Online essay becomes message board for poverty in America "Being Poor"

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Now we know who to give the credit to for the list that made the rounds here after Hurricane Katrina.

:)

Online essay becomes message board for poverty in America

By MARTHA MENDOZA
AP National Writer
Author, essayist and blogger John Scalzi wanted to respond to Hurricane Katrina - he wanted to help. And so he sat down at his keyboard and began to write.

His essay, "Being Poor," gives readers a glimpse of poverty in America. And in the weeks since he posted it on his Web site, www.scalzi.com, the essay has become a growing, living document, as contributors from around the world added their thoughts.

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In it's last lines, Scalzi writes of Katrina's poorest survivors, and the plight of poor people everywhere:

"Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
"Being poor is seeing how few options you have.
"Being poor is running in place.
"Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave."

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Scalzi said he wrote the essay in response to public surprise at the plight of impoverished people in New Orleans who didn't have the means to evacuate.

snip>

"People think these poor people are just lazy and dumb," he said, "but I see these people working harder than I've ever worked in my life. I can guarantee you that if being lazy and dumb was criteria for who's poor and who's rich, things would be very different in this country."

a little more - http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=79877

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. kick

:shrug:

[Tsiyu]

2. "things would be very different in this country."

There are a great many people just now realizing the truth in this.

More will follow as the economy continues to sink. Because of the lower pay scale in the "new " jobs ** created, it will be very common for the formerly upper middle class to be working two jobs apiece, and one or both will be blue collar jobs.

One of my daughter's college classmates posted an essay on his blog concerning why folks would have to work in a factory - a job he did during the summer between academic terms.

The reasons people work in factories, according to this naive young man, are sex and drugs and cars. As an example: A guy hooks up with some chick and she gets pregnant and then he has to by diapers: presto, factory job.

Well, i know a guy with a degree in Environmental Science, childless, washing dishes for a little more than minimum wage. How the mighty who judge the poor will fall. And the credit card companies will be there to "catch" them!