Blog 2 - Post 2 entry 1: Part 2; In Our Self Interest

A Cause for Concern

In this section of our reading , Rank discusses these three points in depth:.  

 1.)   Poverty Argument, self interest of Americans, (Poverty drains us both indidually and as a community and society.   A very high price to pay.

2.)   Reducing Poverty, this is consistent with two core sets of values held in high esteem by the majority of Americans (if we truly believe in such values and principles, then the reduction of poverty is highly consistent with and in fact critical, to their realization.

3.)   As members of communities, larger than ourselves we have a shared obligation and responsibility to alleviate greivious ills, such as poverty.   This is based on such obligations becoming binding when it can be demonstrated that a specific problem like poverty is largely the product of strutural inequities within the system.

The contention that interested me was "The Question of Welfare Use"   it seems to me that he is basing the premiss of the argument on what (Gillens, 1999; Horan and Austin, 1974; Kluegal and Smith, 1986; Macleod and speer, 1999; Tropman, 1998).   Gillens writes, "In large measure Americans hate welfare because they view it as a program that rewards the undeserving poor."  He  states, that "we have seen that a majority of Americans will face the experience of poverty.   In kind programs provide specific resources such as Food Stamp, Housing Assistance Programs and Medicaid.   Cash programs include those that provide therecipient  with a monthly check, such as Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC), which has been replaced by the 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and General Assistance.

Rank,  wants to show in the time table; that a welfare recipient receives welfare benefit by age, gender ,sex and family.   He states that" the use of welfare falls outside the mainstream American experience   



Blog 2 - Post 2 entry 2: Part 2, In Our Self Interest

In this contention of who gets welfare and who doesn't, kind of hits the nail on the head, I find it interesting.   In all my years of working in Civil Rights and in the Communities of the undocumented it was always a challenge to make certain that they were not denied benefits in one way or another and Mr. Rank, is a sharp fellow, but looking at the real world and not through a glass cage are two different matters.   there are all kinds of illegal and illicit activities that have many undocumented statistics and that was always what I have represented most of my life.   I have been doing this for many years from Texas, California and now Illinois and yes it's all the same no numbers.   These people need the same help as the other poverty categories and unfortunately we cannot get that assistance and many times the only place to get assistance is through a church if that.   Please don't ever let anyone be forgotten no matter what theyr'e circumstances be, Rank proposes a good show for what he does, but lets not forget that there are more out there.   My prayer is we have the poverty and the forgotten, so let's really put it together so no one gets left behind..

Blog 2 - Post 5, Poverty in the city presentation

The name of the city, that our group introduced was Seattle, Washington and the number of homeless families and the number of homeless individuals increased over the past year.   Among homeless adults, 58% were severely mentally ill, 24% were physically disabled, 15% were veterans, 14% were victims of domestic violence and 10% were employed.  Homeless shelters had to turn away both homeless families and individuals.   To accommodate an increase in demand for shelter; shelters have had to increase the number of persons or families that can sleep in a single room and distribute vouchers for hotel or motel stays because shelter beds were not available.

For the next year, city officials expect the number of homeless families to increase substantially, the number of homeless individuals will increase moderately, and resources to provide emergency shelter to decrease moderately according to the Mayor's Report.

In reviewing the Mayors report the request for emergency food assistance increased by 2% over the past which sounds very interesting,  and among persons requesting food assistance, 41% were in families and 27% were elderly these statistics from the city of Seattle fall short  of reality, I believe.   18% of the demand for emergency food assistance  is estimated to have gone unmet.   For the next year city officials expect requests for food assistance to increase moderately and resources to provide food assistance.   They see providing adequate amounts of food with decreased resources in communities of need as the biggest challenge they will face during the year.   They note that Seattle food banks have experienced an increase in visits from immigrants and refugees, particularly those from Somali, Burma and Bhutan, and that food  banks are learning about culturally appropriate food for their households through locally sponsored workshops.

My prayer is that with the population of 608,660 and unemployment at 8.3% not to mention that they are well below the poverty y line 12.2% that their statistical information is accurate.   When I see numbers like this it always reminds of when Mayor Richard Daley openly claimed that there were only 27 homeless people in the city of Chicago?

