Poetry of Poverty (Timmy, Guest Post)

Guest Post: The article which follows was submitted by an independent contributor. Though it is published here, this site does not specifically endorse anything within the article, nor do we hold any credit for the work within.

Poetry of Poverty

By Timmy

To lack of money,

To lack of food,

To lack the ability,

To buy the crude.

Nobody seems to care,

They all just pass by,

They could care less,

Or even wonder why.

Each day that passes,

It surely seems,

The pain in my body,

Busts at the seams.

My body is failing,

My heart is aflutter,

I don't know how much longer,

I can stand no butter.

My family is pained,

My back is worse,

I have no idea,

What comes next.

Please understand my trials,

And all these miles.

I don't want your money,

I don't want your time.

I just want a chance,

To get off my ass.

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Timmy is currently in between jobs. His background is in computer science, but much of his training even with updating is considered obsolete. He, like many, is “too old to be relevant, too young to retire”. He is currently seeking a customer service position with a local grocery chain to make ends meet. As of now, he has been turned down for each opportunity for “too many qualifications”.

Sri Lanka and Terrorism

The staff at Poverty in America would like to send our heartfelt condolences to everyone affected by the acts of terror in Sri Lanka. There are absolutely no circumstances under which attacks like this are warranted or justified.

The true and righteous will always come through in the end. It is our hope that one day the world will come to realize there is much too much to fix to spend time harassing and killing over "petty" things.

-POA Staff

An Automated Future (CJ Styles, Guest Post)

Guest Post: The article which follows was submitted by an independent contributor. Though it is published here, this site does not specifically endorse anything within the article, nor do we hold any credit for the work within.

Automated Poverty

By CJ Styles

Let's just pretend for a minute that everyone in this nation was on equal footing. We all had an equal chance, equal resources, equal pay, equal...everything.

That seems to be what many folks want today. They want to be guaranteed some form of safety...some form of normalcy. I can't say that I disagree. The idea sounds nice. To be able to pursue the true passions you enjoy without worrying where your next meal or rent check is coming from.

But where, then, would be the reward for the work?

Sure, universal basic income may become necessary because of automation. We may one day reach the point where jobs are replaced to the extent where such a large portion of the population are “unemployable” that some funding has to be provided. But at what point will that affect innovation to the point where we can no longer grow as a nation?

Will we reach a point of stagnation, in which progress comes to a screeching hault?

Will our democracy and capitalism as we know it slowly dissolve as we become creatures of an automated system?

Will we slowly descend to a point in which human influence becomes unnecessary?

Now, admittedly, these ideas are far fetched. But they are all realistic questions which must be answered at some point in the future. There is no doubt as technology continues to improve, and does what it has done for years (shrink the need for human input) we will one day face the challenge of “where does the human race fit in”?

Maybe we ought to address this issue before it becomes like climate change: something that has to get “too far gone” before we come to a solution

CJ Styles is a contractor in the Midwest. He specializes in installing automation technology, specifically in small scale factory production. His hobbies include hunting and gardening.

Happy Easter

From the team at Poverty in America, we wish you all a happy and safe Good Friday/Easter weekend. Regardless of how you celebrate, or if you do, remember that there are many less fortunate than us who continue to struggle for even the most basic of necessities. Though we continue to advocate for change here in this great nation, change has to (and is) happen all around the globe so that one day true poverty will be a thing of the past.

SGAF

Notre Dame: A Tragedy

The thoughts, prayers, and well wishes of the staff here at Poverty in America are with all those affected by the fire at Notre Dame.

Here's to a safe, quick reconstruction effort!

Ramblings of Poverty (Mr. X, Guest Post)

Guest Post: The article which follows was submitted by an independent contributor. Though it is published here, this site does not specifically endorse anything within the article, nor do we hold any credit for the work within.

My Poverty Ramblings

By Mr. X

I have no idea why this is bothering me so much. Every time I look at the news, it seems like everyone is focused on some bull crap overseas or on some big city shooting. I understand there's a need to report that...but we've got people here in this country eating out of trash cans. We've got homeless veterans living on the street. We've got people declaring bankruptcy because they can't afford medical bills.

I don't care if you build the wall...but I don't want to pay for it. I don't think America wants to pay for it.

I don't care if you want universal healthcare...we all do...but it has to be AFFORDABLE for the average person, and it has to cover enough with a low enough deductible to be worth a damn.

I don't care if you are worried about global warming...we all know it's bad. But right now I'm more worried about putting food on my family's table and keeping the lights on. Keep your stupid crap up in Washington, D.C. and let the rest of us alone!

