What Really is Poverty?

Townhall.com ^ | August 1, 2011 | Ed Feulner

[ctdonath2]

Uh...no. Our “poverty line” is defined as 20x the world median income. I think it’s wonderful that most of our bottom 20% are better off than half the people on the planet.

[ctdonath2]

You overlook that some “have good jobs and have a bright future” subsequent to having “lost everything and liv[ed] in their cars, tents, etc.”

As others note, poverty is a state of mind. Visit my tagline.

[MrB]

I was “playing liberal” when I said it was awful that the bottom 20% are the bottom 20%.

[netmilsmom]

>>Don’t you think it’s an outrage in a country as rich as ours that a full 20% of the population is in the bottom quintile of income?<<

Not at all. There are lazy people in every group. Are saying that some people in the country don’t have the same opportunities as we do?

[ctdonath2]

Did raise a useful retort though.

[A_perfect_lady]

$1 a day is “poor?” C’mon, get with the program. $1 a day is culturally authentic. Not to mention picturesque. And inherently non-materialist and therefore superior to the West’s mass consumer society. These people are, however, gravely threatened and must be protected from bioengineered foods, higher energy consumption lifestyles, and transnational corporations that try to impose jobs and consumer goods.

Very well said! Here is your honorary Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology. Now let's get you some government grant application forms...

[A_perfect_lady]

Worse yet, half of our population is at the bottom 50%!

[B4Ranch]

>>It is hard for me to refer to an obese person as being in poverty.<<

The Salvation called collecting clothes for poor folks. I told the lady, “If can you fit in my clothes, you’re not in the poorhouse.”

[B4Ranch]

Just because I am well to do today is no indication that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

[MrB]

They must be the half that are below average IQ - an obvious failure of the education system requiring billions more to be “invested” to pay NEA teachers.

[Mikey_1962]

$1 a day is culturally authentic.

You forgot noble.

[Reeses]

$1 per day.

That's a doctor's salary in Cuba. A factory worker makes almost as much, 60 cents per day. Cuba is the left's gold standard in equalizing the distribution of income.

[R. Scott]

There will always be 20% of the population in the bottom 20%.

[MrB]

There will always be 20% of the population in the bottom 20%

That's outrageous in a country as rich as ours!

[R. Scott]

Again, there will always be a bottom 20%. That can not be changed, no matter how much people earn.

[MrB]

That’s simply UNAMERICAN!

Something has to be done about that.

Perhaps another social program, or more redistribution, spreading the wealth...

We’re America! We don’t have to accept these things!

[MrB]

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m playing with you...

but, I actually HAVE had this exact same conversation with a liberal.

[R. Scott]

It’s obvious you have no understanding of percentages.

[R. Scott]

Sorry about that.
I’ve had the same conversation, years ago I lived in a Section 8 apartment complex. I wasn’t on welfare, we just didn’t move out when it went Section 8.
My welfare neighbors had TVs, car, plenty of food and always had a good Christmas – better than we had. It’s a sore point with me.

[Mikey_1962]

Cuba is the left's gold standard in equalizing the distribution of income.

Mission accomplished!

Everyone is equally poor.

When the State owns everything there is nothing worth owning.