Nearly half of Americans are truly f'd
Several new studies came out this week that once again demonstrated how the bottom half of the population has been left behind.
Nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone, according to a study released Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project. That's 43% of households in the United States.The figure includes the 16.1 million households living in poverty, as well as the 34.7 million families that the United Way has dubbed ALICE -- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. This group makes less than what's needed "to survive in the modern economy."
Another new study demonstrated the same picture with a different metric.
Can you cover an unexpected $400 expense?
Four in ten Americans can't, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Board. Those who don't have the cash on hand say they'd have to cover it by borrowing or selling something.
What's scary is that this is the case for so many Americans when we are so late in the business cycle.
What will these people do when the inevitable recession hits?
Then there is this related study from a few months ago. It gives you the idea of the consequences of not having $400.
Over the past year, one-in-four American families have had to turn down medical care that they needed because of the cost, according to a study out Wednesday from Bankrate.com. Older millennials (ages 27-36) have it the worst – they were the most likely to do this, with 32% shunning medical care because they couldn’t afford it in the past year.Some of this, of course, is because many Americans (11.3%) simply don’t have insurance. But that’s just a small part of this: Even for families with insurance, costs are steep. In 2015, workers paid an average of $1,318 out of pocket before meeting their deductibles, and those in high-deductible plans (24% of workers) often pay even more. Even after surpassing their deductibles, workers paid an average copay of $24 for primary care office visits, $37 for specialty care office visits, and $308 for hospital admission.
Comments
It's happened so slowly
and the bottom 50% has little interaction with the other half except as service workers or employees. So many of the self professed democrats I know benefit from republican tax policies, and their concerns are more aligned with HER. They mostly think the bottom 50% should just work harder, be smarter, are not as deserving, same as the r's.
Same as the Rs for sure.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
And the lower class has been abandoned
by the Middle Class.
I used to belong to AARP. Just for one year. When it was time to renew I told them they are absolutely useless except for selling insurance and travel junkets.You NEVER hear them take a stand on the widespread poverty amongst us old croaks.
Same with the churches. They don’t want to ruffle the feathers of their big donors. I got into a lively discussion once for comparing the Catholic Churches wealth to the teachings of Jesus. It all started when the subject of the Vatican’s priceless art collection came up in a conversation. I wish I could have recorded that one!
Any ‘religion’ that evolves beyond the ‘cult’ stage simply morphs into a corporation. Same thing happens with many charities once they become a big operation. The United Way is an example.
EDIT: somehow left off part of what I was saying. That was weird.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
I've had the same conversation
It's not just the Vatican's art collection that could put an end to world poverty, but the real estate holdings that they own. Does the pope really need to have a retreat in the country with all the trappings that are there?
The vestments that the pope , cardinals, bishops and even priests are made of very expensive materials. Betty's essay on the pope pointed out that the vestments that they wear were to make them look like royalty. I wonder what Jesus would say about the Catholic Church if he cared enough to revisit this planet?. I remember that he threw a fit in the temple once because of the amount of greed he witnessed.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Hell, even the Franciscans own land.
and I envision a day when the value of that will be more than all the paper money in the world.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
All true
and nobody calls them on it. Wealthy churches, up there with military intelligence.
The United Way is a total racket
operating on extortion.
I fail to understand their relevance or usefulness. Any nonprofit who "belongs" to their local United Way should dump their membership.
They are Rs.
They are Rs. All of them, including Perpetual Goldwater Girl Hillary Clinton.
I actually have more respect for those who honestly register and votr R. At least these are being honest with themselves and us.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Sounds like Eisenhower Republicans
Which is a change. Usually they tell them to get a degree. It’s nice to know that the mask is finally off.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
I think it's
the desperation and neediness that makes them uncomfortable, and they just can't stretch far enough to see that it isn't some personal failing. It's 2 generations worth of stripping away everything that would keep families whole in times of trouble.
Yup. People like me have nowhere to go. Never did anyway.
There are no jobs. There will never be jobs. Ever. Again. The Tech Industry has either been mostly automated or outsourced. Here in Flawer'Duh's former Space Coast, restaurants and stores are literally ALL that's left.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Saw four "Help Wanted" signs today.
Two on fast food restaurants and two on (different chains) tire shops. Sling hash or mount and balance tires (machine tells you when you have the weights right). Bottom pay for sure.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
restaurants and stores
And if you can't stand up for 8 - 12 straight hours a day, over and over again, you're hosed.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I know that all too well.
There are a few instances where I would have been fired had I not quit for that very reason. Hell, my very first job as a bus boy was one such case. Not only could I not handle being on my feet for the 8 to 10 hour shifts, I couldn't do the heavy lifting required for the job either.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Is why I retired.
I'm good for about 4 hrs.
On a good day.
I see way too many 70 year olds stocking shelves.
"how do you do it?"
"I like to eat."
I do too, but at some point the knee gives out, the hip gives out...
Is criminal that "we" still have 70 year olds stocking shelves, flipping burgers.
but, hey... freedom!
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
No kidding.
After all, we all have to do our part to prop up the bourgeoisie.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Illinois blog capitalfax.com
Loaded with commentary that Illinois law should be changed to tax retirement income including Roth IRA's. This in reaction to JB Pritzker's proposal to institute a graduated income tax.
