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Wait a minute... In liberal lala land, government expenditures are a good thing. It's like pixie dust being sprinkled on the economy and stuff. I can picture Obama in his little Tinkerbell outfit, desperately trying to spend everyone elses money to get this train wreck of an economy back on track.
You want to return to the "good old days" of republicon rule in 2008? Yeah, that's what we need to cure the economy.
Congressional repubs are doing what they can to destroy the economy for 2014 Obama-blame, such is their desperation.
Repubs are and were the biggest spenders, and their little feed-the-rich, trickle-down economics is also responsible for any "train wreck" you perceive. Of course Fox is telling you otherwise. Just stay tuned.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.
Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.
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Headline and the story dont seem to match well. Headline makes it seem right now 4 out of 5 struggle with joblessness, poverty or reliance on welfare....when the story said within someones work life time they might do so. So more speculation than anything else.
I guess I live in a very insulated area of the country....but here in northwestern Minnesota and North Dakota there are many jobs to be had.....more in the construction, sheet metal work, trucking areas than anything else. It is hard to imagine that things are really that bad in other parts of the nation as what is portrayed. The oil boom in western ND is a huge draw to young people here in the Red River valley and there is a huge need for tradesmen. There just aren't enough younger adults learning construction, sheet metal, welding trades and there is high demand out there. Try to get a painter to come to your house --- 6 month wait at least in my town.
Headline and the story dont seem to match well. Headline makes it seem right now 4 out of 5 struggle with joblessness, poverty or reliance on welfare....when the story said within someones work life time they might do so. So more speculation than anything else.
I guess I live in a very insulated area of the country....but here in northwestern Minnesota and North Dakota there are many jobs to be had.....more in the construction, sheet metal work, trucking areas than anything else. It is hard to imagine that things are really that bad in other parts of the nation as what is portrayed. The oil boom in western ND is a huge draw to young people here in the Red River valley and there is a huge need for tradesmen. There just aren't enough younger adults learning construction, sheet metal, welding trades and there is high demand out there. Try to get a painter to come to your house --- 6 month wait at least in my town.
Looking out your front door is not a good reflection of the whole country, another persons door paints a different picture. North Dakota has a couple of good things going for it such as a oil boom, a state ran bank, and good leaders. But on the other hand ND is a good example of the fate of the rest of the U S. because there is big time inflation on wages and goods. I seen where a pop up camper rented for 500 bucks a month and what do they make at McDonalds? 12.50 a hour? ND has velocity of money as you know there is a lot of money trading hands up there.
If I was young I would be heading to ND but of course I would be towing a pop up camper
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.
Well, I used welfare for about a year, 40 years ago.
But, Obama wasn't the president then.
Who should I blame? Can I still blame Obama?
After all, your post says 'for at least parts of their lives'.
We're a knowledge and technology based economy now. The days of factories employing the masses are long over. Either you get a STEM degree or pick up a skilled trade or end up in poverty and irrelevance. Chances are that there will be a good percentage of the population living permanently on government handouts because they can't cut it in the new economy.
Want to note that the OP title is misleading since the article is not speaking specifically of the "Obama Economy" it is speaking of the fact that the majority of Americans, at some point in their lives, will be on government assistance and near poverty levels.
This is something, that for some reason, many people, usually extremely conservative people, want to deny - that almost everyone in this country will be on some sort of government aid at one point or another in their lifetimes. This is why I think it is ridiculous how, on this forum especially, people go on and on railing against "the poor" as if all people on assistance are young, minority, with six baby-daddies, and the stereotypical "welfare queen."
This article is basically saying that poverty is not longer strictly a minority problem that it is an American problem.
I actually found it interesting personally (and the fact that no one on here mentioned it since this forum is heavily racially focused) that the article states that black children living in high poverty neighborhoods is the only ethnic segment that has declined. From the article:
Quote:
Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 17% of the child population in such
neighborhoods, compared with 13% in 2000, even though the overall proportion of
white children in the U.S. has been declining.
The share of black children in high-poverty neighborhoods dropped from 43% to
37%, while the share of Latino children went from 38% to 39%.
Around here, I hear a lot of nonsense in that black people do not "acknowledge our problems," or that we don't try to better our situations and that black people are content to let the government take care of us. I and other black posters like to point out that black Americans, due to us being the "face" of poverty in this nation are the primary demographic who does acknowledge the plight of our under class and who, daily, seeks to uplift the poor in the "black community." This is not done in the "white community" here in America and our increase in poverty is due to not only this recession, which hurt minorities, but also due to its hurt of white Americans and whites accounting for a higher percentage of poverty now.
Most Black people are also used to being poor at some point in their lives IMO so it is not a huge cause of guilt or depression like it may be for whites. I know that I have been poor, especially after the birth of my first child, we were in a poverty situation (laid off jobs, lived off my husband/then boyfriend selling things on the street, electric utility shut off, having to go to charities and HEAP to help with bills and utilities, no car to get a decent job due to it being repossessed, etc.) but I saw that as a bottom and I focused on the fact that we would rise up from it, that it was a just a temporary situation. Which brings me to this....
