Poverty, American Style: Cars, TVs, Three-Bedroom Homes

Human Events ^ | Oct. 13, 2003 | Robert Rector

[FairOpinion]

Just remember next time the Dems are crying about how many people live "in poverty".

[xrp]

Why isn't there a marker on how much beer and cigarettes they buy?

[randog]

Those are some amazing statistics. Bookmarked for ammo against my lib'ral acquaintances.

[wizardoz]

Our "poor" have more access to air conditioning than France's middle class.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Bump

And I like your tagline.

[FairOpinion]

"Why isn't there a marker on how much beer and cigarettes they buy? "

===

Good point. That's probably why they are "hungry" some of the time - they spend the money on beer and cigarettes and by the end of the month they don't have money for food.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Absolutely. I lived in South America (Argentina, a relatively "wealthy" S.A. country) for two years. I saw poverty. I went into small, crowded, dirty homes of the truly poor.

To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I would say to the U.S. "poor": I know poor. I worked with the poor. I have seen poor. You, Mr. 3-bedroom, two-car, air-conditioning American, are NOT poor.

[Southack]

America is so great that even our Poor are better off than the middle classes of the rest of the world (e.g. own 2 or more cars per household).

[Chi-townChief]

bump

[BBell]

I do heating and air conditioning in residential housing and I can tell you that the so called "poor"(government hand out leeches) are not doing so bad. However the working poor are a different story. It seems pride seperates the two more then anything

[Waco]

Beer, smokes, lotto, ahhh the staff of life!!!

[Mortimer Snavely]

Big ol' BUMPEROO!

[CindyDawg]

How do they get this info? Insurance companies? There was no data about content coverage though. There is no way I would tell someone what I have in my home. I noticed they also didn't ask about guns either. If someone wants to know how many tvs I have then I think they also need to know I'm armed :')

[WaterDragon]

The statistics on 'hungry children' in America include any child who missed ONE meal in the PREVIOUS 30 DAYS.

[AdamSelene235]

America is so great that even our Poor are better off than the middle classes of the rest of the world

No kidding. Everytime a hippy asks me for change in the US, a dozen images of street kids I've seen around the world flashes through my head. Somehow, I refrain from popping them in the nose.

[Texas_Jarhead]

BUMPMARK

[Dan Zachary]

The statistics on 'hungry children' in America include any child who missed ONE meal in the PREVIOUS 30 DAYS.

Wow, my son does not like to eat breakfast-is he one of these hungry children?

[WaterDragon]

Missing one meal within a thirty-day period is indeed how the Census Bureau determines "hungry children in America."

On the other hand, there are HUNGRY people in America, and very often they are white, elderly males who despite serious, chronic illnesses are repeatedly turned down for Social Security Disability. Mind you, almost any drug addict of any age will qualify for SSD, regardless of work ability.

So, let's not forget there is real hunger in this nation. And do something about it, individually.

[William Tell]

xrp said: "Why isn't there a marker on how much beer and cigarettes they buy?"

My wife and I were fortunate to spend a week's vacation in Hawaii with an Asian couple we know. They were kind enough to prepare most of the meals.

We purchased a twenty-pound bag of rice for four dollars at a super-market. We had rice with every evening meal and still left behind about 18 pounds for the local food bank.

The people in this article could buy almost ten pounds of rice for the cost of a single gallon of gas. I will leave it to someone with more cooking skills than me to say how many meals can be made from ten pounds of rice.