Upon Whom We Depend: The American Poverty System

by J. Gordon Chamberlin

Poverty is a fundamental and damaging feature of American culture that is ingrained in the structures, practices, and values of our institutions. An adequate understanding of the roles and functions of poverty requires the contributions of both the liberal arts and the social sciences and cannot be shunted off to social work. Upon Whom We Depend challenges readers to examine their own ideas, beliefs, and attitudes, and to recognize how institutions...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820441511
• ISBN13: 9780820441511
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Upon Whom We Depend

Upon Whom We Depend by Dr. J. Gordon Chamberlin draws attention to America's creation and continuance of systemic poverty to subsidize the prosperous. Chamberlin was effective in his writing because he provided an adequate understanding of poverty. Throughout the book, he stresses the importance of understanding poverty because it is something that we will all be involved with directly or indirectly for the remainder of our lives. Chamberlin discusses throughout his book the growth of the gap between the poor and the rich and emphasizes that the word "poor" has come to mean "below the poverty line." The author is able to convey his thoughts and beliefs about the growing gap between the rich and the poor through his use of supportive statistics and raw data. Another main point that Chamberlin discusses is the errors that people make when providing relief to poor.One of the main drawbacks of Upon Whom We Depend is the difficulty of following Chamberlin's thought pattern. Chamberlin uses many statistics and raw data the book reads somewhat like a statistical abstract at times and makes comprehension of the main topics much more difficult. Another reason that it is difficult to follow Chamberlin's thought pattern is that at times he interjects thoughts from other authors which do not seem to logically fit into the discussion. Throughout the book, it seems as if Chamberlin will start on one topic then jump to another topic only to return to the original topic all within one paragraph. As mentioned earlier, one of Chamberlin's main points was the creation and continuance of systematic poverty in the United States. He proposes that most individuals believe that people are poor because they are inadequate and incapable of functioning at the level of the non-poor. This leads to the non-poor not wanting to waste time, energy, and resources to educate and train the poor. Instead, they prefer to provide relief to the poor in the form of handouts and other government aid, which causes the non-poor to view the poor as lazy, thus leading to the continuance of systematic poverty. Upon Whom We Depend is a very interesting and informative book, which makes the reader look at the topic of poverty from differing perspectives. One thing that Chamberlin could have done to improve his book would be to make it much more reader friendly by focusing on only one point at a time. The book seemed two have two primary intentions. The first, as an outline for teachers on how to teach the topic of poverty at the college level. The second, being a supplementary document for organizations that work closely in helping the poor. In closing, I would recommend this book for any individual that fits in the categories previously listed.

Synapsis of the Book

Upon Whom We Depend Upon Whom We Depend by Dr. J. Gordon Chamberlin draws attention to America's creation and continuance of systemic poverty to subsidize the prosperous. Chamberlin was effective in his writing because he provided an adequate understanding of poverty. Throughout the book, he stresses the importance of understanding poverty because it is something that we will all be involved with directly or indirectly for the remainder of our lives. Chamberlin discusses throughout his book the growth of the gap between the poor and the rich and emphasizes that the word "poor" has come to mean "below the poverty line." The author is able to convey his thoughts and beliefs about the growing gap between the rich and the poor through his use of supportive statistics and raw data. Another main point that Chamberlin discusses is the errors that people make when providing relief to poor.One of the main drawbacks of Upon Whom We Depend is the difficulty of following Chamberlin's thought pattern. Chamberlin uses many statistics and raw data the book reads somewhat like a statistical abstract at times and makes comprehension of the main topics much more difficult. Another reason that it is difficult to follow Chamberlin's thought pattern is that at times he interjects thoughts from other authors which do not seem to logically fit into the discussion. Throughout the book, it seems as if Chamberlin will start on one topic then jump to another topic only to return to the original topic all within one paragraph. As mentioned earlier, one of Chamberlin's main points was the creation and continuance of systematic poverty in the United States. He proposes that most individuals believe that people are poor because they are inadequate and incapable of functioning at the level of the non-poor. This leads to the non-poor not wanting to waste time, energy, and resources to educate and train the poor. Instead, they prefer to provide relief to the poor in the form of handouts and other government aid, which causes the non-poor to view the poor as lazy, thus leading to the continuance of systematic poverty. Upon Whom We Depend is a very interesting and informative book, which makes the reader look at the topic of poverty from differing perspectives. One thing that Chamberlin could have done to improve his book would be to make it much more reader friendly by focusing on only one point at a time. The book seemed two have two primary intentions. The first, as an outline for teachers on how to teach the topic of poverty at the college level. The second, being a supplementary document for organizations that work closely in helping the poor. In closing, I would recommend this book for any individual that fits in the categories previously listed.