In the Rose Cafe given by Professor Barrett, I was very interested in the how, by his description, individuals can be stuck in situations where making even the most optimal decisions cannot help one escape poverty, leading to one being “trapped” in poverty. Last semester, I took a class called “the Politics of Poverty” in the Government department taught by Professor Michener, and it was very interesting for me to hear another perspective on economic disparities. While the course looked primarily on the socio-structural origins of poverty in America, Professor Barrett’s analysis, while certainly not discounting structural causes, made me consider even more concrete economic facets of poverty. For example, in America, economic wealth is generally not thought of as livestock, and it is (in general) not destroyable, even if it may slowly depreciate in value over time, and it can only be transferred. In contrast, a single drought in regions of Africa can cause a families wealth in livestock to die, thus causing not only economic disparity in terms of financial worth, but also material deprivation and possible starvation for a family. While weather can have an impact on an American family’s economic fortune, in the majority geographical areas it does not pose the threat it does to many in Africa. This made me realize just how powerful the structural factors contributing to poverty are in America.