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Principles of Critical Thinking

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Select one of the following questions and answer it in 200 to 300 words using the principles of critical thinking you learned in this course.
• How can we reduce poverty in the United States?
• Will receiving a college degree improve your career opportunities?
• Has the United States peaked as a world power?
Write, once you have answered the above question, a reflection of the process of critical thinking you used in forming your response. Include the following in your reflection:
• How does the process of critical thinking you used relate to or differ from the process you used to find content for your answer?
• How can you use critical thinking in other areas?
• What steps can you take to ensure that you continue to use critical thinking in the future?

In today’s society, poverty has become one of the most concerning problems in the United States. Poverty effects millions of people each day averaging at more than 16% of the population, that struggle to get by that are not able to provide food and shelter for their families. The Census Bureau reported” in 2013 “More than 45 million people, or 14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line last year” (Gongloff, 2014). Poverty has become a big problem in the united states with raising rates of unemployment “. It was recorded in 2013 that about “14.7 million (19.9 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.” (Aspe, 2014). One of the things that our government can do to reduce poverty levels would be to create more jobs since that directly impact our poverty rate and has influenced unemployment rates and implement the extended unemployment pay like they used too. Another thing that could be done would be for the government to offer more education opportunities for people who cannot afford to go seek higher education. There is hope for some who live in poverty even though it may be limited, there are different programs that the government promotes to help with food every month, rental assistance (section 8) and help paying your bills in most states, but more importantly being able to find more job opportunities are key to avoid living in poverty. There are many work source programs that are offered by the government to help people look for work, most of the time the government agencies will provide internet and a computer to assist in the job searching process.
I used the five step thinking strategies to come up with my answer to the topic of how to overcome poverty. I first wanted to identify the problem by bringing up my topic (the problem). Then I wanted to give some information about the topic (research) and after I gathered my information I moved on to choices someone in that position would have to make (evaluating). I then wanted to evaluate those choices by determining which ones would be more beneficial to society to help overcome poverty. The last thing I did was give out some options of what resources are available to be able to create the overall solution. I can use critical thinking in other areas of my life by practicing it and using it every day as well as, evaluating all my important decisions and putting more time into researching for an answer. Critical thinking will also benefit me because I will not take anything at just face value anymore (social media, news etc.), I now feel that in order to have a valid opinion or solution to a problem I would have to research it first to gain a better understanding. Some of the steps I will take to ensure I keep practicing my critical thinking skills in the future are by simply following the easy five step process of identifying the problem, gathering evidence, evaluating the research, considering any alternatives and coming up with a solution.

Sources:
Gongloff, M. (2014). 45 Million Americans Still Stuck Below Poverty Line: Census. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/16/poverty-household-income_n_5828974.html
ASPE. (2014). Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/14/PovertyAndIncomeEst/ib_poverty2014.pdf

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