Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What a grinch! Are you aware of the state of the job market? Are you aware that there will never be as many jobs as there are willing able bodied workers? Are you aware of outsourcing? Are you aware of of cuts in wages, benefits, overtime, and hours for those who ARE employed?
So you would begrudge "them" a PHONE? Nice. A phone is needed for safety reasons for one thing, and it helps to have a phone when looking for a job.
I could go on, but I doubt anything that includes empathy or even practical facts would reach you.
Unfortunatly many people have blinders on & are not capable of empathy for anyone except themselves.
Some of the posts I read on this forum on threads regarding the poor are astounding. Its just the next group to get picked on after the blacks,browns,& gays.
There's this little thing called an economic pie; the way it is distributed by mandated or natural forces determines what percentage of the population is poor, and what percentage of the population is rich. Too many economic policies in favour of the poor hampers economic growth, and too many economic policies in favour of the rich gives us a bourgeoisie vs proletariat society. If you don't find balance between the two, well open up a history book....
Unfortunatly many people have blinders on & are not capable of empathy for anyone except themselves.
Some of the posts I read on this forum on threads regarding the poor are astounding. Its just the next group to get picked on after the blacks,browns,& gays.
I think a lot of that is fear. How many who are "making it" (ie, not "poor") are a paycheck or two missing away from being "poor". You get the same thing when people talk about disability. There are those who claim its for the money. Anybody want to live on a little under 700 a month? And you can't officially make any more either.
People who talk about "us" and "them" are often the "us" that can see the ledge coming closer and are secretly afraid of becoming part of the "them" and to try to bury their fears they have to put down the fear.
And how many of those who are "making it" are hanging on with a fingernail? Or only lately (since the income went down) stopped seeing credit cards as free money? An awful lot of people are going to have to learn to live with much less before things get better. A lot of them are going to have to make a very hard adjustment. But you know the pay off? When you have more you will see value in it and look at things as just things, not props for the ego. Kind of a refreshing way to live.
And "poor" to us is quite rich to someone in many other places. But "poor" is a psychological term too. Its all relative. If you had much more and you didn't worry that tomorrow you'd be picking which bill to pay, that fall is pretty steep. And that is where the real sense comes from, not the dollar figure.
HAHA! Well, when your little bubble bursts.....I'll be over here slappin' my knee and laughing at you. Why do so many people "choose" to be poor? Why do you choose to be arrogant? Oh yes, one day, that bubble WILL burst.
This thread is already in the few hundred number and I'm not about to read them all.
Definition of "Poor" by todays standards will vary to that of the bygone pre WW11 yrs and the early depression.
The majority of posters here are in the avg 30-40 age bracket and are post WW11 and Viet Nam era thrown in. These people have NO idea of how bad being poor can get. They should have lived in the depression yrs and then they would definetly know what the word means. I was born and grew up during the mid 30's. Recall my grand dad
pulling a small cart collecting cardboard and paper to sell. It was not untill many yrs later that I came to understand what he was doing for our household we lived in.
Poor can mean not having any shelter over your head or where the next meal is coming from.
Poor can also mean not having all the current luxery items that many feel is needed for their daily living and still consider themselves as being Poor. They still may have a roof over their heads during this time period.
The homeless are down at the bottom having sold or lost all of their possesions. They are the Poor ones.
Bound to be many reasons for a persons being considered Poor...some acceptable and some not.
Loss of a job in the workplace or a unexpected health/medical issue can deplete a persons bank account quickly.
Selling a home by the elderly and going into a retirement home care facility at $3000 a month will deplete the bank account rather quickly. I saw this first hand with my parents some yrs back. $72,000 in two yrs just like that.
A little off...many ways to be Poor and health is one of them.
Last week at the VA hospital I was there for a foot/leg problem and of course was feeling (health wise and sad) for myself until I saw a Vet with NO legs and then I new what being Poor can really mean.
Just my personal opinion/observation for what it's worth.
Wow people choose to live in poverty? How misinformed the public is. The hardest working people I have ever meet are the Philippine people and they live in absolute poverty. There is only one reason for poverty. Greed, acquiring more than we need. This is a grave sin. Yes Jesus said the poor will always be with us, he said this because he new that greed will always be here.
Interestingly, any capitalist society needs an underclass and would collapse without one. There can be no people standing tall without others for them to step on in this world.
I have always wondered this myself. we all know that poverty is a choice, so why do so many chose to live in it? with all the government grants, educational opportunities, and other government programs out there, why do so many choose to do so little? show me a poor person, and I will show you a reason. unless you are physically or mentally disabled, there is no excuse for being poor.
1. lack of education
2. mental or physical handicaps
3. drugs and alcohol
4. lack of motivation
5. bad luck
The census definition of poor may not be your definition of poor. I think most people think of poverty as lacking food, clothing and proper shelter but most of the poor, as defined by the Census Bureau, live in conditions that would have been considered "well off" a few generations ago.
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports. You can read the whole report with charts, here:
"Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a threebedroom house with one and a half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
