Posted on 07/20/2011 6:32:21 AM PDT by shortstop
Poverty rose significantly in America last year.
That’s what the government says.
Common sense, however, says something different.
Common sense says that, compared to the standard of history and the rest of the world, there is no poverty in America.
Don’t shoot me yet.
I’m not saying people don’t have it hard. I’m not saying people don’t have financial catastrophes. I’m not saying there isn’t an economic underclass. I’m not saying people don’t go to bed wondering where they’re going to find the money they need.
I know about financial hard times.
And I know about doing without.
But I don’t think there is poverty in America.
Not true poverty.
Face it, most of our poor people are fat. And have cable TV.
And a cell phone, with customized rings. And a bed and a roof and inside plumbing and a benefits card to keep the refrigerator filled.
Poor people in America can afford cigarettes and beer, or marijuana. Poor people in America get the best health care in the world.
That all may sound like an unfair indictment of the poor, or as some insensitive screed, but the simple fact is that, no matter how hard things get, nobody in America needs to go to bed hungry or go to bed outdoors.
Many do, but mostly it is because of their own choices or incompetence or because of the neglect of their parents. Services and benefits are available to all, from the government and from charities, and those who end up going without are usually those who have squandered their opportunities or allotments.
Compared to what our ancestors knew, or what the rest of the world faces, American poverty is a walk in the park. Poor people in America live better than hundreds of millions of people in nations around the globe. They have not only the necessities, but many of the luxuries of life.
And yet there is great discontent, as entitlement has replaced gratitude and extravagance has become a right. We see suffering where there truly is none and identify poverty where it doesn’t truly exist.
The question is: Why?
The answer is that poverty, as we define it, has become a powerful tool for social engineers and politicians. Specifically, it is the lever being used to push our country into socialism.
By broadly and incorrectly declaring poverty, activists attack our economic system from the top and from the bottom. By creating the perception of poverty, they give themselves an argument for more social welfare programs. By pointing at the supposedly impoverished, they make the argument for expanded government compassion.
That increases the load on taxpayers and hastens the transfer of wealth from those who produce to those who don’t produce. It creates the social expectation – contrary to our national tradition – that the poor have claim on the resources of the non-poor.
By doing this, the concept of individual property rights is eroded. If money is the means of acquiring property, and increased amounts of money can be taxed to support the poor, then the possession of property is substantially jeopardized. And a fundamental American freedom is endangered.
Broadly defining poverty also creates class envy and division, which is the engine of socialism. Increasing the number of people who see themselves as poor increases the constituency for more entitlement programs or policies. It also fosters anger on the part of the supposedly impoverished, which creates social instability.
As poverty grows, so does the government. As taxation rises, freedom falls.
Both dangerous trends are encouraged by our mistaken concept of poverty. It seems like a minor matter, just one more government statistic, but it is a major thread in the spider’s web that entangles our national liberties.
Certainly, times can be hard. Money can be exasperating. Bankruptcy and economic failure are real. Many families struggle throughout their lives with money issues.
But nobody said life would be free of struggle.
And nobody should think that the difficulties faced by the poorest of Americans are anything like the daily reality of millions around the globe.
Who would be offended if you told them they were poor.
Bah. Cop-outs. THAT is what poverty is: a state of mind unwilling to thrive.
1. For as long as a 50lb bag of grain will last someone, you can SOMEHOW find transport there & back. A couple trips a year is not unreasonable/prohibitive.
2. For $80/yr*, Amazon.com gives 2-day no-fee delivery - many groceries included. 50lbs rice, delivered, $65.
3. If you’re in a “food desert”, your problem is there isn’t any food - so do what you do if you’re in a real desert with no food: MOVE.
* - that’s a buck-and-a-half a week.
And while we’re at the subject of poverty-level sustenance may I point that such cop-outs are the reason for my tagline:
Our kids bring thier lunch, and we watch “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”, trust me, we know ....
