Mar
19
Blog Post #9: Goodman’s Insensitivity to the Poor
March 19, 2015 | Leave a Comment
These three articles, again, discuss the fight between whether or not we should raise the minimum wage, not just in New York, but throughout the nation. After reading them, I have not altered my opinions concerning raising the minimum wage. There are short term benefits to raising the minimum wage, or “living” wage, or “fair” wage. There are also chain effects that will result from raising this threshold which may undo the benefits of raising the minimum wage.
What really struck me, however, was the second fact from the Forbes article by John Goodman. His second myth about income inequality states that “People at the bottom of the income ladder are there through no fault of their own.” In other words, he is supporting the view that those in the lower-income brackets are there because they do not put effort into working. He even states that “Families at the bottom often have only one adult in the household and that person either works part-time or not at all.” This does not take into account what we discussed in class about the threshold for low-income or the difficulty in finding jobs.
As we’ve discussed in class, there are families whose income are on the poverty line. If they work extra, they lose governmental support. These families have more incentives to work less in order to gain more benefits. Additionally, the job market has, as everyone knows, not been booming like they were last century. There is higher competition for jobs. This competition allows businesses to be picky concerning who they hire. As such, those in many low-income families not possessing an educated background or transferred skills will not be chosen for high paying jobs or even minimum wage jobs. I find it insulting that Goodman is placing the blame solely on the workers and not taking into consideration the varying personal and economical circumstances.
Goodman ends that paragraph stating “Having children without a husband tends to make you poor.” I find this sentence very arrogant and insensitive. Naturally, no woman would have children without a father for entertainment. There are varying circumstances where the mother has no choice but to raise her children. Additionally, there are better ways to phrase that statement. There are fathers who are single parents as well. One would think that a husband having children without a wife also tends to make him poor. But Goodman only talks about women and their dependence on men.
Goodman also does not take into account that many parents of families in the lower-income brackets work tirelessly day and night, taking on extra shifts or extra jobs to pay for rent and living expenses. This is especially the case for many immigrant parents who do not possess the educational background and can only make ends meet with physical labor. However, Goodman blames the poor for being poor by citing their poor life choices. That is a very condescending comment that can easily be disproven.
Overall, the fight over raising the minimum wage and income inequality comes as no surprise. The shocking news come from realizing that there are people, like Goodman, who can write for Forbes but still be ignorant, insensitive, and arrogant concerning other people’s turmoil.
-Amy (SiJia) You
