In “War on Poverty 50
Years on, victory nowhere in sight” by James Rosen, Rosen writes on the first
idea about the “War on Poverty” when President Lyndon B. Johnson gave his first
State of the Union address. This articles also talks about the underlining
problem with defeating poverty. Rosen uses statistics that help make the reader
understand how and why poverty is still such a huge problem. Rosen starts by
talking about the beginning of the idea of war on poverty. Although the
percentage of American’s in poverty have decreased from 19 percent to 15
percent, the increase of population has produced the highest number of Americans
living in poverty to date, with 47 million. Rosen goes on to give more
statistics on non-white Americans and their poverty percentage and high school
graduation percentage. The numbers have greatly improved. However, this shows a
little bias as Rosen only talks about non-white Americans. Rosen, however, does
have a formal presentation and this article helps bring attention on how bad
poverty really is. Rosen believes that the underlining problem for poverty is “chronic
long-term unemployment and the viability of the labor market.” Rosen goes on to
say that about four million Americans have been unemployed for over 26 weeks.
Severe unemployment is a major problem. The statistics Rosen offers help
support his argument that unemployment is one of two reasons poverty remains
such a prominent issue in America. Finally, Rosen goes on say that the skilled
work force has also declined. This article is useful in finding out more about
the War on Poverty. Rosen’s constant use of statistics help show the damage
that poverty has on America. He also gives the underlining reason why poverty
remains such an issue. Although he does not give a clear answer on how to
reduce the amount of Americans living in poverty, Rosen gives his readers
insight on the heart of the problem. Finally, Rosen effectively uses very
formal language to bring his message across. Although Rosen seems to be a
little bias, his argument is valid. The War on Poverty is clearly far from
over.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/08/war-on-poverty-50-years-on-victory-nowhere-in-sight/
After reading this article, I would have to say that as Americans, the war on poverty is far from being over and that as of now poverty has taken over. I agree with Gustavo that James Rosen is definitely biased because of him focusing on the non-white American that are living in poverty. I believe that Rosen is just stating facts that we all know are, for the most part, true. With Rosen using specific evidence to show his statements, it helps the reader to understand why Rosen thinks what he does about poverty in American when it started up to today. I believe that there will never be a conclusion to this “war on poverty” because of the different kinds of people in the world today that choose to live the way they do, without a job for weeks at a time, will low paying jobs, or never having a job and living off of what the government will give them.
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