Carl Smith Public Speaking McCarthy 12:30-3:30 T

8/14/2019 Carl Smith Public Speaking McCarthy 12:30-3:30 T

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Carl Smith

Public Speaking

McCarthy

12:30-3:30 T

Poverty in the United States

The holidays are right around the corner and I have already seen many bell

ringers outside of

local shops. The bell ringers are collecting money for the Salvation Army, an

organization that helps

many people who are stricken with poverty. Merriam-Webster defines poverty as

the state of one who

lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money and insufficient resources. I

feel that it is important

to give to those who are in need, it can also make you feel good about yourself, But

giving a few dollars

or your spare change isn’t going to stop the problem of poverty in the United

States. Poverty in the

United States is a problem that must be addressed at many different angles. In my

following

presentation I will address many of those problems as well as many facts that you

may not have known

before about this growing problem.

Poverty and Hunger are things that usual Americas associate with third world

countries but even

though it is more prevalent in other places, many Americans experience poverty

everyday. According to

the 2004 Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in

2003, an



increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this

country are living

in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or

less and $14,680 or

less for a family of three. In 2003, 10% of all American families lived in poverty[1}.

When I first read

those statistics I was shocked it is hard to believe that those are truly real, but

indeed they are facts.

The southern part of America typically dramatically to holds the most of the nations

impoverished

people as the West in second and Midwest in third and Northwest as last. The

poverty rate in the

southern states have the highest with 14.2% of people in the south as living below

the poverty line.

In 2007, The Midwest and the Northeast each decreased, but by only one-tenth of

one percent, to 11.1

and 11.4 percent [1]. Many people have lost their jobs due to a competitive

international market, when

companies who were initially based in the U.S. have started to outsource jobs to

different countries for

cheaper wages. This outsourcing have left a lot of cities who rely on a specific

industry that has been

completely devastated. Detroit, for example has experienced very heavy hits from a

weakened auto

industry.

In America, it seems like we see food everyday for most of us. Food is for

sale everywhere by

companies who spend millions of dollars in promotion alone. Many places who sell

food even offer a

value meal menu in hopes of attracting customers who don’t want to spend as

much money. Not only

has fast food attributed to obesity in the United States but it also has begun to

waste food like never



seen before. A study by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and

Kidney Diseases says that

the average American wastes about 40% of his or her food supply. If we were able

to recover just five

percent of the food that's wasted, we could feed four million people a day says the

U.S. Department of

Agriculture. Recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million more people. These

figures alone would put a

giant dent in the numbers of those living with a constant scarcity of food [2].

The image of America that we forget to look at is very grim. It is the image

that we see when we

drive through the slums of any of our cities, the small, forgotten towns of our always

expanding country.

Poverty in America may not be as clear to see as it is in Africa, South America, or

Asia. I feel like the lack

of education and emphasis on this topic is exactly what makes this problem so hard

to see.

Works cited

[1] United State Census Bureau

www.census.gov

[2] US POVERTY CHANGE

http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/fighting_hun

ger_with_technology

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.census.gov/

Documents

Carl Smith Public Speaking McCarthy 12:30-3:30 T