Current Political Attitudes Toward Poverty

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Introduction
The Great Society Legislation that occurred in the 1960s saw the passage of a bill that changed the politician’s attitude to poverty. Politicians viewed poverty as a breakdown of the community. Soon after this legislation, there was a shift in the view of poverty from a community centered perspective to an individualized approach. With the recent election of President Obama, a significant change has occurred with respect to how poverty is viewed by politicians. Hypothetically, this dissertation will review the changes in the public’s and politician’s attitude towards poverty.
Through this, this paper will analyze the current inherent attitudes towards poverty and the shift in their perception. The nation and the community ought to be involved in tackling the attitudes of people and how they view poverty if success is to be achieved. Changing the perception of the people and the leaders on how they view poverty is decisive in maintaining a long-term behavior change. To produce change in any society, a shift in the way nations see poverty should change. Poverty was a community’s problem, and it could be alleviated if the community came together to making a change. Our attitudes and beliefs will change we behave and when our behaviors are changed, we make valid decisions. This is the only way to address the problem of poverty.
Current Political Attitudes toward Poverty
Poverty is a term that describes a state of low income, however in a political angle the issue revolves around behavior as compared to economics. Poverty, as defined by the government is when people fail to achieve a particular minimum income. The notion of poverty and alienation of people as poor are considered social constraints (Gillette 2010). They perceived as relative since the idea of poverty describes the attempt to capture the state of inefficiency or lack that groups experience in a community.
Over the past years, people who were living in poverty were often stigmatized and discriminated, a factor that created a problem since many people distanced themselves from people living with under such conditions. These individuals are considered as an outcast and are seen as dissimilar from others. Some held views on how this person looked like, describing them as lazy, irresponsible, and unkempt.
Views about these segments of people created negative attitudes and incorrect beliefs. A section of Americans believes that poverty, ignorance, and insecurity do not generate decent individuals as do wealth, knowledge, and security. They attribute that it is extremely difficult to break the bonds of poverty, and that dictatorship birthed from poverty. With such views, many Americans seek to remove the word poor rather than ask for avenues of eradicating it (Gillette 2010). The varying attitudes of politicians and the public have been the leading factors that considered in changing the views of this menace. In 1960, poverty was seen as a community’s problem, and it would only alleviated if the community came together to making a change. Today, Americans attitude has significantly improved towards poverty.
Kennedys Administration spurred a change to the growing poverty issues in America. Out of this, his administration resorted to developing a program that geared towards solving the debt related issues. Kennedy however did not get an opportunity to launch his program that was aimed at solving poverty issues because of his assassination. After several decades of trying to resolve the issues related to poverty, America still has a view of this malady. The public perceive that the poor people in the U.S are unwilling to work and only depend on the government for support (Lefkowitz & Withorn 2012). Before the legislation of the welfare reform; politics about poverty were viciously subjugated by discussions on how to solve this issue. When the era of well-being ended, the public also ended its concern about poverty. The matters that affected the society went silent, and no one had the power to seek interventions towards solving it.
Despite the persistence of the different negative views about poverty and how the public and the politicians considered it, recent unhealthy talks about this subject by politicians and public officials has slowed. Politicians hardly talk nasty about welfare and poverty. Instead, a constructive dialog has taken over on poverty by these legislators (Lefkowitz & Withorn 2012). In the State of the Union Speeches, George W. Bush is seen using the word "poverty" on three accounts, with each account referring to poverty in Africa and other countries that are developing. Barrack Obama in his inaugural speech speaks not of pov...