Poverty in the United States

Introduction

This paper critically analyses the state of poverty in the United States of America. It is a masterpiece to demonstrate the researcher’s ability to think critically and analyze social phenomenon on the basis of facts. The research paper includes the importance of ethics and morals to change the dramatic state and the aggravating rate of poverty in the United States. The role of information technology in gathering and manipulating empirical data has also been given a place in this paper. This paper seeks to analyze the state of poverty in America from a perspective of a critical thinker. The research also uses facts it acquires without motional constrictions to expound on the state of poverty in the United States. The addressed sociological phenomenon has been critically discussed in this paper along with the effects of educational knowledge to the same phenomenon.

Literature Review

The literature review of this paper analyses the validity of the Ideas articulated in the following articles; “The Increasing Risk of Poverty Across the American Life Course”, and “Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America’s Poor”. These articles explain the state of poverty in the United States. The arguments they present are based on empirical research carried out and reports by the United States Census Bureau. The first report, “Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America’s Poor” is written by Robert Rector and Rachael Sheffield (Rector 2011). The authors reveal unbelievable facts about the state of poverty in the United States.

The results of the US Census Bureau present fascinating facts about the state of poverty in the country. Some of these facts, as they appear in the report are: 92% of the poor households living in the United States own a microwave, 43% of the poor people in the US have internet access. Another fact that the report includes is a finding that 80% of the United States households own air conditioners. In 1970, it was only 36% of the entire population in the United States that had air conditioning. According to the empirical statistics presented by this article, it is clear that the people who are poor in the United States may not be poor in other countries, especially the developing countries. Therefore, it is essential if the article could include a distinctive definition of the term “poverty” within the American context. A critical look to the state of poverty in America using the findings that appear in Robert and Rachel’s article shows that the poor people in America enjoy some secondary needs. The article also states that, with time, the quality of lives of the poor people in America is rapidly improving. The factors considered when measuring the poverty should include a change with time. Perhaps the parameters used to gauge the levels of poverty in the United States should change with the changing times in the United States (Sndoval, 2009). The article has also included a finding of the American Home survey. The survey findings show that more than 41% of poor people usually live in their own homesteads. The authors of this article review the definition of poverty within the context of ownership of homesteads.

The second article used in the literature review of this paper is “The Increasing Rate of Poverty Across American Life Course” by Daniel. Sandolval, Mark R. Rank and Thomas A. Hirschil. This article presents a measure of the extents and patterns of poverty in America. This measure is categorized in a way that is extraordinarily convincing to its readers. The writers of this article convince the readers that the level of poverty in America has increased in the recent past. This paper has included scarce resources to convince its readers that the economic recession around the world has considered serious levels of poverty in America and the world at large. To a great extent, this article is valid, and its authors have respected the changing economic times in the United States which are crucial in determining the levels of poverty. This article is a double-edged sword in the way it responds to changes in the levels of poverty in America and possible ways to manipulate the economy to change the dramatic state of poverty in the United States. The article relatively achieves its goal to measure poverty in the United States. The Americans get a pre disposure to poverty with the changing times.

Impacts of Academic Knowledge in Poverty

Academic knowledge is a hugely valuable instrument to eradicate poverty. Academics help learners to develop relevant skills that they use to build the economy of the country. When there is a high level of academic knowledge in the United States, this means that the people of the US would have the relevant knowledge and skills to handle the factors causing poverty in the United States. US people living in poverty should recognize the importance of academic knowledge, as it is vital in the fight to counter the effects of poverty and the dramatic state of poverty in America at the moment (Mink, 2004). Academic knowledge, when incorporated appropriately in the economic fields of the United States, may be extremely necessary to sustain this field. This would be a way to lower the qualities of lives of the people living in the United States. For example, when academic knowledge gets incorporated in financial institutions like banks, it would help to counter poverty in the United States. Learner employees formulate policies that are friendly to the prevailing economic conditions of a country. Therefore, it is right to say that academics would produce a direct effect on the level of poverty in America. This social phenomenon gets affected by academic learning in the global arena, when learned people are brought into the United States as immigrants. These people help to build the economy of the US in all dimensions. In other terms, this process can be referred to as brain gain. When academic knowledge gets a place in an institution like the American Federal government, this would change the state of poverty in America since people who are conversant with the best practical way to solve economic issues get the chance to lead the situation. When the US leaders cherish and possess the academic knowledge, a future of lower poverty rates in America as it is for today, becomes guaranteed. Therefore, it is unquestionably significant for the American citizens to vote for the leaders with the interest of the people at heart. Leaders, who put the interests of the public first before their political interest, are the leaders that America needs in the fight against poverty. Also, it is crucial for the citizens of America to emphasize the importance of education to American children. In fact, every high school graduate should get the chance to acquire a college diploma to equip them with the knowledge necessary to make a living successfully. With academic knowledge, social institutions such as the Media become considerably improved. This is one of the first steps towards fighting against the poverty in America.

