BBC Panorma: "Poor America"

Brussels Sprout

Interesting documentary by BBC Panorama aired the other night about poverty in America. Some shocking scenes and stories especially when you consider that this is occurring in what is still the world's largest economy.

Doesn't seem to be particularly partisan with equal blame being apportioned to Obama (for not doing enough to tackle the problems) and the Republicans (for being in denial about the extent of the problems to begin with).

For all the wailing and howling that goes on in Ireland about "the vunerable" we should be very grateful that we have plenty of safety nets that prevent the sort of collapse that has occurred in America to the people on the bottom rungs of society.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suJCvkazrTc

It's 2012, almost a million american children sometimes go hungry and tent cities are springing up across the country. The world's economic powerhouse has a sickness. While both sides blame each other America can't fully admit its poverty and it's certainly not dealing with it.

jackiebaron

The poverty in America is staggering but nobody wants to face that uncomfortable truth. It's akin to having 10 labourers sitting in a bar....all of them barely making enough to get by. Now take one of those labourers out and put Bill Gates in his place. Suddenly the average income of the bar has gone through the stratosphere but 9 of them are still practically starving. The naysayers will continue to kid themselves stating that this bar is a great place because of the wealth of its patrons.

Likewise there are a few trillionaires in America but most people are fücked. I'd sooner be on the dole in a European country than working in America.

RichieC

I've seen a few documentaries on this subject, one particularly focusing on California. There you have folks going from very comfortable lives in nice homes to living in mobile homes or tents over night. it's pretty shocking.

Republicans point to much poorer countries to show that the poor in America aren't really poor at all. I find it shocking that a party can spew rhetoric like that in a economic climate like this and still expect to be voted for... disturbingly enough I reckon Obama will still probably only win the general by a few percentage points.

jackiebaron

RichieC wrote: »

I've seen a few documentaries on this subject, one particularly focusing on California. There you have folks going from very comfortable lives in nice homes to living in mobile homes or tents over night. it's pretty shocking.

Republicans point to much poorer countries to show that the poor in America aren't really poor at all. I find it shocking that a party can spew rhetoric like that in a economic climate like this and still expect to be voted for... disturbingly enough I reckon Obama will still probably only win the general by a few percentage points.

What do you expect when you have **** like Cheney stating that Guantanamo inmates are "living the high life down in the tropics"

southsiderosie

jackiebaron, if you (or anyone else) can't keep it civil, then don't post.

Belfast

this is from 2009
Panorama: What now Mr President 1 of 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD65UKgB6hU

Panorama: What now Mr President 2 of 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8ohANB5Lcw

Panorama: What now Mr President 3 of 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTW5rhGeBME

Belfast

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

Interesting documentary by BBC Panorama aired the other night about poverty in America. Some shocking scenes and stories especially when you consider that this is occurring in what is still the world's largest economy.

Doesn't seem to be particularly partisan with equal blame being apportioned to Obama (for not doing enough to tackle the problems) and the Republicans (for being in denial about the extent of the problems to begin with).

For all the wailing and howling that goes on in Ireland about "the vunerable" we should be very grateful that we have plenty of safety nets that prevent the sort of collapse that has occurred in America to the people on the bottom rungs of society.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suJCvkazrTc

Not all poor people live like that in America.
A lot of welfare in America is done at a state not federal level.
it does give a very broad picture of how the poor live in America.

Looks like America is not very interested in ordinary Americans.

Too busy Bankrupting America by running wars and and bailing out wall street and the banks.

tfitzgerald

There is a lot of poverty in the u s ok . But the other side of the coin is the wealth in the states is staggering

Eggy Baby!

There is a lot of poverty in the u s ok . But the other side of the coin is the wealth in the states is staggering

Individual wealth yes. But the country itself is massively in debt.

Income inequality in the States is awful:


As you see here, the Gini coefficient (0 being perfect equality, 1 being perfect inequality) of the USA is as bad as Mexico, China and Venezuela. You should also notice Colombia, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Kenya are actually ranked better than the USA. AND the USA seems to be the black sheep among western nations also, significantly worse than the worst EU nations (Portugal, Lithuania and Latvia). Also note Japan's low score. It is the only "Western" style nation outside the EU to have such a low score. But it is still significantly better than the USA. The two highest (dark navy blue) countries for income equality are Singapore and Sweden.

Also why is Zimbabwe orange? There doesn't seem to be orange on the chart legend.

(I'm not familiar with the policy on posting images on the politics boards so forgive me if the image is too large...i'll put it in a link if it is preferred).

sarumite

jackiebaron wrote: »

I'd sooner be on the dole in a European country than working in America.

Having done both myself, I can say with absolute certainty that I wouldn't.

Eggy Baby!

I'd sooner be on the dole in a European country than on the dole in America.

Fixed.

southsiderosie

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