poverty in america

[kunjuppu]

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mcdowell-county-west-virginia-

the title is meant to be an oxymoron.

for no other country, has had its founding principles, 'the right to happiness' enshrined in their constitution, and happiness was meant specifially as material comfort.

the overwhelming number of immigrants (except african slaves) came in search of better life to the usa.

so, it is sort of shocking, to see pix like the url attached.

i have seen equally dismal pictures of the bedford-stuyvesant neighbourhood in new york city. but then that is an afro american neighbourhood. this above is 100% white.

in canada too, we have miserable man made landscapes like this - in sudbury, where a once huge inco nickel mine, raped the land and left it like moon craters. inco is no more, and those that took over inco, refuse to remedy and set nature right. what to do.

 

[Nara]

...for no other country, has had its founding principles, 'the right to happiness' enshrined in their constitution, and happiness ....

Declaration of Independence, not constitution ....

 

[KRS]

Dear Sri Kunjuppu Ji,

Capitalism is brutal. Businesses demand a well educated work force nowadays. In the shuffle, folks like these lose out.

Of course, the goverment should help. Not in terms of hand outs, but perhaps re training folks like these for free to get hired by companies that need skilled labor.

But then, with deep roots in a declining place, these folks are probably afraid to move out, as a lot of their fellow dwellers seemed to have done so.

Regards,
KRS

 

[biswa]

for no other country, has had its founding principles, 'the right to happiness' enshrined in their constitution, and happiness was meant specifially as material comfort.

Mr. Kunjuppu, I think you meant "the right to the pursuit of happiness", and Mr. Nara has already pointed out the right document. (As a Canadian, I think you did fine)

But nitpicking aside, I think the founders were quite wise. We can devote our whole life to the pursuit of happiness, but the state of happiness itself is quite ephemeral.

 

[kunjuppu]

the most numerous used racial epithets in the usa, that i know, is n****r, and 'poor white trash'. of the two, i find pwh more ironic,
as the country and its institutions are slanted towards the prosperity of this group.

one only has to understand, and i as a brown canadian find it difficult to imagine, that for many white folks, simply walking into a store and asking for a job, is enough. to get one. as simple as that.

in a way, it is a soporofic, for most of the white kids i know, dont have a clue, how to compete and get jobs. all along it has fallen on their lap. just because of the society they live in, the prosperity and above all a sense of entitlement, felt both, by the requestor and the giver, that a white unemployed person is not acceptable.

also, a white teenager, sparkling clean, has an endearing image, and is given the benefit of the doubt, for hard work, honesty and above all the chance. a big word, this chance. for unless the employer gives you the chance, you cannot start on the workforce.

today, i can speak only for canada here, it is the chinese kids who have replaced the whites, for hard work, dependency and honesty. as a generalization, this may be flawed, but what an excellent stereotype, the previous set of immigrants have set for the next generation!

i myself, and mrs K, for that matter, in a super market, with many checkout aisles, will gravitate towards the one manned by a chinese person, regardless of age or sex, for within us, has embedded the feeling, that we will get quick service. sometimes it unnerves mrs K at the fast rate of checkout, and she double checks the bill for mistakes (never any so far).

the brown kids of all nationalities, do not appear to enter the part time work force with the same enthusiasm or number. none of the tambram kids, except mine, took up part time jobs. i do not know the reason, but that appears to be the norm here, for both girls and guys. only the muslims appear to send their teenage sons for jobs, atleast from what little i have seen or know.

back to the whites here. when i see a white person begging, i often wonder, what it is in them has failed, so that in a rich kind society, these are forced to the streets. i see white teenagers begging, and many of these are runaway from abusive homes. all this not in great numbers, but for a country with so much riches, even one person in the street, is one person too many. and there are far more than that, to occupy all the major intersections of toronto.

surprisingly, with all the handicaps and roadblocks, it is the immigrants whom you dont find begging. no matter what, wherever, whenever, however, for the base minimum wage, they appear to find jobs. in places that one cannot imagine would ever hire a person. which is why, the white countries need immigrants - low wage, high intensity, manual and dirty job doers. i guess.