Blog 2 - Post 6, Hunger Issues

Hunger issues in the United States and all over the world really get me upset!   People are always complaining about the issue, and but never do anything to help those in need or themselves. As technology has created video games, computers and these new smart phones no one has time to really care about those in need.   Technology to me has become that wall in society that Ronald Reagan had once told  Mr. Gorbachev to "Tear Down That wall, Mr. Gorbachev!"  and to set the people free.   Our hungry are getting hungrier and the price of food is getting costlier and costlier to no avail.  The food is made with more preservatives and other chemicals.   Is it only the people that are hungry with no food or shelter that are suffering?   Everyone is paying for the consequences of the greed that large corporations and big brothers actions by what the are doing to all of us, as Moses said, to Pharaoh, "Let my people go"  Help us don't hurt us; feed the needy and help the poor..

Blog 2 - Post 3 entry 2 Review two students Blog

Blog 1, Entry 3 read October 23rd at 11:15 A.M.  by Ms Zamira, I found her blog to be very interesting and makes a determinant that education is a vital instrument to keep a population of people at bay from poverty and the quality of a moral education is the basics for economic flexibility. "To make sure that academic is a success, all students need to open doors to opportunities that education supports, with focus on loss students. Evidence shows education models coupled with family supports and to health care learning potential, prepares
us for future Choices. Foundational resources that help families, crises and invest in future opportunities such as education or start your own company." great job!

Blog 2 - Post 3 - Entry 1, Review two students Blogs

I reviewed the blog of Ms. Crystal  on the 23rd of October at 10:40 A.M., The name of the Blog is, "Our Mission".   Crystal gives a link to services that are provided by," The Chicago Anti Hunger Federation" help in hunger issues in the Chicago land area.  It helps to educate people on what is actually going on but it gives people a change to help.   Good job! ( There are two Crystals and I was afraid to mention the last name)

Blog 2 - Post 4, Service Project Details

I will be working alone on this project:    The Project , that I have chosen is to volunteer for the Jose Rizal Center, located at 1332 W. Irving Park Rd. in Chicago, Illinois.   The Jose Rizal Center assists the Philippine Community as a food shelter and a recreation center for the elderly and classes for nursing.   They have been struggling for sometime now to stay in operation.  The link will give an overview of what the mission and purpose is of the center.

  http://www.bakitwhy.com/articles/look-chicagos-jose-rizal-center-part-5-future

Blog Assignment 2- Post 1 entry 2

I would say that his concept "A Structural Vulnerability Explanation of Poverty"  and the three contentions are intellectually interesting.   Growing up in poverty and living a life of crime to survive in society is another path that many individuals find to be very lucrative and becomes a career path for many individuals, crime and passion.   Yes, he is correct in saying  and showing his findings like having a job, family break up and ill health; in the streets it is survival and many people of color are in the survival mode because of their families that are drug addicts or alcoholics and just don't care about them or even sexually abusing them and just have to get away because no one hears their cry for help.

The acquisition of human capital, yes it can be acquired in many ways not just with a good education or coming from a wealthy family (upper crust) that would normally deny one of this so called human capital, depending on whether you live in a rural area or the city.   Those that live in poverty or struggling to make ends meet usually get involved in drugs and alcohol and some may sell the contraband or bootleg to make a living and support their habit.   In the Inner City success is Rap, drugs and prostitution this brings in millions of human capital and feeds our society by using the courts, fines, attorneys and penal institutions.

Ranks, could probably do a study about individuals in the  rural and inner city structural vulnerability of poverty, and have very interesting findings about this stratosphere of a society and the musical chairs that encompass this other structure that is another means of prosperity and many are led to this path that are even considered affluent.   I seriously believe that the psychological stability of an individual must play a very important role in an individuals path to limit the heightened risk of economic vulnerability.

In the Spanish community a soap opera program (novella)"Pablo Escobar" is a mega hit series about the biggest leader in the drug cartel who kills people sells drugs all over the world and runs one of the most sophisticated operations in the world, he is ruthless and barbarous sadly enough this is a family show for the children, mom and dad get together and watch this together.   Everybody wants to be like Pablo Escobar, sadly enough.
  

Blog Assignment 2 - Post 1. entry 1: Rank Chapter 3

A Structural Vulnerability Explanation of Poverty

Mark Robert Rank :

  
 Supports this contention by defining three premisses of structural vulnerability of poverty:

1.)   He discusses the particular characteristics, such as the lack of human capital, tend to place individuals in 

 a state of vulnerability when detrimental events and crisis occur, an example of this is, not having a job or loss of a job, Family break up and ill health all are often the result of poverty.   

