NM Leon
New member
Quote:Of course, it is also possible that an upper class is not possible without a lower class.
In literal terms this is absolutely correct. It's also completely meaningless unless you happen to be a liberal politician who promotes and uses "class envy" in order to get votes.
I really could care less how much money Bill Gates has, or how much money the CEO of Exxon Mobil makes. To the extent that I think about them at all, it just proves to me that it IS possible for anyone to "make it" in America.
We often hear that "the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer". That's absolute bunk. Everybody is substantially better off today than in years past, especially "the poor".
As of 2007:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
If America's poor were to form their own country, they would have a better standard of living then the average European country.
Forget poor, how many average American families had it so good even a relatively short time span ago.
Want to know what poverty really is?
Years ago I worked in India, crew-changing out of Bombay. On the trip into the city from the airport, there are miles of "settlements" in the 50' or so between the road and concrete walls lining the road. In this right of way are "dwellings" that don't even rise to the level of hovels. Constructed of burlap sacking, pieces of wood, and an occasional sheet of corrugated tin, they were about 4' high by about 8' square. No electricity/water/etc, with a small charcoal brazier out front, generations of families, kids, parents, and grandparents lived in each of these constructs.
Wait though, those weren't the poor people.
In the city itself, you would see people working as laborers, with a piece of threadbare rug or blanket rolled up and tied to their back. That bedroll contained everything that person owned. They literally carried everything they owned on their back. At night they would pay a shop owner for the privilege of being allowed to sleep on the sidewalk in front of his shop.
Hang on, even those weren't the poor people of India.
You would see emaciated beggars, near starvation, who wore either a loin cloth or absolutely nothing at all. They always had their hand out begging. Most Indians who were in a giving mood would give them a scrap of food which would go immediately into their mouth, a a literal hand to mouth existence. when one of us westerners gave the beggar a coin, he would immediately give it to a street vendor for food which would then go into his mouth.
THAT'S a poor person.
The typical American has no clue, and unfortunately isn't educated enough to be able to percieve that the "class envy" bull is all a con game to get crooked politicians elected and to maintain control over him.
In literal terms this is absolutely correct. It's also completely meaningless unless you happen to be a liberal politician who promotes and uses "class envy" in order to get votes.
I really could care less how much money Bill Gates has, or how much money the CEO of Exxon Mobil makes. To the extent that I think about them at all, it just proves to me that it IS possible for anyone to "make it" in America.
We often hear that "the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer". That's absolute bunk. Everybody is substantially better off today than in years past, especially "the poor".
As of 2007:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
If America's poor were to form their own country, they would have a better standard of living then the average European country.
Forget poor, how many average American families had it so good even a relatively short time span ago.
Want to know what poverty really is?
Years ago I worked in India, crew-changing out of Bombay. On the trip into the city from the airport, there are miles of "settlements" in the 50' or so between the road and concrete walls lining the road. In this right of way are "dwellings" that don't even rise to the level of hovels. Constructed of burlap sacking, pieces of wood, and an occasional sheet of corrugated tin, they were about 4' high by about 8' square. No electricity/water/etc, with a small charcoal brazier out front, generations of families, kids, parents, and grandparents lived in each of these constructs.
Wait though, those weren't the poor people.
In the city itself, you would see people working as laborers, with a piece of threadbare rug or blanket rolled up and tied to their back. That bedroll contained everything that person owned. They literally carried everything they owned on their back. At night they would pay a shop owner for the privilege of being allowed to sleep on the sidewalk in front of his shop.
Hang on, even those weren't the poor people of India.
You would see emaciated beggars, near starvation, who wore either a loin cloth or absolutely nothing at all. They always had their hand out begging. Most Indians who were in a giving mood would give them a scrap of food which would go immediately into their mouth, a a literal hand to mouth existence. when one of us westerners gave the beggar a coin, he would immediately give it to a street vendor for food which would then go into his mouth.
THAT'S a poor person.
The typical American has no clue, and unfortunately isn't educated enough to be able to percieve that the "class envy" bull is all a con game to get crooked politicians elected and to maintain control over him.
