Poverty in the richest country in the World.

My last statistical analysis of the poverty rate in the richest country in the World was in 2006, The United States at this time had 40 Million people living way below the Federal Poverty Line, I know since then these numbers grew as that of 2008. 9 Million African Americans, 9 Million Hispanic Americans, 2 Million Asians/Native Americans, I know you are wondering about White Americans, Check this out as of 2006 and I know the numbers are growing as we are in 2008, 20 Million White Americans live way below the Federal Poverty Line in the richest country in the World, The United States of America, The land of Liberty, Democracy. This is the Illuminatti doing this to it's own CITIZENS, The Federal Government, Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars. Terrorism is going on right here at home, The United States of America. The Columbine School shootings, Virginia Tech University Massacre, The Missouri City Hall Massacre, Northern Illinois University shootings, I can go on and on. America is a sick and demented country, it is a reflection of the founding fathers in whom were nothing but the Criminals that were casted out of the prisons of Europe and were told to make a home away from home, America. Look at Cheney and Bush, John McCain is just as sick a long with Hillary Clinton, All of them are PRO WAR!!!!!!!!!!!, THE DEMENTED ONES. Poverty in the richest country in the World, Who is benefitting from all of this War and mayhem?. The Bilderbergs, Skull and Bones, The Jasons, The Jesuits, The Brotherhood of the Dragon, Scroll and Key.......The Illuminatti the order of Lucifer. They are also the causers of World famine, sucking every countries Natural Resources dry to the point where every body wants to come to America. I see a Global War about to erupt, Armageddon, Good vs. Evil.

what are your sources for this?

The richest country in the world? Today? How so? You're not counting up all that funny money that was created at will and tossed all over the world, are you? How long did the oil guzzling China-Mart shoppers think it would take before they sent enough funny dollars around the world before them foreigners could begin to afford to buy your nation right out from under your feet? (and it's becoming cheaper for them to do so with each passing day)

Once upon a time America was the place the world wanted to trade with. Now what do we have to trade? The labor union thugs chased away the largest manufactures and employers. The baggy pants hip hop crowd are too uppity to work on the farms and in the warehouses. Taxes, and OSHA, and regulations, and labor laws, and liability law suits, and... hell, who wants to try to start a business doing anything here?

Define rich. If you think it means accumulated wealth, think again. STUFF can disappear in the blink of an eye.

What is in your soul may matter more than anything else during the next few years. Forget about wealth ~ follow your soul ... it will take care of you. Deservingly.

You're probably right about a global war, but it begins as civil chaos and mayhem. Wait, you'll see. When the machines that feed the people stop, freak out will start. Whether or not that involves good vs. evil, or just a general populous panic because their beer and cigarettes and poptarts and hamburgers have stopped, along with their jobs, and their future, is debatable.

reply to post by nubiaislaam


Hi islaam,

I wonder why the poor want to enter but noone is leaving the US? Also, the "poor" here are able to live a relatively "rich" lifestyle here despite how they are rated by government statistics. You're not trying to use scare tactics are you? Where are your statistics and what might be your agenda?

The wealth of the US is not real, it's all an illusion that cannot be perpetuated much longer.

Over 35.5 million found hungry in US in 2006

need more...

From the US Census Bureau...

# The official poverty rate in 2006 was 12.3 percent, down from 12.6 percent in 2005 (Table 3).
# In 2006, 36.5 million people were in poverty, not statistically different from 2005.

US Census Bureau

At least it seems to be stable now, it was going up by about a million a year up to 2004...But it needs to go down, drastically. But when the bubble bursts these numbers will be minuscule.

Originally posted by plumranch
reply to post by nubiaislaam

 

Also, the "poor" here are able to live a relatively "rich" lifestyle here despite how they are rated by government statistics. You're not trying to use scare tactics are you? Where are your statistics and what might be your agenda?

this is what i was asking..our "poor" people wear air jordans hahaha!
either that or they are bums that do 100's of dollars of dope and liquor a day.

reply to post by ANOK


i find this hard to believe, people in america have so many options to eat, food stamps, charity, family, shelters, churches, pantries the list goes on and on. while i believe people are struggling, i cannot fathom real hunger in the united states.

there's hunger in america, you are just looking in the wrong place for it....it's not in the areas where the lowest income is...like you said, there is a whole slew of programs out there that help the poor live a rather "rich" lifestyle compared to the poor in the rest of the world. unfortunately, these programs do not reach all who need it. so there's hungry people, homeless people, people living without some of the basic necessities with a little higher income level than what is considered "proverty".
what I would seriously like to see is just what percentange of this population is getting assistance from the government, even if it's an extra $20 a month in food stamps or rental assistance. I think this would provide a better veiw as to just how heathly, or unhealthy, our economy is.

