USA: 37 Million Poor Hidden in the Land of Plenty

There's a pattern I'm sensing here.

'Let's all talk about Souljah and not about the data he's presenting. Yay!'

Here, I'll repost the link. observer.guardian.co.uk...

Now, y'all can commence with questioning my character too, or we can talk about the freakin' information presented in that little red portal above this sentence. See it? Click on it and READ.

Is the economy great since I checked last night? Few people have noticed that food costs outpace inflation, and that means bad news in an environment where cost of living increases are the exception, not the norm, and the prices of most consumer foodstuffs are tied to the price of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Unemployment at its highest levels EVER (but that doesn't make the news nightly, because some damn kitten keeps getting stuck up a tree.) More degreed individuals than EVER, standing in line for food stamps. Meanwhile, the government is steering us towards hyperinflation, which will make the problem worse by orders of magnitude.

Can't even live off the land in many places, too contaminated with PCBs and Mercury and a host of other nasties. Sustainable micro-farms could insulate the population against disaster, but our country is too busy spending hundreds of billions with the express intent of making a few individuals even more wealthy.

This is not utopia, this is a slimey, uncomfortable chrysalis. Don't get too comfortable, because things are changing as we speak. :shk:

WyrdeOne, what do you expect? People do not want to listen,see or read about bad news. They want happy, everything is wonderful news that way they can justify themselves for not doing anything to help solve a problem that doesn't effect them personally.
Souljahs numbers and references are correct. Does Souljah consistantly have post that are negative and point out problems? Yes, however Souljah is just the kind of person I like to have around. Someone who challenges the status quo and doesn't accept the "good enough" attitude that pervades our society, a society that abounds with "lowered expectations" as President Bush once stated. If you want an example of those "expectations" look no further than the last two administrations.
I might not agree with you Souljah on quite a few issues, but you and WyrdeOne are ones who present different angles on issues that need to be explored throughly. By looking at an issue from both the positive and negative viewpoint can the problem be fully understood and addressed, and that what seperates leaders from followers and it's clear the world is full of followers.

Originally posted by BigTrain
Its called capitalism and the ones WHO WORK HARD will be rewarded. You know why poverty exists, because there is a such thing as LOSERS in this world pal.

Absolute garbage pal! I have worked hard all my life, including 6 yrs in the miltary. I now live on a $800 disability cheque because of this capitilism you so love (why is for another thread, so don't ask).

Point is lots of ppl work their asses off and still remain under the poverty level. Work hard and become rich is a myth, one that's been perpetuated for centuries and anybody who actualy takes the time to look at reality can see that.
Saying ppl are poor cause they're lazy is pure ignorance.

For capitilism to work you have to have the poor, not everyone can be rich in that system. As soon as everyone becomes wealthy the market increases and those at the lower levels will always remain poor.
Why do you think we have inflation?
Layness does not cause poverty, greedy capitilists who take more than they need causes poverty.

Great post btw Souljah! You got a wats from me.

i read and hear this stuff everyday Go to colloge And get a better job .
your just lazy .Exct exct ,
Realy I dont know weather to laugh or cry .
Ok lets just Pretend for a minit . every one in the US goes to colloge and gets a masters . Now of corse you have your masters (ARE U going to take off the TRASH? clean the gutters? pick the crops? shuvel the .
9 out of every 10 jobs are low paying manual demaning work .So whos going to serve you the kids meal at MC or even serve you that meal at the sit down place ? after all with there masters they surly can make more money .
and most sadly 75% of people just dont have the capasty for colloge for one reasion or another . NOT everone can .Just look at the colloge drop out rate . now thouse of us who have intellegence can see our problem but not see a sloution and that my friend brings on hopelessness wich inturn brings in the drugs and drink in 99% of cases. another .9% turn to religion big time .
the point to all this is our job market use to be Inderstry based wich ment 90 % of people were employable . a good (if borning ) job health care two cars a home . from 1950 till 1970 this was the US but thous same companys that are now folding because of COS stealing millions started leaving the US in droves because why pay a guy a living wage when you can get a 3rid world guy to do the same job for pennys.
well then we went to a service orianted job market starting in the 80des till the late 90des . But lets face it you cant run the WHOLE job market on services .
and the market became sacharated and collapased .Notice all thous CLOSED stores. So then we turned to selling pure information. Intellectial pro. and Im just sure every thing will be peachy keen with this kind of job market.
Get a job . MC get an edacation ok now what theres 1000s in frount of me all fighting for that same job .
a few months back some big company was hiring a few 100 people so they advertised and no less then 50,000 showed up for appcalations.
I realy think thous spouting how lazy we are should wake up from the 60des and thous few left over years in the 90des .

