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Noah Furtado
Mr. Ryan Smith
English 11 Section G
An Unwinnable Race: Behind Cyclical Poverty
This world serves as a land of opportunity; the more opportunities one has, the greater the

chances they will build something successful out of it. But, given the vastness of the world’s

population, are there enough opportunities to go around? Maybe. Speaking from a mathematical

standpoint, it can be theoretically argued that if everyone took one opportunity each, there would

be no qualms about discrimination and inequality, subsequently resolving one of the world’s

most complex issues. However, even advocates of this euphoric fallacy must understand the

confounding effects of reality. Some others feel that the world was never meant to be equal or

fair and that the wealthy, prosperous demographic is meant to be up there, whether it was handed

to them or not. Essentially, though, none of these perspectives are proactively pinpointing the

true core of poverty. We must look deeper into the heart of this disheartening socioeconomical

state. The bigger problem in the United States is not poverty itself as poverty rates have been

slowly dropping in recent years (U.S. Government). Rather, the problem is seen in the staggering

cyclic effect of poverty; the numbers aren’t good. In a peer analysis simulation presented by

prominent neuroscientist Kimberly Noble, a child who is born into poverty versus a child who is

not born into poverty is “likely to have cognitive scores that are, on average, 60 percent lower

than those of the other child. The child living in poverty will be five times more likely to drop

out of high school, and if she does graduate high school, she'll be less likely to earn a college

degree. By the time those two children are 35 years old, if the first child spent her entire

childhood living in poverty, she is up to 75 times more likely to be poor herself.” (TED) The

same neighborhoods, communities, and families are suffering from poverty and, as it turns out,
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they are essentially stuck. In order to effectively debug the complex code of poverty, one must

examine the upbringing of impoverished children. The fostering nature of one’s upbringing goes

a long way in simultaneously building one’s potential. Thus, not only do poor children hold

starting points that are miles away from their healthy and wealthy peers, but by way of their

environment, they also don’t have the resources necessary to gain ground and make up the

distance. With a parent living in poverty, the subsequent effects of the impoverished

environment on their children characterizes the cyclical component of poverty in limiting their

growth biologically and psychologically.

From our understanding of the cyclical nature of poverty, we must primarily focus on

building up the younger, impoverished generation by promoting and placing a greater emphasis

on the importance of education essentially through the establishment of a new program where

poor children can have their overall growth fostered under the guidance of a strong mentor with

strong generative ideals. In conjunction with these core motives, rather than directly distributing

money to poor families for short-term relief, we must instead concentrate this money into stable

and innovative economic programs that will indirectly hold a greater long-term impact on the

state of the impoverished population.

The younger generation must be prioritized to address the cyclical aspects of poverty by

instilling a greater sense of value on education whilst also creating an innovative program that

can provide the necessary guidance for the child’s growth. A lot of times, the impact of poverty

has a top-down effect starting with the financial struggles of their parents. Ultimately, their

financial struggles evolve into other difficulties that consume their attention. From this,

schooling for their children is scribble in as a low priority. This perspective ends up trickling

down to the children themselves, negatively impacting their own perception of their potential for
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growth. Explicitly analyzed in a study sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree foundation whose

focus was on the effects of poverty on children’s learning identities, not only were these children

limited in their academic abilities by way of mere practicality, but they were also personally

limiting themselves psychologically (Yolande, et. Al). At no fault of their own, impoverished

children tend to hold the mindset that school is not important given the other more imminent

issues in their life, but it’s saddening to say they also tend to believe they are not capable of

pursuing their education or other growth-promoting endeavors because of their restricted means

to do so. Furthermore, in a piece published by The New York Academy of Sciences, Patrice

Engle and Maureen Black reinforced the counter-intuitiveness of this convergent thinking for the

younger, impoverished demographic in outlining how it “limits the chances of educational

attainment, [but] at the same time, educational attainment is one of the prime mechanisms for

escaping poverty” (The New York Academy of Sciences). Thus, by instilling the ideal that

schooling is the way out, it could have some huge ripple effects for poor communities across the

nation and potentially across the globe. All it takes is one idea, one more powerful than any

amount of money. A bleak and somewhat true sentiment is that poverty will never be fully

resolved thanks to the reality of society and human nature. However, it can be tapered greatly on

the basis of one idea: the idea that academia is the central force for providing the power

necessary to push people out of the cycle of poverty.