 

[biswa]

But Mr. Kunjuppu, do you not believe in the bell curve? Why would you expect prosperity to have a uniform distribution even for white people? It is almost like violating the law of large numbers.

 

[Nara]

.... that for many white folks, simply walking into a store and asking for a job, is enough. to get one. as simple as that.....also, a white teenager, sparkling clean, has an endearing image, and is given the benefit of the doubt, for hard work, honesty and above all the chance.

K, This is true of any young kid, a clean cut, sparkling teenager, black, white, or brown, will get that job from an older employer in a store. Racism is not faced by these kids, but those who wear their hat backwards and their trousers way below the waist line, black or white.

in a super market, with many checkout aisles, will gravitate towards the one manned by a chinese person, regardless of age or sex, for within us, has embedded the feeling, that we will get quick service. sometimes it unnerves mrs K at the fast rate of checkout, and she double checks the bill for mistakes (never any so far).

This is news to me, Canadians are after all as racist as anyone else I suppose !!

back to the whites here. when i see a white person begging, i often wonder,

I wonder too, for all the social safety net and social welfare, I was surprised to find white panhandler in Niagara Falls, Canada, yes, on the Canadian side, not U.S. This took me by surprise. Easy money in a touristy spot for a joint is too much to resist I suppose. For all I know, the white panhandler may be from south of the river!!

All said and done, I think it is easy and convenient to blame the poor for their poverty. It is not the free enterprise system, one that demands enterprise from all, that keeps the poor, poor. On the contrary, it is the crony capitalism, a system in which the nexus between the rich and powerful on the one hand, and the political class on the other (both Republican and Democratic) that perpetuates this exploitative system. There is no reason why these people must suffer the ignominy of poverty when we spend billions every week bombing people around the world.

Cheers!

 

[kunjuppu]

K, This is true of any young kid, a clean cut, sparkling teenager, black, white, or brown, will get that job from an older employer in a store. Racism is not faced by these kids, but those who wear their hat backwards and their trousers way below the waist line, black or white.


This is news to me, Canadians are after all as racist as anyone else I suppose !!

I wonder too, for all the social safety net and social welfare, I was surprised to find white panhandler in Niagara Falls, Canada, yes, on the Canadian side, not U.S. This took me by surprise. Easy money in a touristy spot for a joint is too much to resist I suppose. For all I know, the white panhandler may be from south of the river!!

All said and done, I think it is easy and convenient to blame the poor for their poverty. It is not the free enterprise system, one that demands enterprise from all, that keeps the poor, poor. On the contrary, it is the crony capitalism, a system in which the nexus between the rich and powerful on the one hand, and the political class on the other (both Republican and Democratic) that perpetuates this exploitative system. There is no reason why these people must suffer the ignominy of poverty when we spend billions every week bombing people around the world.

Cheers!

precisely Nara,

when we see whites begging, i always wonder, what it is that takes them to such abject situations - bad marriage, nervous breakdowns, abusive parents, depression..whatever.

canada, indeed has a safety net, and there are jobs, and welfare systems, so that there is no need to beg. but there are still beggars, and while i wonder as to the cause, i know of folks, brown folks, who have no sympathies for these guys.

i am really at a loss, and like goldsmith's 'man in black', i do secretly slip in something, without my companions being aware of my charity. otherwise, i would be subject to no end of lecturing

 

[prasad1]

kunjuppu post#8

A 2002 study of 54 panhandlers in Toronto reported that of a median monthly income of $638 Canadian dollars (CAD), those interviewed spent a median of $200 CAD on food and $192 CAD on alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, according to Income and spending patterns among panhandlers.
Bose, Rohit and Hwang, Stephen W. (2002-09-03). "Income and spending patterns among panhandlers". Canadian Medical Association Journal. pp. 167(5): 477–479.

Panhandling: It's all in the pitch - Toronto - CBC News
More than 5,000 homeless in Toronto but only 1 in 5 panhandles.

According to a study in the journal of the Canadian Medical Association, "(70%) stated that they would prefer a minimum-wage job, typically citing a desire for a 'steady income' or 'getting off the street.' However, many felt they could not handle conventional jobs because of mental illness, physical disability or lack of skills.
Begging - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia