Why Poverty, Inequality and Economic Insecurity Exist?

Why Poverty, Inequality and Economic Insecurity Exist?

This paper will look at the major reasons for the vulnerability to poverty, inequality and economic insecurity.

Poverty

One of the great debates surrounding the social construction of need since the 19th Century is centered on the definition of poverty (Ferreira 1999). Having resources is very important for the structure of social advantage; a lack of resources, it may be fair to say, could imply cumulative disadvantages in material circumstances, life style, and opportunities. Extreme disadvantage in resources is generally referred to in terms of poverty. It could be argued that poverty is a lack of goods and services necessary to maintain a minimal adequate standard of living.

Throughout the history of the United States, there has been a constant battle with the inconsistency of poverty against wealth. The United States being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, with all its resources-still has many people struggling economically. We are simply a society that glorifies the rich, and forgets the poor. In addition, age is also another factor that should not be excluded as a mode of unfair treatment since the elderly are just as susceptible to being exposed to oppression. In a nation of fast-paced technological advances, the seniors of today are considered broken goods (Atwood 2004). Without a consistent, sustaining wage, this nation is throwing away everyone and everything that is unable to feed the economic machine. The elderly are expected to wither away and die, when they were once sitting in our positions at some place of employment or fine educational institution. As the saying goes, "Once a man, twice a child", the elderly and our youth are social targets left to have someone else help supply their needs. Seeing that both groups are being neglected, the wisdom that we receive from the elderly, and in contrast, the vitality of our youth- is at risk. Regrettably, as our children today grow into adulthood, they are confronted with the harsh reality that with the way the government is operating and slowly neglecting its citizens, and without a strong political voice, they are contorted into a position of disadvantage. Be it so, if they are the product of uneducated parents then the future of the children is utterly bleak (Taylor 1993). And while the President and his 'elite' company enjoy dinner parties, the nation's children and elderly alike suffer through the night's hunger just as my husband did while subdued in poverty. As people in society age, we must come to grips with a dismal future as social misfits.

Inequality

The conflict perspective would highlight the fact that this system has been designed and maintained by the elite ruling class. This system creates a pool of individuals who will inevitably become impoverished and therefore dependent

on what meager allowances their ruling counterparts will dispel. There is a pattern of unequal access that incites a distinctive line of who has power and who will remain powerless (Friedman ...