Now, many may question if this is a practical pursuit that can be addressed. Well,

obviously, it’s going to take something new. But, if we truly analyze the suppressed situation for

impoverished young kids, we can see their need for a mentor, role model, and leader to help

pioneer the importance of their education. If we were to focus our funding not solely on periodic

finances for communities, but rather concentrate more money into this kind of stable program,
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we could near closer to the root of the problem. What I’m referring to is a program that is built of

inspired individuals that would be willing to get involved in the life of a given child or group of

children. To go a little deeper into this, though, while one may like to think that any adult mentor

would suffice, the constructs of choosing these people will have to be narrowed down to a

certain extent. Hear me out. Many of the poor communities throughout the world and especially

throughout our nation are minority-specific: African Americans, Hispanics, and so on. Now, in

the case of the African American population, there are many iconic role models within the world

of sports that many impoverished minors look up to. Thus, the commonly perceived route for

many of these young, poor African American children is through sports; the idea behind this is

that many arenas of the sports world today are dominated by the freakish athleticism boasted

primarily by African-American athletes which, in turn, gives the mistaken perception to young

black males and females that sports is the only way out. The reason this is a dangerous

misperception is seen in the fact that not every kid can be Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or

Lebron James just based on the unequal distribution of God-given talent and athletic ability. But,

on the other hand, everyone does have the capabilities of going to school, studying hard, and

making a life for themselves from a hard-earned college degree. What I’m trying to get at here is

that there are many doctors, politicians, physicists that rose up from their poverty-ridden

communities; it’s just a matter of finding these kinds of people and convincing them of the

profound impact that they could have as a role model on the younger demographic of their race

that is in dire need of someone telling and showing them that they can build a brighter future for

themselves just simply through the power of education. Now, with that said, in no way is this a

knock on the parents of these children as there are many impoverished caretakers that are

respectably working for their children day in and day out. But, that’s not the point. As I stated
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earlier, these children need someone actively in their life; unfortunately, circumstances naturally

lead many parents away from their kids to put food on the table and clothes on their back. No

matter the extremity of lengths that we must go, it is vital that this dire issue be addressed. Some

may say this novel program is idealistic and no one would take on such a responsibility. Well,

I’d beg to differ. There is no doubt in my mind that there are people out there who seek a life of

service and a life of giving. Now, of course, money must be involved; therefore, a new

systematic program of this magnitude would take nothing less than a unified effort the size of a

nation. Simply, to promote the addition of such a monumental economic arena, it’s going to take

a lot. But it’s worth it considering the impact it’ll have on the lives of impoverished children

whose initial capabilities are as high as anyone else, but usually staggered with no guidance on

how to apply it in their lives.

Many people believe that blindly throwing money at this issue will help the situation of

impoverished families and neighborhoods, but, given the complexity of poverty, we must be

more thorough and elaborate in our approach for funneling funds into the right areas of society.

By doing so, we enhance the likelihood of confronting certain deeper aspects engrained into the

structure of poor communities and subsequently creating greater strides for change. As alluded to

in the earlier stages of this paper, senior researcher of Christensen Institute, Efosa Ojomo, agrees

that “poverty is not fundamentally a resource problem” (Ojomo). Ojomo further goes into

explaining the true nature of cash transfers and how those advocates of cash transfers are

deceived in their beliefs: “Cash transfers are just the latest iteration of the dated notion that poor

people can’t fend for themselves-and will never be able to-so, the wealthy must provide the

resources they need” (Ojomo). On one front, it can be easily inferred from Ojomo’s remarks that

he is far from a fan of strictly handing out money to the poor population; this makes complete
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sense. Though many try to make arguments such that the impoverished population tends to make

decisions of thrift when provided with direct cash payments, this plan of action is nothing close

to a sustainable route to relieving and propelling individuals and families out of a life of

destitution. Using Ojomo’s own analogy, “cash transfer programs are akin to using BandAids on

a wound with a serious infection” (Ojomo). We must be smart enough to realize that complex

issues require in-depth long-term routes to burrow down to the root of it all. Thus, in this way,

the cash transfer argument holds mere surface relief for the deeper disease behind the large-scale

magnitude of the impoverished reality. Pinpointing a second front in Ojomo’s take, there is a

major misleading component of this approach that can be seen in one generalized doctrine: since

the poor are balancing their life on unstable ground, the wealthy should be the pioneers to help

them out. This sentiment is extremely false. On top of the idea that direct cash payments only

hold effects on a surface level, the fact that cash transfer advocates see the rich demographic as

the individuals responsible for enabling change adds to the illusory beliefs tied to this

perspective. While any and all individual support should be encouraged from prominent

benefactors, the real initiative must come from the government in order for a remarkably

stronger effort to be promoted and carried out. This parallels with Ojomo’s final sentiments

saying, “A particular type of innovation called market-creating innovation, which makes

products like sewing machines, computers, and banking more affordable to many, can have a

transformative impact on societies. These types of innovations not only create many jobs but also

increase tax revenues so governments can provide better services for their constituents, and

perhaps most importantly, begin to change the culture of a region to one that values innovation

and entrepreneurship” (Ojomo). Answering the bigger question of where to concentrate money

for long-term effectiveness, Ojomo’s thoughts here are strongly indicative of the better work-
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around complex approach that needs to be hammered out and pushed forth by the political heads

of our nation’s government. Instead of plainly dropping money on the situation, promoting

economic growth through further advanced and innovative programs can foster a larger, positive,

and spherical impact to address poverty in the long run. Yes, this will most likely start out as a

slow-developing plan of action that will undoubtedly test the patience of many, but the gradual,

steady shaping of the landscape of our wholistic culture is what will ultimately “unlock the

significant latent value (of our) economy” for the purposes of “eradicating poverty” (Ojomo).

