According to the National Poverty Center, 15.1% of Americans lived in poverty in 2010. Although poverty rates slowly decreased from 1993 to 2000, poverty rates reached a record high in 2010. Recent data shows 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. CAD is the most prevalent health condition affecting men and women and is the leading cause of death for 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 impoverished than those who have CAD. Similar to CAD, there are various causes that contribute to the occurrence of poverty. Currently, there are five main sociological theories of poverty used to explain the reasons for poverty in developed countries. The most widespread theory in the United States describes poverty as a personal deficiency. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is a theory that shifts the focus from the individual to larger systems, including: 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 comes from conservative and neo-conservative thought. One of the best-known supporters of this theory is America itself: Newt Gingrich. The foundations of this theory include: judging a person's work ethic, their ability (or lack thereof) to make good choices, their salvation through God, their inherited genetic traits, and their use of government. . in the middle of the paper. .....capitalism and poverty: a socialist analysis. Democratic Socialists of America. Retrieved 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. (n.d.). The religious roots of modern poverty policy: Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Protestant traditions compared. New York University. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/mead/V53.0395/Kahl.pdf.Poverty in the United States. (2014, January 1). Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/#2.Theories of Poverty. (2002, January 1). The Black Academy. Retrieved 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.