Tuesday, September 30, 2008

What Poverty Entails

Before the discussion on a lower thread gets any more heated than it has already (not that it is so VERY heated, it is just that stresses and tensions are already high enough), let Pretty Lady clarify a few things, gleaned from Personal Experience.

That is, that life as a member of the American Underclass is utterly unlike anything that most of us with jobs, computers, and middle-class families can comprehend.

Pretty Lady has lived in ghettos. This is what a person living in a ghetto contends with, on a daily basis, with no respite.

Garbage collection and mail delivery is spotty to nonexistent. One cannot receive checks in the mail; they are likely to be stolen. Once, Pretty Lady's vindictive ex-roommate put her new drivers' license and her paycheck on the outside of the mailbox for her to come pick up; Pretty Lady thanks her lucky stars that she got there before a bum did. Once, Pretty Lady dumped her bag in her car, ran indoors for 30 seconds to lock a door, and when she got back, her bag was being rifled on the Bad Corner for cash, I.D., credit cards and camera. She engaged in a months-long battle with Blockbuster Video and its collections agency, over the subsequent theft of 8 overpriced videos, using her expired card and cancelled bank account.

Credit is only available in cash advances of $500 or less, at interest rates of over 30%. (At least it was in the early 90's. Latterly it has been available in mortages of $500,000 or more, at similar interest rates.)

There are no grocery stores within walking distance that carry wholesome, affordable food. Most people are forced to buy nutrient-free, processed junk food at extortionate prices from run-down bodegas full of thugs and junkies.

Schools are dangerous, chaotic, and teach no useful information whatsoever. Drugs are available on every other stoop.

Minimum-wage jobs do not cover your minimum living expenses even if you work two of them. If you get hurt or sick, you usually do not have sick leave, health insurance, or worker's compensation; illness or injury thus frequently results in bankruptcy and homelessness.

You are in chronic danger of being robbed, mugged, hit by a stray bullet or a car driven by a drugged-out thug with no insurance.


It is important to emphasize that if you are born into a ghetto, this is your whole world. You can't take a vacation. You can't call up relatives and get a bailout. You can't call a college classmate and get a reference, a recommendation or a loan. You can't even get a decent meal and a good night's rest in a quiet place without shouting, rap music and gunfire penetrating the walls. You are almost certainly semi-literate and nearly unemployable.

It is important to understand that one does not rise from a ghetto childhood by Individual Will alone. People who rise from ghettos do so because of schools like Bronx Science, scholarships, Pell grants, subsidized housing, Social Security and disability, and mentorship via community service organizations.

Finally, it is important to understand that a society which perpetuates the existence of an underclass, via corrupt governments, parasitic industries, and public apathy, is rotten at the core. The toxicity of the ghetto is not confined to the ghetto; it produces crime, disease, addiction and malaise that spreads to all segments of society. Poverty is not Their Problem; it is ours.




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Recently an insurance company nearly wind up....

A bank is nearly bankrupt......

How it affect you? Did you buy insurance? Did you buy mini note or bonds?

Who fault?

They only talk about how bad the crisis will be, but they did not give regulation measures…..

Although not approved initially when thinking of using tax payer money, $700B is used to save finance industry only, how about the industry that you are in.....retail industry, construction industry, manufacturing industry, R&D, electronics, electrical, mechanical, chemical, IT etc.... each industry will be able to enjoy at least $10B.......Which will make every industry vibrant…..

They say without using tax payer money, they will not be able to lend to small companies…..

Bank primary role is to lend money….else what sort of business will let them earn….?

Many companies had been merged and consolidated, and they are stronger now, so don’t bail out, they will consolidated…..

Many ways of raising their own funds eg preference shares, sovereignty fund etc.


The top management of the Public listed company ( belong to "public" ) salary should be tied a portion of it to the shares price ( IPO or ave 5 years ).... so when the shares price drop, it don't just penalise the investors, but those who don't take care of the company.....If this rule is pass on, without any need of further regulation, all industries ( as long as it is public listed ) will be self regulated......




Sign a petition to your favourite president candidate, congress member again and ask for their views to comment on this, and what regulations they are going to raise for implementation.....If you agree on my point, please share with many people as possible....

Media and finance sector are the only two sectors ( hopefully Hacker can also ) which can overcome political incorrect power, so it is time to fine tune to the correct path, so hopefully media can united to report the truth......

Remind Myself said...

最近保险公司和银行,将近倒闭。。。。

是谁的错。。。。? 不在这个时候扶正回来,难道要等到下几代在遇到同样的事吗?

高级管理层该不该付起责任?

上市公司的高级管理层工资是不是应该和上市公司的股票价值挂钩呢?

龙的传人应该没这么好骗吧!。。。。先学基本面分析法,才来学技术性分析法。。。。

如果认为有理的话,请支持与告知,让更多人戒乱玩股票,力量才会大。。。。。。还有拨个电回家报平安吧。


http://remindmyselfinstock.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Pretty Lady

“a society which perpetuates the existence of an underclass, via corrupt governments, parasitic industries, and public apathy, is rotten at the core.”

The largeness of the topic of your essay does not easily invite pithy comment, but your “J’accuse” does. I agree.

Pretty Lady said...

To the most recent commenter:

Racial slurs, homophobic slurs, and personal attacks are not permitted on my blog. Your comments have been deleted, and will continue to be deleted if you persist in your behavior.

David said...

re. a society in which people cannot see beyond what is immediately in front of them:

Sarah Palin's attempt to tar Obama with a supposed association with Bill Ayers 60's radical self, lend a disheartening resonance to this comment by McCain himself on Ayers "In a televised interview last spring, Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, asked, 'How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?”

...said the former Navy pilot. Was McCain not involved in actions that "could have or did kill innocent people?"

Compassion is the highest virtue and we should choose our political leaders based on their capacity for compassion. How radical would that be? I'm afraid McCain shows not the slightest hint of compassion toward the public he would rule over.