According to the National Poverty Center, 15.1% of Americans lived in poverty in 2010. Although poverty rates slowly declined between 1993 and 2000, cases of poverty reached a record high in 2010. Recent figures show that the poverty rate remained unchanged in 2014 and still affects 15% of Americans (Clyne, 2014). To put poverty in a different perspective, let's compare it to the number one cause of death in America: coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the most common health problem affecting men and women, and the leading cause of death among Americans, affecting 16.8 million people (Daniels & Nicoll, 2012). Currently, 50 million people live in poverty. This means that Americans are two-thirds more likely to be poor than those with CAD. Like CAD, various causes contribute to the emergence of poverty. Currently, five main sociological theories of poverty are used to explain the reasons for poverty in developed countries. The most common theory in the United States describes poverty as a personal deficiency. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a theory that shifts the focus from the individual to larger systems, including: the political, economic, and/or social distortions that create and reinforce poverty. These two theories share one main ingredient: capitalism. Explaining that poverty is caused by individual deficiencies is conservative and neoconservative thinking. One of the best-known proponents of this theory is an American: Newt Gingrich. The foundations of this theory include: judging a person's work ethic, ability (or lack thereof) to make good choices, salvation by God, inherited genetic traits, and use of government..... . middle of paper. .....pitalism and poverty: a socialist analysis. Democratic Socialists of America. Accessed June 1, 2014, from http://www.dsausa.org/capitalism_and_poverty. Freeman, R. (1998). Poverty and the politics of capitalism. Business Ethics Quarterly, 31-35. Kahal, S. (nd). The religious roots of modern poverty policy: a comparison of Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed Protestant traditions. New York University. Accessed June 1, 2014, from http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/mead/V53.0395/Kahl.pdf. Poverty in the United States. (January 1, 2014). Accessed June 1, 2014, from http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/#2.Theories of Poverty. (2002, January 1). Black Academy. Accessed June 1, 2014 from http://www.blacksacademy.biz/ba/civ/XG9hg1anx/17QsHqGOlp.pdf. Wachtel, H. Capitalism and poverty in America: paradox or contradiction?. The American Economic Review, 67, 187-194.