Senate UN Special Rapporteur's report on poverty in the USA

This footage of the Poor People's Campaign is intensely moving.

 

My parents grew up poorer than anything @J-Rod has ever known: depression era West Virginia. They never forgot where and what they came from and never sold out their class.

 

Many of us stem from harsh soil: some emerge with grace; others with callousness.

I grew up working class, and I'll be a New Deal/Great Society lefty to my dying day.

 

Indeed we did. I never got Vader's tie fighter to go with my X-Wing and Millenium Falcon.

But I'm not ****ing bitter. Oh no. Not me. Oh no.

 

I just fundamentally fail to see how you can be part of a community and be content in seeing others suffer when you know full well that with a small sacrifice you can still maintain your own high standard of living and help them lift themselves up.

I also consider the globe to be the community I'm part of which is why I give to charities that help those in countries with extreme poverty and I'm also happy for my taxes to be used for those far less fortunate than I am.



But then I'm not (that) self centred

 

How? Deeply ingrained individualism and the false belief in natural liberty that everyone starts at the same level and has the same capabilities and access. All you need then is government to stay out of the way and magic success will happen for everybody. If it doesn't, then those who don't succeed are simply lazy or doing it the wrong way.

 

OK so a few things. What you're talking about is the correlation between psychological resilience and poverty. Resilience is simply the capacity to cope. When you look at the average, resilience is the norm. That is, most people have solid coping mechanisms. It is not an inherent trait; it is the result of successful coping with trauma in the first place. But as with anything where there's an average, or mean level of resilience, the interesting stuff happens when you get a few standard deviations from the mean.

What the Rapporteur observed, and I forgive you for not knowing this since you've resisted calls to read the report at literally ever turn, is that narratives around poverty abound in the US and are largely untrue. They have found poverty is cyclical through generations; people like you who transcended their humble origins are not the norm. And when you consider factors like resilience, and the lack of a US equivalent to the viable safety net that the first world has, you find people who are stuck in a position they are unable to get out of, quite literally.

Despite your protestations you show remarkable little empathy to people who face barriers to doing what you did.

 

“People like you who transcended their humble origins are not the norm.”

That’s their own fault. Because they’re lazy. That’s the only reason. No other societal factors even count. God as my witness.

 

Let's just consider two things.

Mean household income for 2017 in the USA was US$72,641.
Median household income for 2017 in the USA was US$59,039

Mean income is heavily distorted because of a topward tilt - there are five hundred and forty (540) billionaires in the USA. So therefore mean is all incomes divided by all income earners. Though of course there's the whole "tax dodge" element of the US tax code but sssssh little ones, let's blame Mexicans!

I don't see how J-Rod can ignore these indices but here we are.

 

I think most people who 'transcend' their humble origins probably don't take enough time away from their focused self congratulation to consider some of the other factors at play, other than "grit" and "determination" of course. Personally speaking, I was able to get ahead because I live in a country that does not create impossible barriers to entry to obtain an education and education and poverty are inextricably linked. So I was able to leave my factory **** kicker job and go to University with about $12 in my bank account and with no financial assistance from anyone other than the fact that my university education was largely free (except for a contribution which I paid back to the government once I got a job and started earning an income).

Not sure if this a viable option for poor people in the US but if not then that is the kind of way the gubment can assist in ending the poverty cycle.

 

The problem has been, and always will be, the myth of the 'level playing field' that conservatives push - the idea that J-Rod has continually pushed (while persistently ignoring people pointing out that those born with wealth are not on a ****ing level playing field) - which smugly assigns willpower and hard work to equate to financial reward. There's an inherent racism and sexism component, of course, because taking the initial faulty premise to its logical conclusion ends with "those groups that are generally paid less/consistently poor/less educated"... well, that must be something inherent in them, whether genetically or (for the 'kinder' racists) a product of their awful culture. Even those people who find such thoughts just abhorrent will often still look down on 'the poor' in general, as people deserving of their fate of being lazy and complacent.

But we see it every day. That for the poor, medical expenses are - well - more expensive. Big purchases requiring loans are more expensive. Scammers and predatory companies prey on the poor. For those with persistent medical conditions that they can't afford to treat, especially military veterans, they are often pushed below the poverty line. This is what government is for. Because the ****ing enemy of people are the corporations, and wealthy, and organizations with their agendas to support their own causes to the detriment to the rest of humanity - those are the actual 'evil entities' that people need to be protected from.

As Terry Pratchett once wrote: "The common people? They're nothing special. They're no different from the rich and powerful except they've got no money or power. But the law should be there to balance things up a bit."

 

Apprenticeship programs do exist, just not widespread, and are often hidden. The good ones are usually highly specialized, though, it's something I discovered when researching apprenticeships in RI. But at least our state now has 2 years of free community college, even if it's only for recent high school graduates. It would be more effective if they had it free or near-free for all residents.

 

The fact I was born into an upper middle class family, went to an elite Public (private) school, and earn a six figure salary is all down to willpower I don't know what you're on about @blackmyron.

 

I believe General Dynamics/Electric Boat announced an apprenticeship (no pun intended) for the CT facility to bolster the work force due to demand? Speaks directly to the issue of defense spending but it goes to the ability to earn without a formalized education.

 

Oh, it is very relevant and I have experienced it and witnessed it first hand. Add to this the practices of certain Rent To Own companies for something as basic as being able to provide your child a bed. Weekly/monthly payments with an inflated overall cost of the items vs. the actual value and it adds to the cycle of more money going out while the same, often not enough money coming in.

 

I do love the irony of this thread though.

UN Special Rappoteur: There's a mythology about the poor being lazy in American, which is not supported by facts.
J-Rod, who didn't read the rapporteur's report: The poor are lazy in America.

Bless.

 

Average worker can't afford 2-bedroom apartment anywhere in US, report says

 

BOOT STRAPS


my god you are all so stupid

BOOT STRAPS BOOTSTRAPS BOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS


If one person can overcome a wealth of misfortune and be highly commended for his/her ability to do so then why can't everyone else in the world irrespective of their own issues and challenges. Lazy, just lazy and even if people with learnin' and loads of evidence that suggests that this individuals situation is the exception rather than the rule and agree that this individual should be commended for their own ability to be prepared to give blood/semen/kidneys/brain matter etc... to enable their bootstraps to work. the fact that those with evidence and learnin' suggest that there should also be some sort of support for the many many many people in the world who just do not have this level of fortitude for what ever reason (lazy obvs.) ergo means that those with learnin' are socialists and hate 'murica.


yay gunz

 

God forbid we have some form of rent control or expanded, fully funded public housing.

 

Or a minimum wage that's liveable and an end to the so American it pisses eagles practice of underpaying workers so they can beg for tips.

Honestly there's nothing worse than trying to enjoy a meal in the US and having someone interrupt your meal to ask in a transparently insincere fashion if everything is ok because if they don't they won't get to eat, themselves.