The Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness

1.   Is it true that most people that live in poverty don’t work hard and don’t apply themselves?

Not all people living in poverty are the reason for their lack of support in living conditions. Some people are put into situations where the only option they have is to live in poverty. Many people are born into a family where they don’t have the power to make money and some are just lazy and don’t want to work in order to help themselves survive. Some people do work hard; they work long shifts and do their best to support themselves and their families. Nowadays everything is so expensive, and if you do have a sturdy job its hard keeping some kind of savings. A family of 4 goes through groceries in less than a week, plus everyone has their different preferences of what they want to eat so you spend $100-$150 on just food. There are so many other expenses that being poor comes easy. Also people get into drugs to forget about the struggles they have at home, I think they just need a push in the right direction. For example, I you’re a single mom with one child, daycare can be expensive with only one 9-5 job that is another way people are lead to poverty. There’s so many reasons on why people are poor its either they don’t want to work hard and would rather fool around and there’s the people that aren’t able to support their families and end up in debt. Or there’s the people that spend money uselessly and end up bankrupt.  It depends on the person and if they have the want to strive harder. Anything is possible as long as you work hard.

2.   How is the version of homelessness in the movie different than what the homeless really experience?

In this movie, homelessness doesn’t seem very different. Once Will smith was able to afford for his family and later after the investment everything went downhill. In the movie I didn’t get much of the feeling poor people are put through, don’t get me wrong I saw Will smith’s struggles but I didn’t see the begging and stealing poor people do. There was one scene where Will wasn’t able to pay for his taxi service so instead he ended up jumping out of the taxi and running off, that scene was pretty realistic because someone in his position would do the same. The way the taxi driver reacted was totally understandable. Or the scene where the landlord was constantly pressuring Will Smith to pay his rent and once he didn’t he was evicted that was a part of the movie that made me realize that this happens to people on a daily.

 

3.   There are some developed countries in which there are fewer homeless people than in the U.S. Why are there so many homeless people in the U.S.?

The majority of people that are homeless have no other option but to be poor. One out of 50 children or 1.5 million children in America will be homeless each year. According to the United States Conference of Mayors, in 2008 the three most commonly cited causes of homelessness for persons and families were a lack of affordable housing, poverty, and unemployment. I don’t think it has anything to do with being developed and undeveloped, obviously for some people it’s an advantage because some states attract people and some don’t, so it depends. Furthermore, there are different aids such as welfare, or medical aid or food stamps for the poor, but the rules for qualifying are more severe and benefits less than what other countries offer.

4.   Is there any excuse for a society to fail to provide enough shelters for homeless children or for veterans? Is there any excuse for a country to fail to provide enough shelters for all of its homeless citizens?

There’s money everywhere and the most people can do is pay taxes in order to support homeless shelters for children and veterans. I think that’s a responsibility the government has and there’s obviously not enough jobs for these people to have, it’s just so hard for some people. Some have to drop out of high school in order to help out there families so without an education, finding a job is hard and pretty much impossible. I don’t think there’s an excuse for anybody not to have a place to stay for the night. In the movie, Will Smith was only able to stay in the shelter for one night and the next day the certain number of people allowed was used. So then you start thinking about the rest of the people that didn’t make it. Where do they go? I think everyone should have a place to stay, and that’s something the government should make happen. Not like these shelters are five star hotels, you legit need a bed and some water and a urinal and your good to go, better than being on the streets in danger.

 

5.   Has this movie changed your view of the homeless?

I’ve always tried looking at homeless people like their equal. Because their human and they deserve to be respected and treated equally. No one should be looked at differently just because they don’t have money in their pocket. I definitely do feel bad when I see someone begging for money on the streets and I always think about myself and my whole family and question….What if this was me? How would I want to be treated? Now that I watched this movie, I’ll always try my best to help someone who’s poor out because watching this movie really opened my eyes to what poor people have to do. Their life is hard and they deserve respect for waking up in the morning and knowing they don’t have money in the back or keys to their house.