Modern Poverty Includes A.C. and an Xbox

Modern Poverty Includes A.C. and an Xbox

www.nationalreview.com

Data from the Department of Energy and other agencies show that the average poor family, as defined by Census officials:

● Lives in a home that is in good repair, not crowded, and equipped with air conditioning, clothes washer and dryer, and cable or satellite TV service.

● Prepares meals in a kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave as well as oven and stove.

● Enjoys two color TVs, a DVD player, VCR and — if children are there — an Xbox, PlayStation, or other video game system.

● Had enough money in the past year to meet essential needs, including adequ

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Whenever I see the news reporting on the number of poor people in the US they always seem to show a family that is living out of their old van. One spouse lost their job or was injured and now they are homeless. It's always a heart wrenching story.

But when they report that 40 million US citizens are poor after the story, you are lead to believe that all the poor are living like the people in the story.

If you've got all the things listed in this story, you might not have money, but your far from poor.

We recently got back from South America. If you want to see poor, then go visit some of our South American neighbors. People are living in tin shacks without services. There is no welfare.

Poor in the world would love to be poor here in the US



www.nationalreview.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I found my xbox in the garbage. My tv (10+ years old) was given to me from a neighbour - my AC is a beast, and probably is doing more harm than good (it was left here from a previous tenant.. lol)

I am in abject poverty.

Already a topic on that, same exact title too.
Modern Poverty Includes A.C. and an Xbox

How did that happen?

Originally posted by purplemonkeydishwasher
I found my xbox in the garbage. My tv (10+ years old) was given to me from a neighbour - my AC is a beast, and probably is doing more harm than good (it was left here from a previous tenant.. lol)

I am in abject poverty.

I have an acoustic guitar, two used Nintendo DSes, my 10-15 year old Tv was given to us after we lost our house in 05 from a fire; no cable internet takes care of that. '
My AC is miraculous, considering I live in IL, It is hot as I don't know what out here. I'm poor because there's not alot of money but other then that I get three good meals a day. I'm good.

Existing thread here:
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Reply to post by purplemonkeydishwasher

No your not. Crybaby. Go sleep in the dirt every night like some third world uneducated scumbag and come back here to tell us how poor you are. For crying out loud.......


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National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."

The source is the e-version.

from: Wiki

While I respect the publication, there is no doubt that it is intended as political fodder for a debate in which the current flavor of 'conservative' traditionally postures themselves by vilifying the poor as 'pampered' and 'disproportionately' rewarded.

I have always wondered how the logic of characterizing the poor as well-off enough not to be entitled to anything outside what they already have comes about.

The objections are always emanating from the discussion that a poor person is not poor unless they live n a dirt-floor shack and eat local rodents and wild plants for sustenance. They must have no power, no communications devices, be devoid of any means to access public information and must immediate sell any marketable item they get for cash to eat. The prevailing meme includes that the poor must be stupid, lazy, probably fat, drunk, or on drugs, and either be a promiscuous sloppy lot, or somehow criminal.

Sad, sad, sad.

"When my nephew made a gift of his old X-box to my son, I didn't know we were no longer poor.... funny that."

"Poverty" should not be about possessions, but the inability to save and eventually improve one's future.

But since we a re all programmed for materialistic consumerism, it's not surprising that this meme took hold, after all ... the media says so.