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There are poor people in America who are homeless and live in cars (if they are lucky enough to own a car) the even poorer homeless live in card board boxes under bridges, have no home, healthcare or food much less air conditioning and televisions....Doubt that any one would envy that, except perhaps the poor of a third world nation.
The difference between the very poor people in the US and the very poor people in many other countries is huge.
Also , the percent of very poor people in the US is much smaller than the percent of very poor in many countries.
When the percentage of very poor people is high , that leaves fewer people with the ability $$$$$ to help the very poor,
Yesterday, at church, we had a missionary priest from Kenya explain the difference between the very poor in the US and the very poor in his home country of Kenya .
HUGE difference.
I could see where the very poor in Kenya ( many) might think the very poor in the US ( FEW) aren't that bad off.
OP is saying our poor are the envy of the poor from other FIRST world countries like France and Germany, not third world countries. It is not the case IMO.
The poor in third world countries would be happy to be in ANY first world country.
There are tent cities all over California, it's not hidden, so I don't know how he can believe the crap he's posting.
There are poor people in America who are homeless and live in cars (if they are lucky enough to own a car) the even poorer homeless live in card board boxes under bridges, have no home, healthcare or food much less air conditioning and televisions....Doubt that any one would envy that, except perhaps the poor of a third world nation.
There are people who will live in cars, tents, vans because they want to live that way. They will tell you so.
There are those who are homeless who have mental illness and are so because of that. You could give them millions of dollars and they'd still be homeless. That is why there are shelters. So that they do have someplace to go to get out of bad weather and "soup kitchens" or whatever they are called now.
Some homeless people don't even take advantage of that. They'd rather be "free" to live as they please.
Then you have the bum who panhandles instead of getting a job. They DO exist.
Our "poor" who go to the government for welfare, food stamps, medicaid etc have cell phones, cable, computers, nice clothing, nice cars etc.
Yes, there are some who are legitimately poor who do not abuse the system, but they are not the rule.
There are people who will live in cars, tents, vans because they want to live that way. They will tell you so.
There are those who are homeless who have mental illness and are so because of that. You could give them millions of dollars and they'd still be homeless. That is why there are shelters. So that they do have someplace to go to get out of bad weather and "soup kitchens" or whatever they are called now.
Some homeless people don't even take advantage of that. They'd rather be "free" to live as they please.
Then you have the bum who panhandles instead of getting a job. They DO exist.
Our "poor" who go to the government for welfare, food stamps, medicaid etc have cell phones, cable, computers, nice clothing, nice cars etc.
Yes, there are some who are legitimately poor who do not abuse the system, but they are not the rule.
Our "poor" who go to the government for welfare, food stamps, medicaid etc have cell phones, cable, computers, nice clothing, nice cars etc.
Not true. And you have it backward, legitimate poor make up the bulk of those receiving benefits.
There are people who will live in cars, tents, vans because they want to live that way. They will tell you so.
There are those who are homeless who have mental illness and are so because of that. You could give them millions of dollars and they'd still be homeless. That is why there are shelters. So that they do have someplace to go to get out of bad weather and "soup kitchens" or whatever they are called now.
Some homeless people don't even take advantage of that. They'd rather be "free" to live as they please.
Then you have the bum who panhandles instead of getting a job. They DO exist.
Our "poor" who go to the government for welfare, food stamps, medicaid etc have cell phones, cable, computers, nice clothing, nice cars etc.
Yes, there are some who are legitimately poor who do not abuse the system, but they are not the rule.
All those benefits are not easy to get. Food stamps are practically non existent for a single person. The cell phone is just a basic phone; most people don't have landlines anymore but a phone is a necessity these days. Kids need computers for school. I was a teacher and saw how disadvantaged the poorer kids were when it came to technology. Kids with nice computers could hand in beautiful papers and get A's. Kids without computer were supposed to do their work at the library--yeh sure. Often they had no way to get to the town library--parents didn't have a car, parents refused to take them, etc.
Medicaid--everyone should have health insurance, but yes, they can often quality for medicaid. If we had universal health care, no one would try to stay on welfare just to get the medicaid.
I don't see too many poor people with nice clothes and cars. They have junky cars that they have to live in, if they have a car at all. It's easy to cherry pick--read an article somewhere or know of one example of someone cheating the system.
OP is posting about averages. Naturally there will be a lot of poor people living below the average standard and an equal number living above it. that is how you get an average. However pointing out there are a number of people living below the average or even well below the average does not prove or refute anything from the OP. Of course there are, there has to be.
OP is also not saying the poor int he USA are not poor, especially when compared to their peers here. OP is merely saying the average poor person int he US is better of than the average poor person in most other countries.
Would an average poor person from France or Germany want to trade places and conditions with a massively below the median poor person in the US? Of course not. They do not want to trade a 900 s.f. house for a cardboard box. However OPs position is that an average poor person from one of those countries is not as well off as an average poor person in the USA. In other words, they might want ot trade a 900 s.f. house for a 1400 s.f. house. I have not seen anything that refutes this position (although I am somewhat skeptical about it). Still waiting.
There are a lot of other factors to consider however. It is likely more poor people own their homes in the USA than in Germany or France. In fact, home ownership is much more common in the USA for any people. This is partly because people their do not strive for home ownership as the pinnacle of success in life the way we do here. For a time, many people here talked about poor people being deprived of the "right" to own a home. Likewise, they may not own three tvs in France or Germany because they woudl never consider owning three tvs, even if they became wealthy. They re less likely to own a car, because a car is less necessary. Lots of people do not own cars there, even rich people. It is a different culture and their countries are developed differently than ours.
Some items may actually be a detriment. Is the US poor person who owns a car they cannot really afford, but must have to get to work, better off than the Germany resident who can take a train everywhere and has no need of a car?
Is someone who is house poor better off for owning a house than their counterpart who does not own real estate but pays an affordable amount of rent?
I think w get into a problem with apples to apples comparison. It may well be that no meaningful comparison is possible due to the differences in culture, government, standards and preferences, etc.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 07-16-2018 at 09:54 AM..
It is said that our poor are rich in comparison to other countries, and this is definitely true, if you compare us to third world countries. But we are worse in some cases.
I was just in England this year, where there are lovely old row houses on the way from the airport in London. We were told those were the government subsidized houses for the homeless or indigent. We saw no homeless people there, and everyone is given money by the govt, as well as free health care.
jeeze jeeze freakin' louise.... yeah OUR poor people must love living in the streets because at least our are streets aren't sheer filth with piles of garbage knee deep in typhoid.
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Often they had no way to get to the town library--parents didn't have a car, parents refused to take them, etc. 
