Villalta 1

Josue Villalta

Prof. Monique Williams

English 1A

22 December 2013

Final Essay

Karl Marx once said that religion is the opiate of the masses. In the world today I believe that stereotypes, especially those having to do with poverty, is the new opiate of the masses. Poverty stereotypes hold the middle and lower classes down in society. The stereotypes act like opium because they stop people from realizing all the injustices that are happening around them. During readings and research I have found authors, such as Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, which agree with my point of view and opinion. I will be referencing these authors and resources throughout my essay. Poverty stereotypes keep the status quo and keep people oppressed in our society. I believe that poverty stereotypes are able to oppress certain people because they prevent unification and benefit the rich more.

The wealthy are able to use stereotypes to “numb” the thoughts of the middle and lower classes because stereotypes prevent unification. Poverty stereotypes promote judgment and prejudices within a group of people. People separate themselves from others based on general pre-conceived stereotypes and do not attempt to understand the individual. However, in this recent economic crisis, many citizens in America are not all that different. The book The Rich and the Rest of Us states that, “The number of people living in poverty rose by 2.6 million between 2009 and 2010” (Smiley and West 25). There is a significantly large group of people that are facing economic troubles and that number seems to be growing exponentially. If the millions of people were to unite they would be able to move forward economically as a group for the better. However, the wealthy are aware of the power of the masses and so they promote stereotypes to keep the middle and lower classes divided. If poverty stereotypes are to continue then the economic oppression will continue.  

The second way that poverty stereotypes keep the middle and lower classes oppressed is that it benefits the rich more than they already benefit off of society. Because of stereotypes, the wealthy are able to get wealthier and the poor are only made poorer. It is obvious that in today’s times the wealth in America is not distributed equally. Actually, it is not even close to being distributed equally in a just way. According to the book The Rich and the Rest of Us, “…an American ‘in the top 1 percent takes in an average of $1.3 million per year, while the average American earns just $33,000 per year’” (Smiley and West 24).   I believe that this income gap will only increase because of stereotypes about poverty. Poverty stereotypes give people a negative notion about those people in poverty that are in need of assistance. As a result, those people in need are restrained from opportunities and encouraged to a lesser extent to do big things with their life. The wealthy will stay as an elite group and continue to control America economically.

Poverty stereotypes are able to oppress people economically in our society because stereotypes prevent a productive unification and because it behooves the rich to keep the stereotypes. In my opinion, the only way that the middle and lower class can regain economic strength is through unification. It is noted that a house divided cannot stand and that statement is still true today. If stereotypes were viewed just as generalizations than it would allow for the unification of people and eventually would bring about change. However, although this essay might have went against the wealthy in some instances, perhaps it isn’t against the wealthy that we should unify against. Perhaps we should all unify against the society and the structure it has created in America.