Can the US be considered a borderline third world country?

[furrypro]

Perhaps you are watching too much Fox News? The poor are on food stamps and welfare: that's where they get their groceries. Also, cell phones are donated to the poor so they can use the phone to call the operator or 9-11.

Originally Posted by malamute

No. In real third world countries, the poor aren't eating hundreds of dollars worth of groceries and carrying around cell phones.

No one is poor in the USA if you compare people with people in other countries. Americans have no clue on what real poverty is. Our so-called poor gripe if their kids aren't all getting iPhones for Christmas, they would never accept a good used toy for a gift or wear good used clothes.

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by cisco kid

December 5, 2012

....About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty.

Originally Posted by cisco kid

So how come half of Americans are poor, unemployed, on public assistance, etc?

110 Million households
99 Million households with cable, satellite or both
80% with computers and 92% of those with internet
46 Million households on Food Stamps

And no, America is becoming 2nd World, not 3rd World.

Bursting bubbles....

Mircea

Originally Posted by chielgirl

Thanks for the stereotype.

Originally Posted by furrypro

Perhaps you are watching too much Fox News? The poor are on food stamps and welfare: that's where they get their groceries.

No stereotype. Factual:

110 Million households
99 Million households with cable, satellite or both
80% with computers and 92% of those with internet
46 Million households on Food Stamps

Am I buying food for a hungry child, or am I paying for the cable TV the hungry child watches?

Presenting facts...

Mircea

[Grim Reader]

"Poor" actually covers a very wide range of conditions.

The family Jones, on food stamps, with a hand me down big-screen TV, who constantly have to borrow money from their parents to make ends meet are poor.

The homeless people who live under bridges, in the tunnels under Vegas etc, are poor too.

A family of third-world working poor, who live in a self-built shack are worse off than the Joneses, but much better off than the US street people. "Poor" covers a lot of territory both in the US and the third world, and some of it overlaps. The worst-off poor in the US is worse off than the best off thrid-world poor, while the average is better off in the US.

Also, "poor" is relative to age. An adult who can't afford a car, have to decide between eating or having a beer with his friends, is pretty poor if he is an adult in his 40s. But if he is a student of 21, it is considered pretty normal.

[clb10]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

Perhaps you didn't read or understand your original comment.
You can have both capitalism and a great social safety net for society.

Duh.
Funny how others made the same type of response but you said nothing to them.
Selective hurt feelings?

Why are you worried about who I choose to reply to?

What business is it of yours?

Sounds like your the one with "selective hurt feelings".

You can't have a huge government bureaucracy so-called "safety net" in America because their are MILLIONS of lazy freeloaders who know how to play you bleeding heart liberals like violins to squeeze out every last dollar of taxpayer money out of the system.

A government big enough to give you anything you want is strong enough to take every thing you have.


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