Social Problems Assignment: How do You Define Poverty?

Page 1: Read Topic: Then my response, then my peers response, you write what you like/agree with on my peers answer to topic keeping in mind of my answer. 
Topic: How do you define poverty? Discuss how effective or ineffective you feel our government welfare problems are in helping alleviate poverty.
My response: Poverty is the scarcity of material and capital possessions that people would want to fulfill their daily need. The definition combines everything and then narrows to an individual level. However, states have developed their ways of determining whom they consider poor. Some cases define it as living below some dollar amount. These are definitions of the government and it combines the amount of cash needed to support a family or individual per year. It appears general and the former, which considers the definition as living below some sum of money. 
Government welfare problems work to alleviate poverty. These are issues that hinder the right ways of fighting poverty. Some of the challenges are like economic growth problems and unemployment situations. The state has not worked towards altering these situations that remain haunting the society from the past. It is better for them to have these well handled and make economic development improve for every person (National Poverty Center, 2016). The other issue is the high taxation that reduces the money people carry home for their use. Cases of unemployment have been rising without solutions. 
Finally, the state laws are universal to everybody irrespective of the amount of money somebody carries home. When economic laws are oppressive, the poor find it hard to move from their desperate situations. Examples are like paying for business permits. Health insurances are conditions imposed on the people without considering the dangers they impact on the poor maybe; these are what have held the cause of fighting against corruption to meander without successfully reaching the end. The state needs t divert these situations and rolls away other rock barricading the ways to stopping poverty (National Poverty Center, 2016).
My peers response: 
My definition of poverty is when the amount of money coming into the home is not enough to provide an individual or family with what society views as basic requirements for life: food, housing, and clothing. Without these things, a person’s quality of life suffers. To take this a step further, their quality of life often suffers not only because the poor struggle to acquire the basics needs of life, but because they also struggle to afford or access healthcare, thus their health suffers as well.
I struggle to answer how effective or ineffective the government is in helping alleviate poverty due to the fact that their are so many contributing factors. My first impression is that due to the large amounts of Americans living in poverty, the government’s efforts are obviously not completely effective. To me, I think poverty is best alleviated at a local level because people can be more hands-on in helping their neighbor. With that concept in mind, I believe local governments should be investing more in local organizations that serve those in poverty to give them a hand in re-routing out of poverty.
As the book mentions, those who control wealth are often those fully benefiting from a wealthy lifestyle. I have to assume that there is a disconnect and these people often don’t see first-hand the impacts of poverty. Welfare programs certainly have their loopholes which result in those who don’t necessarily need to be in these programs are and are benefitting when others have a much greater need. 
Page 2: 
Discuss the pros and cons of same-sex marriage. 
Page 3: If you have read the book or seen the movie, "The Help" you can see a lot of what life was like before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Where do you see racial and ethnic equality today? (Ex., Try to imagine yourself on an airplane with a group of five or six young Middle Eastern men.) Do you think racism is as abundant today as 50-75 years ago?
Page 4: Write a 300 word summary of what you learned from Chapter 7 (in attachments)
Page 5: Write 300 word summary of what you learned from chapter 8 (in attachments)