Question 10

I agree that a society's management of wealth and poverty does reflect on its overall health and stability. This probably stems from my belief that, particularly in our nation, we have a degrading system of social determinism that restrains those born into poverty. Despite the best efforts of the Obama administration, our country is not nealy post-racial; racism quietly penetrates the economic life of Americans in almost every area: healthcare, housing, employment. Shortly after the housing market crash, reports of areas with high concentrations of foreclosures were taken; in cities like Memphis with a high black population, investigators found that maps of foreclosed houses fall perfectly along the bounderies of black neighborhoods. Banks targeted black Americans with the riskiets loans, hoping to make quick profits. Not everyone agrees with this opinion, but it shapes my belief that the existance of poverty in our country identify deeper societal ills.

Education specialists like E.D. Hirsch, who promote a system of "cultural literacy," have come under fire from traditional liberals who like progressive, individualistic methods of teaching i.e., teaching children "how to learn" is more important than grounding them in history, culture and language. Hirsch, however, maintains that a stable education system based on basic culteral literacy for each grade level in the U.S. “Cultural literacy constitutes the only sure avenue of opportunity for disadvantaged children,” said Hirsch in this article (http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_hirsch.html). The United State's education system is especially failing those from impoverished households, and a reformed education system will allow estranged populations minorities and the rural poor to better rise out of poverty, and better coalesce our nations' cultural identity as to better combat racism. My home state, Massachusetts, adopted Hirsch's model and its educational standards immediately surged; Massachusetts now leads the nation in NAEP test scores, whereas before its scores were stagnant, particularly in reading and writing.

Therefore, we can link an issure like poverty, and the distribution of wealth in our society, to social foundations like education. A failuire in our education is a severe societal ill. Our country has always been good at throwing money at problems instead of investigating their roots. Both liberal welfare systems and conservative methods of tax breaks have their problems in reducing the U.S.'s poverty, Even though I consider myself progressive, and don't usually believe that old dead white men know what is best for our modern nation, I too think that an education system better grounded in the democratic ideals proposed by Jefferson and other Founding Fathers is better for combating poverty.