JoJo's Blog- Peek into my Life

Poverty and the net

Week 9
So much can be said about “Internet Galaxy” because of the array of topics Castells addressed. The gap that exists between those that do and do not have internet access is interesting since having the internet seems to be the basis of much of the other advances in technology. It is understandable for there to be a gap between the young and the old although I would love it if I could communicate with my grandparents via the net. I do not see it happening in the near future though they do seem amazed when they watch someone else do it. The ethnic divide I agree is directly related to socioeconomic status. There are Cleveland schools that lack running water so how can we expect the students to have access to computers let alone the internet. When we speak of nations from the Global South not having access to the internet it makes perfect sense because they lack the infrastructure and they need development that directly affects there survival so catching up to the Information Age is not a priority. It just does not seem to make sense though that just down the street the technological potential has not been reached at all. Internet access probably does not accelerate the divide between classes but it is does make is obvious.
In my International Relations class we were talking about how other countries perceive the US as wealthy because of what they see on TV. Even though there is a large disparity in between classes it is kind of hidden. The poor of urban cities are not seen by many since they just avoid going to those vicinities and the poor that live in rural areas are not seen because we drive on the highway right past them without ever stopping. As a result the poor in the US are not just invisible to those in foreign countries but also to its own citizens. A reason that my professor brought up about the poor in the US compared to those elsewhere is that for the most part they are not starving and that is physically visible but it is not because they have enough money to buy food and become overweight but that the cheapest food is the unhealthiest. Which makes a lot of sense because I was a cahier at a local grocery store by grocery cart alone you could tell people had just received their “food stamps” because of the type of food they had. Another example that was brought up is how by a parsons clothing other than the homeless, you can not really tell if a person is poor. People always talk about how certain people could not be poor because of what they wear and if they are, it’s supposedly their fault because they are spending their money on frivolous clothing instead of the necessities. Well that is not a fair comment to make since second hand shops like Goodwill and the Salvation Army don’t discriminate when it comes to the brands of clothing they sell since they receive all kinds and hand-me- downs can go along way. The point of what I am trying to show is that because of the preconceived assumptions people make about how the poor are supposed to look we do not realize how much poverty there actually is. Once people realize the poverty that exists in their own backyard maybe the means can be made so that internet access can actually be accessed by all that way the gap can minimize and they will have the chance to break the poverty cycle.