As A Poor Man Sees It

Hi I'm Buddy.  I'm not a heavily politically minded individual.  I'm an Anthropology major and will focus on Anthropological terms concerning the socio-political divisions in human societies, because a "state" in Anthropology is not the same as a "state" in political terms.  Just fair warning.



To my limited knowledge and based on my limited experience, the following is my world view.

I vote Democratic, partly because I was raised in a Democratic family and partly because I believe the Democratic Party is the most representative of the of individuals in my strata of society.  Though, to be honest, both parties tend to neglect the political interests and the greater welfare of those below the poverty line.  Currently it seems that they worry most about the taxes concerning the wealthiest Americans or the continued survival of the middle class (which I do understand is important), however, I am perturbed that the subject matter rarely concerns helping those below the poverty line improve their lives in general.  They often talk about how they will help improve their status, but in reality, from what I understand, those of us below the poverty line do not make up the bulk of the voting population. Since we don't make up the bulk of the voting population, why would the political machine on either side of the aisle bother with us?  When they talk about helping the poor, they talk about maintaining systems such as welfare and unemployment (I understand unemployment is not just for those in the lower class) rather than developing institutions and better programs to actually help those who are willing and able to better ourselves. For example in Philippe Bourgois' ethnography “In Search of Respect”, many of the subjects were highly uneducated and poor individuals who found it difficult to maneuver systems such as welfare, unemployment and tuition aide. Because of this (and other factors which aren't necessarily political), they are kept in a cycle of poverty. In my opinion, this leads to their feeling of disenfranchisement, which leads to lack of political cultivation of their vote. It is one big, ugly cycle. It makes perfect sense that politicians would not work to appeal to that audience as they don't make up a large enough percentage of the vote.



I am simply stating my view on this. It may not be rational and it may not be as concise as I like, but these are my current basic political beliefs. Admittedly, I am speaking from a poorly educated standpoint and I'm a mere novice concerning political ideologies. This is the precise reason I am taking Government, to further understand our political system in the United States..and it is part of my degree plan.