Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Downfall of Society

Amazing Graze - Jonathon Kozol
Quotes

#1 - "Evil exists, I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher would call evil.  Somebody has power.  Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people--that is my idea of evil." -- pg 23
To David, growing up while watching his mother struggle, people not doing anything to help one another is the worst things in this world.  There are rich people and people with power in New York, yet the area he lives in is the worst in the world.  Most people who are there didn't choose to live there.  Many of them tried to find ways to change or make the best out of their situation.  Unfortunately, there is a large number of people there who made the worst of it.  Violence to such an extreme should never exist.  Everyone who has some power could do something to help.  And this situation doesn't have to apply to just Hispanics or African-Americans.  This could happen to whites too.  Does it?  Would they remain in that situation for long?


#2 - "If poor people behaved rationally, they would seldom be poor for long in the first place." -- pg 21
I wonder if the opposite is true.  "If middle or upper class people behaved rationally, they will never be poor."  Is this true? Absolutely not.  People can fall.  some things are outside people's control.  Being let go from a job is not their choice, yet it negatively affects them.  A perfect example is Mr. Washington.  She was doing well, until she got sick and left her husband.  She was rational, doing everything she could to take care of herself and her two children.  Yet she is still poor.  Can the political science professors explain this?  And perhaps a better question would be, could they do better in her situation?  And besides, people have differing ideas of 'rational'.  The teenage girls who work as prostitutes think they are rational - they need money to buy food or they'll starve.  They can't get a 'normal' job, so they do the best they can in their situation.  Overall, this is a highly biased statement made by people who are not close to the issue and fail to understand the myriad of subtleties that shape people's lives.

#3 - "I saw a boy shot in the head right over there," he says a moment later, in a voice that does not sound particularly sad, [...] -- pg 6
The mere fact that a little boy can say this in such a tone in appalling.  Yet it shows that the violence, despite its horrific nature, is so commonplace that even a 6 year old child can say he saw someone shot in front of him as casually as if he said he saw a tree.  Over the years, its been shown that poorer neighborhoods have higher rates of violence.  I guess it would be natural that the poorest area would have extreme amounts of violence.  It creates an atmosphere that creates paranoia and is disheartening.  Nobody wants to stay outside or leave windows open for fear that it will make it easier to fall victim.  Growing up in an environment like that has to make it difficult to adjust to a normal life.  It's sad that people have to grow up poor like that, but to always look over your shoulder... that's not a life anyone deserves.

I think the main point I'd like to talk about deals with privilege.  Are whites privileged enough where they don't have to worry about growing up in an environment like this?  Violence exists everywhere, with varying degrees.  Do whites live in places such poverty?  And if so, can their natural born privilege allow them to escape their situation?  What makes the political science professors say blanket statements like that?  It makes you wonder what their background is and if they could manage what they say.

1 comment:

  1. I like your blog. You got some really interesting stuff to say. I like what you have to say about the first quote the best. I always thought it was funny the way people choose not to see life through the eyes of someone less privileged untill they are in that kind of situation. I feel like you tapped into that idea in the last few questions you asked.

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