Tuesday, September 27, 2011

GET READY FOR THE POVERTY DENIERS

Let's not fall into the trap of being complete dickheads while Americans have to poach wildlife in parks frequented by snotty ecofreaks and other toadies who'd drop the dime on them. 


Get Ready for the Poverty Deniers


I knew this was coming. It's a trend I wrote about last year. As the US economy continues to struggle, the free-market, get-the-government-off-my-back organizations will become more and more insistent that unemployed Americans are losers and loafers too lazy to help themselves.
The latest evidence of this propaganda campaign surfaced a few weeks ago when the Heritage Foundation published a "report" (a word that sounds very official) asserting that the "actual standard of living of America's poor -- in terms of amenities in the home, housing, food consumption, and nutrition -- is far higher than expected."
The basic message is, "Hey things aren't so bad." Lots of people with little or no income may have a computer, TV, or a dishwasher. The logic is inescapable. How can people claim to be living at or below the poverty line when they don't have to wash dirty dishes by hand? I think proponents this idea should be referred to as "poverty deniers."
According to the Heritage folks, the word "poverty" is very misleading because it conjures up images of ragged, starving refugees in places like Somalia. This mantra is now making its way around the online universe. You can see its effect in the comments readers are posting post about news stories dealing with poverty and high unemployment. The best one I've read so far declared, "Anybody living in the USA is not poor."
It's the sort of claim that makes good campaign fodder, like holding up a copy of the want ads in front of a crowd and announcing, "Anyone who's looking for a job should just look right here!" What they never mention is that in most cities right now, dozens if not hundreds of applicants are chasing each of those job postings.

rest here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-shaffer/get-ready-for-the-poverty_b_980510.html

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