Archive for the 'Poverty' Category

Whoops! Did professional racist Bill Cunningham really say, “The reason people are poor in America is not because they lack money, it’s because poor people in America lack values, character, and the ability to work hard. And it’s got nothing to do with race, it has everything to do with color”? Why yes, he did!

It’s funny how some people can spend their whole careers trying to use coded language, only to accidentally say what they really mean on a nationally broadcast radio show. So what does color have to do with values, character, and the ability to work hard? For racists like Cunningham, the answer is “everything.”

Also, I should point out that Cunningham and his guest are completely wrong as far as the causes of poverty go. Between 1960 and 1968, the very time that wingnuts think that Americans lost their values, poverty fell by half:

(source)

Note also that values, character, and ability to work hard fell precipitously during the Reagan years, triggering a steep rise in the poverty rate. Values and the American work ethic returned during the Clinton era, but poverty rose once again under George W. Bush. In fact, this chart shows that the national character tends to improve while Democrats are in office, and deteriorate when Republicans take charge.

In the real world, the national character doesn’t undergo wild fluctuations over the span of just a couple of years. Poverty is caused by things like unemployment, disability, wage stagnation, and cuts in social services. Once you understand that, it becomes possible to effectively deal with the problem. And that’s important, because poverty acts as a drag on the overall economy, impacting the prosperity of the middle class as well as that of the poor.

But as important as it is to combat poverty, there will always be those who prefer to use the issue to stoke the fires of racial hatred, and there will always be people who take comfort in the idea that there is no way of easing poverty, because it has nothing to do with public policy, and “everything to do with color.” And that’s why bigots like Bill Cunningham will always have an audience.

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Yes, this is the same Bill Cunningham that John McCain used to invite to his rallies to warm up crowds. Can you imagine what the press would be saying now if Obama had racists warming up the crowds at his rallies?

Just a few short days ago we said elsewhere (on an American forum), that most Americans were either completely unaware, or in a state of total denial, of the fact that they’re around 30/40 years behind as far as the ‘civilisation stakes’ is concerned.

Today we read this.

US slips down development index

Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed nation, according to a report from several US charities.

The report found that the US ranked 42nd in the world for life expectancy despite spending more on health care per person than any other country.

Read the rest of this (alarmingly), revealing report.

And still, there are soooo many self deluded dudes (and dames), determined to dispute this sort of (self evident), stuff.

So, we strongly suggest that all such stupid sobs should simply sod off from this place, and take any/all their arguments to their very own ‘American Human Development Project’.

OK?

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

While the people of the world’s wealthiest countries are fueling our cars with biofuels, skyrocketing food prices are causing widespread hunger. Just this year, there have already been major food riots in 14 different countries.

If I ever move to Cincinnati, remind me to avoid living in public housing.

We think this particular post is what’s classed as a photo-essay.

Most of the Western world’s politicians should be ashamed.

And so should some of ourselves.

(snip)

“These figures leave us in no doubt that the world’s richest countries are failing to meet their promises to the poorest countries, especially in Africa,” said Max Lawson, policy adviser at Oxfam. “The human cost is huge.”

The EU’s spending target on aid of 0.7% of national income by 2015 also looks badly off track, with aid from the world’s richest countries falling from 0.31% in 2006 to 0.28% in 2007.

The OECD report shows only seven countries met or surpassed the 0.7% target, with Norway (0.95%) and Sweden (0.93%) topping the chart.

Though the United States made the largest donation ($21.75bn), it contributed lowest percentage of national income, coming bottom of the charts at 0.16%. The US spends the equivalent of $73 per American each year on aid, but $1,763 a person on defence.

(snip)

Read the rest of this report right here.

Now, here’s the start of our short photo essay.

This is an African child.

This is another.

This is an English kid.

These are American kids.

This is an Englishman.

This is an American.

Oops! Sorry, we suddenly have to dash.

So we’re stopping posting this piece at short notice. Since the missus has started shouting us to come and sit and eat.

And seeing as it’s Sunday, as usual it’s set to be especially scrumptious.

‘Cos it’s a whopping, lip smacking serving of the best of British roast beef. Served with, of course, a mouth watering mixture of steaming mixed fresh vegetables, a lovely large Yorshire pudding and naturally, it’s all absolutely smothered in a sumptuous, rich, thick, hot tasty gravy.

But please don’t allow any of that stop your good selves from saying something.

Portal to The Organisation for Econonomic Co-Operation and Development. “O.E.C.D.”

