Have the concepts and tolerances of what is POOR/POVERTY changed a lot?

[Krazy4Kobe]

Fat, skinny...who knows!?!
With the ever changing and expanding knowledge of science we learn more about the human body and how it functions, and, ultimately (hopefully) its ideal parameters.

Wealth, on the other hand...subjective? Relative?

What was once considered poor, say in the 16th century, is it still considered poor?
Are the poor of today to poverty as the obese are to health?

In 1959 the US declared the poverty threshold to be $1,572.
In 2012 that threshold is now ~$11,000.

However, using a simple inflation calculator, that $1,572 in 1959 is equivalent to $12,200 today.
In other words, the poor of today are 11% more poor than 50+ years ago.

Guess it is true -- the poor are getting poorer!

Find it kind of odd that the government would denigrate the poor in such a way.
Unless there is a very large group of people earning just over the poverty threshold, say $12,000, thus the gov't lowers the threshold ever so slightly therefore eliminating the 'cusp poor' from being counted within the range of poverty (and thus ruining the image of the gov't of the day!).


Any 16th century-21st century comparisons available???

 

[Ace Bandage]

Poor people are a fucking disgrace.

Get a job, Mr. Lebowski!

 

[Krazy4Kobe]

The Dude has a job -- it's called being the Dude.

 

[Ace Bandage]

Indeed, the Dude abides.

 

[STDiva]

They just need to make more money. It's science.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

"My Final Solution By Kyle Broflovski"

My dad is the smartest guy in the whole wide world. He has taught me that all poor people are actually things called clods. I wanna live in a world of only gods, so my idea to make America better is put all the poor people into camps.

If we get rid of them, there will be nothing but rich people. And there won't be any hunger, poverty, or homeless people. 'Cause they'll all be dead. The end.

 

[Harley Spencer]

Fat, skinny...who knows!?!
With the ever changing and expanding knowledge of science we learn more about the human body and how it functions, and, ultimately (hopefully) its ideal parameters.

Wealth, on the other hand...subjective? Relative?

What was once considered poor, say in the 16th century, is it still considered poor?
Are the poor of today to poverty as the obese are to health?

In 1959 the US declared the poverty threshold to be $1,572.
In 2012 that threshold is now ~$11,000.

However, using a simple inflation calculator, that $1,572 in 1959 is equivalent to $12,200 today.
In other words, the poor of today are 11% more poor than 50+ years ago.

Guess it is true -- the poor are getting poorer!

Find it kind of odd that the government would denigrate the poor in such a way.
Unless there is a very large group of people earning just over the poverty threshold, say $12,000, thus the gov't lowers the threshold ever so slightly therefore eliminating the 'cusp poor' from being counted within the range of poverty (and thus ruining the image of the gov't of the day!).


Any 16th century-21st century comparisons available???

$11,000 per what? Per year? Per month? Per day?

 

[Harley Spencer]

Sorry, DP.

 

[Ace Bandage]

$11,000 per what? Per year? Per month? Per day?

Poverty thresholds are always per year.

If $11,000 a month is on the poverty line, then $132,000 (12 months x $11,000) for the year is also on the poverty line. If you can't get by on $132,000 a year, you should be probably just be taken out back and shot.

 

[Krazy4Kobe]

If you can't get by on $132,000 a year, you should be probably just be taken out back and shot.

I'd like to try, just for a year...to see if I could manage.

 

[lurkingdirk]

I think the concept of poverty has changed in the last 50 years. In parts of the world, people assume they have the right to many things that are simply not available in other parts of the world. In the United States, for example, people assume they'll have a place to sleep, and things like a refrigerator. Well, if you can't afford one, why should one be provided for you? What gives you the inherit right to owning a fridge? Yes, life is difficult without a fridge, but I would find life difficult without a computer, chairs, a vehicle, etc. Does that mean I have the right to have those things, so I'm considered poor if I don't have them, and others should provide them for me?

