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Arlo Tharp

Cameron Elder

Socialization and Identity Essay

18 November 2022

Poverty in Durango

In the United States alone, over 37 million people are considered below the poverty line,

while 21 million have a net worth of more than 1 million dollars (Cite). In 2021 “below the

poverty line” was considered 12,800 dollars or less. In the United States, if you presented the

idea of socialism professionally, you would be almost instantly shut down, due to fear of a

slowing economy, although it would solve a lot of problems facing the millions of families

considered to be below the poverty line. Dividing the money evenly throughout the country so

that the rich people and people considered below the poverty line aren't so greatly divided by

social status and wealth.

In Durango we have a major wealthy population and a major homeless population of about 400

to 700 homeless people with the rest being working class or slightly below the poverty line but

not as extreme as being homeless, divided between a population of about 20,000 people (Cite).

I feel like in Durango the wealth of the people is more defined than in many other places, mostly

because of the people who live here. In my opinion, the wealth you have is shown off by your

actions and the things you buy (In Durango's case, $10,000 plus bikes, skis, kayaks, etc.)

These are the social statuses that I've noticed in Durango for as long as I can remember.

All of this is very interesting to me because on one side you have the rich “yuppies.” While on

the other side you people are either below the poverty line or borderline homeless.
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Driving past the Purple cliffs before the people were kicked out, it was like a wasteland

of trash and drugs. The people living at Purple cliffs were recently kicked out of the area. When

the police investigated the area there were thousands of pounds of trash that were virtually

uncleanable. It's difficult tying all this into my personal life seeing as how in the grand scheme of

things my life is pretty easy but not to the extent of being a “yuppie”. But it does affect me in the

way of just driving by and feeling disappointed in the city of Durango that all we have to help

these people is one soup kitchen.

To me, the homeless population compared to the wealthy population in Durango is too extreme

and separated. It's almost like living in Durango is part of a rich social status on its own,

Durango, on the outside, is this wealthy town that only successful business owners can afford to

live in, and it partly is, but what is more hidden to people on the outside (the tourists that only

live in Durango in the summer, or people that have only heard of Durango, but have never been

here before). Is the “poverty” or homeless population in this town. This affects me because every

day I have to drive past all the people who don't have houses, and after they got kicked out of

purple cliffs it's more noticeable toward tourists or outsiders who envisioned Durango to be a

rich town. But I still know about the existing wealth in this town. It's interesting to me how on

one side we have people who are homeless or borderline homeless, and on the other side, we

have people who can afford five 10,000-dollar bikes, or a 40,000-dollar sprinter van.
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When I was little I knew there was homelessness in the world, but I never knew that there could

be so much poverty and homelessness right in my backyard. In the year 2000, the population of

Durango was only 14,574, now in 2022, there are nearly 20,000 people. The homeless

population has increased tenfold since the year 2000 as well. This has made me understand that

poverty in this world may never be solved since it gets worse and worse every year, and

understanding the homeless population in Durango has helped me come to terms with that fact. I

will probably never know the true extent of the poverty and homelessness in this town because

it's so much worse than you would think because it's gotten so out of hand already.

This has taught me to understand the separation of poverty and wealthiness in Durango, and how

it has changed the image of our town.

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