We believe that poverty affects a relatively small number of Americans, that too much welfare assistance is provided, and that poverty is ultimately a result of not working hard enough. Although pervasive, each assumption is flat-out wrong.
(Fixed the link. Thanks, humanodon.)
Something I like to keep in mind: There is always more money owed than currently in circulation. This in essence requires some people to default and go bankrupt each year, poverty is therefore built into our economic system. To me it's even more shameful that we don't take care of those in poverty enough when we require that some be in poverty...especially when our military budget is so stupidly high.
Today I looked up our welfare system. We have welfare for the elderly and blind who are in extreme poverty, and we have welfare for children and their mothers who are in extreme poverty, and ... that's it. Oh, we also have food stamps, if you can meet the criteria for them, but it looks like that's going to be going away soon.To me it's even more shameful that we don't take care of those in poverty enough when we require that some be in poverty.
This was a great article. I like how it tried to break the notion that poverty is limited to certain sects of people. I especially liked that it brought up how poverty occurs everywhere, not just in inner-cities with high minority populations which is what a lot of people think of. I'd wager that a high percentage of people in rural America live at or near poverty for a longer portion of their life than the average.
I think you may have shared that from your NYT account, as I'm getting an error about logging in and something about cookies. This link works for me. Edit: This reminds me of something I read while trying to brush up on economics, which pointed out that one of the myths of poverty is that the majority of the impoverished are permanently impoverished. Another thing that was mentioned, was that it tends to be the young who are impoverished and have the lowest wages and earning power, while it is people closer to retirement age who hold the highest salaries and earning power and that many people transition through various classes (as long as "class" is defined by income).