*(Cross posted at How This Old Brit Sees It)

Increasingly, it seems that no matter how much truth and/or sense anyone any longer speaks, be they ‘known’ (like Lord [Paddy] Ashdown) or not, it matters not to much of mainstream media.

Especially when it concerns something ‘the establishment’ considers (even the slightest bit), sensitive.

Here’s a clip from an item published today by (the often, much maligned), AOL.

Global threats to national security

The battlelines in the fight to maintain national security need redrawing, taking urgent account of increased threats from climate change, disease, poverty and energy insecurity, a think-tank has warned.

The left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said a security strategy based only on preventing military or terrorist attacks was redundant.

(snip)

Intended to inform a report from the commission later this year, it identified five key factors in the new security landscape. These were - globalisation and power diffusion, global poverty and failed states, climate change, the growth of political Islam, and socio-economic vulnerability.

(snip)

“Terrorism is a very real threat but we must not allow it to dominate discussion about national security.

Read the rest of this well balanced report.

How different does the same story sound when read in the well watered down form as released by dear old ‘aunty Beeb’?

Imagine how much impartial information those of us relying solely on supposedly trusted proffesional sources such as the BBC would be denied (be it by accident or by design), if it weren’t for our ability (and desire) to ferret about the internet a bit, for the benefit of both ourselves and others.

Read the rest of the BBC’s so obviously biased-by-ommission, offering.

Well, what do you think?

* (Cross posted at How This Old Brit Sees It)

We’ve been suffering a streaming cold this last couple of days, and yep you guessed it, feeling pretty sorry for ourselves.

Maybe we should shut up, stop snivelling and count our blessings, eh? After all, there’s always some poor soul a lot worse off than oneself, isn’t there?

For perhaps as many as 27 million American adults, keeping warm this winter will mean borrowing money and 20 million will use credit cards to be able to afford their heating bills, according to a CreditCards.com poll.

Nearly 12 percent of Americans say they will need to borrow money to pay winter heating bills; 9 percent will need to use credit cards to be able to afford their heating bills.

“Almost all the heating oil in this country is consumed in the Northeast, in New England, the midAtlantic states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.”

Residents of those areas could pay a total of $2,012 over the six winter months — or an average of $353 a month — to heat their homes through March 2008. That’s a 34 percent increase over the previous winter’s bills.

Read the rest of this report.

So, we suppose we poor old Brits should count ourselves lucky, eh?

Just imagine. We could be living in the wealthiest country in the world.

Brrr. Grrr. Perish the thought.

Since what with this sort of stuff, and the expense of health care in the states, we seriously surmise we wouldn’t have survived this long.

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(Cross posted at How This Old brit Sees It)

By now, you probably know that many wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center were forced to live in moldy, rat-infested rooms, given inadequate care, and denied disability payments. Now we’re learning of fresh outrages:

Read the rest of this entry »

The article about hunger’s killing 18,000 children every day is now reverberating through the left-wing blogosphere. One of the persistent problems with hunger is that it’s not an especially spectactular mode of death. Most people who die of hunger die of malnutrition rather than outright starvation. People tend to only start caring when it coexists with a different problem, such as war or disaster:

The response to these disasters and conflicts such as in Sudan’s Darfur region and Lebanon has meant that most development aid has been used to save lives — not to help communities prevent disasters and promote development through agricultural programs, education for children and water conservation, Morris said.

The agency’s biggest operation today is in Darfur, where violence and security are major problems and 2.5 million people have fled their homes and now live in camps.

There aren’t that many posts around about hunger politics, which is regrettable. This is primarily an economic and political issue rather than a scientific one. Globally there are food surpluses; thanks to Norman Borlaug, famines are largely restricted to areas where food distribution is in shambles. Still, since the number of malnourished people in the world is about 850 million higher than it should be, here is a good program for reducing hunger:

Read the rest of this entry »

Aftermath: Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina exposed three ugly aspects of modern America: a crumbling and inadequate infrastructure, the inadequate response of an uncaring government to Americans in dire need, and a growing population of Americans living in poverty. In short, the hurricane revealed that the United States is slipping toward Third World status.

And the signs keep coming. The number of homeless Americans now stands at over 750,000, and 90% of our National Guard units are rated “not ready” to respond to a major crisis. The majority of the federal discretionary budget is spend on the military and on the Ministry of Love Department of Homeland Security. The federal debt keeps climbing, raising the threat of a currency crisis:

Read the rest of this entry »