The Media, once developed by academic knowledge, would ensure that the oppressive people in the community are brought to light. This would also be beneficial in criticizing the abuse of power by people working in American public institutions. The academic knowledge in this institution, once incorporated appropriately, would also be instrumental to fight the cases of corruption in America. As a result, the public funds that get lost through unscrupulous ways such as corruption would be used to fund the American economy (Bremner, 1956). The cost of living would reduce to an understandable level in the United States. The world economic recession would not be felt to such an enormous extent as it is at the moment. Academic knowledge may also lead to a fair and just society considering the fact that acquisition of this knowledge increases the life chances of an individual. This means that this knowledge once acquired, may increase the chances of success in life in terms of influence and financial success. The argument about academics and poverty in America must also take a critical outlook on the poor levels of education in America among the poor people. Educational poverty directly translates to poverty in the economic arena and a dark future for America. Therefore, it is essential to improve the levels of education of Americans to facilitate lower poverty rates in the future, than it is at the moment.

Impacts of Active Citizenship on Poverty Levels in the US

Active citizenship entails the citizens being active in various sectors of the economy in order to build the economy regardless of the hard economic times. The principle of active citizenship may be highly instrumental in changing the state of poverty in the United States. When the citizens of the United States are active in building the economy, the quality of lives of the poor people in the United States get improved to a relatively better state. The principle of active citizenship acts to fight social evils such as exploitation of the poor, slavery and corruption in the American society. The society of America requires united and citizens inspired by active citizens as a way of ending poverty in America. Considering that Americans suffer the plight of poverty because of the rampant rates of corruption in different states, it is indispensable to consider the importance of citizenship to develop a better economy in the United States. American citizens should be ethical and morally upright (Harrington, 1997). This is an effective way of fighting social evils such as corruption in the economy of America. When corruption ends, a positive bearing reflects in the American economy because the income of the United States increases by a substantial amount. This amount may be used to sponsor sensible projects such as education or farming. Therefore, the ethics of active American citizens is a pivotal concern in the fight against poverty in America.

When the principle of active citizenship is implemented appropriately in the United States, the next five or ten years would be a significant time for the country. Therefore, it is essential that all the American citizens remain vibrant and aggressive to the sustenance of the American federal government. The bright governance means virtuous life and this would have a direct impact on the levels of poverty in the US. Critical thinking entails the act of weighing both positive and negative sides of the social phenomenon. A critical analyzing the level of poverty in the United States should be in a position to understand the benefits and the challenges of active citizenship. The exercise of examining the challenges that come with active concern should take a critical outlook. Most importantly, the value of active citizenship comes with many challenges, others beyond a person’s control. The people with influence power and in the United States may continue oppressing poor people because they do not have the money and influence like them.

Role of Information Technology in Reducing Poverty Levels in the US

Information technology is a tremendously critical perspective in people’s lives. In fact, we have reached a state that we cannot live without information technology. The role of information technology in this research is to collect and manipulate the empirical data collected to establish the level of poverty in the United States. The Federal Census uses computer programs invented by experts in Information technology such as SPSS. These are valuable programs used to manipulate the empirical data to state that the researcher wants. For example, information technology enhances the calculation of percentages of poverty using the parameters used to measure poverty in the United States. The United States of America has relatively developed rates of Information technology. This is a key factor and can be used to counter poverty in the United States (Mangum, 2003). Since a substantial number of the American poor population have access to computers and the Internet, this may be used as a way of fighting poverty. Perhaps Americans should consider self employment as an option so that they do not blame unemployment for the poverty rates in the United States. It is possible to create online companies dealing with various social needs, Thus, the latter will serve as means to end poverty in America.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is so clear and vivid that the rate of poverty in the United States has increased in the recent past. The global economic crisis has had a negative impact on the economy of the United States. To counter poverty the people of the United States should be united by the spirit to search for the truth and embrace moral reasoning. Also, it is necessary for the people of the United States to consider investing more in information technology as a way to gather information about poverty and spread it across the citizens of America. It is also beneficial for the government of the United States to take a critical eye on the levels of poverty, its possible measures to curtail these levels and the way forward, so that USA does not experience the same problems at any other time in the future.