Originally posted by conspiracy nut
i find this hard to believe, people in america have so many options to eat, food stamps, charity, family, shelters, churches, pantries the list goes on and on. while i believe people are struggling, i cannot fathom real hunger in the united states.

Yes this is true. Have you ever lived on food stamps? Eaten at a soup kitchen? Spent a night in a shelter? Did any of those things stop you from being bellow the poverty level? Did any of those things keep you from not getting enough food? If you say no to the latter then you haven't experienced what it is you're judging...You can't survive on soup kitchen food for very long you just don't get enough, at least where I live.

But you're right no one is starving to death, that claim isn't being made. Also note that comes from a Government source, it is not in their interest to promote statistics like this. Very often these numbers are a lot higher than stated.

In my city to get into a shelter you have to get a lottery ticket, not the kind that wins you money but the kind that gets you a bed for the night. Not everyone gets a bed, there's not enough. Soup kitchens rely on donations and those donations are running very thin these days. I know this from experience as I'm a frequent visitor to one. And this is in a so called left leaning liberal forward thinking city.
What about families in towns that have no soup kitchens? Towns that were reliant on a single factory for their employment that closed? Lots of those in the US....

After rent a person on disability for example is left with maybe $400 to pay bills and eat for a month. Is that not poverty level?
I don't get enough food to eat, at least not good healthy food. I have to constantly balance what I buy and a lot of the time forced to eat junk because its the only thing affordable.
Food prices have gone up 3 times in the last 6 months, and they're trying to take away rent control. The only reason I'm not homeless is because of rent control. I have too many bills to pay what most people are paying for rent now, I just couldn't afford it. All of us are one check away from homelessness. Do you realise how that psychologically effects some people, especially the disabled or sick. Yeah the welfare life is soooo sweet...

Lets make this simple. The Soviet empire went bankrupt why? They spent all their money on military and not on infrustructure. Eventually they rotted from the inside out. Where is all of the US money going? I can tell you where its not going and that is infrustructure.

Poverty, and lack of meaningful employment is the root cause of most of the terrible things we see on the domestic news. In one way or another, I can show how poverty, or the threat of poverty, has created the bulk of the social ills we are experiencing today. Including drugs, school shootings, domestic violence, even rape. It may not be clear to some, but I can show you the ties. Not through numbers necessarily, but through logical deduction. I expect I will be returning to this thread to see what develops here.

Here are some of the threads I have started which discuss poverty from several different angles.

"Poor people don't pay taxes."
"Let them eat cake!"
Do not watch this video...

Poverty IS NOT the fault of those who have been shoved into the abyss.

reply to post by nubiaislaam



I agree that there is a portion of the US that lives at or below the poverty level. However as someone pointed out our poor live better and have more than other parts of the world. Many poor in the US have cars and roof over their heads. You can go to any emergency room and get medical treatment. The poor can easily find food at many different locations.

Personally I donate food and clothes all the time. Since I work in the computer business I donate computers to needy families and groups. I have people send me their old computers that I fix up and get them working again. And I do this with my own money, I never accept cash donations.

America is not sick nor demented and with all do respect, there is no secret conspiracy group controlling everything. Frankly your post seems like nothing more that a cheap excuse to attack the US with some agenda. I wonder what you say when there is no Armageddon, no WW3, and the US is still around.




[edit on 24-3-2008 by EndOfFile]

Originally posted by nubiaislaam

Their are alot of people here that can get out and get a job, they are just too damn lazy and abuse the system. Getting food and tax payers money through well-fare and food stamps. It's a shame, I live in a small city and just here I have met tons of people that can get up and get their lazy asses a job but they would rather sit and have the governement throw money at them.

and i would have to say that the majority of the people in homeless situations are in that situation because they refuse to work for whatever reason, mostly drugs and alcohol.

reply to post by Uniceft17

Their are alot of people here that can get out and get a job, they are just too damn lazy and abuse the system. Getting food and tax payers money through well-fare and food stamps. It's a shame, I live in a small city and just here I have met tons of people that can get up and get their lazy asses a job but they would rather sit and have the governement throw money at them.

I don't blame them. Why should they slave away at a job that won't even pay enough to provide for basic necessities, when such necessities such as medical care are provided once you are reamed through the system.

And just to add, welfare is no where near as glorious as people try to make it out to be. The waiting list for housing was eight years the last time I checked, and that was quite a few years ago. So what are all thos people doing in the meatime.

