By Jackson Rother
Abstract:
Poverty in America is a difficult problem to gripe with. Poverty is difficult to look directly in the eyes, because it exposes the United States’ failure to support those in need. Prominent authors and researchers on American poverty such as Hilary Hoynes, Marianne Page, and Ann Stevens have dissected the problem at its core to find out why poverty persists. Stevens asserts that millions of Americans remain in poverty because of the growing disparity in income and wealth between the upper echelon of society and the lower class. Page and Hoynes contend the decline in poverty rates has been stifled for several complex and multifaceted reasons, but mainly the limitations and flaws of government antipoverty programs are to blame. Although many researchers have analyzed poverty from a direct angle, it has not been approached from other points of view, such as through fairy tales. How do fairy tales inform us of the condition of poverty in the US? More specifically, how does Jack and the Beanstalk, by Joseph Jacobs, familiarize us with poverty and the unsparing environment it produces? In my research, I found that Jack and Beanstalk, by Joseph Jacobs, informs us of the state of poverty in the US by accentuating the failing infrastructure to support the poor, and poverty’s effects on moral judgment. Framing poverty through the lens of a fairy tale is significant because it will help educate people on poverty through a popular medium of literature.
Jack and the Beanstalk: An Image of Poverty and Crime in the U.S.
Across the world, poverty destroys the lives, hopes, and aspirations of millions of people. Real poverty is suffocating. It makes people feel like the walls around them are constantly closing in because money insecurity, food insecurity, and other problems loom over their lives. Despite America being the richest country in the world, poverty remains pervasive, with over thirty million citizens falling below the poverty line. Poverty persists for many reasons. It is complex and difficult to address, but at the core of the problem is a failing net of support provided by the government. It is crucial to examine the infrastructure designed to support impoverished Americans and underline its severe shortcomings. It is also important to understand how poverty can cloud one’s sense of right and wrong. Jack and Beanstalk’s story enlightens us regarding poverty in the US because it reflects the failing infrastructure to support the poor, and poverty’s influences on the moral compass.
Jack’s desperation to find money and food, which leads him to steal, reflects the United States’ failure to support people in poverty. Although the United States has come a long way, it still is far from solving the destructive problem of poverty. Millions of Americans each year struggle to get by, whether that be putting food on the table for their families or paying for a roof over their head. Government infrastructure designed to decrease poverty was first established under Lydon B. Johnson’s presidency during the 1960s. In the present day, systemically, the government aid for poverty has changed significantly. It is common knowledge that food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance are provided for the poor. However, not many are aware of newer Government aid programs, namely the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and the General Assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The TANF and EITC both play a crucial role in creating benefits for the poor and increasing their overall wellbeing. The TANF serves poor families with children by distributing income-based cash benefits. EITC is a federal tax-credit program that transfers cash to working families in need. Despite the obvious benefits, TANF and EITC have numerous limitations. Unfortunately, millions of poor in need of government aid fall through the safety net. According to research, individuals, elders, orphans, and non-Caucasians are disproportionately affected by poverty (Hoynes, Page, Stevens 13). Additionally, in 2019 researchers calculated that “for every 100 families in poverty, only 23 received cash assistance from TANF” (Meyer, Floyd). Many Americans below the poverty line do not qualify for certain aid programs or do not have the resources and skills to access them. TANF itself seems counter-productive because more money is distributed to lower-income families which in turn makes earning more income seem less beneficial: “behavioral responses predicted by economic theory are expected to lead to reductions in income as government transfers make it less attractive to earn income”(Hoynes, Page, Stevens 15). The EITC also has a negligible effect on the poverty rate in the US because “the official definition of poverty is based on pretax income, tax benefits provided through the EITC do not directly affect the poverty” (Hoynes, Page, Stevens 15). Jack and the Beanstalk provides an example of a family in poverty that lacks a quality support system. From the onset, the story makes it clear that Jack and his mother are in need: “There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-White. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning, which they carried to the market and sold. But one-morning Milky-White gave no milk, and they didn’t know what to do” (Jacobs). Without a doubt, Jack and his mother are in need of food and money and have nothing to live on other than a cow. Jack’s situation reflects the lives of millions of families who fall below the poverty line and slip through the cracks of the support systems. The TANF and EITC and primary examples of America’s failing anti-poverty infrastructure. The supplemental non-taxable income that TANF and EITC provides seems to benefit the poor at first glance, although in reality, it barely moves the needle regarding poverty rates.
