Poverty-Where I am and Beyond

When I think of the Health Care Plan the now Administration is trying to get final approval on or I guess I should I say make a decision of which health care package they will wind up approving; I think about the Poverty, Where I Am and Beyond and the many reasons we are where we are in this Country.

This is a small town where I live and after having been away for about 25 years, I have had to make some adjustments in coming home to a more stressed area where Poverty does exist. There is no employment available, period. For the most part, except for Teachers and Nurses, one must travel a distance to gain employment which may only pay the minimum wage and buy gas that is way over the minimum wage which is defeating the purpose. There is one grocery store (with higher grocery prices), two banks, one McDonalds, one Bumpers (drive in food), one Chinese restraurant, (several other fast food spots in service stations), six service stations (one man owns three of these), three dollar stores,and two flower shops. We have one private school,for all grades, one public high school, one public elementary and one public middle school. We have two Dentist offices and we have two medical clinics and a Nursing Home which is part the Hospital. No surgeries, no major test technology, (other than a CBC, Chest Xray), for preventative medical issues; anything with emergency must be transported some 50 to 100 miles away. Don't let me forget; we have one Payday Loan Company also. I can't say too much about the latter because my niece runs the place. We have about seven Churches. Not bad as they do outnumber everything else we have.

I almost forgot to tell you the one and only "Morgan Freeman" lives here as well. Has a very nice estate on the other side of town with three homes on it, I think. He is not considered in Poverty Where I am or Beyond. Other than our famous fellow, we do not have much excitement here and I could actually say not any, but usually we know who is in the funeral home, if someone has a serious accident and who went out to eat on Friday or Saturday.

Having given you some statistics of Charleston, let me emphasize that I am not being critical of my hometown, these are facts that exist and I am going to point out the fact that Poverty lies in front of us and not only in Africa or some foreign Country. There are many blessed people who send money to another Country, when they should actually look around them first, I think. We should have some kind of help for those who are actually trying to help themselves instead of depending on the Government.

You can understand that since I have lived in some larger cities including Denver, Atlanta and Memphis, it might be hard to adjust to traveling a distance to get what you need over what is available and not pay the highest prices. The trend in this small town, where there is not a lot of choices, the prices are higher. Sad but true. It also gives you some probable idea of how the Poverty level is here. There is a lot food stamps and Medicaid which supplies health care for infants and parents without jobs. A very large portion of adults here, draw Welfare for their children and do not work.

In 2006-2007 the racial makeup of the school here was 29.23% white, 20% hispanic, 13% asian and 70.44% african-american. At this time 75.0% of the district were eligible to receive free lunches at the school. Is the education level at the top of the scale, I doubt it. I do not know the exact statistics concerning where this is. I know that we have great teachers but I am not sure we have all of the needed technology. I only know that is wasn't anywhere near the needed quality when my son attended school here.

To me there is a difference in the needy, the poverty stricken, the hungry and those who just have not found a way to apply themselves to work. Since there is little employment in this little town, where are they going to work ,so what you can find in this area of the Country is that most of the people who are considered at the poverty level, relish the opportunities of welfare from the government. In other words they take full advantage of it. They do not have a lot of choices since some of them do not have adequate transportation to get to another job location.

What is disturbing in any city and has been recognized in this area, there are cases where some couples live together, whether married or single, they file separately using a different address and claim the same dependents and get thousand of dollars ($4000- 5,000) from the government (income tax refunds) and never worked a day. They are already on public assistance. I see this kind of events as disturbing for Government in America, whether it be here or in Chicago or New York. This is one of the reasons why Medicaid, Medicare and the Social Security Administration is broken. It is hopeful that these issues will be addressed and cured since one of the Administration's focus is on fraud and is in their determination help for the Government to afford the Health Care Reform Bill.

There are not enough jobs in small towns, like Charleston and a lot of people have tried at different time to change this. Industry does not always work well in small towns even though we have had some at different times. Most young people leave and find better jobs in the city as the jobs are so scarce.