Rank states that lack of human capital also increases the likelihood that such that such events will occur (particularly in the labor market).   Human capital characteristics help to explain who in the population is likely to encounter poverty more frequently and for longer periods of  time.

2.)   The acquisition of human capital is strongly influenced by the impact of social class in the process.   The ones who grow up in working-class or lower-income homes face greater obstacles in their attempts to acquire marketable educations and skills during their lifetime.   Additional background characteristics also play a role in the acquisition of human capital, including race, gender and particular innate abilities.

3.)   Individual characteristics help to explain who loses out at the economic game, the structural forces described ensure that there will be losers in the first place.   The dynamics of poverty can be described  as a game of musical chairs in which those with the least advantageous characteristics are likely to find themselves without a chair and therefore left standing, with a heightened risk of economic vulnerability.  

Given that  poverty is largely rooted in the structure of American society, how might we better understand the specific patterns of poverty and how they plat themselves out on a daily basis.    

Blog 1 - Post 6 entry 2 Rank, Part 1 "Defend your Stance"

Mr. Rank, has some very good points, and I like the way that he analyzes the poverty model and

dissects it to make something concrete for one to understand what poverty really is,   His

Fundamental questions, 1.   Conditions of poverty and the reason that underlie it, 2.   Judeo, Christian

efforts, and 3.   American Civic Values.   He explains the landscape of American poverty and what

he believes it is and how it works.   I believe that as an American Indian here in this country that this

American dream was the same for us, but it has not worked that way for us and many others born in

this country.   The way I have seen it, many new immigrants come here from another country and

seem to start off alot better off than how we and others have.


I don't believe that this is fair! Yes, I believe in hard work ethic and doing your share in life but

unfortunately that is not how it always works.   When we did our research study work about the cities

of the United States; almost so much detail about the true numbers that aren't there and of those people that are homeless

without to eat it.   It seemed like there statistical numbers didn't even exist.  The study that the

class did in our"Hunger and Homeless class" and what Mr. Rank talks about I feel are two differen things.


Therefore, we that are homeless and listening to Woodie Gutherie and his songs about this land, must

understand that there is a seperate reality to all this debunking of our good people who have been

here from the beginning and find ourselves homeless and lost with no place to go. 

Blog 1 - Post 6 entry 1 Rank, Part 1, One Nation Underprivileged

I think that Rank has some valid points about poverty and explains the breakdown of how he comes

to his conclusions of how poverty exists in the United States.   His contention on Individualism is that

he believes that individuals have the ability to take care of theirselves and family without depending

on others tov help them using the frontier past as an example, and using" Poor Richards Almanac," 

God helps them to help themselves."   his belief is that individuals are to be responsible for their own

well being including getting out of their own hardship situation.


The United States is considered the land of milk and honey and is a land where opportunities exist

everywhere in this country for those who strive for it and that virtue, talent and hardwork can

overshadow the constraints of disadvantage with enough individual effort, literally anything is

possible.   The American dream is Alive and that this result can be veiwed as the result of individual

failings that can only be overcome be an individual effort.


The diversity in characteristic natures of our society has worked against seeing our connections with

others and their problems.   A defining heterogenous nature of the United States is it's racial and

ethnic composition.   Races that have these characteristics according to research have shown less

empathy and concern toward the plight of the disadvantaged.

Therefore, according to this vision you have no one to blame but yourself.

"Was a big wall there, that tried to stop me
Was a great big sign that said Private Property.
But on the other side, it didn't say nothin'.
That side was made for you and me.

One  bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple,
By the relief office, I saw my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there wondering , if
This land was made for you and me.

 pp. 11, 12 and 13 
pp. 5 This Land is  Your Land 

Blog 2 - Post 7 entry 1 Chicago Coalition for the Homeless

Charles Austin is a counselor for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; Charles specialty is working as an advocate for prisoner reform, to assure that conditions for ex cons or felons are also given the same rights and treatment as other people.   Charles also lobbies and speaks out on their behalf to make certain that this population is not forgotten.   He also shared his personal life experiences and visits schools and wherever needed to share the hard work that he is accomplishing to make this a better world for this population.   Charles and Charles are doing a great job letting us know about what is really going on and what we can do to help.  

