Analysis of Theodore Dalrymple’s “What Is Poverty?”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Argument
Argument Support
Disagreement
Reasoning
Concept
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Poverty, like most aspects of society, is an ever-evolving concept and differs substantially from what it looked like at the beginning of the last century. According to Dalrymple, distinguishing poverty is concerned with its relativity to those who are rich. The basis and goal of any welfare system in an egalitarian society is collecting the wealth and distributing it among those who do not have it. Such distribution was unable to eliminate poverty, but it did change it.

In his experience, Dalrymple explains that the United Kingdom citizens have long surpassed what is considered to be poverty and are offered many human rights such as food, health care, housing, and even entertainment. Often, he refers to his colleague doctors from countries such as India or the Philippines, where poverty is prevalent, and their interpretations of deprivation in England. With ethical arguments from Burnor, it can be argued that Dalrymple’s statements are shallow and based on his values and not the experience of those he is judging.

Main Argument

Dalrymple argues that what is often called poverty in England is more similar to ‘squalor.’ The instance of the rude patient, a man who had overdosed on heroin and then verbally abused doctors, is a part of his reasoning. Dalrymple states that the comfort and certainty of having the government provide the necessities to live have negatively impacted lower-income and disadvantaged groups. It is stated: “the squalor of England was not economic but spiritual, moral, and cultural” (Dalrymple). Thus, spiritual poverty is more severe and intricate than mere material poverty. Dalrymple concludes that the access had made them live in ‘squalor’ and live lifestyles that were poorer in a spiritual sense and forced these people into stagnation.

Argument Support

Dalrymple further supports his claim with another situation he had an encountered with. The case focuses on a woman from a low-income and unstable background who was in the hospital for a drug overdose-related suicide attempt. She described the hardships that took place over the last years of her life. Initially, the primary source of difficulty was her ex-boyfriend, who broke into her apartment and caused severe damage to the property.

Here, Dalrymple implied that it would be reasonable to break contact with the ex-boyfriend and find new housing with social organizations’ assistance. He also discussed the reasoning behind engaging with a man she knew to be violent, though the woman did not give a direct answer. However, later in the day, it was recorded that the woman contacted the ex-boyfriend who came to visit her. Here, Dalrymple enforces his opinion through a hypothesis formed without the woman’s input.

Disagreement

Dalrymple and a colleague discuss the probable events of the woman’s life, and Dalrymple proposes that she may find a new place to live with the local government’s help and receive contemporary furnishing. Additionally, he supposes that the ex-boyfriend would not be charged for damages caused to the previous property. He suggests that the woman is likely to invite the ex-boyfriend into the new living space only for him to wreck it. Dalrymple notes that none of her actions can cause the providing organization to cease its assistance. However, none of his deductions are supported by the woman, which is why I disagree with him.

Reasoning

Dalrymple’s judgments address the deep and complex social problems that are usually based on his own experiences with people from low-income communities. His comparison between the African patients he attended and those in England is based on assumptions about people’s spirituality and emotional well-being. When he recalls the terrifyingly ill and burdened patients in Africa, he claims that he did not encounter the crippling effect on human behavior and identity that he saw in England’s poverty. However, he does not provide any instances or conversations he had with his African patients to prove his statement.

His theory about this developing desolation in English people’s personalities living in poverty is based on witnessed behavior such as eating microwavable food and littering. It completely disregards the potential trauma and psychological devastation many lower-income groups have to go through. In essence, Dalrymple blames poor behavior, criminality, or impaired thinking of people living in poverty for their lifestyles and willingness to stay in stagnation. Unfortunately, it is not possible to encapsulate the cause of this phenomenon with Dalrymple’s basic assumptions.

Concept

To support my disagreement with Dalrymple’s thesis, I would like to compare Dalrymple’s assumptions with Burnor and Raley’s philosophical investigation of monetary value. In his book, Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases, Burnor and Raley describes the difference between foundational and instrumental values throughout our lives. Foundational values refer to things, concepts, or events that possess value outside of their relationship with anything else in the world (Burnor and Raley 146). These are usually noble and abstract notions such as love, happiness, pride, or pleasure. On the other hand, money, living spaces, and even, to some extent, food can be considered instrumentally valuable because they are the only instruments to achieve our foundational values.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dalrymple assumes that an abundance or assurance of having instrumental values is a guarantee that leads to a successful or happy life. In practice, we know this to be untrue because money, the pinnacle of instrumental values, may reduce stress in an individual’s life but bears no certainty that it will increase happiness. Dalrymple’s judgments stem from his philosophy and thoughts, which are unsympathetic, narrow, and completely disregard the experiences that he has not gone through.

Works Cited

Burnor, Richard, and Yvonne Raley. Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Dalrymple, Theodore. “What is Poverty?” City Journal, 1999. Web.

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