To people who say poverty doesn't exist in America

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League_Girl
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25 Dec 2014, 3:17 am

Sweetleaf wrote:
eric76 wrote:
I used to live without an air conditioner in central Texas and in the Houston, Texas area.

It wasn't that big a deal even there.

Anyone in reasonable health who thinks that they must have an air conditioner is nothing more than a spoiled brat.


What if they heat sensitive?...now granted there are some other ways to stay a little cooler aside from air-conditioning, but there are reasons for them aside from people being spoiled brats. I have low tolerance for when its really hot out and have passed out/puked from over-heating, not fun....the house I live in now has no air conditioning but I have a basement room so stays kinda cooler if I get too hot in the summer.
One can be in reasonable health and still have that issue.



I'm heat sensitive too and cannot sleep in it. If it's not in the 80's, I am fine without it. I can just use regular fans to keep cool.

Also people have died from heatstrokes because they couldn't afford to stay cool. Whenever we get a heatwave, places here offer shelter for people to stay at during the day to stay cool because they can't afford AC. I have left my apartment and would go to a mall just to keep cool and just look at books. This was before I had kids.


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25 Dec 2014, 3:21 am

eric76 wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
eric76 wrote:
I used to live without an air conditioner in central Texas and in the Houston, Texas area.

It wasn't that big a deal even there.

Anyone in reasonable health who thinks that they must have an air conditioner is nothing more than a spoiled brat.


What if they heat sensitive?...now granted there are some other ways to stay a little cooler aside from air-conditioning, but there are reasons for them aside from people being spoiled brats. I have low tolerance for when its really hot out and have passed out/puked from over-heating, not fun....the house I live in now has no air conditioning but I have a basement room so stays kinda cooler if I get too hot in the summer.
One can be in reasonable health and still have that issue.


You don't have fans?



Unless it's above 85 degrees, fans will not keep you cool because they will not blow cool air at you. It will just blow hot hair. Have you not been in a heatwave? Have you not driven without any AC in 100 degree weather with windows down? I have and trust me, there is no cool air.


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25 Dec 2014, 3:24 am

Dillogic wrote:
GoonSquad wrote:
I don't think you realize how things really work in the US. Here, hunger is not a function of scarcity of food it is a function of scarcity of MONEY. It is also the same with doctors and medical care. In short, if you do not have money, you don't eat or get treated for sickness unless you can find a charity to help you.


But, I can afford food and medical care and I have poverty levels of money. Sure, I don't eat the good stuff, and I only go for medical care when it's needed, but I get by.

Perhaps since I only have myself to look after, it's easier. But I wouldn't have kids or animals if I couldn't afford them.



Not all poor people were poor when they had them and then s**t happened.


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25 Dec 2014, 4:02 am

I would love to show this thread to people from where I live, because I wish they all see this before they decide getting a visa or committing something illegal. Especially the fact that they mostly thought that "America = Heaven" :x And if the tourist is white, they assume that tourist is rich.

Mainly because everything here is too cheap. And so does the income. (About 10$ per day is the minimum, and there's no such thing as 'per hr' wage) Add the colonial mentality, you get a huge mass of ignorance. And hence many unhappy OFWs, which made me wonder... "What happened to their 'dreams'?"

Please show this thread or topic to Filipinos. :twisted: If you guys ever encounter any of them assuming stuffs. Or warn them.


And my own reply to the tittle itself: I never assumed being in another country, that includes 1st world countries, means there's no poverty. I rather end up assuming more slavery because I simply believe no one is free in this world as long as they're inside the 'system'. XD And brain drain is very visible from here...


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25 Dec 2014, 6:43 am

donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:



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25 Dec 2014, 2:08 pm

guzzle wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:


I feel an anti-dish washer rant coming on! Those damn things use way too much energy, and for what? You have to actually clean the dishes first before putting them into the machine, so it can wash them with hot water :? . If I'm going to wash the dishes clean, I might as well sterilize (I guess) them under hot faucet water myself. As far as I'm concerned, the damn thing known as a dish washer will one day be revealed to be as much a fraud as that piece of equipment that used to be in gyms years ago that was supposed to shake the fat off of you. :x


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25 Dec 2014, 2:22 pm

I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man with no credit cards.