Yeah. Tax Social security and pensions instead of the rich.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
giving out
It's criminal, indeed. Those McJobs are the rightful domain of our teenaged children, not starving adults.
(My knees and back are what gave out; the back, especially early.)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
People are doing what they have to...
and it will continue to go unseen by the MSM and the upper classes, probably even after they have to start hiring bodyguards to escort them to the grocery store.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKtsdZs9LJo]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Coincidence
Recent news has a Mercedes carjacked in broad daylight from the Neiman-Marcus parking lot at Oak Brook Mall in upper-class Oak Brook Terrace IL as well as a random shooting in equally expensive River Forest Illinois. River Forest is home to several mobsters but that seems to be unconnected to the shooting.
Carjackings and shootings are an unremarkable daily occurrence in Chicago proper.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Well, people getting into positions where they can,
are beginning to figure out how to do end runs around too-often corrupted/controlled agencies in order to gain long-awaited protections for people.
Funny that lawyers never tried this one before, although I suppose that this may be the first time that a lawyer brought such a case himself. Makes you wonder how many overlooked means to achieve a public good might actually exist under the law, even now, even in America?
Of course, this is expected to be a long, hard fight...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_737uiecSw&list=PLXctIVhQimRKzL6X-HO0Hf...
Used to be easy to find plenty of more general articles on this... but this provides an example of a common source for the fluoride added to drinking water.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/20/fluoridat...
And the EPA missed the people locally exposed? Surprise, surprise, surprise!
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/environmental-groups-say-...
Always turns out that the people have to protect themselves from the billionaires and corporate interests running the US government by running and staffing the public service themselves, if they want things done properly, at long last.
Instead of being 'left behind' in a toxic swamp, to become literally as well as figuratively sick of it, once they themselves have been drained to further enrich and empower those billionaires and corporate interests.
There may be more ways and means toward democracy and sane policy still available than they want people to know about; maybe we just need to learn how to find them.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Not upset about flouridated water.
Contaminating our precious bodily fluids. Still, why not restrict it to toothpaste? That way it's an individual choice.
I AM glad that Chicago adds poisonous Chlorine to that filthy lake water they pump to me.
(No, I don't drink it and I use distilled water for the coffee).
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Ayup. Truly!
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
National shame
In the wealthiest country the world has ever known, half of its citizens are either in poverty or on the verge of poverty. Of all the things that should be a priority in our national government, addressing these issues should be number one. There is NO excuse. It makes me want to cry at how fall we have fallen.
One more thing. The most dangerous people are those who have nothing left to lose. The government should be forewarned. Poverty is something that can be easily overcome when a government's priorities are right. Our government's priorities are deeply wrong and they did not begin with Trump. Trump is a symptom only.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Put another way
When people have nothing to lose, they lose it.
People won't starve to death in silence.
yes, they lose it ... but what is the 'it' ?
People, I believe, starve mentally or emotionally to death in silence. Doesn't have to end in suicide or ransom shooting into crowds of people (ie before I go, I take some with me kind of rage). Rather I believe they crawl into the embryonic state in some corner and vegetate themselves into apathy. The only thing that I can see makes them pick themselves up is the feeling of hunger (so they might at the most steal some food for the moment, which I think they should do) or cold (so they might get up to search for a corner to lay down less cold), which is definitely the smartest thing to do.
So, yes, they lose it, lose themselves that is, imo. At least that's how I explain to myself what I observe.
Those who fight, are people which are still healthy and are not broken to the point where they wouldn't move anymore other than trying to calm their feeling of hunger or cold.
Are these the people who don't matter?
Clinton while in India said she won the areas that mattered. This idea of those who matter and those who do not matter is the fundmental starting point of dystopian stories and highly successful dystopian successful movies such as the Hunger Games. Hillary in essence declared her campaign was based on a class war and that she and the democratic establishment are for the well off classes. She affirmed that the right people voted for her.
In time we will all get to the class of people who don'tmatter, and certainly neither party will speak for us.
Every society has people that don't matter
But rarely is that segment of society such a large percentage.
Those societies are not stable. Those nations eventually wind up with either revolution, or the military taking over.
I agree
and if anyone thinks the militarization of our police depts. around the country is a coincidence or is needed to protect us they haven't been paying attention. The ptb are preparing and are not concerned with percentages they think they will control us all when the shit hits the fan, Which seems to be the case in the not so distant future to most of us who have been paying attention. It's just like they think they can survive a nuclear war in their bunkers. The militarized police work well against peaceful protestors but if everything goes to hell in big cities where there will be hundreds of thousands if not millions in the streets not so much.
Don't most revolutions end up being military take-overs ?
They start differently than they end. The 99percent hope for changes in their revolutionary uprising and then have to watch how they get betrayed when their leaders resort to the military and police apparatus to 'keep the peace'.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me thrice, who do I blame? The system. What's a system? Property ownership, land ownership, inheritance, ideology and religion.
Let's blame God. That'll help. Always as in 'good for nothing'.
We used to matter
but now we get our cannon fodder cheaper from foreign countries.
Sell 200 April at 142!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoUnvVRYzzA]
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.