Outlook on Poverty

I found Galbraith’s essay, “The Position of Poverty,” very interesting. At the beginning, Galbraith outlines the basic ideas dealing with poverty, and defines two separate types of poverty. Galbraith speculates that because the very poor are now the minority, politicians usually do not focus so much on the needs of those poor as much as the wants and needs of the middle class majority. He also asserts that richer societies have no excuse for not helping out their poor citizens, and we must remember that the children of poverty do not have any control over the unfortunate situation in which they are living. In the final section of Galbraith’s essay, he suggests possible remedies for the seemingly never ending problem of poverty in modern society. Overall, I enjoyed this piece. Galbraith presents some very interesting concepts and ideas, that are still very pertinent and applicable to today’s society. Most of his ideas have stayed true over time, and poverty is still an important issue that is far from being solved.

One of Galbraith’s most striking points is that there are two main types of poverty, between which he makes a clear distinction. He outlines them as case poverty and insular poverty. Case poverty is defined as poverty that is caused by or relates to an individual characteristic, while insular poverty is caused by some environmental factor and affects nearly everyone in a specific area. This concept of insular poverty really intrigues me. People affected by insular poverty had no control over the events that lead to their poverty, and they have no way out of their situation without outside help or aid. One of the reasons I think that the United States has such a problem in solving insular poverty is because upper and middle class American citizens often blame the poor for their own poverty. Some people feel like they have no obligation to (or rather they simply do not want to) help out the poor. Too often, the poor are viewed as lazy bums, hooked on drugs and choosing the poor life. Those people who are well-off economically feel that they have worked hard for their money, assets, and the lifestyle they live. They often forget that many poverty stricken people are the victims of insular poverty. Upper and middle class citizens do not realize that these poor people did not get into their unfortunate situation because of drug and alcohol addictions, or become involved in any other destructive behaviors or obsessions. The standard middle class American is so removed from the situation of the poor that they forget that these people have been left in poverty by some environmental or other equally unpreventable tragedy. People who are unaffected by these causes of insular poverty take for granted the fact that something such as what happened to those victims could have just as easily affected them. This concept of insular poverty is something we as a society should further explore, and see if we cannot find a solution to it.