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25 Dec 2014, 4:36 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
guzzle wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:


I feel an anti-dish washer rant coming on! Those damn things use way too much energy, and for what? You have to actually clean the dishes first before putting them into the machine, so it can wash them with hot water :? . If I'm going to wash the dishes clean, I might as well sterilize (I guess) them under hot faucet water myself. As far as I'm concerned, the damn thing known as a dish washer will one day be revealed to be as much a fraud as that piece of equipment that used to be in gyms years ago that was supposed to shake the fat off of you. :x


Not to mention half the time they don't even actually get the dishes clean and leave a weird residue, and you still have to rinse dishes, load the damn thing, put them away be out of cups or something you need because its all in the dishwasher waiting to be washed. Meh washing by hand is probably a lot more effective for sure. I don't really see not having a dishwasher as a sign of poverty, plenty of cheap/crappy housing has dishwashers, some more expensive places don't...especially older buildings that aren't set up for them.


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25 Dec 2014, 7:22 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
guzzle wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:


I feel an anti-dish washer rant coming on! Those damn things use way too much energy, and for what? You have to actually clean the dishes first before putting them into the machine, so it can wash them with hot water :? . If I'm going to wash the dishes clean, I might as well sterilize (I guess) them under hot faucet water myself. As far as I'm concerned, the damn thing known as a dish washer will one day be revealed to be as much a fraud as that piece of equipment that used to be in gyms years ago that was supposed to shake the fat off of you. :x


Not to mention half the time they don't even actually get the dishes clean and leave a weird residue, and you still have to rinse dishes, load the damn thing, put them away be out of cups or something you need because its all in the dishwasher waiting to be washed. Meh washing by hand is probably a lot more effective for sure. I don't really see not having a dishwasher as a sign of poverty, plenty of cheap/crappy housing has dishwashers, some more expensive places don't...especially older buildings that aren't set up for them.


One of those damn things came with our apartment, and we have never used it - save to store extra dishes in.


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25 Dec 2014, 8:58 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
guzzle wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:


I feel an anti-dish washer rant coming on! Those damn things use way too much energy, and for what? You have to actually clean the dishes first before putting them into the machine, so it can wash them with hot water :? . If I'm going to wash the dishes clean, I might as well sterilize (I guess) them under hot faucet water myself. As far as I'm concerned, the damn thing known as a dish washer will one day be revealed to be as much a fraud as that piece of equipment that used to be in gyms years ago that was supposed to shake the fat off of you. :x


Not to mention half the time they don't even actually get the dishes clean and leave a weird residue, and you still have to rinse dishes, load the damn thing, put them away be out of cups or something you need because its all in the dishwasher waiting to be washed. Meh washing by hand is probably a lot more effective for sure. I don't really see not having a dishwasher as a sign of poverty, plenty of cheap/crappy housing has dishwashers, some more expensive places don't...especially older buildings that aren't set up for them.


One of those damn things came with our apartment, and we have never used it - save to store extra dishes in.


The last time I lived in an apartment, I had one, too. It's main use was to wash glasses because I hardly ever cooked anything there.

These days, I do almost all of my own cooking and wouldn't use a dishwasher if I had one.

My normal approach to washing dishes is:

0) When I'm ready to cook, there are usually a few dishes in the sink such as the one I ate from the previous meal, dishes used in any snacks, glasses from me or others, ... .
1) While cooking, I wash all the dishes in the sink.
2) As I finish using cooking utensils, pots, pan, ..., I wash them on the spot.
3) Once finished cooking and the food is on my plate, I wash anything left of the pots, pan, ... . At this point, the only dirty dish is the one I'm getting ready to eat my food from.
4) I wash off and dry the stove top and other kitchen surfaces as required.
5) Eat my meal.
6) Rinse off the dish I ate out of and leave in the sink to wash while doing dishes later.

