[lit-ideas] Re: The American Poor
- From: Carol Kirschenbaum <carolkir@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 13:53:05 -0700
>The average poor American has more living space than the average individual
>>living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe.
ck: Lawrence inadvertantly hits upon the single most important factor in
American poverty today--the increasing price of housing in the US. Rental
housing, too, of course. Although rising real estate prices is also troubling
in Europe, the ability to live *inside* is a sina qua non for all the other
goodies Lawrence lists, as well as for the ability to obtain and maintain
employment, general stability, etc. In the US today, a family of four cannot
afford rent for an apartment, if two adults earning minimum wage. Anywhere. In
any county. (This from a study that was headline news within the past year,
then sank into obscurity. Wish I had it to quote now, however. Ehrenreich's
_Nickel & Dimed_ makes the point in real life terms.)
Housing, I would argue, is the most critical element in avoiding a total
poverty cycle of chronic unemployment, malnutrition, death by preventable and
treatable diseases--all of which we have in abundance in the US. But housing
costs are through the roof, and there's no cap on rental prices whatsoever in
most states. (Used to be one in NYC, but that's almost gone.)
What happens to people on fixed incomes, whether that income is from the
state or an invested pension? What happens to the elderly and disabled, who are
more likely to be in that fixed income fix? Right now, some counties in some
states are stepping up, though in baby steps, to fill gaps left by the Bushies'
withdrawal of such little helpers as federally subsidized housing vouchers. In
my county, and in my state, the vouchers ran out three years ago. No new names
allowed. There's no waiting list. Likely, there'll be no more housing vouchers
in the future.
Remember all that talk about homelessness? About the blight, the tragedy of
it, the simple fact of it in America? My mother (who lost her
rent-stabilization last week, after 55 years of living in the same NYC
apartment) asked me about that. "What have they done with them? Killed them?"
Probably not, I told her, but a number with mental illnesses went into prisons
(mercy arrests turned longterm), and if you're sick and homeless, the "in"
thing this year is to mutter "Katrina." But as Lawrence says, we don't need any
pansy-assed welfare state or safety net in this country. We're free! Just be
careful when you park in a neighborhood that's a little more free than others.
Carol,
free in barren Fresno County ("Mini-mansions for under $1 million!!!")
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