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Right on! I might add that poor are also those who have to travel 10,000 miles to some rat hole in the world and fight the wars of choice declared by those who know their offspring will never have to go.
There are a lot of reasons why some people are poor. Sometimes it's not their fault (accidents, born with disabilities, etc), and sometimes it's because they are lazy or criminals.
There are a lot of reasons why some people are poor. Sometimes it's not their fault (accidents, born with disabilities, etc), and sometimes it's because they are lazy or criminals.
I can tell you a few things about being poor. I can tell you about being hungry. I don't mean needing an extra sandwich before dinner...I mean bean and rice hungry. I started in west Tennessee on a dirt farm in the 1930's. Once my dad had a job unloading skids in a box factory, ruptured himself lifting and the second or third day he missed they fired him. There were ten men waiting for every job which came open. Unemployment in that area reached 50% and the ones who had something were lucky if they made a dollar a day. Most people were working for $0.75 a day and their lunch...called dinner there.
There was no such thing as a union. There was no hospitalization, no time off for personal, vacation, illness etc. If one worked they were paid. If they didn't they weren't. It was before labor unions. Before social security. Before pensions. Before anything except back breaking, ball straining labor. Hard Labor. I've seen men cry because they were unable to feed their kids or get help for one who was sick. A significant portion of old people ended up on county poor farms, called "The Poor House."
People today take way too much for granted. During the depression the only consolation most people had was that it seemed like everybody else was struggling the same way. Being poor isn't nearly as bad if everybody around you is in the same boat.
I can tell you a few things about being poor. I can tell you about being hungry. I don't mean needing an extra sandwich before dinner...I mean bean and rice hungry. I started in west Tennessee on a dirt farm in the 1930's. Once my dad had a job unloading skids in a box factory, ruptured himself lifting and the second or third day he missed they fired him. There were ten men waiting for every job which came open. Unemployment in that area reached 50% and the ones who had something were lucky if they made a dollar a day. Most people were working for $0.75 a day and their lunch...called dinner there.
There was no such thing as a union. There was no hospitalization, no time off for personal, vacation, illness etc. If one worked they were paid. If they didn't they weren't. It was before labor unions. Before social security. Before pensions. Before anything except back breaking, ball straining labor. Hard Labor. I've seen men cry because they were unable to feed their kids or get help for one who was sick. A significant portion of old people ended up on county poor farms, called "The Poor House."
People today take way too much for granted. During the depression the only consolation most people had was that it seemed like everybody else was struggling the same way. Being poor isn't nearly as bad if everybody around you is in the same boat.
Great post!!!
I was one of the last people I know that got cable or, a computer.
Savings are possible when you earn enough to do so, after addressing the minimum necessities. A typical household in America has averaged about $50K, inflation adjusted, in income since 2000 (the last peak... it has been down since). The expenses have gone up. Clearly, savings, if there were any to begin with ten years ago, have to have suffered. This also assumes that the household has managed to be sponsored by employer for health insurance (that cost has more than doubled since, to about $15K).
So, it is not always choosing between spend and saving. Sometimes it is about whether you can afford to. Having said that, I like many of the definitions provided, including yours.
"EVERY man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life."
- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (Book I, chapter 5)
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