This approach works wonders for dish washing. You never have to look in the sink and see a big pile of dishes -- just or so and they are rinsed off and easy to clean.



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02 Jan 2015, 5:02 am

donnie_darko wrote:
About a third of Americans make less than $15,000 a year; 40 percent make less than $20K a year. And many of those who make more than that live in expensive states like California, Massachusetts and New York so this is really an undercount of the poor in America.

While $15,000 a year might sound rich by world standards, keep in mind that a one bedroom apartment in the US costs about $8,000 a year alone, medical care is very expensive being private (though Obamacare is helping), and cars are a necessity in most areas and aren't cheap.

This basically means that roughly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, on as little as $5-$10 a day ($1,500-$3,000 a year) or less after rent and utilities are paid.

Some facts:

22% of American homes lack central AC and 13% lack AC of any kind
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher
18% of homes lack a washing machine
13% of Americans have no medical insurance
76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck with minimal savings
20% of American children are considered to live in poverty
20% of Americans say they can't always afford the food they need
Nearly a million American children went hungry at some point in 2012


I think we have serious issues in this country.


Ok, I'll bite.
Who said that poverty doesn't exist in America?
I have never heard anyone say that.

oh, and..........'Obamacare is helping'.....prove it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:



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02 Jan 2015, 5:06 am

slave wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
About a third of Americans make less than $15,000 a year; 40 percent make less than $20K a year. And many of those who make more than that live in expensive states like California, Massachusetts and New York so this is really an undercount of the poor in America.

While $15,000 a year might sound rich by world standards, keep in mind that a one bedroom apartment in the US costs about $8,000 a year alone, medical care is very expensive being private (though Obamacare is helping), and cars are a necessity in most areas and aren't cheap.

This basically means that roughly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, on as little as $5-$10 a day ($1,500-$3,000 a year) or less after rent and utilities are paid.

Some facts:

22% of American homes lack central AC and 13% lack AC of any kind
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher
18% of homes lack a washing machine
13% of Americans have no medical insurance
76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck with minimal savings
20% of American children are considered to live in poverty
20% of Americans say they can't always afford the food they need
Nearly a million American children went hungry at some point in 2012


I think we have serious issues in this country.


Ok, I'll bite.
Who said that poverty doesn't exist in America?
I have never heard anyone say that.

oh, and..........'Obamacare is helping'.....prove it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


I'd say people who were previously uninsured for reasons of cost or preexisting conditions would say it's working great.


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02 Jan 2015, 12:57 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
guzzle wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
1/3 of homes lack a dishwasher

I think we have serious issues in this country.


Not sure about your country but you definitly have if you consider not having a dishwasher an indicator of poverty :roll: :roll:


I feel an anti-dish washer rant coming on! Those damn things use way too much energy, and for what? You have to actually clean the dishes first before putting them into the machine, so it can wash them with hot water :? . If I'm going to wash the dishes clean, I might as well sterilize (I guess) them under hot faucet water myself. As far as I'm concerned, the damn thing known as a dish washer will one day be revealed to be as much a fraud as that piece of equipment that used to be in gyms years ago that was supposed to shake the fat off of you. :x


Not to mention half the time they don't even actually get the dishes clean and leave a weird residue, and you still have to rinse dishes, load the damn thing, put them away be out of cups or something you need because its all in the dishwasher waiting to be washed. Meh washing by hand is probably a lot more effective for sure. I don't really see not having a dishwasher as a sign of poverty, plenty of cheap/crappy housing has dishwashers, some more expensive places don't...especially older buildings that aren't set up for them.



I have washed by hand and most old homes don't even have them so I disagree it's a sign of poverty. I think it's luxury when you have had lot of people eat and then you have all these dirty dishes so it's easier to just put them in the machine and have it do it for you. But some people use paper plates and cups and plastic silverware when they have lot of people so they won't have all those dishes to do. Plus apartments have them too. Plus my parents didn't have a working dishwasher for a while so we had to wash them by hand every time we had meals and in one of our homes, our septic tank kept getting backed up into our home because it was too small for a dishwasher and someone had installed it before we lived there, then it quit working properly so it wouldn't wash the dishes anymore so we quit using it and finally took it out.


