37 million poor hidden in the land of plenty

[Judi Lynn]

37 million poor hidden in the land of plenty

Americans have always believed that hard work will bring rewards, but vast numbers now cannot meet their bills even with two or three jobs. More than one in 10 citizens live below the poverty line, and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening

Paul Harris in Kentucky
Sunday February 19, 2006
The Observer


The flickering television in Candy Lumpkins's trailer blared out The Bold and the Beautiful. It was a fantasy daytime soap vision of American life with little relevance to the reality of this impoverished corner of Kentucky.
The Lumpkins live at the definition of the back of beyond, in a hollow at the top of a valley at the end of a long and muddy dirt road. It is strewn with litter. Packs of stray dogs prowl around, barking at strangers. There is no telephone and since their pump broke two weeks ago Candy has collected water from nearby springs. Oblivious to it all, her five-year-old daughter Amy runs barefoot on a wooden porch frozen by a midwinter chill.

It is a vision of deep and abiding poverty. Yet the Lumpkins are not alone in their plight. They are just the negative side of the American equation. America does have vast, wealthy suburbs, huge shopping malls and a busy middle class, but it also has vast numbers of poor, struggling to make it in a low-wage economy with minimal government help.

A shocking 37 million Americans live in poverty. That is 12.7 per cent of the population - the highest percentage in the developed world. They are found from the hills of Kentucky to Detroit's streets, from the Deep South of Louisiana to the heartland of Oklahoma. Each year since 2001 their number has grown.
(snip/...)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1712965,00.html

[WhiteTara]

1. I saw a book club discussion about Nickle and

Dimed. An elderly woman (in her 70's - 80's) seemed quite surprised that people were unable to live on $5.25 per hour. She seemed in deep denial that there was any other lifestyle than her own.

[barb162]

2. I suspect 37 million is on the low side

just like unemployment is understated

[raccoon]

7. Exactly, I think you could take the official poverty figures and

multiply by 2 to get a more realistic figure.

[Briar]

3. It's hard to see what hope there is for the American poor

There's too much indifference to their plight. As the article says later:

"In America, to be poor is a stigma. In a country which celebrates individuality and the goal of giving everyone an equal opportunity to make it big, those in poverty are often blamed for their own situation. Experience on the ground does little to bear that out. When people are working two jobs at a time and still failing to earn enough to feed their families, it seems impossible to call them lazy or selfish. There seems to be a failure in the system, not the poor themselves."

It points out that Edwards spoke out for them initially, then toned down his support when he was adopted as a candidate and had to to appeal to the "centre". Arguing for a change to the social and economic structure is obviously seen as a vote loser.

[ikojo]

4. Why does it take a British paper to report on class

disparities and the lie of class mobility in the US?

[Briar]

5. According to the article, because

in America poverty is a stigma. "In a country that prides itself on a culture of rugged individualism, hard work and self-sufficiency, it is no surprise that poverty and the poor do not have a central place in America's cultural psyche." Americans look the other way.

[ikojo]

6. American culture also has a strong Calvinst

streak which maintains the rich are rich because they are favored by god and the poor are not so favored or have sinned their way into poverty.

[raccoon]

8. For one bright shining moment, there was concern about the

poor in America. Remember the Great Society?

[sarcasmo]

9. Over forty million with out health insurance as well as the thirty seven

million poor. The Idiot in chief has only made the poor suffer more.