Jack’s choice to steal reveals how poverty, and the taxing mental environment it breeds, can mislead moral judgment. It is a human tendency to let our emotions drive our actions. When someone finds themself in such a state of despair, hopelessness, or sense of having nothing, their morals often become clouded, and their sense of right and wrong are misled. Research on poverty’s correlation to crime claims that personal motivation is less likely the cause of the crime and more often than not a situation created by poverty leads to crime (Sharkey, Patrick, Besbris, Friedson 6). In addition to the environment, social-behavioral scientists have found that time is a vital variable in determining someone’s behavior. In a study analyzing human behavior during a maritime disaster, scientists found that “on the more slowly sinking Titanic, prosocial behavior predominated (in a stronger manner), whereas more selfish conduct prevailed on the rapidly sinking Lusitania” (Frey, Savage, Torgler). Although poverty is a vastly different circumstance, the two scenarios actually share more similarities than one might guess. To those in poverty, it is like living on a rapidly sinking boat because they do not know when they will not have a roof over their heads or food on the table. Furthermore, science indicates that the mental state induced by poverty influences one’s morals. Celia Moore, an expert in moral disengagement, asserts that when a person is overcome with a sense of anxiety, pressure, insecurity, distress, or desperation their sense of right and wrong becomes clouded, often leading to bad decisions (Moore 4). In Jack and the Beanstalk, poverty burdens Jack and subverts his moral compass. After Jack steals some of the giant’s gold and climbs down the beanstalk, he immediately shows it to his mother, because he is proud that he is able to help her. They live off of the gold until their pockets are empty and once again, Jack feels forced into stealing as a last resort: “So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last, they came to the end of it, and Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more at the top of the beanstalk” (Jacobs). There is an important distinction between enjoying the crime and feeling forced to do it. If Jack wanted to steal and enjoyed it, he would steal from the giants infinitely until he took everything from them. However, he only takes what they need to survive which goes to prove that he stole out of desperation to survive. Like many people who experience poverty in the United States, stealing is almost always a last resort to survive. It is important to clarify that there is a clear ground between right and wrong. It is never right to steal even if it is a means to survival. It is the fact that people in poverty feel a need to steal in order to survive proves that the US anti-poverty support systems are failing and the ravishes of poverty torment millions every year.
By placing an emphasis on the collapsing system to help Americans in poverty, and highlighting poverty’s impact on moral judgment, Joseph Jacobs’ Jack and Beanstalk reminds us of the state of poverty in the United States. Jack’s story provides a portrayal of how crucial federal aid programs designed to help the needy are falling short. Furthermore, the theme of crime in Jack and the Beanstalk informs us of the brutal circumstances people in poverty often live in and how such circumstances influence one’s morals. Poverty is a multidimensional problem. Although it may never truly end it is the responsibility of any decent American citizen to do everything in their power to help those around them in need. That mission begins with rectifying the United States’s current federal aid programs and changing the publics’ perspective on poverty in a way that garners more support.
Works Cited
Hoynes, Hilary W., Marianne E. Page, and Ann Huff Stevens. “Poverty in America: Trends and explanations.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20.1 (2006): 47-68.
Meyer, Laura, and Ife Floyd. “Cash Assistance Should Reach Millions More Families to Lessen Hardship.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 30 Nov. 2020, www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/cash-assistance-should-reach-millions-more-families-to-lessen.
Jacobs, Joseph. Jack and the Beanstalk
Sharkey, Patrick, Max Besbris, and Michael Friedson. “Poverty and crime.” The Oxford handbook of the social science of poverty. 2016.
Frey, Bruno S., David A. Savage, and Benno Torgler. “Interaction of natural survival instincts and internalized social norms exploring the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107.11 (2010): 4862-4865.
Moore, Celia. “Moral disengagement.” Current Opinion in Psychology 6 (2015): 199-204.
