CTEA Adrian Chamorro Mrs Manchoon Economics

We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the moneymaking street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. ~William James Poverty is defined as the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc. In the American society that we live in, the poor are shunned. Poverty is everywhere we say, yet we do nothing. Its in the street corners and can be seen any where in the cities, like a heavy burden. We merely look upon those unfortunate souls as if they had a curse. I myself look at the reality. The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind. Edward L. Bernays, Propaganda Edward Bernays in the quote above, Tells us how important propaganda is to a democratic society. Its very important to understand this, since we live in a largely democratic society, or so it seems. There are a lot of people in American who can do without being rich in material possessions. Americans who would rather be rich in friends and family. Although these humans are looked as lacking ambition and never wanting to move up. Where did all this consumption come from, the need to continually have and want more? Its obvious media and propaganda play a huge role in the shaping of what is seen as being Rich. We see this in the history of America when placed juxtaposed to the Industries, which have large hands in the Nation. Where we find the wealthy trying to influence minds, to a state of ignorance. Now, to balance the scale, I'd like to talk about some things that bring us together, things that point out our similarities instead of our differences. 'Cause that's all you ever hear about in this country. It's our differences. That's all the media and the politicians are ever talking about-the things that separate us, things that make us different from one another. That's the way the

ruling class operates in any society. They try to divide the rest of the people. They keep the lower and the middle classes fighting with each other so that they, the rich, can run off with all the money! Fairly simple thing. Happens to work. You know? Anything different--that's what they're gonna talk about--race, religion, ethnic and national background, jobs, income, education, social status, sexuality, anything they can do to keep us fighting with each other, so that they can keep going to the bank! You know how I define the economic and social classes in this country? The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes. The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work. The poor are there just to scare the crap out of the middle class. Keep 'em showing up at those jobs. - George Carlin I find it funny but true when George Carlin says The poor are there just to scare the crap out of the middle class in the quote above. The poor want what the middle class have, the middle class want what the rich class have, the rich class want? Well now thats a heavy thought, once money is out of the picture. We see even in our Democratic government how the poor are evidently used to keep the middle class in place, to continue the use of fear to perpetuate this system. Poverty and education are linked together, in that the less education you have the less money you make. In the book Utopia by Thomas Moore there is no poverty and everyone works in their own trades. Alternating between trades such as agricultural. By doing so the Utopians are wealthy in resources and are never poor. Anyone can go to the market and take what's needed. They place gold, pearls, and other scarce items at the bottom, making their slaves wear gold, and only children play with pearls. Realizing that gold is not useful, and Nature has given them an abundance of the resources that are truly needed. They place education in high esteem, and in giving time to the development of oneself. Although at a closer we know that this way of thought leans towards socialism or communism. Closer looks at history tell us these methods haven't worked, since people with Leninist agendas take over. The worse part I find in poverty is that it's the working class that continues this deadly cycle. Wanting whats vogue but being blinded to the fact we are fed what's trending by the use of media. We as a nation have the resources necessary to feed our people. We need only look at the distribution of food and how corn and soybeans have made it to the top ranks. The book Omnivores Dilemma goes into great depth about this, In analyzing where our food comes from, and how the industries play a gigantic role in whats in our food. Now I continually make reference to the unseen hands in the molding of our minds. I make this clear because poverty as it seems is a matter of how you perceive it. People claim to be poor even when they have food, a roof over their head, and clothing on their back. Why? They relate being poor to not having the latest gadgets and clothing. Which is obviously not the case.