[lit-ideas] [lit-id] The Poverty of Heritage

Skewing observable facts to support one's own argument is hardly limited to 
Conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation. But dear me, this 
report cites the fact that The Poor have color televisions as testament to 
their relatively opulent lifestyle in America.

Find a b&w TV these days. Really. Color TV sounds opulent, all right, but 
the truth is, color TVs are industry norm. (I paid $50 for mine, last year.) 
Along the same lines, the report tells us that a majority of The Poor have 
air conditioning--up from 36%, I think it was--30 years ago. Again, look at 
the context--demographic shifts, in the past 30 years, to the American 
Southwest, thanks to AC. (Would people move back up north if there were no 
AC in areas that reach 100-plus degrees? With the price of fuel now, we may 
soon find out.)

 Ditto for cars. Three-quarters of The Poor have cars, the report says. 
Let's suppose this is true, and let's suppose, for the sake of argument, 
that The Poor who were interviewed for this report represents people in 
shelters and such. What's the proportion of The Poor, a la Heritage, who 
live in congested cities like NY, Chicago, DC,  where The Middle Rich don't 
usually have cars? So they're talking about the suburban/rural poor, then. 
Not the elderly or disabled, who can't drive. The other third, without cars, 
are working age but don't work--the Idle Class, as this report implies.

It seems the Heritage folks are talking about welfare, specifically, women 
with dependent kids. The focus is on absent fathers and mothers who don't 
work "enough." Presumably, the report claims, more hours of work would lift 
this family out of poverty. More hours at minimum-wage jobs? Who takes care 
of those dependent children? Mom, if only Dad would come to his senses and 
be a responsible family guy.

But why doesn't it work this way? Sounds reasonable enough, right? That's 
the problem with this Heritage Foundation report, in a nutshell: They had 
the solution before they wrote, they thought, and they filled in the blanks 
with stats (many out of context) that supported their conclusions.

Lawrence, I hope your reading on Muslims has more power to it than this.

Carol

 



------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: