I realize facts often get in the way of people’s opinions, but here are some from the U. S. Census Bureau that should have a bearing on the way people think about the growing economic disparity in our nation.
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– the poverty line used by the government for an individual is $11,000 a year;
$15,000 for an individual with one child; $23,000 for a family of four.
– 31 million people lived below the poverty line in 2000, or 11 % of the
population; in 2009 that number was 46.2 million, or 15.1 %
– In 2010 the Census Bureau began factoring in cash benefits such as food
stamps, child tax credits, and school lunches, as many insisted it should,
but also began including expenses the poor must pay for health care,
housing, taxes (yes, they do pay), utilities. and child care. Instead of
dropping, the recalibrated figure rose to 49.1 million, or 16.1 %
– Using this new formula the number of Americans living below the poverty
line in 2011 grew by 600,000, primarily because of the number of people
working jobs at minimum wage or less.
– In addition to the nearly 50 million Americans below the poverty line,
another 50 million live just above the line for all the categories noted above.
This means that in a nation of 331 million people, 100 million officially live
in poverty and are hovering just above it.
– “…there are a record number of Americans on food stamps because there are a
record number of Americans in poverty.” (Jordan Weissman, The Atlantic magazine)
– In a third of the states judges jail people who cannot pay a traffic fine, even
though a Supreme Court ruling in 1983 said it was unconstitutional to imprison
people solely because they’re unable to pay such fines. In short, municipal courts
are doing what is illegal, but people are too poor to challenge the action.
– The wealthiest Americans have seen their income rise at a record pace during
the same period of time more and more Americans are falling into poverty or are
living on the edge of it.
– The overwhelming majority of people living in poverty or near it have jobs
that pay minimum wage or less.
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These are facts that represent a trend toward increasing poverty here in the U. S. the likes of which we have not seen in a very long time.
Some people will continue to believe the poor are made up mostly of people who are lazy and don’t want to work, and that public assistance has created a “nanny state” that encourages people to do nothing to help themselves.
But I side with those who look at these facts and see people who don’t want to be poor, people who would prefer to have a decent job that pays a fair wage rather than subsisting on help from the government that keeps them well below the poverty line. I believe the poor are people who at the moment need help they wish they didn’t have to accept.
So I support public policies that reflect the best about us as a people, and help the “least of these” among us Jesus talked about. It seems to me that is the “least” I can do, and I don’t believe for a minute that doing so is creating a nation of “dependents.” It is, instead, nurturing a nation of inter-dependents, making our country better than it might otherwise be.
linnposts.com 
Right on! I share your view. I wish more members of Congress would also share that view, get off their silly ideological stumps, and do something for the good of the country as a whole.
I too agree, and understand the reference to Christ’s emphasis on those who are the “least”. Jimmy Carter recently commented on this same topic by saying: “If you don’t want part of your taxes going to help the poor then don’t say you want a nation based on Christian principles because you don’t!”
The government of this country has become an obstacle to the “pursuit of happiness” for ordinary people as an extension of the corporate class and we ordinary people must become like water and flow around it now to accomplish our goals, in the short run. Long term, there must be a large scale awakening followed by action, like those who perpetrated the first “Tea Party’ in Boston against the then first multinational corporation, England’s India Tea Company. Yes, theirs was NOT a tax revolt but a revolt against the subversion of all local and international tea suppliers through low prices facilitated by special duty-free arrangements and larger than normal ships to decrease shipping costs. (A 1700’s Walmart) In our own way we need to execute a “tea party” dumping of goods or services to hit capitalist imperialists where they feel it most and then demand constitutional democracy be reinstated, peacefully if possible. The longer we wait the tougher it becomes…something the original Tea Partyers recognized too. Increasing poverty is one of many symptoms that we all have a very large national problem!
Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. It takes a village to change this not government.
Les L Taylor
I feel very uncomfortable when I see our country treating people unkindly because of wrong assumptions. I am very concerned over the under-employed. I am afraid we are better at judging others than at bringing change -needed change -to help move people to a place of hope and healthy interdependence with the rest of us.
Not everyone is lazy or un-American just because they are underemployed. When a person tries to open a new business and it just doesn’t make because of his or her inability to compete at that time doesn’t make them a bad person. Well, most of you can come up with a list of the wounded in our society due to no fault of their own. Our economy can be tough on people.
I believe it is in everyone interest to deal with the economic disparity. It is my fear that we will continue to judge other people rather than change the situation. Let’s not wait until this crisis becomes a catastrophe.
Grace and Peace!