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02 Jan 2015, 1:14 pm

Living paycheck to paycheck isn't really considered poor or in poverty. Even high income people have lived paycheck to paycheck and it depends on where they live and what they have. Plus my parents lived paycheck to paycheck when we moved to Montana and they were no way poor, we still had a house and we afforded food and and didn't juggle bills. That is not poor. They just made less money because of where we lived and it took my dad a while to get his business started out there.

I didn't have a washing machine when I lived on my own because it didn't work so I washed my clothes at my parents or grandparents. Plus when I lived in an apartment, we had them in the basement and we had to pay to wash them.

I used to think I was poor because I didn't live the same lifestyle as my parents from when I was a kid until I read an article about the poor paying more than the rich and I realized we were not poor because I could always afford to eat and didn't have to juggle bills or pay any late fees and I could afford to have a checking account and I could drive a few miles to a decent store that sells food for cheaper price than buying in a neighborhood convenience store where food is more expensive and more unhealthy. So can someone have a low income and not be poor if they can pay all their bills and not have to go hungry or have to pay a late fee and they can have a checking account? What if they had family support that helped them with their bills so they won't ever have to go hungry and they always had a working car and could pay all their bills and stay warm thanks to family? What if someone was on food stamps or LIAPP or other programs that helped them with their expenses so they didn't ever have to live that way? I learned online poor is a subjective word.


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02 Jan 2015, 2:49 pm

League_Girl wrote:
Living paycheck to paycheck isn't really considered poor or in poverty. Even high income people have lived paycheck to paycheck and it depends on where they live and what they have. Plus my parents lived paycheck to paycheck when we moved to Montana and they were no way poor, we still had a house and we afforded food and and didn't juggle bills. That is not poor. They just made less money because of where we lived and it took my dad a while to get his business started out there.

I didn't have a washing machine when I lived on my own because it didn't work so I washed my clothes at my parents or grandparents. Plus when I lived in an apartment, we had them in the basement and we had to pay to wash them.

I used to think I was poor because I didn't live the same lifestyle as my parents from when I was a kid until I read an article about the poor paying more than the rich and I realized we were not poor because I could always afford to eat and didn't have to juggle bills or pay any late fees and I could afford to have a checking account and I could drive a few miles to a decent store that sells food for cheaper price than buying in a neighborhood convenience store where food is more expensive and more unhealthy. So can someone have a low income and not be poor if they can pay all their bills and not have to go hungry or have to pay a late fee and they can have a checking account? What if they had family support that helped them with their bills so they won't ever have to go hungry and they always had a working car and could pay all their bills and stay warm thanks to family? What if someone was on food stamps or LIAPP or other programs that helped them with their expenses so they didn't ever have to live that way? I learned online poor is a subjective word.


Well, there are degrees to being poor. Some are poorer than others.


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03 Jan 2015, 1:09 am

Of course there is poverty in America.

But being poor in America is better than being poor elsewhere. Anyone who has traveled outside of the US and witnessed what poverty is like in other countries (no sanitary water, no electricity, no way to keep food fresh, etc), would probably rather be poor here than anywhere else.

This does not change the fact that there is poverty in America, but when you look at it in relative terms...well...unless you are among the poorest of the "poor" you've got a lot more going for you here than in many other places.

I know I probably sound awful. But when I traveled off the "beaten path" of tourism in Central America, what I saw made me cry. Those people are poor. They are the "have nots." We are the "haves" and "have lesses."

I once lived in a metropolitan area. The people who lived in public housing and got food stamps often had nicer clothes than me, better tech, and had better food in their shopping carts. They had AC. They had money to smoke cigarettes, play the lottery and drink beer. Yet, I bet some of their kids didn't have school supplies. Meanwhile, I worked 40+ hours a week and had no AC. Yet part of my wages went to support them.


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