Beyond Poverty

Well, Maybe not everyone.

Back during the Regain Presidency, many institutionalized people were turned out onto Americas streets. Social Welfare programs were cut to the bone forcing those with marginal incomes into homelesness as well. With no or seriously reduced resources some gravitated to homeless camps. Others wandered aimlessly as the so called "street people.

But that wasn't the only attack he made on the humble. Many living in poverty were driven into homelesness by the reductions the Reagan administration made to social services. The services keeping those in poverty afloat. Without these support programs the poor had no choice but to sink into the ranks of the homeless.

In the homeless camps, like the one shown on the upper left, you might see a variety of shelters from refrigerator boxes to beat up tarps to worn out tents, most likely scavenged from curbside trash. Nothing is permanent.

The street people carried what little worldly goods they had in plastic bags, the luckier ones perhaps a beat up back pack. Still luckier were those who managed to latch onto a bent and beat up shopping cart with a cracked wheel that thumped along to the rhythm of their steps.

Approximately 0.02% of the U.S. population is homeless. That's around half a million people.

Now, with the government moratorium on evictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic ended, one can only guess how many of the jobless will join the ranks at the bottom of our class system established by privilege.

At the Brink

The current poverty level threshold for an individual is $12,700 annually. In New York state, except for the New York City and surrounding areas, the minimum wage is $9.70. If your lucky enough to have a 40 hour per week, 50 week per year job, that amounts to $19,400 annually. Fine, and good luck with that!

For a family of four the poverty level is $26,000. At 9.70 per hour, it would take around 2,680 hours, 53.6 hours per week minimum, to earn that amount! Really good luck with that.

Thirteen percent of the U.S. population lives at or below this level. This class may not be homeless, but they struggle. Working at or below their State's minimum wage, with limited hours, few benefits and hard, hard work, they barely stay afloat even with public assistance like food stamps. For families, decisions that need to be made are brutal; do we eat today or do we buy our medication. But for now, they are better off than the homeless, a class above. Most of the time, they have shelter, food on the table and clothes on their backs. For the single parent,

If they're lucky, they may be living in pubic, rent assisted housing like shown on the right. If not so lucky, they may find themselves at the mercy of a slum-lord's rundown but still standing excuse for living space.
But still, compared to the Homeless, they have hope. Hope for a higher paying job that can lead the out of poverty and into the Working-class. But for now, these are the folks doing the work no one really wants to do.

The Working Class

The Working Class is the backbone of the U.S. Economy. The goods they manufacture and the services they provide are the product that represents our National Wealth. This class includes those who have retired from the workforce to enjoy their "Golden Years."

Most of these folks live in fine homes, often have his and her automobiles parked in their two-car garage, have a well stocked freezer/refrigerator, an education fund for their children's Collage education and a cache of dollars for their retirement (if they're not already enjoying one).The City dwellers in this group can usually choose a fine apartment, owned or leased, perhaps with a car or two in the apartment garage and pretty much all the other amenities mentioned above, for those who own homes.
These are the folks who define our Society. As a group, they provide everything we need to feed, shelter and keep ourselves safe; the butchers, the backers and, yea, the candle-stick makers.

For many, being part of this class represents the "American Dream."

And therein lies the rub.

It's easy to loose sight of just how fragile your dream is when you are well dressed, well fed and feel safe in your home. It's easy to go with the flow and just let the Politicians, our elected representatives, take care of things. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Just vote for the politician with the biggest campaign budget, the candidate who puts the most TV adds on Prime Time. To raise all that money, he must be doing something right, right? And besides, it takes time and effort to keep up with issues, for what?

By the end of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt led this country in the development of the most powerful Country in the world. He didn't live to see the end of that war, nor did he see the result of the vast economic machine he created.

For a brief summary of Franklin D. Rosevelt's Impact and Legacy please review this article by William E. Leuchtenburg. Meet Franklin

Ending the war fell to Harry S. Truman who then started putting the country back on its tracks.

For a brief summary of Harry S. Truman's Impact and Legacy please review this article by Alonzo L. Hamby. Meet Harry

Post World War II America saw growth in every area of our Industrial and Agricultural capabilities. America became more innovative, more productive and became the most influential government in the world.

And then:

Along came Ronald Regan!

For a brief summary of Ronald Regan's Impact and Legacy please review this article by Lou Cannon. Meet Ronald

Regan, a Conservative Republican, began down sizing, or eliminating altogether, many of the services we had assumed to be our priveleges in our Government by and for The People. Worse, he introduced the GOP's cockamamie "Trickle Down Economics." The basic concept (a scheme that favored big business and the richest members of our population) being that by reducing their Federal Tax from around 70% to 28%. Supposedly, this mega-rich group would invest in our Country's Economy and the benefits would "Trickle Down" to the Working Class and to those less fortunate. Instead the rich used the new found money to invest in themselves. They used OUR National wealth to make even more money for themselves!

From Wikipedia: See for your self.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. The Working Class, the largest voting block in our Democracy, just pretended that all was good and most didn't bother to look behind the scene.

I hate Conspiracy Theories and, even more, I hate seeing them as common fodder on Social Media. But the truth is, there is always some truth in the most ridiculous of them. I believe there is a conserve effort to kill our 240 year old Democracy and put the richest of us in control of our National Resources and our economy.

Please visit my next opinion "There Be Monsters" where I provide links to information that shows just how organized that Conspiracy of Monsters is!

Privileged?

The Ten Percenters

This section's title is a slang term used to describe those who possess approximately seventy percent of our National Wealth. The short description of wealth is "Wealth measures the value of all the assets of worth owned by a person, community, company, or country. Wealth is determined by taking the total market value of all physical and intangible assets owned, then subtracting all debts. Essentially, wealth is the accumulation of scarce resource." For an extensive discussion of wealth please visit Wikipedia by Clicking Here.

As of the first quarter of 2022, the wealthiest 10% of American households own approximately Eighty-nine percent (89%) of all U.S. National Wealth. Think about it: as the working class toils to produce the National Wealth, they only retain about eleven percent (11%). The rich use the money they have to invest in Stocks and Bonds to grab more and more of that wealth.