One more thing. If you see "poor people" driving cars, they are working. Welfare won't let you have one otherwise. Just because someone gets food stamps does not mean they are not working.

reply to post by plumranch


You bring up a damn good point, one I'm sure that many of the anti-Americans that grace this board tend to look past. As a college student, I can tell you that we tend not to make the greatest money (thus do not help those statistics out, but rather drag them down). Those types of things need to be taken into consideration when lumping such a massive population together.

As you said, our poverty is a different kind of poverty. This is especially true when you compare American poverty to world poverty.

reply to post by nubiaislaam


And please provide sources for you uncorroborated claims...

I'm going to agree with West Coast here. I'm also a college student so working only 25 hours a week at a relatively high paying job (for being part time), still puts me WAY below the poverty line. I beleive I cleared 14k in 2007. BUT... I eat out whenever I want. I drive a nice car. I live in a good neighborhood in a nice apartment. I can afford things that make me feel and even appear wealthy. True, my parents help me from time to time, but thats less than 10% of my yearly income is from my parents.

However, I'm single. It's when you add in a spouse who may or may not work, multiple kids, etc... thats when the poor really start to appear poor and probably do have trouble putting food on the table. Then there are those poor who just WILL NOT work, or try to do better for themselves.

I also save when possible. It's kind of upsetting when I see the extreme poor with three kids, using food stamps, then buying 50 dollars worth of booze and lottery tickets. They have no bank accounts and refuse to save and invest, therefore making them poor for life. And its all because living is still, in a relative way, nice even under the poverty line. Our poverty is some third world countries' upper-middle class... so keep that in mind.

Originally posted by jackinthebox
Poverty, and lack of meaningful employment is the root cause of most of the terrible things we see on the domestic news. In one way or another, I can show how poverty, or the threat of poverty, has created the bulk of the social ills we are experiencing today. Including drugs, school shootings, domestic violence, even rape. It may not be clear to some, but I can show you the ties. Not through numbers necessarily, but through logical deduction. I expect I will be returning to this thread to see what develops here.

My favorite sociology topic, having grown up from being dirt-poor to quite comfortable, is without a doubt the "poor". That being said, could you please clarify your definition of "terrible" things, Jackinthebox?
Are you speaking of general societal ills, or specific incidents? To use the examples you provided above, I would ask you to explain how school shootings are directly related to poverty. Considering that you cannot definitively prove such a thing, I would just like to know how you believe them to be connected.

Poverty IS NOT the fault of those who have been shoved into the abyss.

Yes. Yes it is. Unless you are talking about people who are too mentallyphysically ill to actually care for themselves, or children who live in a poor family (at which point its the fault of the parent/s), then the people who find themselves impoverished have themselves to blame. For some, they lack the needed education to get a better job, or perhaps any job at all in their area. For others perhaps they have children at home, and cannot afford childcare, or to leave the home. Regardless of the reason, the CAUSE of their current situation was the choices they made in life that lead them to that point. Need a better education? Make the effort, and get one. Go to a community college, or a VoTech school, or a Goodwill center where they offer job training, and get some skills. Hell, get a Mcjob and work your way up the ladder; I met a guy in college who worked as a Manager at McD's and made over 44k per year. It can provide a living wage. For parents who cannot afford to leave the home because of their children, I would say that perhaps they ought to spend less time on their backs, and more time on their feet, trying to find a job.

The only ones I feel any sympathy towards are the children of useless parents. While not going into great detail, my father was a bum (thankfully he died several years ago), and my mother was a wreck growing up. They were useless parents. I decided what my life would become, and I took control of it when I was able. Now Im college-educated, and making more money in a quarter than my entire family would have in a year.

Poverty, and the seemingly unedurable pain that accompanies it, can absolutely serve a purpose. Its not the worst thing in the world to be poor, but it can be a great motivator, and teacher. I saw what happens when you don't work your a** off to get what you want, and I will be damned if I, or my children, have to live that life. In a more general sense, the kids who come out of poverty can choose to either fight back, get an education and work hard to improve their lot in life, or become a criminal, and a failure. Too bad, so sad.

reply to post by nubiaislaam



This is not meant as nitpicking. It's just that exactitude helps keeping things clear and prevents distortions of any kind.

The USA are definitely not the "richest country" in the world, if you go by the income per capita. According to this survey Luxembourg is the current holder of that place, followed by Equatorial Guinea, UAE, Norway and Ireland.

According to 2006 data , the USA were placed third.


Here is another list.

And for more in-depth data, there is always OECD.


It goes without saying, however, that a country such as the USA should not allow itself to have poverty at all.

Then, again, that goes for every single country in the world...





[edit on 24-3-2008 by Vanitas]