Chapter 1 summary

• Chapter 1 focuses about the portrait of poverty it begins with the story of Diane Struble, North Carolina. she and her husband Todd were both college-educated and they enjoyed middle class combine annual income of $85,000. Her husband Todd had lost his job, the Stubles having eight children had to get by with Diane's school teacher salary of $22,000 a year, which is defined below the poverty line. This story illustrates how poverty refuses to discriminate religion or ethnic identity and its also affecting middle class, describe as the "new poor" citizens who were once members of America's middle class.
• " while the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans-those earning $380,000 or more- have grown by 33 percent over the past 20 years, the income growth for the other 90 percent of Americans, including class, has been at a virtual standstill" how come the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and now hitting the middle class? would It be that rapidly growing divide between the rich and the poor have virtually eliminated the middle class. according to The Rich and the Rest of US.
•  The 20th century poverty vs. 21st stories were shocking and heart breaking. The first story was about Christopher Jenks, he grow up in a white middle class family. he had become homeless from sales and marketing that came to a crashing halt. and it said that middle class Americans find themselves caught in an economic tragedy.
• Barbara Ehrenreich spoke regarding the poor: " The theory for a long time-... is that poverty means that there's something wrong with your character, that you got bad habits, you've got a bad lifestyle, you've made the wrong choices.''    '' I would like to present an alternative theory... poverty is a shortage of money... most people are not paid enough for their work and then we don't have work ''  (22) this quote illustrate how people ignore the poor because they see them as is there fault that they are in poverty. but we don't stop to think how's there situation. basically we react and respond to the poor as virus and we deny it because were afraid of facing reality about how the world can be cruel and we don't want to accept the differences between the rich and the poor.  
• In the 19th century the poor status as prostitutes, thieves, and the criminal insane. anyone deemed poor or unable to support themselves were sent to the poor house. the poor house were shelter of horror, elderly and children were housed with society outcast and neglect and sexual abuse. 
• income inequality and poverty worsened between 1896 and 1914 due to cost of living increases and declines in the wages of the working poor.  1. Recession- poverty 2. stock market crash of  1929, which led to the great depression leading to increasing the poverty line.
• In the post war poverty- wartime prosperity, rising wages, declining unemployment, and the expansion of public benefits, helped to significantly reduce poverty in America in the years after the Depression. In summary the war introduce a new beginning of changes such as more jobs, increasing of salary and reducing poverty but does it need to be a war to be able to reduce property again?
•  Late 1970s face poverty reverted to 19th century levels poor were once again blamed for their circumstances.
• four out of every ten Americans workers earned poverty wages
• Poverty has become a political football used to accent government failures and ridicule socio-economic outcomes (30)..
• Rich- " there has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great"
• American dream had been compromised by the rich and war-ready it remained a symbol of basic freedoms and necessities.
• " its called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it"(31) the middle class lost jobs- poverty
• American dream- manipulative marketing tool used to unprecedented consumerism.
• American dream- myth- to attract immigrants the hope of accomplishing wonders but in reality the America dream is a nightmare.
• Recession Economy- massive debt start lose the symbols of solvency- car, house, financial freedom and life you promised if you played by the rules. so this means middle class is at risk of poverty and even if we work hard like the rest we would still end up in the poverty line? this kinds of thoughts scare Americans if they loose their job or cant find one.
• According to the report Americans are no longer seeking personal wealth they are just looking for a "sense of financial security that allows them to live a sustainable lifestyle"
• As unemployment, corporate greed, and the divide between the rich and the rest of us grew exponentially in the 21st century.
• to get out of this economic mess, we must thoroughly dissect the missing pieces that placed almost 50 millions of us in this calamitous position. greedy and gluttonous individuals and institutions must be exposed and brought to justice. this means that we need to stop being ignorant about the world and open our eyes and see the reality of poverty and we need to fix it.