Now, with all that we have unpacked regarding the issue of poverty, it is worthy to note

that I, amongst other community-conscious classmates, have undertaken steps to further alleviate

a poverty-related aspect of a dilapidated space within the borders of Kanēʻohe town. Located on

the east side of O’ahu, Kanēʻohe is a vast land of beautiful greenery ranging from the rich

Ko’olau mountain tops to the healthy foliage at ground-level. Simply put, Kanēʻohe is a city

where the grass is always green in the most literal sense possible. However, with that said, going

below the surface into analyzing specific areas within the town can lead one to easily discover

certain pits of abandonment and subsequent destitution. Now, a few months ago, a fellow

classmate of mine, Kaila Flores, brought explicit evidence of this truth in the telling of a short

story about her experience with a wall where a beautiful mural of the Koʻolau mountains once

stood. Running adjacent to Kanēʻohe District Park, Kaila went into great detail about the

inspiration that she pulled from the sights of the mural; if you don’t know yet, Kaila is an

excellent artist. Despite her initial awe, in keeping tabs on this visual depiction, her marvel soon

turned into disgust as multiple acts of mindless graffiti ultimately resulted in the core markings

of the mural getting an overcoating of tan paint. In an instant, I was drawn to Kaila’s plight and

was excited to help her right the wrongs of that one personally special piece of art. On top of
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this, I also saw it as a further way for me to do good and proactively contribute to uplifting this

specific physical pit in an otherwise naturally beautiful environment. One thing came after

another and, in no time, our pursuit had taken form. With two other additions to our team,

through days and weeks of toiling, we were where we wanted to be: locked and loaded to restore

the past beauty of the Koʻolau mural. As can be assumed, the initial stages of our project really

tested our commitment to this endeavor. For merely gaining permission to get our feet wet on the

project was extremely trying and difficult. Nonetheless, to cut the story short, we worked and

hustled and eventually obtained the elusive permission slip amongst other requisite legal

documents. Thus, from what started as a broad idea with no true direction came into reality as we

now await the first days where we can start work on our long-awaited contribution to the

Kanēʻohe community. Now, in terms of what can plausibly be seen in our own small-scale

initiative and its ties to the monstrous problem of poverty, I would be lying if I told you that our

one-wall mural even had a modest impact on the issue. Essentially, as has been pointed out

within the core contents of this paper, no individual or group of citizens holds the ability to make

a dent into counteracting the negative effects; that duty must be realized by our political leaders

and government heads. However, for the constraints of our reach as sixteen and seventeen-year

old high school students, the proportional difference that our project can hold is massive in our

eyes. In this case, for us to be able to rectify the little things of impoverished environments like

that drab, pitted area in the heart of Kanēʻohe town, we will have done all that we can on a local

level in pinpointing this underdeveloped area and dedicating ourselves to its restoration. In

accompaniment, there really is no harm that our idea could bring to the community: direct,

indirect, or otherwise. From this, we, as a team, deduce the fact that by thrusting ourselves into
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the community with a thoroughly developed plan of action, meaningful growth and subtle

change can be felt in our tiny dotted spot on the global scale.

The behemoth issue of poverty will only ever truly be addressed if a micro-level analysis

of its core mechanisms are undertaken. From looking at its inner roots, it can be inferred that

poverty holds a perceivably inescapable cyclical effect on families and communities engrained in

destitution and ruin. However, no matter the perception, gradual steps in a government-led plan

of action unlocks the ability to disrupt this circular movement in freeing groups from century-

long trends of impoverished life. First and foremost, everything starts with instilling a mentor-

like figure into the lives of poor children; without guidance, there is little to no possibility for the

younger impoverished generation to release themselves from the grips of their unfortunate inborn

circumstances. And while guidance on a broad scale would suffice, we should choose to go even

deeper in saying that school needs to be something that children learn to see as important.

Needless to say, schooling is a widely neglected aspect of life for the population at the lower half

of the totem pole. Yet, as I’ve mentioned, this needs to change because of the strong fact that

education is the very mechanism that holds the greatest weight in pushing the younger

demographic out of their bleak situation. Essentially, education equals freedom from the boa-

constrictor that is poverty. On top of this, for many of us that are better off, we may naturally feel

obliged to show our support through direct, individual donations, but this simply has not and will

continue to do very little to financially aid the extensive impoverished demographic. Thus, as

much as we want to believe that good-hearted generous individuals are what this issue needs, we

are wrong. In reality, the responsibility falls on our dearly beloved government; economic

growth through further promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation is the wide-scale initiative

that is needed to financially relieve the impoverished population. Jobs, jobs, and more jobs are to
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come of this, indirectly provoking more change than any wealthy philanthropist could possibly

enact. Now, in all that has to be done and the lengths that are to be stretched to combat the doom

and gloom that poverty undoubtedly brings to the table, strong and steady efforts on this long

path to a brighter tomorrow dims the daunt of this task. And to recite the resounding words of a

closing quote from the critically acclaimed movie Tears of the Sun, “The only thing necessary

for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”