Originally posted by ludaChris
There may be 37 million homeless or poverty striken people in the us, but thats is 3.7% of our population.

What the US population is now a billion?!? Actually it is 12.5% of your population, which is rather more significant.

It could actually get much worse in the coming years; most mainstream economists believe the US economy is on the brink. The question is not if it is is going to grind to a halt, but whether it will have a "hard" or "soft" landing. Opinion is moving towards a hard landing, which would plunge millions more into poverty, including many who are currently middle class and have their equity tied up in real estate.

Of course many right wing economists think things will just keep going nicely....personally I don't believe them.

souljah even though your beef with america amazes even me I must say along with the other posters here yes lets not give everyone else the cash we INVEST it in our own damn country we give to everyone but ourselves lol doesnt make sense does it?

Indeed. What's the poverty line?

I make $5 even an hour and go to school. My rent is $1000 a month (I'm in Tampa, stupid Tampa). Gas is 2.30-2.45, I have car insurance, electric, water, phone, internet/cable (which I can't live without, or else there'd be no point of me being in school ). Of course between these I have credit cards. to pay for, (since I can't afford anything else). I also need to eat and have the car fixed every now and then. Thank god my parents are there to help me out.

Do the math. I'm pretty sure I make negative dollars an hour.

My freind has an associates degree in computer networking. No job market for that anymore. So insteead he makes 9-11 thousand a year as an assistant MANAGER at Papa John's Pizza (Corporate jerk-offs). So he would work 50-70 hours a week, and be broke.

On e quick question...I've never been to Europe (probably never will be able to), but is it like that there...where you work your ass off, only to have more money takin' away from you?!

Hell, I even give money I don't have to children charities and what-not. America is just turning into a crappy hidden slave empire.

Now let's check some More Numbers, to Backup my Sensless Anti-American Post:

• According to the US Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line in America including 12.9 million children in 2004.
  
  
• This is despite abundance of food resources. Almost 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in America each year.
  
  
• According to the Bread for the World Institute 3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 9.6 million people, including 3 million children, live in these homes.
  
  
• America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, reports that 23.3 million people turned to the agencies they serve in 2001, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. Forty percent were from working families.
  
  
• 33 million Americans continue to live in households that did not have an adequate supply of food. Nearly one-third of these households contain adults or children who went hungry at some point in 2000.

MEANWHILE,

• According to America’s Second Harvest, over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year
  
  
• According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona in Tucson, on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
  
  
• Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.
  
  
• According to a 1997 study by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) entitled "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses", about 96 billion pounds of food, or more than a quarter of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, was lost to human use by food retailers, consumers, and foodservice establishments in 1995.
  
  
• Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners (mostly sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) accounted for two-thirds of the losses. 16 billion pounds of milk and 14 billion pounds of grain products are also included in this loss.
  
  
• According to the US Department of Agriculture, up to one-fifth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 130 pounds of food per person ending up in landfills. The annual value of this lost food is estimated at around $31 billion But the real story is that roughly 49 million people could have been fed by those lost resources.

Pretty Shocking to see such Numbers in the Richest Country on the Planet.

The US itself also has the largest gap and inequality between rich and poor compared to all the other industrialized nations. For example, the top 1% receive more money than the bottom 40% and the gap is the widest in 70 years. Furthermore, in the last 20 years while the share of income going to the top 1% has increased, it has decreased for the poorest 40%.

Ofcourse bear in mind, that these Statistics are not for Year 2005, but a little older, so you have to ADD some more to these Numbers.

Have things Changed under Bush administration for the Better or for Worse?

Well, people have to Work 2 or 3 Jobs just to Feed their Children!

And what does mister president say about that?

"You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is FANTATSIC that you're doing that."
President George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska.


Want to know More?
U.S.-Massive Food Waste & Hunger Side by Side

[edit on 21/2/06 by Souljah]

funny and sad to see certain "hard core" americans always shoot at the pianist (souljah) for bringing them news they'dd rather not hear at all.

IMHO most of the stuff Souljah posts is news from mainstream media, with the idea to discuss it, not to be called Anti american /bush hater every 2 posts , hes just trying to open eyes and minds , but some people insist on wearing eyepatches...