Blog 2 - Post 7 entry 2 Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, visit to class at NEIU

I really enjoyed the visit that was given to our class for Justice Studies, Hunger and Homelessness, we had two guest speakers to come and share the topic of being homeless today and their personal life experiences of their personal journey that brought them to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.   The first speaker was Charles and he shared his experiences of being an athlete in school and excelling in football and other sports and coming from a large family that were always there for one another.   He stated that he became addicted to drugs and it had taken him on a road of despair and the years of hardship to put his life together to be a better person.   Today he shares his life experiences and represents the Chicago Coalition for the homeless.

Under his direction, he lobbies for the homeless where needed to make certain that the homeless population is fairly represented and continues to visit schools or wherever he is needed to spread the work that must be done to represent the homeless, another associate that works closely with him is also named Charles.

Blog 2 - Post 1 entry 2, Defend my stance, Chapter 3

I believe that intellectually speaking, Mr. Rank is able to explain the concept of his comparison of musical chairs and how poverty comes to be in existence in America.   I understand his concept and have a difficult time using this analogy, due to the fact that as a Native American, we have always been treated indifferently in America.   When I see the graph FIGURE 3.1,  I cannot see us in A, B, C or D it does not reflect accurately about our reservations or the treatment and agreements that we were promised.   Poverty and other immigrants who came to this country to live and help their families back home wherever they are from, seem to only be used as a convenience, yes things are changing, but in who's best interest are they changing?   I keep thinking about the Mayors Report we did in class and it just seemed so unfair and the opportunity to play musical chairs never came.   It seems like the raw data to really find out the true statistics of our homeless families; disregarding race, creed or color. 

 We are doing a survey on racism for our Race and Ethnicity class and a question we are asking those taking the survey, " What race do you think are getting that most welfare in the United  States, whites, blacks, latino, asian or middle Eastern?   The answer is white and I was quite surprised at the response that we got, the majority of people so far have said, black.

I wish, Mr. Rank could do an analogy of what it is that we really are going through as people of color and poor,  yes he explains alot that is very true.  The mechanisms that keep us in poverty.   Drugs, crime and prostitution are one way out, but I really don't believe anyone deserves that option if I can help it.

Blog 2 - Post 1 entry 1, Chapter 3: Two Levels of Understanding Poverty

Two Levels of Understanding Poverty



This is the third component that Mr. Rank discusses of understanding impoverishment he states, that who is more likely to identify the impact of human capital (money) or we can look at why poverty occursby looking at the structural failings.   He uses his musical chair analogy of basically who gets the chair and who doesn't and that the losers will be those in an unfavorable position when the music stops, those who are less agile, slower and so on.   I f we focus on the game of musical chairs  of life the causes of poverty change from the lack of skills or education to the fact that the economy produces unemployment.

Rank, suggests that there are two ways of understanding individual vulnerability to poverty.   Paths A and B deal with the question of who is at risk of poverty in America, while paths C and D focus on the question of why poverty exists in America.   The bulk of empirical research pertaing to poverty in America focuses on path A.   Path B suggests that several background characteristics determine who's lacking in human capital.    Those lacking are more likely to have their acquisition of human capital truncated.   Paths A and B therefore explain who in America faces the greatest risk of experiencing poverty during their lives.   Rank states, that figure 3.1 is an incomplete and misleading account.   C and D   explains why so many  Americans  are at an elevated risk of poverty.   In summary,  poverty is viewed as failing at the structural level.

Blog 1, Post 5 Poverty in the City of Seattle

Our presentation will be on Seattle, Washington we will do a power point presentation showing statistics and facts as we are able to provide them accordingly.   Our goal is to show the class and instructor the profile of hunger and homelessness in Seattle.   The presentation will have a group of 4 speakers discussing various topics about Seattle and one will present an overview of the Mayor's Report in detail about the population and what the city of Seattle is doing to help those in need.   We presented a power point presentation and were able to discuss the facts and statistics as allowed, overall I feel the presentation was excellent.

