What is poverty in America

LadyJazzer wrote: And an ever-growing number of them are there through no fault of their own, and were laid-off so their jobs could be outsourced to people who will work for $5/day....

Give me a break.... The number of the "new poor" who got there due to "own failings, drugs, drink, making poor life choices" is probably infinitesimally small... Unless of course you have a source for your usual shoot-from-the-lip prejudices....?

Our sourced? Crap the number of illegals taking jobs is greater than the losses.

Totally anecdotal: The people I know who are poor, dropped out of high school, have drinking problems, have drug issues, have kids out of wedlock, and make poor financial choices.

The ones I know who climbed out of poverty tackled their addiction issues, furthered their education, educated themselves financially. The wife and I started out poor, only one car (used yellow Pacer), took on massive stupid debt with little to show for it, but eventually we crawled on up.

But liberals will tell you only the Feds can save the poor.

No, liberals tell you that everybody in America who is poor and needs help AREN'T your anecdotal acquaintances... It's a shame you're so bitter, hate-filled, and sociopathic that you don't see that... But that's what I expect from the teabaggers these days...

Yes, those who can't, SHOULD be taken care of with our tax dollars.

OK, I think you just proved my point. <sarcasm>There is no reason why any individual or other entity should be concerned about or donate time or $$ to help the needy, it has already been taken care of by the government through our tax dollars.</sarcasm>

Personally, I don't believe that. I think we all should help those in need, to the best of our ability. I don't believe that is a function that is best handled by the government.

LadyJazzer wrote: No, liberals tell you that everybody in America who is poor and needs help AREN'T your anecdotal acquaintances... It's a shame you're so bitter, hate-filled, and sociopathic that you don't see that... But that's what I expect from the teabaggers these days...

And you liberals are just clueless about the poor.

It would be wonderful if there were sufficient charity to care for all that want. A simple glance back at history shows that that is untrue. Social Security and other programs did not make us less caring or obediant to Gods word. We never were.


And I am not a liberal. I am a Christian.

Nice try Rt...but I have always believed in the intent of Social Security,paid into it all those years without whining about it, and am grateful for the extra income it provides in these difficult economic times.

Can we assume that you will not take any Social Security you are entitled to? Here's your chance to take a stand on principles. Oh... I almost forgot, you're a conservative, principles mean nothing....greed is everything. Kinda like Perry whining about the stimulous...that he then took as much as he could get....and used it to create jobs ...and then claimed the stimulus was a failure because it didnt create any jobs.

Yeah...stand on your principles RT, and reject the Social Security and Medicare you hate so much.
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SS109 wrote: Totally anecdotal: The people I know who are poor, dropped out of high school, have drinking problems, have drug issues, have kids out of wedlock, and make poor financial choices.

Where have you been hanging out? But even if all the poor are a result of poor choices and bad attitudes, which in my experience is not true, what of the children? why must we condemn the children because they have parents who made bad choices, or do drugs, or had that child out of wedlock. The idea that we must condemn the children because we don't like the adults is horrifying.

But I guess if you can convince yourself that the adults are lowlifes, drunken, lazy, and good-for-nothing human beings, it's only a small leap to deciding that their children are not worth saving, and begging on the street is what is best for them. What a nice insulated little world you all live in, you don't have to actually see the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the hopeless, and the children........so you can paint them however you want to sooth your conscience, Our government is in the best position to provide assistance to those who truly are needy.....and I don't begrudge a single tax dollar that makes life better for a child, that provides medical care and education for all people of this country, and helps this nation be one that values all it's citizens, not just those deemed worthy by the GOP.

archer wrote:

SS109 wrote: Totally anecdotal: The people I know who are poor, dropped out of high school, have drinking problems, have drug issues, have kids out of wedlock, and make poor financial choices.

Where have you been hanging out? But even if all the poor are a result of poor choices and bad attitudes, which in my experience is not true, what of the children? why must we condemn the children because they have parents who made bad choices, or do drugs, or had that child out of wedlock. The idea that we must condemn the children because we don't like the adults is horrifying.

But I guess if you can convince yourself that the adults are lowlifes, drunken, lazy, and good-for-nothing human beings, it's only a small leap to deciding that their children are not worth saving, and begging on the street is what is best for them. What a nice insulated little world you all live in, you don't have to actually see the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the hopeless, and the children........so you can paint them however you want to sooth your conscience, Our government is in the best position to provide assistance to those who truly are needy.....and I don't begrudge a single tax dollar that makes life better for a child, that provides medical care and education for all people of this country, and helps this nation be one that values all it's citizens, not just those deemed worthy by the GOP.

I am not saying all the poor are this way, but a lot of them are.
And about the children, that is the great tragedy, so many of the unfit parents don't spend their benefits on the kids, they spend it on getting high, boozing it up. Making more follish financial decisions. A few states have passed laws that will take away welfare benefits from people who can't pass booze and drug tests.

Should make conditions much better for the "real" poor. The druggies and drunks will be off the dole, more money for the unlucky.

So the liberals here, who are the poor? Unlucky people who will bounce back? People born with 3 strikes already and will never climb out of the hole?

I'm told my grandparents from Alaska lived in poverty. Additionally, I have a grandmother from Appalacia who grew up "in poverty" in the 30s.

I suppose poverty does exist in America - but having seen poverty elsewhere - I have less sympathies than I used to.

The poorest half of America lives better than 90 percent of the world.