Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
bloomberg.com
Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
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Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#2I hoped for a lot more out of this article. In the end it leaves us with no conclusion and no real substance for their argument. It's likelier than not that what is proposed is true, but fundamentally all they've done is make idle speculation.
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#3This comment post is going to be pure speculation.
I think the numbers in this article are right. Over the past 75 years, relative poverty has grown at a dramatic pace. Sure, everyone's quality of life has improved across the board but relative poverty is the important metric.
In the past 15 years more and more of a household income is tied up in basic needs; bills and rent/mortgages are consuming higher percentages of net income, outpacing inflation. More of the real purchasing power is going into the pockets of a few. Most people in the US economy are being squeezed and we seem to be approaching a point where there isn't much left to squeeze.
Hypothetical: there exists a figure of relative poverty where many folk will stop playing the capitalist game and instead seek alternative ways of organizing an economy.
I speculate that we're approaching that relative poverty figure and that can possibly explain why many people want to socialize wealth. For example, many people I know with $50,000+ in student debt want other people to pay for it. How many other debts would people want to have others pay for? How many recurring expenses would people want others to subsidize?
I think the source of the problem seems to be lack of entrepreneurial activities compared to the past. With all the squeezing experienced there are some folks in the population that aren't taking a risk in starting a business that would otherwise. The amount of risk one has to take on is higher as well due to regulation and having to buy politicians. Increasing the amount of competition would be an ideal way of "redistributing" wealth.
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#4The fact that US life expectancy has fallen for 2 years in a row speaks volumes.
edit: lmao please explain the downvotes
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#5This comment post is going to be pure speculation. I think the numbers in this article are right. Over the past 75 years, relative poverty has grown at a dramatic pace. Sure, everyone's quality of life has improved across the board but relative poverty is the important metric. In the past 15 years more and more of a household income is tied up in basic needs; bills and rent/mortgages are consuming higher percentages…
Are student loans a basic need?
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#6> Luckily, there is just such a concept: It’s called material security.
This is really important. There are people that are one paycheck away from not being able to afford rent and basic necessities.
I have lost my job in the past. I was calm and just enjoyed the time while I was looking for a new job. I have money saved. For a lot of people that will have been an extremely stressful situation. That kind of stress is related to bad-decision taking and reduced life expectancy.
I have seen the rise of the credit card in my country. People used to have assets, a modest life and salary increases above inflation.
Nowadays they depend more and more on credits and increase the amount borrowed from their loans. Salaries do not grow, but debt does. That is not a good life at all.
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#7The fact that US life expectancy has fallen for 2 years in a row speaks volumes. edit: lmao please explain the downvotes
This is mainly due to the drug epidemics isn't it?
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#8I hoped for a lot more out of this article. In the end it leaves us with no conclusion and no real substance for their argument. It's likelier than not that what is proposed is true, but fundamentally all they've done is make idle speculation.
Couldn't agree more, lost interest here:
>Psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that safety ranked second only to food and shelter as a basic human need. Someone who has food and a roof over their head today, but doesn’t know whether they will tomorrow, should be considered poor.
I find this premise extremely unsatisfying and non-obvious to say the least. Life is dangerous. There's no such thing as safety. Everyone's going to die, and most of us won't expect it's rapidity.
I am in no way poor, but if I lost my job and couldn't pay my bills, I'd be in trouble very quickly. That's no one's fault but my own and doesn't deserve action from anyone but me.
Re: Poverty in America: Greater Than Statistics Indicate
#9The reasons that poverty measures are the way they are is political. That other measures could be more useful for targeting suffering is irrelevant to how useful they are political.
Also, you don't have to bring the neighbors into it, or income inequality to find it an inadequate measure. Just ask: why not housing? Simple - administrations want housing prices to rise, because housing is an investment.
At least it's tied to something. World poverty measures are just arbitrary absolute amounts that have no choice but to decline every year.