Seattle, Washington (WA) Poverty Rate Data - Information about poor and low income residents Ads by Google Vote Gael Tarleton endorsed by Seattle Firefighters, women's groups & King Co. Democrats www.voteforgael.org U.S. Census Records Search the U.S. census collection 1790-1940. Find millions of names. Ancestry.com/Census Homes From $41,900 Save Money With Energy Smart Homes Energy Efficient Homes www.RealityHomesInc.Com Jump to a detailed profile or search site with Business Search 14 Million Businesses in 12,000 Categories Find: Near: Back to: Seattle main page, Washington, Washington smaller cities, Washington small towns, Washington forum, All U.S. Cities. Data type:   Powered by Leaflet — Data, imagery and map information provided by MapQuest, OpenStreetMap and contributors, CC-BY-SA Based on 2005-2010 data Displaying: tracts 0%20%40%60%85% min max Latest news about poverty in Seattle, WA collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations Whatcom bankruptcies hit four-year low Whatcom Business The Bellingham Herald according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District in Seattle. The monthly total is down from 53 in August. (bellinghamherald.com) Jann Wenner - Seattle A year ago, Seattle's Fantagraphics was on the brink of bankruptcy. Now it's in the black, thanks to good ol' Charlie Brown—and a pair of dogged believers who turned a (seattleweekly.com) State Superintendent visits Walla Walla schools our state. School districts like Mercer Island in the Seattle area have high income parents and many advantages in the home. We also have students who come from poverty from all areas of the state , whether it be Seattle (kvewtv.com) More news from Seattle, WA Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009: Seattle: 14.1% Whole state: 16.2% Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009: Seattle: 5.0% Whole state: 5.6% Breakdown by age of poor male residents in Seattle (percentage below poverty level) 0 7 14 21 28 35 Under 5 years 5 years 6 to 11 years 12 to 14 years 15 years 16 and 17 years 18 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 65 to 74 years 75 years and over Seattle Washington average Breakdown by age of poor female residents in Seattle (percentage below poverty level) 0 8 16 24 32 40 Under 5 years 5 years 6 to 11 years 12 to 14 years 15 years 16 and 17 years 18 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 65 to 74 years 75 years and over Seattle Washington average Breakdown by races of poor residents (income below poverty level) in Seattle in percentages 0 6 12 18 24 30 White Black or African American American Indian and Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Some other race Two or more races Hispanic or Latino Seattle Washington average Breakdown by races of poor residents in Seattle in absolute numbers 0 8,000 16,000 24,000 32,000 40,000 White Black or African American American Indian and Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Some other race Two or more races Hispanic or Latino Poor families by family type   Married-couple family (39%) Male, no wife present (26%) Female, no husband present (35%) Married-couple family (39.3%) Male, no wife present (25.7%) Female, no husband present (35.0%) Breakdown by age of very poor residents in Seattle, WA (percentage below half of poverty level) 0 4 8 12 16 20 Under 5 years 5 years 6 to 11 years 12 to 14 years 15 years 16 and 17 years 18 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 65 to 74 years 75 years and over Seattle Washington average Poverty status for native-born residents   Above poverty level (90%) Below poverty level (10%) Below poverty level (9.7%) Above poverty level (90.3%) Poverty status for foreign-born residents   Above poverty level (85%) Below poverty level (15%) Below poverty level (15.2%) Above poverty level (84.8%) Children below poverty level: Seattle, Washington: 7.5% State: 15.8% Poverty rate among high school graduates not in families: Seattle: 16.1% Washington: 17.3% Poverty rate among people who did not graduate high school not in families: Seattle: 42.4% Washington: 39.5% Breakdown of poor residents in Seattle not in families by work experience   Did not work (52%) Worked full-time, year-round (2%) Worked part-time (46%) Worked full-time, year-round (2%) Worked part-time (46%) Did not work (52%) Breakdown of poor married-couple families by work experience   Both didn't work (39%) Both worked full-time (1%) One part-time, other didn't work (28%) One full-time, other part-time (5%) Both worked part-time (18%) One full-time, other didn't work (10%) Both worked full-time (1%) One full-time, other part-time (5%) One full-time, other didn't work (10%) Both worked part-time (18%) One part-time, other didn't work (28%) Both didn't work (39%) Year house/condo built by year for residents below and above poverty levels in percentages 0 9 18 27 36 45 1999 to 2000 1995 to 1998 1990 to 1994 1980 to 1989 1970 to 1979 1960 to 1969 1950 to 1959 1940 to 1949 1939 or earlier Owners below poverty level Owners above poverty level Poverty rate among disabled males: Seattle: 20.3% Washington: 13.9% Disability rate in this city among poor males (it is 15.6% among residents who are not classified as poor): Seattle: 31.6% Washington: 13.9% Poverty rate among disabled females: Seattle: 21.4% Washington: 18.1% Disability rate in this city among poor females (it is 15.6% among residents who are not classified as poor): Seattle: 30.4% Washington: 18.1% Renting rate in this city among poor and not poor residents: Residents below poverty level: 84.3% Residents above poverty level: 47.7%

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Seattle-Washington.html#ixzz29mFtW3xK