Rivetti 1

Jazimin Rivetti

Szetela

English 1010

3-19-17

Poverty is causing the rise in disease

In the article Poverty is literally making people sick because they cant afford food by

Matthew OBrien, in his he talks about how the rise of hypoglycemic cases will rise towards the

end of the month instead of the begging this is caused by not having enough money or benefiters

at the end of the month which results in more hospitalized people for hypoglycemia. In the

article he brings up the counter argument that this can be caused by not eating healthy. In the

later portion of the article he talks about appendicitis and its directly linked to eating unhealthy.

The cases of appendicitis do not change when you look at difference of incomes or time of the

month. His audience in his article is aimed toward the working middle class along with

politicians to raise awareness on this topic. He uses pathos to show how people are in

unnecessary suffering. He shows logic by presenting the research he has found in an organized

fashion. He shows ethos by citing credible sources and giving ways to fix a morally wrong

problem that we have in todays society. OBrian gives many appeals in all three subjects of

rhetorical appeals I am going to highlight where he stands out in this paper.

In this article OBrian has brought together evidence to support his claim or thesis

Poverty is literally making people sick because they cant afford food He does this by using

pathos logos and ethos throughout the article. He highlights the important fact such as low-

income people (red line) were <27 percent more likely to be hospitalized for hypoglycemia in the
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last week of the month than in the first this is an example of logos that he uses and continues to

play on this idea and theory when running out of money at the end of the month will cause more

problems for society that it will do good. He also brings about counter claims to his thesis. Such

as researchers also looked at when people go the hospital for appendicitis, which doesn't depend

on diet. So there shouldn't be any end-of-the-month increase for low-income people if tight

budgets are the problem. There wasn't..

The logos of this article start when you are looking at the facts, charts, and statistics. The

collected date shows how the effects of low incomes families have struggles with not having

enough food to last them throughout the month. The statistics show the amount of how much

something has changed over the course of time and how ostensive this is too happened. Facts

will back this up; Last but not least the graph will depict the information in a visual way that

makes it easier to comprehend the information. All of his graphs and statistics back up the claim

of his article poverty is literally making people sick.

Logos is a shown continuously throughout the article. There is a multitude of data and

has clear logic to explain the data. The counter argument is shown debunked in the article and

there are even solutions to the epidemic given by OBrian. One solution would be to Paying out

welfare, food stamps, and social security twice a month, instead of just at the beginning. We

could even pay out food stamps as cash instead of benefits, since we know people will trade

them at deep discounts to turn them into cash. By giving them more food and money in the

month this would decrease not just diabetic emergencies in throughout the United States but this

would also increase spending to uphold the economy. With more money circulating in the lower

class this would increase spending all around not just for food. But, clothing and appliances

(Heater, A.C., Washer and dryer etc.) many people choose between eating food, paying for
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medication, and paying appliances, and paying rent. By having more money in the system down

at the bottom poverty would start to decline as there would be more middle class and less of the

lower. Unfortunately in todays society it is the other way around. Where the middle class is

starting to disappear and there is the lower and upper class. Supplying more food to those in need

of it is the tip of the ice berg of what is wrong with the system. OBrian is strong opinioned on

this Democrats are talking about hiking the minimum wage insteadit wouldn't cost the

government a dime, but would still make a dent in poverty. Indeed, economist Arin Dube shows

that while his colleagues can't agree whether or how many jobs a minimum wage increase would

cost, they do agree that it would boost incomes at the bottom. Having more money at the

bottom will decrease poverty and decrease the amount of hypoglycemic cases that happened

throughout the month.

Logos is shown through the math that I have done with the variable given in the article.

