A Postmodern Look at Poverty and Homelessness The cycle of poverty and especially homelessness in the United States, which is occurring even today may or may not be caused by little or any intervention by the government or society as a whole. This is the same cycle implied by John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society (1958; rev. eds. 1969, 1976, 1984). Poverty and wealthy are both social statuses in the United States. However, they are looked at differently. The wealth held by a person will determine which category he will fall into at birth and throughout life, hence effec