Saturday, August 28, 2004

Living in Poverty

Neal Boortz has an eye-opening post on this issue on how the government decides who lives in poverty and who doesn't. Apparently the government looks at who draws a paycheck and who doesn't. If you don't draw a paycheck (ie, have a job) you're living in poverty. If you are retired, and living in your paid-off $250,000 home, golfing everyday, taking trips round the world, but, you don't have a job, you are living in poverty.

Neal also says that the average American, defined as poor by American standards, has a higher standard of living than that of the average European, not the average poor European, the average European.

Back during the days of the "Great Society" Lyndon Johnson wanted to create a method of measuring poverty that would expand the scope and nature of Johnson's poverty programs. Neal, who is of course, against government interference in our lives, says that the government uses this method of measuring poverty as a reason for even more government and government spending.

Let's define poor and poverty , in terms of monetary means. From the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:

Poor is defined as 1) lacking material possessions and 2) of, relating to, or characterized by poverty. Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.

Merriam-Webster's goes on to say that poverty may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts.

My personal definition of poverty is being unable to provide the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, and housing on a consistent basis without assistance of some sort. My personal definition of poor is being unable to provide the material things of life - a nicer home, a nicer, newer car, new clothes, meat instead of beans. Somedays I feel poor because I have to buy ground meat instead of steak. But, I am not poor, and I am far from poverty stricken. I don't fall into the poor category anyway because I draw a paycheck every two weeks. My husband, however, is disabled and does not. Is he in the "poor" category? According to the government definition, yes. Is he poor? Not by most standards.

If this is true and the government is defining poor as not drawing a paycheck, I think it's time for the government to re-evaluate how poverty is measured. Think of people in your life who are not drawing a paycheck from a job they go to everyday. Do they have a roof over their head, clothes on their back, and food on the table? Be honest now, are they really "poor"?

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