Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Rich Man, Poor Man

[VIDEO] I was alerts to this commentary from an e-mail from PJTV. Whittle attacks those who believe that the poor has a rough ride in this country. Except that many of them own things that surely many in well-to-do households would take for granted. Refrigerators, TVs, microwaves, video games, PCs, even air conditioning!

So how much worse off is the poor in this country if they can afford those luxuries?

Innocent Bystanders: The Poverty Brand™

Are people really OK and unashamed of their poverty and whatever claiming poverty would get them? Here's what Innocent Bystanders blog says about that idea:

During the Great Depression, my Grandpa Dave worked for the Works Progress Administration building roads. (This was FDR’s failed “stimulus” plan.) I heard about how he would come home exhausted and drenched in sweat. He worked himself half to death, because he was ashamed to be receiving public assistance and wanted to prove to himself that he had earned his pay. That is the attitude we need today. Instead, we have created a culture where women think it is perfectly OK to make a career out of being sluts, pumping out babies, and expecting the public to take care of them and their bastards.

I have the solution. Let’s make poverty shameful again. Let’s expurgate the entire concept of “entitlement” from our public discourse, and go back to the concept of charity. Poor people should feel pitied. Instead, they feel oppressed if they don’t think the government is doing “enough.”

See, I have no issue with a social safety net. I just think the beneficiaries of this net should be grateful and embarrassed. Instead, we have a growing population who thinks they are “entitled” to food stamps, AFDC, Section 8 housing, a free cell phone, health care, a nice hot lunch for the kids instead of Mom packing a lunch box (even in the summer), and on and on.

The “entitlement” mentality perfectly suits the massive bureaucracies that support their dependencies and are very well paid to do so, and the fraudsters who prey on the system. So, in America we have “poor” people who, by any global standard, are living large with cable TV, air conditioning and internet access. Meanwhile, the average taxpayer is getting raped.

Via Instapundit!

Are there still poor people in America?

Megan Cottrell takes a conservative to task for his beliefs that America is not full of poor people. Here's her response to that!

Poor people are morbidly obese because good, nutritious food is more expensive than cheap, high calorie junk food. Eating well is a luxury.

Poor people have cell phones because they’re cheaper than land lines, and they often have the pay-as-you-go plans, which means they’re shut off every other month when they can’t afford to pay anymore.

Yes, many poor people do have big screen TVs. But one, many poor people rent their TVs and appliances from places like Rent-A-Center because they rarely have enough cash on hand to make a big purchase. Rent-A-Center doesn’t rent out little economical TVs. Who wants to rent that? Second, upward mobility is so lousy in this country for certain groups of people that many people believe they’ll never be rich, so they might as well enjoy themselves now, rather than saving for the future. It might seem silly to you, but when you live paycheck to paycheck, you have a different attitude about the future.

Pretty much anyone who is poor in America and did own their own home are now in foreclosure. Like the TVs, some have fancy cars that they “own,” (and by own, I mean make the payments on until they can’t and the bank repossesses it), but many, many more take the bus.

Are there still “dirt poor” people in America? Hell yes, there are. Talk to homeless families and undocumented immigrants, living on the street. Talk to desperate families in rural America, killing squirrels and raccoons for food. Talk to families who live in rat-infested, moldy, rotten conditions because they have nowhere else to go.

If we’ve reduced poverty over the last 50 years, isn’t that a reason to celebrate and keep moving forward – not a reason to give up? The health care crisis is real. Even with medicaid, many poor and low-income families are in dire need of medical attention and preventative care.

Uh-oh, she done shot us the whole health-care argument and about how expensive it is. Although I do have my ideas on that issue I'm not exactly qualified to answer that issue. The main idea I have is that government isn't the best equipped to provide health care services of any kind.

Also it is my belief that there aren't dirt poor people in America. In some respects many of the poor in this country live better than the poor in other nations around the world. Of course this doesn't make the problem less stark.

Besides start off on her rant Cottrell makes good points. Healthy foods may be out of reach for low-income people. They may not be able to or may not be willing to afford fresh produce. That or they may not be educated enough to know that fruits & vegetables are good for them.

Many may have the very unfortunate belief that they may never rise out of their predicaments. Therefore they may not want to save their money not even in small amounts. So they may be forced to live paycheck to paycheck and live for now instead of thinking about either their future or their family's future.

Frankly aside from any type of government assistance there has to be a way to change that. If Americans prides this nation as the land of opportunity then hopefully there is a way to get those who are poor thinking that they can rise out of poverty. I say this know it's very optimistic.

35,000 line up for housing help in Detroit

In going back to Detroit we take a look at an AP report about chaos at the Cobo Center. Located in downtown Detroit adjacent to the famed Joe Louis Arena home to the Detroit Red Wings. You can read more here!

I found this via Megan Cottrell's One Story Up over at ChicagoNow. The discussion there starts off about talking about poverty in America's major cities. That discussion being whether or not Democratic control of our cities is the reason why there is poverty in urban areas. It might be worth a read for you as well.