It’s the same ingredients in dog food, pink slime and all ...
Yep, it’s real hard to find a place to buy a bag of rice and a bag of beans....
much harder to actually take the time to cook them.
I see *the poor*, of all ethnicities, in the Walmart and Sam's Club in my closest city. They have EBT cards and WIC vouchers. _I_ buy 20# bags of rice. They spend 3x as much for mega packs of processed snack food. I see a different set of patrons at Aldi’s in the same city. They are elderly or minority or obviously disadvantaged. They buy a small amount of basics. At the best thrift shop in the city, I see a lot of folks, all different levels of society, all trying to stretch a quarter to do the duty of a dollar.
Everyone of these people has a vehicle. While car loans for used vehicles carry a high interest rate for those with low incomes, they are still obtainable. Likely not in minority majority inner city areas, but I wonder how much of that is due to the free mass transit passes handed out by Democrats.
In my nearest Mid-Western city that is around 80% white, 20% Asian and Black, there is only a bus system that is expensive and inefficient. Every minority I see shopping has a car.
While not poor by government standards, we are extremely frugal, mainly to avoid becoming poor. One surprising thing, here: potatoes, onions, milk, bread, bananas, butter, apples and eggs are all cheapest at the convenience store/gas station chain that dominates the area. So, big box stores are not essential to frugality.
Funny how some districts want to outlaw students from bringing lunch.
The “Institutional Free Lunch” is where it began and it has skyrocketed from there. Now it is “free” food for all 24/7....and garbage public school food for those who pay also.
“I plugged 23500, the poverty level for a family of four, and it shows that family in the top 3% of the richest people in the world.”
Wow, in that case we should redistribute all of the wealth in the US to other “less fortunate” nations.
(really? is a sarc tag necessary?)
;-)
Yikes! What is your state of residence?
I have to admit that I stole that from Mr. Dave Ramsey! Well, not the spelling errors......
Well, what’s happening is people are buying bottled water with food coupons, emptying out the water and turning in the bottles for cash to buy cigs, etc.
The truely poor in our country today by our standard:
1)The unemployed...the ones who refuse the govt candy.
2)The underemployed...the ones who refuse the govt candy.
3)The taxpayers who are those middle class non-union hardworking folks who are working the same jobs for less pay such as straight commission or furloughed positions. In the meantime, they have watched the price of everything go through the roof and their taxes increasing incrementally along with the inflation. Their savings is gone, their retirement is gone and their home values have decreased to less than the balance of their mortgages. They refuse the govt candy and are are truly becoming poorer by the day.
On the otherhand, poverty is a state of mind. With faith in God, prayer for His provision and gratefulness for His provision, the poor are not impoverished. As someone once told me, there is the world’s economny, and their is the Lord’s economy.
I keep this in mind as I plug along in category #3
If they did that, you would get rid of a lot of the government workers / democrat voters.
Probably should spread that 23500 among all four members (the calculation is income per person, not per family). That puts the family in the top 14.2% - still not shabby at all, doing better than 85.8% of the world population. Half that drops a trivial amount to 14.82% - so doubling income isn’t a big deal at this range. A quarter barely breaks the 25% line.
Ain’t poor.
That pretty much exemplifies a suicidal culture.
Liberals deal in words, conservatives deal in ideas. Regardless of who said it, it is an idea worth remembering. That being said, kudos to you for giving credit where credit is due. Another sign of conservative thinking.
It’s Oregon. I was exaggerating a bit. The food stamp recipients have found a way for the government/taxpayers to pay for their cigs and beer. They buy a case of bottled water, go out and empty all the bottles of water onto the parking lot then come back in the store to get 5 cents for each “recyclable” bottle. Eventually at $1.20 per case of water they can buy a pack of cig’s courtesy mr. taxpayer!
I have found that our exaggerations turn to reality. I haven’t been able to imagine any liberal action that has not yet occured!
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