Millions of Americans Are Among the Poorest People in the World

https://www.alternet.org/economy/americans-poorest-people-world

That is, in fact, every 6-7 representative of an "exceptional nation" that "carries the light of democracy" and the "enlightenment spirit" into the wild planetary neighborhood - is beggars? Unexpectedly?

What do you think about it?

By the way, in the original article there are many references to sources, therefore to say that all the deception will not work.

 

The article shows the bitter truth--the gap between the 1% and the 99% grows wider every day, and poverty is rampant in the land of the free and home of the brave.

Last month's data on the ratio of earnings between CEO and average worker corroborate this.

 

Life in in many African or Arab countries is much worse... also in China and the east.
America IS and Still to come - the Land of the dream.

 

Dreams and reality seldom converge, anywhere on this planet.

 

I agree... but the chances in USA are better than other places on the planet

 

That could very well be, but it would take some serious study and analysis to prove that.

In the meantime, in my small town the homeless people are very easily seen. I can remember when it was rare to see homeless.

And the growing gap between what the CEO makes and what the average worker makes has reached obscene levels. Something is rotten in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 

Sad to read what you wrote...
I hope that Mr. Trump slowly ( as a businessman and not a president ) will make a change

 

most like this fat young guy are lazy and getting handouts by liberals on the street corner like a pigeon getting feed bread at the park, thus he hasnt the drive kick in the but threating him to get off the park bench or he is a ex felon more likely and cant pass a back ground check or lack of work history

 

It's true. The rich become even richer, the poor become even poorer. And it happens in many countries of the world. I think only socialism can create a just society.

 

And he's white .... I will not even talk about blacks in Harlem or a suburb of any city. For example, Detroit

 

You also can remember that very poorly lived slaves, for example ..... Why compare with what? If in the US every 7th American is a beggar. It is a fact. I do not think that it will be easier for him because someone else lives even worse.

 

As automation dawns, there's really only two choices in life: Toil with the knowledge that the only reason you're struggling to pay bills is because humanity has yet to adapt to the reality that there isn't enough work to go around and still keep capitalism going, or hunker down and focus on yourself. I don't really blame people for choosing the second. I mean, traditional kinship structures have completely collapsed because the realities of financialized capitalism have turned everyone transient. There's a parasitic culture industry that constantly uses cutting edge psychology to tap into insecurities for profit. People struggle to find jobs that will pay the bills without wrecking the body and spirit. Why wouldn't some people just give up on life and try to dull the pain however they could?

 

Every 7th American is a beggar?
I wouldn’t say that even about Russia or Ukraine!
I live in Chicago, see lots of homeless people, but I’d place my figure of homeless as 1 in 1,000 or even 1 in 10,000.
You shouldn’t trust your sources.

 

American slaves (on average, and yes, there were very abusive masters too) lived better than Russian surfs.
Read on daily rations of slaves - 1lb of salted pork daily, vs. 1 chicken for family in Russia once per week. And that’s just meat.
Americans live better than Russians now and Americans (all) lived better than White Russians even in times of slavery and surfdom.

 

According to this article, 90% of the US population live in poverty because of negative wealth, where your debts > property.
Let’s look at a basic situation:
A person 1 lives in an apartment, pays $1000 per month in rent and has $10,000 in savings account.
A person 2 lives in a house that was financed by mortgage, pays $1,000 per month for mortgage and has $10,000 in savings account, yet owes $100,000 for the House, which is worth $100,000.
According to this study person 2 will live in poverty because his net worth will be negative in first leg of the loan where interest portion of each payment of much higher than principal. In fact, often closing costs are added to the loan and initial loan amount exceeds the value of the house.
In reality, person 2 saves money each month because a portion of his monthly payment goes towards repayment of the loan and ultimately, after the mortgage is paid off person 2 will have a net worth of $100,000 while person 1 continues to $1,000 per month for rent, which doesn’t earn him any additional wealth.
In the US pretty much everyone under 40 has negative wealth, which doesn’t mean that they live in poverty.
I have 401k and it will accumulate to $1M by the time I’m 55, but, with aggregate interest, it will be at $2M by the time I’m 63. That all assumes an average stock market growth of 10%, which is an absolute reality if you look at history.

So, your article claims that massive amounts of Americans live in poverty because of negative wealth, all the while they own cars, have smartphones, live in their own homes and go on vacations to Mexico or Dominican Republic. The definition of poverty is flawed and the article makes wrong point.
Yes, negative wealth is the reality of life, but it’s not perpetual and most Americans eventually accumulate quite a bit of wealth by the time they retire. When you live in a paid off house and a combination of 401k and Social Security bring your revenue to $50k per year than you can live a very comfortable life.

 

We right now have at least 166,252,717 Americans receiving some sort of financial assistance from our government whether it be food stamps,Medicaid or disability benefits...…..one of every two Americans!!

 

Love the picture of someone that is probably mentally ill. After the PC move to close mental institutions they ended up on the streets. They actually have many resources but choose to live on the street instead of having to suffer structure and responsibility.

 

But you got no clue if the person is mentally ill.
fake news much?

 

Beggars by CHOICE, and there lies the great difference.

 

You can thank Reagan for the closure of America's state mental hospital and turning the occupants out on the streets.

 

Just for whom? (and I ask you this as a Socialist).

 

Actually, Person 2 will have far more than $100k once his mortgage is paid down, because capital growth will mean his property (over 30 years) will be worth vastly more than he paid for it.

 

A recent report by our Federal Reserve showed that 4 of every 10 Americans would have trouble paying if a $400 emergency expense arose.Pretty damn sad for a country that claims to be the richest in the world.

 

I live in an inner city and probably interact with more of them than you do.

 

I don't know where you get your numbers. Here is a quote from the US Census.
"Approximately 52.2 million (or 21.3 percent) people in the U.S. participated in major means-tested government assistance programs each month in 2012, according to a U.S. Census Bureau"

In this country the unemployment rate is under 4%. In most cities there are more jobs than unemployed. The vast majority of street people chose that lifestyle. They avoid shelters because they will not allow drugs or alcohol. A great many of them are mentally ill. Others are burnouts from drugs or alcohol. Others have just dropped out and consider this preferable over working. At any rate, people make choices and choices have consequences. If you choose to quit school, join the drug or alcohol culture, refuse to seek help for an addiction or commit to ending the addiction, chances are you will end up on the street. It is your choice. Blame only yourself.