How Fitzgerald Would Have Felt About Miami's Poor

“Fitzgerald’s viewpoint on Miami’s poor”  

Recently, the Miami Herald published an interesting artcle by Elizabeth Aranda titled "Poor and Homeless in Miami".Aranda’s article “Poor and homeless in Miami” describes how the wealthy and pushing off the poor from Miami and leaving them homeless and with no means of finding a way to make a decent living. Families are also being forced to leave because of the sky-rocketing increase in cost of living, many housing mostly available to those of high socio-economic status. It’s despicable that Bush continues to give tax cuts to those who are obscenely rich, while taking away social programs such as healthcare that benefit the poor. As Aranda notes the elected officials are catering to the interests of the rich, and completely ignoring the needs of the poor. Luxurious buildings are being built, housing prices rise, and so the poor have no choice but to get even poorer, while the rich get even richer. This situation is ultimately tied to politics and the political interests of those in power What’s even sadder is Bush, nor other politicians care about the poor, because they only which to make the rich happy, and it’s utterly disgusting to see this occurring in the U.S.

  In the 1920’s Fitzgerald thought that the rich lacked morality and he criticizes them in his novel “The Great Gatsby”. But Fitzgerald had mixed feelings towards the rich and the poor. He hated the rich for their wealth and their superficiality, yet he also hated the poor for their vulnerabilities and their hopelessness. He was once poor and since he struggled through such a lifestyle he despised it. What’s hopeless about being poor in certain circumstances is that at times one lacks the ability to raise themselves in economic status. In Miami, the poor are undergoing the economic struggle and they are almost hopelessly trapped in poverty, because the politicians are ignoring them because they are not in their political interests. The 1920’s was a time of economic turmoil and disparity, and it also seemed the poor were in a difficult situation. The rich are despicable because they lack concern for the poor, and the poor are despicable in their hopelessness and inability to raise themselves in socio-economic status, even though this is strictly beyond their means. Fitzgerald would feel the same way about poverty in Miami, than he did about poverty in the 1920’s. The times periods are very different, yet the bridge between socio-economic status remains the same.

If interested, you can read the article here:flapolitics.blogspot.com/2007_02_07_flapolitics_archive.html