redefining poor.....

How poor are today's "poor" in the USA? ?

Lets see:

"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."

and:

"As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II."

Not to mention:

"The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)"

Read the whole thing.

I have seen poor people. I have yet to see such abject poverty here in the US. While life for many at the bottom of the economic ladder may not be as easy as they would like it to be, for most "poor", their lives are materially better than their ancestors were in 1940.

And let us not forget that most "poverty" in the US is the result of continued bad decision making ( 'cause there are few negative consequences to the individual for those bad decisions) and often just plain laziness. Not in all cases, but in most.

And the continued redefinition of "poor" will not change that fact.