Terrific write up furthering what I wrote above about the poor.
http://www.boortz.com/weblogs/nealz-nuz ... eing-poor/
The poor have no grasp of delayed satisfaction.
article, per Heritage study wrote:
More specifics? Here you go. This is from a two-year old study from The Heritage Foundation.
- The typical “poor” household in America has a car
78% of “poor” households in America have air conditioning
64% of “poor” households in America have cable or satellite TV .. most have two TVs, along with a DVD player and VCR
Most “poor” households in America with children have a gaming system such as an Xbox or PlayStation
38% of “poor” households in America have a personal computer
Most “poor” households in America have a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. They also have other household appliances such as a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.
The typical “poor” American has more living space than the average European.
The typical “poor” American family is able to obtain medical care when needed.
The average “poor” household in America claims to have sufficient funds to meet all essential needs.
article wrote:
Let’s consider the head of a household of four making minimum wage in America. More specifically – a one-parent household of four. The mom – making minimum wage – and three children. Compare this to a two-parent household with two children making $60,000 a year. Wyatt Emerich of The Cleveland Current ran the numbers on these two families and discovered that the single-mom with three kids, and no job marketable job skills that she could use to earn more than minimum wage, actually has --- now get this --- actually has more disposable income than the family making $60,000. How does that work? Well .. you throw in the various government income redistribution programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, the school lunch program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, CHIP, Section 8 rent subsidies, and the heating assistance program and you have little Miss Minimum Wage – earning $14,500 a year – actually walking away with $37,777 in disposable income. Meanwhile, the family earning $60,000, after taxes and childcare costs, brings home about $34,366.
And risks of being poor...
article wrote:
Do you want me to tell you about poor people and risk-taking? Here you go:
- Having unprotected sex so that your boyfriend can knock you up, and then having a child you absolutely cannot afford to raise … that’s risky.
Ignoring your education and job training opportunities to the point that you can’t qualify for a job that earns more than minimum wage … that’s risky.
Getting hooked on drugs … that’s risky
Spending your spare money on lottery tickets and at your local Tresses and Talons shop … that’s risky.
Taking money you could use to buy your kids a book .. and spending it instead on a cool tattoo. Risky.
Getting a job --- and then making a habit of not showing up for work on Monday’s and Fridays … that’s risky.
Refusing to move out of a crime-ridden inner city environment and relocating, by whatever means necessary, to an area with better schools, less drugs and crime, and some basic job opportunities … that’s risky. And don’t give me this “can’t afford it” crap. Our ancestors did that walking alongside covered wagons with a few tables and chairs and maybe a bed inside. They had to dig holes in the ground to drop a deuce along the way. You have a car. There’s rest areas on the expressways. Load it and use it.
Embracing the “no snitching” culture so that the police can’t do an effective job of ridding your neighborhood of the thugs that shoot your friends on street corners … risky.
Now, it should go without saying, not ALLLLLLLL poor people fit the descriptions above. There are some who do all they can do, and still end up trapped in a loop. But do we really require record defecits and debts ceilings to deal with these tragic few?
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