blog post 3

 “Poverty was no disgrace in our household”

This quote is important because it shows that different levels of income do not define one’s life. Although money is important to make our world go around, it is not the entirety of our society. We use dialogue to avoid calling someone “poor” and try to use words that wouldn’t offend. However, the author has been through poverty and would say that they are “poor” rather than “working class” or other phrases. This because they were poor, but it did not mean they had a horrible life. I think that this quote is relevant in today’s society for many reasons. It is common to assume that someone who is poor is also lazy and unhappy. However, this stereotype is untrue. Also, a lot of people who are on welfare are ashamed and work to hide this. However, not everyone has an equal opportunity at life, so some people do need extra help, and there is nothing to be ashamed of in that. The color of your skin, your gender, the social or economically class you were born into, and other factors can affect the types of opportunities available. The author also explains how being poor did not impact their life as much as people would think. For example, the text explains that poverty is explained differently in school than what the author experienced. When looking into the substance of one’s life, the amount of money does not always translate to the quality of life they lived. It is often said that the more money you have, the more problems you have. So, while poverty is shown as something that ruins people’s lives, it is not always that. While being poor does create barriers that others do not have to face, it does not directly translate to happiness.

This makes me think differently about the course material because this is a different point of view then most of the other material we have read. It is a view from someone who has faced as many challenges as society could throw at them. It is someone who has lived a life that someone would look at and think “that’s horrible” or “I could never do that”. However, this is not the point of view of the author. Like the quote says, poverty was not a disgrace, and did not control their life. This text also goes into the subject of helping those not as finically stable. Another quote that I found interesting and moving was “it takes money, organization, and laws to maintain a social structure but none of it works if there are not opportunities for people to meet and help each other along the way. Social responsibility comes down to something simple- the ability to respond.” I think this quote is perfect because it puts into words why we need to help people who do not have the same opportunities as the fortunate. I also think that this changes how I see the course material. We often talk about social issues, as well as read about them, and this perfectly speaks my opinion on this subject. However, I know that this person had to go through a different life than I did to come to this conclusion. So, this changes my view on the material because I think it is important to understand the background of the authors we read from and the background of the material that is being taught. This helps us come to a conclusion on why the author, or material, has the stance or lesson that it does.