Photo Credit: Wikimedia/NARA, Jack Corn (1974)
$16,815. Sounds like a big number,
doesn't it? Not when you consider that number is the “poverty
threshold” used by the U.S. Census, and by the government in
general, to determine the poverty rate. That number is for a two
person household. Two people are considered “in poverty” if they
combine to make under $16,815 a year.
This number is the set in stone relic
of an age gone by. Today, with changes in population density, and the
population in general, having one set federal number seems almost
mind boggling. It is no wonder that families today often struggle to
get by...living paycheck to paycheck...praying each day to survive to
the next. Medical bills, incarceration, job loss...all things which
can suddenly thrust even the strongest of people into the deep
turmoil of despair.
Something has to be done. No family,
regardless of ability or inability, should be living in abject
poverty in the free world. Period. End of story. There is a
difference between living “high off the government hog”, and
living within your means. Completely understood. There will be those
who say “well why don't they get up off their sorry butts and do
something about it?”. Completely concur...for those who can. But
for those who lack the ability, who lack the capability of working
“the ladder”, what are they to do?
A guest post is scheduled in the
upcoming week or so about the macroeconomics of poverty in America,
specifically rural America. I have read a portion, and believe you
will find it intriguing.
SGAF
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