I am heartily in favour of helping the poor, but not just with money. Let's work to find equitable solutions like jobs, good public transportation, blah blah blah. You all know the drill.

 

[ShikokuKichiguy]

[video]http://www.5min.com/Video/Republicans-Can-Sympathize-517238284[/video]
This crew knows 'real' poverty.

 

[Whit]

[video]http://www.5min.com/Video/Republicans-Can-Sympathize-517238284[/video]
This crew knows 'real' poverty.

:1orglaugh

 

[busaguy79]

I'm not at the poverty line but it still fucking sucks living paycheck to paycheck and have debts you try and 'forget' about lol

But I guess I could be in a much worst situation.....

 

[D-rock]

I think the concept of poverty has changed in the last 50 years. In parts of the world, people assume they have the right to many things that are simply not available in other parts of the world. In the United States, for example, people assume they'll have a place to sleep, and things like a refrigerator. Well, if you can't afford one, why should one be provided for you? What gives you the inherit right to owning a fridge? Yes, life is difficult without a fridge, but I would find life difficult without a computer, chairs, a vehicle, etc. Does that mean I have the right to have those things, so I'm considered poor if I don't have them, and others should provide them for me?

I am heartily in favour of helping the poor, but not just with money. Let's work to find equitable solutions like jobs, good public transportation, blah blah blah. You all know the drill.

I think some people can fall into a trap of thinking a lot of the poor of today are fundamentally different than the poor of years ago when they bring up things they have today that are what amounts to extremely minor luxuries. That fails to take into account some things. Namely, that #1. A long time ago things like microwaves, refrigerators, video games, and such didn't exist so the poor never had the opportunity to have them so of course there will be some today that have things like that even if they are poor just be the sheer fact the poor couldn't have had those in the past no matter what, but even much MUCH more importantly #2. When it comes to the most fundamental things that are most important in life, like job security, being paid well and fairly and getting a decent days pay for a decent days work, having a home or other decent safe and permanent place to live, being able to get good medical coverage, being able to get a good education for oneself and ones family, being able to properly take care of ones children, being in a stable economic condition where one can reasonably plan long term without worrying about getting screwed over when something economically changes on them and being ruined, among other things that those trinkets and minor luxuries don't mean squat and all the major difficulties that the poor face in the past they face today.





I should also mention that's it's things like that why I have to shake my head at the people that nearly spazz out in criticizing people like the occupy Wall Street people or others because they (gasp) might have a cell phone or some other minor thing like that, for example. (Also neglecting the fact that economically they might very well need one now.) Really, some of them are facing a lot of those major hurdles to having a reasonably good quality of life I mentioned, and things are getting worse all the time for people, and because they pull out something like that there are people that now somehow think everything goes great for them? It's like there are people out there that think even though the system we live under is starting to ruin people's lives and livelihoods and those of the ones they love and care about they shouldn't complain because at some time they were somehow thrown a bone.

When it comes down to it unless we are talking about people that are so poor and live in such abject poverty they might have to worry about eating and managing to somehow live to the next day on a daily basis, there really isn’t any fundamental difference between the poor and disadvantaged that have a few minor luxuries and those that don’t. That’s not an indication of any reasonable better quality of life.

 

[Will E Worm]

No, people know when they are poor.

When you can't afford a new or even used Cadillac then you're poor.

 

[StanScratch]

At one time, a person had "their own" land to farm off of. Of course, if they found themselves unable to continue to produce enough live goods, their farm could be taken away by the "true" land owners.
Now, we have houses, cars, TVs, computers and such that we "own"...but if we don't make the payments, the banks - the "true" owners - will take them away.
The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

 

[Sam Fisher]

Once we agree that it is a legitimate function of government to seize the wealth created by some and turn it over to others in exchange for votes, we set our society on course to become a depraved kleptocracy in which those of us who are not lazy or stupid are enslaved by those who are.

This video says it all.

 

[ShikokuKichiguy]