General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 80% of the US Population is at or below the POVERTY line - WHY is this NOT a National Emergency??? [View all]passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)I didn't even read the whole OP. I only read the link to the article that mistated the facts. I wasn't aware this thread was a plea for understanding and help for someone in need. I too live close to poverty, so I know what it feels like. I'm not a parent though, I live alone, and I can't imagine what it would be like to be a parent under such circumstances.
I am not trying to pile on anyone, as I said I hadn't read the thread so did not realize how many spoke up the same as I did. But there is a reason we did. It was inaccurate, and when people start using inaccurate "facts" to try to move people, the people to whom facts are important, get hung up on that, rather than reacting to the rest of the post. I was so hung up on it, I didn't even get to the real reason for the OP (and I was trying to rush outside to work before dark).
I do feel for the OP...I do believe our poverty rate levels are set too low, and as someone said above, they don't reflect the real poverty rate in different locations of the country. Another poster said the things we need to address are not just wages, which is true. We need to look at why the middle class is falling into lower class status, and how to stop the inequality of our social classes and start enabling people to move upward again. Part of that is in providing affordable health care and education. Also increasing minimum wage and using taxes to level the playing field a bit.
We also need to address this problem before we become another "Grapes of Wrath" situation. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of suffering to get people desperate enough to overcome their inertia caused by the poverty itself (as the OP mentioned...it is depressing to live that way).