Quote:
Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson
Part of the problem is that people are losing their ability to be resilient in the face of hardship. Their dependence upon hand-outs has destroyed their initiative. During the great depression, people actively looked for ways to improve their lives through innovation and adjusting to a different standard of living. Today people just flop back on their sofas, turn on a reality show and whine about how haaaaaaaaard life is. The people who are thriving and surviving are the ones who can break out of that rut and think for themselves. There are still many, many opportunities out there, but you aren't going to find them watching Oprah or Housewives of Beverly Hills.
20yrsinBranson
I do agree with this assessment to an extent. As a black woman, I was taught from a young age that there would be hard times, really hard times, but that I better dust myself off and do what I had to do and that is what I did. I think a lot of the "newly" poverty stricken people are more prone to just get depressed and accept that depression and try to get disability or something. I have heard of people, via my work, do this. People who are in their mid-thirties like me and some even in their late 20s. I think it is rather sad and ridiculous. I was depressed when I was poor too but that didn't stop me or my husband, who I know was also depressed, from going out there and selling water and snacks in our apartment complex to make rent. It didn't stop me from finishing my college degree and networking with people. Depression just was not something I could medicate or wallow in and I think too many people decide to do just that, especially medicate it with Rx drugs and when they can't get new Rx's - illegal drugs, which just leads to a vicious cycle and a pity party for them.
I think a lot of the "newly" poverty stricken people are more prone to just get depressed and accept that depression and try to get disability or something. I have heard of people, via my work, do this. People who are in their mid-thirties like me and some even in their late 20s. I think it is rather sad and ridiculous. I was depressed when I was poor too but that didn't stop me or my husband, who I know was also depressed, from going out there and selling water and snacks in our apartment complex to make rent. It didn't stop me from finishing my college degree and networking with people. Depression just was not something I could medicate or wallow in and I think too many people decide to do just that, especially medicate it with Rx drugs and when they can't get new Rx's - illegal drugs, which just leads to a vicious cycle and a pity party for them.
Though I liked most of what you said, I think you are being rather harsh here. There is a profound difference between being depressed because of a difficult situation and being clinically depressed. One is a temporary emotional problem that will likely end when the situation improves. The other is a medical condition caused, in many cases, because of the body failing to produce a needed chemical in sufficient quantities.
It is no more a condition that can be overcome by will-power than can a broken arm.
Though I liked most of what you said, I think you are being rather harsh here. There is a profound difference between being depressed because of a difficult situation and being clinically depressed. One is a temporary emotional problem that will likely end when the situation improves. The other is a medical condition caused, in many cases, because of the body failing to produce a needed chemical in sufficient quantities.
It is no more a condition that can be overcome by will-power than can a broken arm.
I have been clinically depressed. Just to give a brief background, my mom was a teen mom, I was sexually abused by my step father. As a teen I was diagnosed to be clinically depressed along with having an anxiety disorder (I have been hospitalized a few times for anxiety attacks where I thought I would die). All the doctors wanted to medicate me for all my issues and the stuff I have been through. I attempted suicide a year before my son was born, so I know about clinical depression and I know that the stuff that you just mentioned - basically excuses, is one of the main things wrong with our society.
We make way too many excuses for people. I do acknowledge that clinical depression can be life altering, but that doesn't stop someone who is clinically depressed from "thinking."
I thought about my life, what I wanted, how I wanted my life to go and I remembered the advice of my grandmothers especially and I decided, it was not will power, but a decision, to not let my life be defined by depression. So I did what I had to do, I didn't take the pills (I couldn't afford them and didn't have insurance) and I took walks during midday (the sun helps people who are depressed as does exercise) and I make small goals that I accomplished slowly but surely and that is what ultimately let me from the depths of depression.
I will be very honest here and even state that I do feel that mostly white people fall into this "depression is a lifelong disease" sort of mantra. I may get targeted for it, but I find it to be true, especially in regards to my work. I work in the public sector in public housing and Section 8 contracting in particular. It seems that many white people who aren't happy all the time think they are depressed and need some pills to "feel better." The doctors who tried to put me on anti-depressants and who did put me on anti-anxiety pills were white. When I went to college and had the suicide attempt, I was what I call "therapized" by our psychology department who provided free counseling for me and actually helped me accept all that I had been through and see it as a strength instead of me being a victim. But therapy can be difficult for people and people don't want to work at it and would instead rather use drugs to stay unfeeling and mellow or to "feel happy."
No one is happy all the time. There will be ups and down. I truly do believe in "mind over matter" and that if we seek outside alternatives that we can beat depression without medication. Some people just do not want to hear that and do not want to do anything to help themselves because they are fooled by the media and now believe they have a lifelong disease that can never truly be cured. I liken it to "obesity" in that obesity is now classified as a disease when there are practical, easy methods to "cure" obesity. The same can be said of the majority of people who are "clinically depressed." Even with all the things I went through and there were others I didn't share, I don't truly feel I was "clinically depressed." I think I had trouble accepting and moving on from my issues and once I dealt with them, I don't have those problems anymore.
But you weren't depressed because your brain stopped making a chemical. You cannot 'think' your brain chemistry back into line anymore than you can 'sing' yourself a supply of insulin.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.
Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.
[MOD CUT/copyright]
NOT quite what the OP implies:
Quote:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.
Just for starters, OP, Obama has only been in office since 2009.
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