But, how much is this really costing the system. Maybe giving poorer people more cold, hard

cash would let them afford more food at the end of the monthand save the $1,186 that an

average hypoglycemia episode costs. A normal episode of hypoglycemia cost the system

$1,186. If they cant pay for food at the end of the month there is no way they will be able to

Offord the hospital bills that come after the episode. Lets not factor in a ride in the ambulance or

life flight. Lets not factor in how much it cost to stay overnight in the hospital. Just keep that

number $1,186 in your mind. Now go back to the 30 million Americans who have diabetes only

about 10% - 15% is above the median cost of living so that would put us at 25.5 million

American who are at a high risk of having an episode of hypoglycemia at the end of the month

now do the math. 25.5 million times 1,186 equals 29,650,000,593.00 This is how much it is

costing the system if all of these people were to experience an episode once a year. Many people
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will experience more than one episode a year and some people will not even have one. But, this

is just the statistic that is a highly possible situation that is putting a strain on our system and can

be avoided if they would give people money at the begging and in the middle or end of the

month. It cost more to pay for the episodes than to pay for benefits at the begging and the end of

the month.

When OBrian uses ethos to show his credibility of the subject at hand, the first large

piece of credibility given is the graph that talks about hypoglycemia. Low-income people were

<27 percent more likely to be hospitalized for hypoglycemia in the last week of the month than

in the first. There was no week-to-week difference for high income people. the information to

back this up goes along with having little money for groceries at the end of the month, which

allows for those with diabetes to suffer extensively and can cost them heavily. The counted claim

is that this is not related to income but connected to diet. OBrian shows this piece of evidence to

back his claim. The researches also looked at when people go to the hospital for appendicitis,

which doesnt depend on diet. So there shouldnt be any End-of-month increase for lower-

income people if tight budgets are the problem. There was no altering to the graph or statistic

for this portion which shows that they do not just get sick at the end of the month. There is not

enough money to put food on the table. He proved his stance on the poor need more help to

survive by using graphs and statistic which is a form of ethos.

Throughout the article OBrian has used pathos to show the need of what has to be done.

Emotions talked about is the wide spread epidemic that is going on and is ignored. For instance,

the poor are not people who are on drugs and have made one bad choice after the next. These

are; single mother raising kids, college student drowning in debt, and immigrants who want to

better their lives. Poverty begets poverty This cannot be a truer statement. There is no money
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for food; even the cheap and easy fast food is too expensive for some families. In the article the

OBrian talks about how many cases of hypoglycemia happen at the end of every month. When

looking at normal statistic, not all of these cases can be fully functional adults. There are

children, and elderly that are also being affected by this. Each month many are faced with the

decision of having food on the table or a roof over their head. The basic idea is that people

struggling to make it paycheck-to-paycheck (or benefits-to-benefits) might run out of money at

the end of the monthand has to cut back on food. They have to be creative to survive in this

world; to think up with new ways to save money, to prepare meals with very little resources on

hand.

Another example of pathos is the cost it is putting on the diabetic community. The basic

idea is that people struggling to make it paycheck-to-paycheck (or benefits-to-benefits) might run

out of money at the end of the monthand has to cut back on food. Many people will look at

this and not understand until they are in this situation. Growing up in a home very similar to this

where you live hand to mouth this is no way to live. There is not just a strain on just the parents

and their health; their children will suffer as well. To where they will choose work over school

because they want food that night or they dont want to see their parents in the hospital again

because they cant pay for insulin (insulin is a drug that is prescribed by a doctor to help those

who are diabetic) This isnt just something small almost 30 million Americans have diabetes

weather it is type 1 or type 2. This is a large portion of the United States population. It is being

ignored and put on to private insurance companies to deal with instead of the government taking

care of its own citizens. This applies to pathos because there is a high statistic of those who

know or have diabetes. This isnt just a local problem with a small number of individuals

affected by this. This is a national disease that affects family, friends and collogues.
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The article Poverty Is Literally Making People Sick Because They Can't Afford Food

by Matthew OBrian covers a serious topic in only a few short pages. The problem addressed is

that people are more likely to go to the hospital at the end of the month instead of the begging of

the month when there is no food, the counter argument is debunked by showing appendicitis and

that it does not change throughout the month, and then a solution is given at the end of the article

on how to fix the epidemic we find ourselves in. The Facts that are given go into ethos, the

graphs shown cover logos, and who this is affecting and what cause it has on society covers

pathos.
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Works cited page

OBrian Matthew Poverty is literally making people sick because they cant afford food, The

Atlantic, publishing date January 2014, copyright date 2017.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/poverty-is-literally-making-people-sick-

because-they-cant-afford-food/283032/