It has been estimated that 13 to 17 percent of Americans are living below the Federal poverty line and roughly 40 percent falling below the poverty line at some points within a ten year span. It is also estimated that most Americans (58.5%) will spend at least one (1) year below the poverty line at some point between age 25 and 75 years of age. Did you know this? I did not until I started thinking about the poverty around us. It is devasting to know who much we give to other countries when we are hurting here.

In studying how the poverty level is determined; the most common measure of the poverty in the United States is the "poverty threshold" set by the US Government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those good and services commonly taken for granted by members of the mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using common price index. Relative proverty describes how income relates to median income and does not imply that a person is lacking anything.

This was more disturbing to me. In 2000, the United States ranked tenth (10) among sixteen developed Countries, although it is to be noticed that 2000 was a "depressed" year and subsequently poverty rates have INCREASED.

The official number of poor or Poverty level of people in the United States in 2008 was 39.1 million people. This is a greater number but not as much percentage than the officially poor in Indonesia, which has a far lower human Development Index (HDI) which means a United States measure of well-being in a Country. The Health Care Reform talks estimate that approximately 30 million Americans are without health care.

It is stated that in 2007, 5.8 percentage of all people in married families lived in poverty as did 26.6 percentage of all persons in a single parent household and 19.1 percentage of all persons living alone.

There has been much debate about poverty focus on statistical meansures of poverty and the clash between those who are advocates of welfare programs and those who are opponents of these programs and the government regulations of the Free Market.

Since measures of poverty can be absolute or relative, it is possible that those for the different sides of the debate are saving their arguments on different ways of measuring poverty. It is often said that poverty is understated, yet there are some who think it is overstated, therefore the accuracy of the current poverty threshold guidelines is subject to debate and of concern.

Special Note: In my digging for information I found that in 2007, 46% of poor households in the United States owned their own homes, 30%, had two or more cars and 63% received cable or satilite TV. This is somewhat disturbing news when we think about providing Health Care to those who can't afford it. Does it not?

I am sure these statistics have changed some since the mortgage meltdown, the banks in distress and the economy growing worse since then. With that being said though the housing market had already started to crumble in 2007, as I was working in mortgage at that time and in 2008 I reviewed a lot of distress home loans and looked at what people were paying when trying for assistance for their mortgage payments. The above special note is concern for those who are losing their homes, it seems that sometimes people hold on to the things that mean the least before they give them up (for instance the cable TV or one car). Cable TV can cost as much as $100 month in some cities and that could go a long way toward a house payment, health insurance payment etc.

Explanation for "Free and Control Markets": Free Market is a market without economic intervensions and regulations by the Government except to regulate against force or faud. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation or subsidization, no single monetary system and "Government" monopolies. Free Market is the opposite of "Controlled Market". A "Controlled Market" or regulated market is the provisions of goods or services that is regulated by a Government appointed body.

In this article I am only pointing out that we do have poverty in these United States. I am all for everyone having Health Care especially those who have terminal diseases. We do have Americans who are in trouble financially and are losing their homes and ability to live comfortably. Some of it is blamed on the banks and brokers who made the loans in the first place to those who are losing their home. Please also note that it is very sad for anyone to lose anything, especially a home, but it is also relevant to ask the question as in any financial situation; did the client make the right choices. All of us know when we can and cannot afford something and from my experience in Mortgage Lending; many loans were made and the applicants knew they did not have the first payment in reserves and no equity in the loan. I believe it is each persons responsibility to accept their own decisions in applying for credit, buying a home, buying a car or any financial obligation. I believe it is time for the American people to become educated financially and for those who cannot provide for themselves and are starving; this is where our obligation lies. People in America are suffering, and someone has to answer the call to help but my question and I think a very rational one is: how in the world is this Nation ever going to see survive from all of this giving? What I say is most important is that we "pray for our Country's survival". Need I say more?

"Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright". Benjamin Franklin

“They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody? Princess Diana

Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change. Muhammad Ali

In a Country well governed; poverty is something to be ashammed of;  in a Country badly governed; wealth is something to be ashammed of.  Confucius