Originally posted by ludaChris
at least 30-35% of the men that come in here are homeless by choice.

There is a homeless woman who is rather 'famous' here in town.
She walks all over town and has a routine. Every morning she's
at the 7am Mass at a certain church. Then she walks to the library
and reads for a while, then she goes off to her next 'appointment'.
She wears plastic bags in the winter and duct tape 'shoes'. We
know that every Saturday night she is in a certain church for
confession so we got a Christmas bag together for her with a
nice warm hat, gloves, sox, etc.... When my husband gave her
the christmas bag at Confession, she said 'thank you, God bless
you' and then when she thought he wasn't looking, she put the
bag into the 'lost and found' and left without anything. She
prefers to live the way she is.

What was your intent with this thread anyhow Souljah?

HA! That's funny. What is the intent of just about every
thread Souljah starts? Complaints about anything and
everything American.



[edit on 2/21/2006 by FlyersFan]

I am one of those 37 million that Souljah so gleefully writes about. I don't have a great deal of money, la de dah, so what? I live within my means, save where I can, and watch the budget. I've helped my sisters with their kids whenever I could, and they've helped me. It's called family.

Watching the budget has enabled me to begin saving enough money to maybe go abroad later this year. If I had kids the reality would change of course, prioritize. You do what you can with what you've got. So you're poor, it isn't anyones fault. You deal with it, work as hard as possible, hope to catch a break. Crying about it does no good.

At the risk of offending all you non-americans out there. Look to your own houses before being critical of mine.

Being poor must effect ones spelling, too .

[edit on 21-2-2006 by seagull]

Originally posted by FatherLukeDuke

Originally posted by ludaChris
There may be 37 million homeless or poverty striken people in the us, but thats is 3.7% of our population.

What the US population is now a billion?!? Actually it is 12.5% of your population, which is rather more significant.

It could actually get much worse in the coming years; most mainstream economists believe the US economy is on the brink. The question is not if it is is going to grind to a halt, but whether it will have a "hard" or "soft" landing. Opinion is moving towards a hard landing, which would plunge millions more into poverty, including many who are currently middle class and have their equity tied up in real estate.

Of course many right wing economists think things will just keep going nicely....personally I don't believe them.

Oh yeah it is 12.3%. I got an A in college algebra, I dunno what happened. As you can tell from my shoddy math just there, I dont plan to become a right-wing economist, I was always better at writing anyhow.

On topic, you cant provide for everyone in your country. Its not fiscally nor is it generally possible. The people should not rely on govt to do everything for them. In the US you can get public education, highway system, public libraries and many other services for the reasonable taxes you pay. This isnt the highest our poverty rate has ever been but it is close. But percentage wise the rise is starting to level out, you know it takes a few years to get out of a recession.

I wish I had read Seagull's post before I had written this one. If it werent for my family I dont know where I would be. Here at school I dont get to work that much, and only make 6.00 an hour working for our IT dept. My mom and dad, my sister and her boyfriend and my church have all helped me out at some point or another, not to mention my friends. I didnt get enough financial aid to come this year to school because I checked one wrong box on my financial aid forms, and needed 2400 dollars. My church gave all of the members who were college students 800, I payed 1000(which was most of what I saved from the summer), my sis gave me 200, and my parents payed the rest. Seagull just reminded me how lucky I am to have family like that to help my out

[edit on 2/21/2006 by ludaChris]

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by Souljah
37 Million People Live in Poverty, yet Billions and Trillions of Dollars are ..

... given away to foreign lands in aid.
... given away to develop an AIDS vaccine for Africa.
... given away to build schools in Iraq.
... given away to rebuild the areas destroyed by the tsumani.
... given away to the Palestinians even when they danced for joy on 9/11.
... given away etc. etc. etc.
... given away when it should be spent here at home FIRST.

It's definately something that should STOP.

haha, very true indeed !

cant have it both ways souljah, where should we send our tax dollars, to africa or our own backyard ?!?

Souljah!

I got a college degree. I also work two unrelated jobs 65 hours a week just to make ends meet. And I dont have any kids! Thanks God I havent had any injuries or serious ails because I am yet another hard working american with no health insurance. I am one broken bone, or case of the flu away from potential financial ruin.

