Henslin: The uses of Poverty

There would be a huge decrease in professions and employment if poverty ceased to exist. Welfare, public health, social work, etc. are all created around poverty. So many jobs were created because of poverty, but the poor are working and doing the 'dirty work'. All these dirty work are low paying, dangerous job. I never took notice of the functions of poverty until I read this chapter. What intrigued me the most is that the poor buy left-over products that others don't want. Also, they bring business to those who couldn't keep and attract any prosperous clients. There are many occasions where the poor are taken advantage of; for example, when their welfare purposely gets cut off during summer so that they would work at fields, where they are needed. Despite all the stereotypes and judgments; the poor, none-the-less, had a great influence on the functions of our culture.