Is it now a Crime to be Poor?

The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. At least, that's what it looks like. There has been an increased enforcement of the law against the poor and the homeless. This includes things like "loitering" and sleeping under bridges. Of course, the police justify by saying that they would arrest rich people that slept under bridges as well. One man, named Mr. Szekely, had to go to jail because he had once slept outside on the streets, even though he was in a shelter when they arrested him. Not only did that traumatize him, but it also made him lose his spot, and now he sleeps outside the Verizon Center sports arena. Why is this the case? It's sort of a "fundraiser" to help with the economic downturn in the city. While the city gains a tiny bit of cash, innocent people, including people who weren't poor before, are going through an endless cycle of poverty and destitution.

The writer speaks informally by addressing the reader as "you" and adding personal anecdotes. She does not bother going through flowery language and gives us her message through the quotes of others. Her mode of persuasion is through witty comments while going through statistics. She persuades us through an appeal to pathos; she explains the situation of the poor and the undeserving. Ehrenreich also makes it clear that it could be the reader that also falls into this death cycle.