Caring About Those Trapped in Poverty is Fundamental to Being a Liberal

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Caring about "the least among us", and changing those circumstances with the tools of government is essential to liberalism.

First of all, what is poverty? Who defines it?

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Since the 1960s, the United States government has defined poverty in absolute terms. When the Johnson administration declared "war on poverty" in 1964, it chose an absolute measure. The "absolute poverty line" is the threshold below which families or individuals are considered to be lacking the resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living; having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter and clothing needed to preserve health.

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The poverty guideline figures are not the figures the Census Bureau uses to calculate the number of poor persons. The figures that the Census Bureau uses are the poverty thresholds. The Census Bureau provides an explanation of the difference between poverty thresholds and guidelines.[24] The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty.[22] The 2010 figure for a family of 4 with no children under 18 years of age is $22,541, while the figure for a family of 4 with 2 children under 18 is $22,162.[25] For comparison, the 2011 HHS poverty guideline for a family of 4 is $22,350.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States

http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/poverty-rate-by-raceethnicity/

As of 2015, if you are a single person, live in the contiguous U.S., according to HHS, if your income is over $11,770, you do not live in poverty. Clearly a lot more people than our counted by the government, live in actual though not official poverty.

16% if the U.S. population lives in official poverty. 20% of children live in poverty. 10% of whites, 27% of blacks and 24% of hispanics live in poverty.

But what does living in poverty mean? It negatively impacts virtually every facet of one's life. It means food insecurity and health insecurity. It means lousy schools. It means dangerous neighborhoods. It's means humiliation and being demeaned. It means a shorter, more brutal life. It means constant worry over things that those who don't live in poverty, scarcely give a moment's time to. It means not fixing your car when it breaks down. It means not being able to afford a lawyer. It can literally mean brain damage.

Poverty matters. It is a huge issue. It should be a big issue to anyone who calls themself a liberal.