His fact-finding mission into the richest nation the world has ever known has led him to investigate the tragedy at its core: the 41 million people who officially live in poverty.
Of those, 9 million have zero cash income – they do not receive a cent in sustenance.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Extreme Poverty In America
Guardian UK: A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America - The UN’s Philip Alston is an expert on deprivation – and he wants to know why 41m Americans are living in poverty. The Guardian joined him on a special two-week mission into the dark heart of the world’s richest nation by Ed Pilkington
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5 comments:
That's easy when a few dozen families own half the countries wealth is the reason. American's are living through a second Gilded Age. Donald Trumpf and his gilded Versailles in Palm Beach epitomize this age. Things have returned to the way things were in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.
I know it sounds amazing that there are almost 10 mil. people adults that have zero cash income. How do they survive? Mostly by living with someone with an income and on charity and welfare the little that exists anymore. I see it all around me even among formally middle class people. I know myself that all we can manage anymore is paying our bills which consist of mostly Ins. payments and taxes anymore. Very little is left over for anything else. It's why malls and restaurants are closing everywhere. The money in this society is now concentrated near the very top and for some reason that's ok. Both parties have been complicit in this massive redistribution of wealth the last 40 yrs.
Yes, there is a real constriction of money lately across the board. And yes the people on top are way way beyond rolling in it. We feel it too and we do have income streams and jobs, although mine is only PT now. I just went through a biopsy and all kinds of medical stuff and the array of bills that follow is daunting. Fortunately I have experience with being financially tested.
I hope everything turns out well for you. It's a scary rollercoaster ride as you get older. I feel as if I just go from one test to the next and then the next.
Right now I'm all clear, no scheduled appointments till May. This year I was seeing doctors every month practically. Yes, getting older man. It's not fun is it. I work hard at trying to maintain. Exercise and diet are really big, a little weight training. Keeping mentally active. Keeping the weight down too, that's big. Finding something challenging and new is good. There's a guy in my neighborhood in his early 70s and he's out there all the time running miles every day. He's thin as a rail, sharp as a tack.
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