Poverty is a very common social problem that affects millions of people around the world. Regardless of income, unemployment or not, there will always be people who are homeless or hungry. Despite living in one of the richest countries in the world, the United States still struggles with poverty. Today, people still struggle to find shelter, feed themselves and their families, put clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There are several social problems related to poverty. Many of these will have varying impacts on different institutions and individuals. Now, when talking about poverty, many personal biases come into play. Personally, my top three biases when talking about poverty are: Poor people are lazy, even with high poverty levels, no one starves and young children who live in poverty will not do well in school. In writing this essay and doing some research, I found a few things that refuted my prejudices. When I talk about poor people who are lazy, I have always had this thought in the back of my head. Ever since I was young, I remember seeing homeless men and women standing on the side of the street holding up signs asking for money or food. I always said to myself: oh, they do that because they are lazy and don't want to go look for work. Now that I'm older I have more sympathy, I guess, and wonder if maybe they just can't work or find work. And after doing some research, that's exactly what it is. Many poor people are either too young or too old to work or have a disability. It's not that they don't want to work, but that they are incapable of it. I also discovered that just because someone lives in poverty means they receive help from the government in the form of food stamps or charitable donations. Many are barely surviving and when an unexpected bill or accidental illness approaches, they sometimes find themselves without money for food. And there are people who are starving, whether we know it or not. This information reinforced what I already believed. I knew America wasn't as great as it's supposed to be. Our system is not only shaped in ways that create distortions around race, it is also characterized by poverty. We have a justice system in this country that treats you much better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. It is wealth, not guilt, that shapes outcomes. And yet we are well and comfortable. Many people don't really like to talk about their history. And because of that, we don't really understand what it means to do these things historically. It seems we don't care about the hard things. We love our technology and entertainment, but they overshadow suffering, abuse and degradation. Ultimately, everything lies behind truth and reconciliation, and we must think of the poor and integrate them into our lives..