ABSTRACT
Whatever term is used, the problem has many dimensions as to both causes and solutions. On one level, this is a problem of morality (Mechanic and Tanner 2007). People differ in terms of how they view people who are on the low end of the socioeconomic scale. The debates over poverty and the causes of poverty are a good example (see Rushefsky 2007). Perhaps people are poor because they are lazy or perhaps because of racism or capitalism. The same debates exist over health care disparities. Mechanic and Tanner (2007, 1221) portray this debate as partly involving the perspective of “sinners versus victims.”