An I lazy? Is it my fault that my education will earn me $8.50/hr at the Best Buy and not much more? Who is to blame for the crappy economy in my area? Is it my fault that Kelloggs outsourced a huge # of both blue and white collar work? Is it my fault that all the auto factories are closing? The only things that prosper in my city are banks, Mao-mart, McDonalds, and crime. Should I ignore my student loans, and credit cards, and car payments so I can move?

When CEOs make more money in a lunch break than I make in my entire lifetime, how do you justify it? Did they try that much harder? Do they work that much harder? Was I just born into a bad family, in a bad area?

I dont know who to blame, but I know it isnt me.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
... given away to foreign lands in aid.

Wealth flows from the poor nations to the rich nations in massive ammounts and the few million or billion dollar that does go in aids normally comes with strict rules as to what i can be spent on.

This is not the reason America has millions of poor.

... given away to develop an AIDS vaccine for Africa.

The aids drugs are all developed for local markets as the poor of the world do not have the money to pay for the drugs anyways. When a country join the WTO they are forced to pay these massive prices for aids drugs instead of a hundred times less for generic products.

This is not the reason why America has millions of poor.

... given away to build schools in Iraq.

The money goes to America multinationals who actually build those schools with only slave labour wages being paid to construction workers in Iraq.

Once again not anywhere near a reason for the situation in America

... given away to rebuild the areas destroyed by the tsumani.

Promises yes but the money never gets there as it almost never did in past disasters.

... given away to the Palestinians even when they danced for joy on 9/11.

The Israeli's get far far far more money and they certainly do not need extra money to buy American weapons with; or do they? This is just another way to create business for the America arms industry.

... given away etc. etc. etc.

Given away to rich people ( including numerous dictators and thieves of various discription) all over the world but rarely to anyone remotely deserving.

... given away when it should be spent here at home FIRST.

Mostly given away to parties who will eventually use it against American interest aswell. If the American government started taxing it's industry and people as they should be and and then used the money to invest in America itself there would be very few poor to talk about.

It's definately something that should STOP.

That should stop aswell as the practice of blaming poor ( or other ) people in general for the problems America now faces. The only party that is to blame for the problems is the American government that stoped pretending to act in American interest back in 1913.

Stellar

Is this the Anti-American website?

Just once can we talk about how the U.S is not the source of evil?

Originally posted by ludaChris

On topic, you cant provide for everyone in your country. Its not fiscally nor is it generally possible. The people should not rely on govt to do everything for them. In the US you can get public education, highway system, public libraries and many other services for the reasonable taxes you pay.

You obviously forget that it is SUPPOSED to be a gov't by the people, for the people. We fund it. All of it. NASA, the war on drugs, the war on terror, etc.... Not just your schooling, roads, and librarys. The money poured into the blackhole that is NASA alone could feed and clothe the entire country at least once over, maybe more. These reasonable taxes I pay are supposed to feed and clothe and educate my fellow man. Not drop bombs, create slave states abroad, and wage wall-street wars.

To say the gov't doesnt have to look out for you is just wrong. Thats what its for. Or is it supposed to exploit the planet, making a few filthy rich, and feed you enough scraps and propaganda to keep you from revolting?

Originally posted by DaFunk13

To say the gov't doesnt have to look out for you is just wrong. Thats what its for. Or is it supposed to exploit the planet, making a few filthy rich, and feed you enough scraps and propaganda to keep you from revolting?

Yes.

Democracy was born weak. Now it's dead.

We're here to serve the kings. And keep them rich.

I am 19 years old and attend school. I notice the HIGH dollar cars at my school Lexus, BMW, you name it the kids have it. The funny thing is, I work like an idiot at minimum wage and can't pay for a car that is decent. Those kids were born into money, you are not seeing them sweating. Their parents can pay for them to go to a good school and they are the ones that get the Degree and get a decent job. People in my status don't even finish school. I here they are lazy, losers. No, they are working 3 jobs to pay for a roof over their head, food and everything else in life. They are not working hard enough! LOL


There is something wrong in a society where movie actors, pro sports players, music people are getting millions of dollars over that police officer, doctor, teacher or parent.

Thank God I live in America! but is any other place better?

Keep your chin up CIA, and dont get any girls pregnant. If you work hard you may not ever be rich, but you will survive. I was in your position. On my own at 17, with no financial help at all. Work hard, go to college for something relevant, and remember to respect everyone, even your enemies. I am not on easy street by any means, but I do live pretty good.

Remember than weath and happiness are not synonymous...ever.