I want this nation to be better. But gosh darn it I need to live.

Please tell me someone is listening to me!

Listen, I understand we need to keep our environment clean...we need to clean up our government...we need to help folks overseas who are in need...we need to secure the border...but we've got to learn to prioritize. My dad always told me that you could only do one thing good at a time...and as I get older I think he was right!

I don't give a crap anymore...I want someone to explain to me where all the new jobs are...where the wealth is...how is life better. Bunch of people staring at cell phones for days on end does not cut it. We tune ourselves out with media overload while our infrastructure crumbles around us. Convenient distractions abound as we struggle working multiple jobs to still fall behind.

I'll never give up, but I want my kids to not have to struggle like I have the past 10 years.

Do something damn it....we're going broke out here!

Mr. X submitted this article along with the following biographical info: “I was born to a family of 9 in Oklahoma. I currently live in Arizona but am looking to relocate to find more work. My wife left me five years ago, and though we had no children together, I have yet to really recover from that. When I'm not working or looking for better employment than day labor, I enjoy writing short articles and enjoying the cheapest whiskey and smokes I can find.”

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Note: I have done some minor editing to correct grammatical errors. The content of the article was not changed in this process. The views and opinions in this piece are entirely the authors; my editing did not contribute to the piece besides enhancing readability.

SGAF

Electoral College, Green New Deal, and the American Mess (David Logsdon, Guest Contributor)

Guest Post: The article which follows was submitted by an independent contributor. Though it is published here, this site does not specifically endorse anything within the article, nor do we hold any credit for the work within.

New Era Politics, the Green New Deal, and Electoral Mayhem

By David Logsdon

To say that poverty is a new concept in rural America is a fallacy. Osha Gray Davidson, in his 1996 work (initially released in 1990) Broken Heartland: The Rise of America's Rural Ghetto closes with a statement that has never rung truer today: “A lesson from field ecology has the last word here, for democracy is a living thing-destroy its habitat and it too will perish.” The habitat of rural America has continued to disintegrate since Davidson first completed his work. Though there are glimmers of hope throughout the nation, small pockets of rebound and regrowth, overall it seems the rural portions of this nation continue to be forgotten...pieces of the past that were and are only important in a historical context.

The issue has headed with two modern concepts which strike this author as completely “anti-rural” (for lack of a better descriptor): the abolition of the Electoral College and the Green New Deal. Both, on their own merits, spell disaster for rural America. Without going into a full fledged discussion of politics, the Electoral College's purpose is to ensure the republican foundations of this nation remain intact by maintaining balance between the “strongholds” of the large cities and the “outliers” of the rural areas. As major cities continue their stranglehold on the American population, now is the absolute worst time to discuss dissolution of such an important tenement. The founding fathers knew that representation would be needed for colonists who otherwise wouldn't have their voices heard...as so often had happened in the “old world”. Today, liberals and conservatives both seem to have some political stronghold to the idea of “democracy”...a concept which has nothing to do with the basis of this nation. To abolish the Electoral College is to remove one of the major “chinks” which is holding up the basis of our republic.

The Green New Deal, on the other hand, is the death toll of the American farm and rural family as we know it. Each and every provision of the “Green New Deal” (which in reality has nothing truly green within it) disproportionately and unfairly affects rural families at a much higher rate. Rural families, much more so than those in the suburban and urban areas, rely upon fossil fuels for transportation and income. To suddenly ban such use within a time frame in which green energy is not ready to take control of our needs is both foolish and disastrous. The only ones who will survive such an agreement will either be the corporate mega farms who have the financial backing to make such a quick transition on a large scale (if they don't fail first and cause the next Great Recession) and the rebels and outlaws who will likely “buck the system”...as they have done for millennia prior.

It is my firm belief that the vast majority of people in the USA are good...and that politicians can be when they take reasonable steps to advance policy and law which is to the benefit of the nation as a whole...and not just sections of it. There is no doubt that climate change, global warming, and overpopulation are and will continue to be concerns. True dangers, in reality. But quick “political fixes” will not solve the problem. They will only serve to hasten the downfall of a nation which is already treading on “thin ice” (global warming pun intended, even if inappropriate!). My hope is that lawmakers on both sides of the imaginary “aisle” will work together to create real world solutions to real world problems that will not plunge America into an irrecoverable tailspin.

I'm not holding my breath, though...

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Dave Logsdon is an independent consultant from southwest Alabama. College educated, and currently looking to pursue a graduate degree after nearly a decade of work, he writes under a pseudonym to ensure his privacy. He does not maintain an online presence. He can be reached through the site on which this article is located for comments or questions.