List the functions provided by the poor to affluent groups in the society
What will be an ideal response?
Poverty is dysfunctional-mainly to the poor themselves, but also to the affluent. However, the realization that poverty also has some functions in society can help us understand why some decision makers are not actively seeking to eradicate it. Eleven functions are provided by the poor to affluent groups:
They are available to do the unpleasant jobs no one else wants to do.
Their activities subsidize the more affluent (for example, domestic service for low pay).
They help create jobs (for example, jobs for social workers who provide services to the poor).
They purchase poor-quality goods that otherwise could not be sold.
They serve as examples of deviance to be frowned on by the majority, thereby supporting dominant norms.
They provide an opportunity for others to practice their "Christian duty" of helping the less fortunate.
They make mobility more likely for others because they are removed from the competition for good education and good jobs.
They contribute to cultural activities (for example, by providing cheap labor for the construction of monuments and works of art).
They create cultural forms (such as jazz and the blues) that are often adopted by the affluent.
They serve as symbolic opponents for some political groups and as constituents for others.
They often absorb the costs of change (for example, by being the victims of high levels of unemployment that result from technological advances).
Furthermore, denigrating the poor has the psychological function for some Americans of making them feel better about themselves. Partly because poverty is functional, our society makes only a halfhearted effort to eliminate-or even reduce-it. To do so would result in a redistribution of income from the rich to the poor, a policy generally seen as undemocratic (sometimes communistic), even by the not-so-affluent. Because the rich control the political power, proposals that would eliminate poverty (such as guaranteed annual income programs) have generally met with opposition.
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