Video: Rich man, poor man?

[hypocritexposer]

Have the rich gotten richer? Indeed they have, Bill Whittle says in his latest Afterburner — but so have the poor. As wealth expands, living standards rise, and Whittle shows just exactly how it did over the last 40 years in the US. In fact, he argues that the better comparison is not between the rich and the poor in this country, but between the American poor and the average citizen in Europe, Asia, and Africa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkebmhTQN-4


The ultimate arguments are this: what exactly does "poor" mean, and what is the best way to alleviate poverty? If poor in the US is defined such that 97.7% of those households have televisions, 98% have refrigerators, almost 40% have computers, and 78% have air conditioning, then we're defining "poverty" rather loosely — and that's the point. The Left wants the definition as wide as possible in order to keep more Americans on public-subsidy rolls, which then incentivizes them to support larger and more intrusive government.

What is the best way to alleviate real poverty? The data Whittle presents shows that a dynamic economy based on private property and capital choice lifts the living standard for everyone. Europe went in the nanny-state direction, and now their average qualifies as our poor, at least by living-standard metrics. That's something to keep in mind while we debate the nature of safety nets, government spending, and fiscal reform.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/08/06/video-rich-man-poor-man/


Data:

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/07/What-is-Poverty

 

[Steve]

The Left wants the definition as wide as possible in order to keep more Americans on public-subsidy rolls, which then incentivizes them to support larger and more intrusive government.

having been around the world,.. we have a fair amount of poor in it..

the poor can seldom be described by what they do have, but more by what they do not have..

when I was poor.. I had a roof over my head.. it was a decent home by world standards.. the plumbing wasn't great,.. the water heated seldom worked, but the toilet worked. and by world standards that already is above average..

we had a B&W TV, a fridge, running water, in the winter the heat worked well, as it did in the summer 8) .. and an A/C was a fan in the window.. and by world standards that is way above average..

the home was near a school, and we had a grocery store, bowling ally, movie theater, cafe, a few gas stations..and a swimming pool, by world standards that is getting up in the world.. living in an area for the well to do...

we didn't have a phone.. but we got by..

but today this would be considered substandard.. :?

I think we should outsource our poor for a year or two..

 

[okfarmer]

That is what I have thought for several years. One set of my grandparents lived in a way later in life that probably appeared as "poverty" to many, but they had a large surplus in the bank because of it.

What we think we need and what we really need are way different.

My Dad tells about living on nothing but cornbread and milk for about a year because his Dad was injured in an accident badly (by someone not insured) and physically could not work.

They were far below the poverty line by our standards, but they were still pretty rich as far as the world is concerned- their stomachs had something in it each night and they were thankful.

These thieves purposefully living off the tax payers dime today aren't even thankful.

 

[Larrry]

When my kids were in school there were many "poor' kids who got free school lunches, they or their parents drove nicer cars than me or my kids did, they had cell phones, lived in a nicer house than we did, but they were poor..go figure. Now if their parents go to the nursing home they won't have to pay a dime but I will have to pay full rate.

But on the bright side my credit rating is better than the countries

 

[Steve]

I had free lunches at school.. I didn't think much of it then.. but today I am thankful the program is around..

I remember the first time my son brought home the form.. it was a dark orange with a note saying we were required to fill it out even if we were not qualified,.. I filled it out with a red pen.. you could tell it was filled out but you couldn't read it ,... I did as required.. never saw a form again..

It is a good program.. and I try not to blame children for the actions of their parents.. even knowing that most will turn out like them anyways..

for some kids it is the only real meal they will get.

 

[Larrry]

yes, It's like I have always said when you help the down and out and I think you should. but anyone someone will come along and abuse it. That being said when it comes to feeding kids even though it might be abuse there still isn't enough reason to stop it. I even had an instance where a kid at school somehow slipped through the cracks and didn't get his free lunches so I picked up the tab for him and he never knew who was byuying lunches. I just hate to see a kid going hungry.