America's Poor: Are they that poor?

[2centsworth]

Ok, what is the 2cent definition of poor?

homeless and starving for starters.

[DarrinS]

Beans, rice and chicken are real food. That 39 cent package of Raumen noodles is not. It's ironic that cheap processed food is so much higher in calories than regular food (because corn syrup is cheaper than sugar thanks to corn subsidies), so people who eat processed foods (and no they don't necessarily have to be poor people) get fat, so conservatives can point at them as say "See! That fat bas isn't poor!"

I lived on Ramen noodles throughout college and I've never been fat.

[ChumpDumper]

homeless and starving for starters.

[xrayzebra]

You mean a 4th job? there's only so many hours in a day.

You statement is pure horse hockey. Where are they spending their money? At minimum wage they would be making a lot money. And wouldn't have a whole lot of time to spend it. Unless they live in a high rent district and run their A/C at the lowest setting. So let's get real.

[PixelPusher]

a short reply won't suffice, gotta get back to work. Will get back to this thread later.

[Oh, Gee!!]

At minimum wage they would be making a lot money.

13K a year buys a lot of tvs

[2centsworth]

your turn.

[Extra Stout]

Endemic poverty in the United States is the result of cultural poverty.

[ChumpDumper]

your turn.

Some formula including income, net worth and cost of living would do fine for me.

Besides, "homeless and starving" is probably a condition that should be calculated more often than once a decade.

[2centsworth]

Some formula including income, net worth and cost of living would do fine for me.

Besides, "homeless and starving" is probably a condition that should be calculated more often than once a decade.

the standard formula shows the poor as not doing as bad as some people might think. The USA must be doing something right.

[ChumpDumper]

Who said the USA is doing everything wrong?

[2centsworth]

Who said the USA is doing everything wrong?

that's the closest I'll ever get to agreement from you, so I'll take it.

[Extra Stout]

If I give money to a child in Kenya, it provides him food, shelter, and clothing which do not approach the standards enjoyed by the American "poor."

But it also provides him a safe and stable environment which the American poor usually lack, for reasons unrelated to money. It also provides him an education which the American poor do not get, for reasons unrelated to money.

My opinion is that poverty as we find it in America reflects the logical end of our contemporary value system of consumerism, libertinism, nihilism, and narcissism when affluence and cultural capital aren't there to mitigate the consequences. I expect this latest economic downturn to manifest itself in expanding social chaos.

I think I'll just keep sending my money over to Kenya where it helps to germinate future leaders rather than keeping it in America where it disappears into a hole. Lack of money isn't the problem here.

[2centsworth]

If I give money to a child in Kenya, it provides him food, shelter, and clothing which do not approach the standards enjoyed by the American "poor."

But it also provides him a safe and stable environment which the American poor usually lack, for reasons unrelated to money. It also provides him an education which the American poor do not get, for reasons unrelated to money.

My opinion is that poverty as we find it in America reflects the logical end of our contemporary value system of consumerism, libertinism, nihilism, and narcissism when affluence and cultural capital aren't there to mitigate the consequences. I expect this latest economic downturn to manifest itself in expanding social chaos.

I think I'll just keep sending my money over to Kenya where it helps to germinate future leaders rather than keeping it in America where it disappears into a hole. Lack of money isn't the problem here.

with that I plug two of my favorites:


http://www.water.cc/

http://www.christianchildrensfund.or...nsorentry.aspx

[hater]

yeah, let's compare poor people in america to poor people in Africa.

that makes a lot of sense

[fyatuk]

0%

That's not entirely true. The US level for "poor" is above the standard IRS deductions, therefore a portion of their salary is indeed taxable in either the 5% or 10% bracket. Some poor will have taxes due, some won't. It depends on more factors than just "poor".

[DarrinS]

If I give money to a child in Kenya, it provides him food, shelter, and clothing which do not approach the standards enjoyed by the American "poor."

But it also provides him a safe and stable environment which the American poor usually lack, for reasons unrelated to money. It also provides him an education which the American poor do not get, for reasons unrelated to money.

My opinion is that poverty as we find it in America reflects the logical end of our contemporary value system of consumerism, libertinism, nihilism, and narcissism when affluence and cultural capital aren't there to mitigate the consequences. I expect this latest economic downturn to manifest itself in expanding social chaos.

I think I'll just keep sending my money over to Kenya where it helps to germinate future leaders rather than keeping it in America where it disappears into a hole. Lack of money isn't the problem here.

QFT

[fyatuk]

Forty-three percent of all poor households actuLuck_The_Fakers_ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

If you actually do the math, in many places it's actually cheaper to buy a home instead of renting a home/apartment/whatever, especially with the help of programs like FHA that let you finance up to 100% instead of having to do 80/20s, etc. The question is how many of these people will every FINISH paying off their homes.

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.)

Now that's just a stupid comparison. The listed cities are older than ANY city in the US, and there's less usable land for those cities to spread to in the US. There's a decidedly skewed aspect of space when comparing the US to just about any other country. There's also a skewed aspect of space between places like NY, LA, etc, and SA.

Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

Okay, 62% being able to afford $30-50/mo for cable/satellite is a pretty good number.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumpLuck_The_Fakers_tion of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms.

Certainly not going to disagree there.

I think our threshholds for goverment assitance, etc, are way too high, seeing as how my family has been under it the majority of my life and we've rarely had any problems balancing everything (except one summer where it would have been nice to eat). I'd rather cut the welfare budget and reassign that to college grants for the poor, but that's just my preference.

[2centsworth]

That's not entirely true. The US level for "poor" is above the standard IRS deductions, therefore a portion of their salary is indeed taxable in either the 5% or 10% bracket. Some poor will have taxes due, some won't. It depends on more factors than just "poor".

There's no 5%, but there is a 10%. The 10% is under $8k for a single and $15k married. with the standard deductions and personal exemptions, the income taxable portion of their incomes will be 0%. In fact, the bottom 50% of wage earners in the USA pay virtually zero income tax. Just the facts.

[Extra Stout]

I further submit that if we handed out $100,000 to every household in poverty in the United States, that within five years, maybe 5-10% would have anything left to show for that money. The rest would be back where they were before the handout.

[2centsworth]

I further submit that if we handed out $100,000 to every household in poverty in the United States, that within five years, maybe 5-10% would have anything left to show for that money. The rest would be back where they were before the handout.

it would be an awesome time to be a dealer of pink fur coats.

truth is that 80 to 90% of people who inherit/win money squander it within a few years.

[Anti.Hero]

Poor enough to get morbidly obese.

haha I saw that story.

Funny .


Dems like to keep some poor enough to be modern day slaves. True story. Truth is offensive.

[PixelPusher]

The 10 poorest States in the U.S.
1) Mississippi
2) Arkansas
3) Utah
4) New Mexico
5) West Virginia
6) Lousiana
7) South Carolina
8) Oklahoma
9) Kentucky
10) Alabama

--------------

The 10 "Fattest" States in the U.S.
1) Mississippi
2) West Virginia
3) Alabama
4) Louisiana
5) South Carolina
6) Tennessee
7) Kentucky
8) Oklahoma
9) Arkansas
10) Michigan

In America, poor=fat and cheap processed food has a lot to do with that.

[PixelPusher]

Yeah, I know...I know...

Those states aren't really poor cause they all got TVs.

...And there not "fat" either, they're big boned.

[2centsworth]

Yeah, I know...I know...

Those states aren't really poor cause they all got TVs.

they got TVs in an air conditioned home with cable television and a full protein diet. No wonder they're fat.

...And there not "fat" either, they're big boned.

yeah that too