invisible’ welfare system fails to help those who need it the most, comes across clearly. It also seems like Mr. Schodorf wants to change the general population’s minds about what causes poverty and homelessness. He has succeeded well with showing a broad variety of causes to homelessness. The experts and the senator of Chicago enables the documentary to make a political statement. They also make it seem more trustworthy. The interviews with the people living on the streets are essential for the film to be authentic, and for its impact on the viewer. The quality of the documentary is further improved by the way it makes poverty and homelessness tangible, nevertheless there is a distinct lack of criticism of the homeless and poor. Although one might not agree with all the points in the documentary, the points should still be there to enable the viewers to create their own opinions based on varied
Pathos dominates the article when Ehrenreich allows her nephews mother in law, grandchildren, and daughter to move into her house. The situation focuses on pathos because in Ehrenreich’s personal story she includes that “Peg, was, like several million other Americans, about to lose her home to foreclosure” (338). She is effective in her writing by appealing to the readers’ emotions through visual concepts and personal experiences. When I read the article, I felt emotional because the working poor are not fortunate to know if they will have a house or food the next day. I agree with Ehrenreich in which the poor are as important as the wealthy group who get more recognition.
By using statistics such as “Fifty- Three percent of women who require assistance for homelessness are fleeing domestic violence” and “The only alternative for many elderly people where the average rent for a one bedroom unit is $300 a week- that takes 63 per cent of the aged pension.” This use of statistics puts the audience into perspective of the current dreadful situation that the homeless are residing in and their dreadful backstory. By focusing on “Hardworking Elderly women,” Elliot shows the widespread effected victims and invites her audience to contemplate the abysmal state of the
Nowadays, when traditional urban Chinatowns in Manhattan, San Francisco, Boston and Philadelphia are fading due to gentrification and changing cultural landscapes, Chicago 's Chinatown is growing larger — becoming what experts say could be a model for Chinatown survival in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2010, Chicago Chinatown 's population increased 24 percent and its Asian population increased 30 percent. Asians make up nearly 90 percent of the neighborhood 's population, according to 2000 and 2010 Census of the U.S. Census Bureau. Experts also say that of all the foreign-born Asians living in Chicago 's Chinatown, nearly 10 percent arrived in the last three years — a stark contrast to New York and San Francisco, where immigrants no longer fuel
In the article “How I Discovered the Truth about Poverty” Barbara Ehrenreich gives her view in poverty and explains why she think Michael Harington’s book “The Other American” gives a wrong view on poverty. She explained that Harrington believes that the poor thought and felt differently and what divides the poor was their different “culture of poverty.” Ehrenreich goes on to explain on how the book that became a best seller caused so many bad stereotypes on the poor that by the Reagan era poverty was seen as “bad attitudes” and “faulty lifestyles” and not by the lack of jobs or low paying jobs. And they also viewed the poor as “Dissolute, promiscuous, prone to addiction and crime, unable to “defer gratification,” or possibly even set an alarm clock.”
As time goes on, the rate of homelessness rises as the population rises. Homelessness then was mostly caused by a family’s history of being homeless, drug abuse, mental disorders, and tyrannical leaders forcing his people into poverty. In modern times, several organizations are now trying to end homelessness by building cheaper housing projects more affordable to the poor and homeless shelters; these projects usually cost a fair amount of money.
The documentary asserts how these deprived people are forced to live in these subpar conditions. For example, many scenes in the documentary display that housing is scarce and the little housing that is available on the reserve is falling apart into pieces. Families are having to paying rent for years after years before they can claim that house their home. It is unfortunate to watch one struggle with housing when a couple miles south there are enormous houses being built just for show and hardly any tenants living in them. The urban house market revolves around the almighty dollar and instead of building basic homes for people on reserves to live in, the
In Bell Hooks’ essay, “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor”, Hooks addresses and clarifies the misinterpretations that people have of the assumptions made of the poor, how poor individuals are viewed in human culture and how the poor are represented on television. She helps the audience understand how these assumptions are wrong. Hooks begins her first point by addressing the false assumptions that are made every day about poor people through expressing her own experiences.
This documentary film explores the poverty issue in America. They follow three families who are struggling with financial difficulty due to the down fall of the economy. They interview the kids from each family while allowing them to freely express their feelings about being poor. These families do not come from the infamous welfare system. They are the victims of the market crash that led to the economic recession that started in late 2000’s.
The novel, The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives by Sasha Abramsky is about how he traveled the United States meeting the poor. The stories he introduces in novel are articles among data-driven studies and critical investigations of government programs. Abramsky has composed an impressive book that both defines and advocates. He reaches across a varied range of concerns, involving education, housing and criminal justice, in a wide-ranging view of poverty 's sections. In considering results, it 's essential to understand how the different problems of poor families intermingle in mutual reinforcement.
Chicago and other major cities remain in the news, as they continue to struggle with high murder rates. In fact, the city of Chicago has witnessed a 50 percent increase in its murder rate in only a one year period, and this area is not alone. Thankfully, cities across America and noticing violent and property crime rates remain at historic lows. The new adminstration has noted the increase in murder rates, but needs to also consider that other crimes on are the decline, which is always a good thing.
Homelessness is a product of social inequalities. Karl Marx stated that the capitalist society produces two prominent classes which are in conflict with each other, bourgeoisie and proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the oppressors who own the means of production and the proletariats are the oppressed workers who labor for the bourgeoisie. Capitalism is distinguished not by privilege but instead by individuality of property ownership and that those who create the conditions of the oppressed group express this power in the form of laws that function to serve the bourgeoisie’s interests (Marx, 2004, p.129).
Audience: People ignorant about the struggles of homelessness and would rather make homeless people “disappear” than help them Message/Goal of this piece: Addressing the issue of homelessness and raising awareness to this program as an alternative to making it a crime to be living in poverty. It shows that chromic homelessness can be solved Behaviors/ Aspects of society being satirized: The treatment and attitude towards homelessness and homeless people e.g. banning, arresting, and giving them fines. This piece shows the ridiculousness of the anti-homeless argument and that they are lazy moochers undeserving of help. People who would rather spend to criminalize homelessness than use the same time/money/resources to help fix this problem Background
The article is not current but, it can be used as a comparison between poverty studies of today to that of five years prior. VI. It expands on the blame the poor and the blame society view in the book. The Article does the by bringing up the preconceived notions that most individuals would have about poverty, then shows research material with statistics to show evidence of his claim. a. I learned that the only way true way actually stop poverty is for individuals to start making an active role in its prevention and not just pushing the blame to someone else.
In the passage “What is poverty?”, the author Jo Goodwin Parker, describes a variety of things that she considers to portray the poverty in which she lives in. She seems to do this through her use of first-person point of view to deliver a view of poverty created by a focused use of rhetorical questions, metaphors, imagery, and repetition to fill her audience with a sense of empathy towards the poor. The author’s use of first person point of view creates the effect of knowing exactly what she is feeling. “The baby and I suffered on. I have to decide every day if I can bear to put my cracked hands into the cold water and strong soap.”
The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.