A Case Study in Cultural Poverty

Essay by Shoity2004A, August 2004

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There is an old saying, "poverty will always be with us". It's sad that many people get trapped in cycles of poverty as was shown on the video. Some of the reasons people cannot escape this cycle are because of poor work ethic, lack of standard education, and sometimes cultural standards. In some scenarios poverty will always be a part of our normal society, because even if the standard of living is higher, the lowest ten percent will always be considered below poverty level. The people who were portrayed in the video were trapped in their own cycles of unemployment, depending on advance paychecks or dependant on welfare or some type of assistance. I feel that poverty stricken people often do not have the proper education to move up in society's standards. Many of these people don't even have a high school diploma let alone any college education. Without the proper education employers are hesitant to hire such people and they are stuck in low-end, minimum wage jobs.

The culture of poverty is rampant in our society. For example, the poor tend to spend their money as quickly as they obtain it as was seen on the video. This may seem irresponsible, but they have no reason to put off such personal gratification because perhaps they lack optimism for the future. They may also feel unimportant to society, helpless and inferior. Their children conform to this culture of poverty as well and pass on this concept. I believe that poverty will always exist in society because poor work ethics hinder them from obtaining more successful careers and lack of education keeps them from making the most sensible choices in life. Some people argue that the poor themselves construct their culture of poverty but others argue that this culture was created...