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This essay analyzes two contrasting perspectives on poverty: rutger bregman's argument for a universal basic income in 'why we should give free money to everyone' and barbara ehrenreich's firsthand account of minimum wage work in 'serving in florida'. The author compares the effectiveness of their arguments, highlighting ehrenreich's use of emotional appeal and personal narrative in conveying the realities of poverty. The essay explores the complexities of poverty, the impact of financial hardship on individuals, and the challenges of finding sustainable solutions.
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The Price of Poverty The question of the price of poverty is one both essays answer in different ways. In the essay “Why We Should Give Free Money to Everyone” Rutger Bregman wants us to imagine what the world would look like if welfare reforms were implemented utilizing a universal basic income that eliminated poverty. While Barbara Ehrenreich’s essay “Serving in Florida” focuses on minimum wage earners and the financial obstacles they face daily. A comparison of both essays provides an abundance of evidence to support the contention that there exists a disparaging gap in the struggle for financial equality, which to be surmounted will require a shift in society’s values and perspectives. For me, this argument is accomplished most effectively by Ehrenreich as her use of emotional appeal to persuade an audience to support low-income earners is more relatable than Bregman’s mix of emotional and logical appeals intended to convey the single message that steps must be taken to eliminate poverty. Ehrenreich has a more persuasive essay as her focus on the financial hardships that are a part of the day-to-day life of a low-income worker made it more impactful. From this perspective, you truly get to experience the reality of life through their eyes. Something that is perfectly captured by the description of the living conditions she must endure. For the bargain price of One thousand, one hundred dollars she is considered lucky to have a place that Ehrenreich indicates is “about 8 feet in width and shaped like a barbell inside-with a narrow region-because of the sink and stove separating the bedroom from what might optimistically be called the living area with its two-person table and half-sized couch” (384). These grim jail-like conditions garner sympathy but also have the additional effect of drawing the reader further into the narrative as you irresistibly become engaged and invested in what happens next. This is an important structural component of this essay; she can creatively drive a point
home that the audience will want to care about. Instead of boring an audience to death with mind- numbing facts and figures destined to be forgotten in the space of a commercial break, she puts a personal face on poverty using details of the daily grind the low-income worker must struggle through that even an overworked, overtired homeowner with cranky preschoolers is going to have a hard time forgetting. It also is the price that poverty takes which, as described in Ms. Ehrenreich’s essay, sets it apart from Mr. Bregman’s. Throughout the essay, we watch as the story evolves as does poverty’s toll. The audience is a silent witness to testify to its devasting impact on the author as we watch helplessly as she struggles with colleagues who are experiencing homelessness due to poverty, her increasing reliance on painkillers to get through the day, and perhaps the most devasting of all how she fails George in the end. For me, the most clarifying moment is when she fails herself. This failure is addressed when “…but somewhere along the line, in the tunnel vision imposed by long shifts and relentless concentration, it became a test of myself, and clearly, I had failed” (389). This is a conclusion that we get from Ehrenreich’s essay that we do not get from Bregman’s. It makes a more satisfying ending because it is real and relatable, whereas Bregman’s conclusion just sort of leaves you hanging there with what very well could be false hopes. While it could be argued that Bregman does offer a solution to poverty and Ehrenreich does not, it could also be argued that Bregman’s solution lacks sustainability or may be too expensive to maintain over a long period. All considered, I found Bregman’s work less impactful than Ehrenreich’s because of its overreaching tendencies toward changing the entire world. The goal of Bregman’s essay is to persuade an audience to accept the “universal basic income” as a methodology to implement welfare reform and eliminate poverty. This is an idea that is supported quite substantially by emotional and evidentiary claims and no personal narratives to support it or give it color. This is one of the failings that I have so
It is for these reasons that I have concluded the question of the price of poverty is best found in the work of Ehrenreich’s essay. This is due to the focus on emotional detail that implies as much as we would like to be considered social equals, we are nowhere near economic equals. It is evident by comparing these essays, the hardships low-income workers must endure daily to survive. As complex as the issue of poverty is, so is the understanding of the nature of the subjective matter of these two essays. This is a divisive subject that can bring about strong emotions, regardless of which argument you support. However, in the end, it is necessary to differentiate between the compelling works of Ehrenreich and Bregman to underscore what Ehrenreich has accomplished simply by educating herself on a personal level to understand the struggles that constitute the existence of many individuals who struggle with poverty. By doing so she offers more than just a “simple solution” to poverty. She has offered us a chance to solve the problem for ourselves so we can all live lives that are fair, just, and equitable. For me to overcome this I need to take a long nap and establish firm boundaries with family and friends that will WORKS CITED