The Problem with Poverty

I found John Galbraith’s article, “The Position of Poverty,” very informative. He explains the two different types of poverty, case poverty and insular poverty, which effect countries around the world. Case poverty is caused by problems with an individual, whether it is mental deficiency, bad health, alcohol, discrimination, or a combination of these. Insular poverty is more associated with a big group of people, also know as an “island.” This island of poverty is caused by a factor common to all of the inhabitants. Galbraith separates poverty into two groups to show that poverty can be caused by different factors and to show that the solution is more complicated.
I agree with Galbraith’s two types of poverty, however I don’t agree with his solution on case poverty. He oversimplifies the solution too much. For case poverty, he says that there are treatments for the individuals with problems, “Educational deficiencies can be overcome. Mental deficiencies can be treated. Physical handicaps can be remedied.” Galbraith says the only problem is the shortage of money. He doesn’t account for discrimination, addiction to alcohol, or many of the health problems that can’t be treated. A lack of money isn’t the only problem with case poverty.
Galbraith’s solution for insular poverty is more reasonable though. He points out that the best way to help the community is to help the children. If there is better schools and health service for the children then they could overcome the environmental restraints. If the children can avoid the restraints, then they could increase their chances to live a life without poverty. The problem with this solution is the money required for the better schools and health services. The money can’t come from the poor community; money has to come from an outside source, which there probably isn’t one that wants to contribute.
I found this article informative because it opened a new perspective of how I view poverty. Galbraith’s article made me think of our society today and how his two types of poverty match it. We see people on the streets, we see whole communities too poor to help themselves, yet there is not much done to help them. I agree with Galbraith when he says, “We ignore it because we share with all societies at all times the capacity for not seeing what we do not wish to see.”