Pre-Assessment Response

Liming Huang

English 120

Prof. Breech

1 September 2014

In the article “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation” Diana George was responding the issue of poverty in the U.S.A.

Nowadays, you do not need to go out of the country to encounter poverty. America was given the image of prosperity by the world. However, poverty is still found in America. This issue is important at the time, because the poor people get poorer, and the rich people get richer. The imbalance of income is hurting the society.  Therefore, people with better financial background should dedicate to the society “not just by writing a check, but by enabling an entirely different lifestyle… with the donated time and material” (page 4). Volunteer effort could bring individual out of the poverty circle. People could help their neighbor around the world to build a house. This means that people could use their time and labor to help people getting a shelter. Although we cannot fulfill all of their basic needs, we could provide a house for their protection.

People are trying not to be identified as poor, because in this culture “poverty is synonymous with depravity, lack and worthlessness” (page 5). People possess material things that show success such as a laptop or computer. They feel like they will look less poor when they have these material possessions. And therefore they will feel better for themselves.  And because people do not want to be addressed poverty, how do we identify them and give them help? The label that we put on the poor often reveals an ideology of undeservingness, and we often relate poverty to laziness or criminality. The government has spent so much time and effort in fixing the country’s economic ills, why don’t we take out some time to comfort the poor without discriminating them as “deserving” or “undeserving”?

It was stated that people do not “recognize [themselves] or refuse to recognize [themselves] in those representations” (page 5). I agree with this point because nowadays people do not want to be judged. Even thought they are poor, they will figure out a way to show people that they are really not. It is a bad phenomenon because people should not live in a lie, they need to face reality and do something about it. In addition, Habitat of humanity suggested that people should help their neighbors to build the house so they at least get a protection. For me, food is certainly an inevitable need but a house is just as important as that. People need a house for their shelter and basic protection. Therefore the idea that Habitat suggests is really helpful. People could not afford to buy a house for donation, but they all could use their labor and build a house for them. People cannot agree on political or religious belief but they all could agree on a hammer. However, sometimes time is more unaffordable than money, who will be willing to dedicate their time to help others fulfilling their needs?