[lit-ideas] Re: [lit-id] The Poverty of Heritage
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 21:51:22 -0700
You're describing a discussion other than the one I was in. I quoted
certain things in response to what I perceived as misconceptions about the
American poor. Your challenge was directed at me, but it wasn't directed at
anything I said.
Why should I analyze the census figures? I've known about them for a long
time. Certain things said earlier today suggested to me that some people on
Lit-Ideas weren't familiar with them.
As to being able to live on $750 a month, I have two sisters that are doing
it. They sort of dropped out, hippy like years ago and so never managed to
put much into Social security. But they are getting a pittance from SS and
making due. One sister lives in a small apartment in a town outside of
Denver. The other lives in a trailer out in the California desert. And
they have most of the things mentioned, drivable cars, color TVs, etc;
although I don't think either of them has a cell phone. They both have
medicare for all their medical problems and they have a goodly number of
them. I sent the sister in Colorado some money once and she wrote me saying
it was a bit embarrassing to receive it. She said she was managing well
enough.
Both sisters know they are as they are because of choices they made in the
past. Neither is bitter. Neither is blaming the government for their
poverty.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Robert Paul
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 9:24 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-id] The Poverty of Heritage
Lawrence wrote:
> You've lost track of the fact that I quoted certain items from the
> Heritage report and that various people including you took issue with
> what I quoted. I never said anything about the cost of housing in
> Europe. I only quoted the report which referred to size. That is the
> issue. If you want to have a different discussion, about cost, then I
> shan't join because I haven't run across anything on that.
You want to discuss housing and relative poverty but don't want to
discuss the cost of housing?
I would have expected you, as someone who has, surely, analyzed the
costs of and budgets for various programs in the aircraft/defense
industry, to try to see whether you can come up with any ideas for how
someone might survive on (the revised figure of) $780 a month.
Rector's failure to look behind the bare data ('a car,' 'two cars')
serves his ideological purpose, which is to deny that there is genuine
poverty in the US. His smoke-and-mirrors trick of comparing some highly
theoretical poor person here with some underdescribed person in Europe
is surely a way of preventing needless worry about the poor here. ('See,
these are the facts. The Census Bureau says so. Don't blame me.') His
implicit criterion of poverty-in-name-only is material possession.
I mean, surely, somebody in an air-conditioned apartment in Phoenix, is
better off than somebody without air-conditioning in London? Who
provides such things (landlords? home owners?) doesn't even interest
him. But most jurisdictions have rules about what must be provided to
tenants (whether an apartment is furnished or unfurnished), which would
account for the presence of so many of the luxuries in the flats of the
renting poor.
As for Rector's claims about the availability of health care (he doesn't
get around to the cost of prescription or non-prescription drugs), the
silence of any further explanation on this point says a great deal. It
hardly matters that the Census doesn't tell either; he's interpreting
the information for us.
It would be nice to have some response to the question of how it is
possible for anyone in the US to acquire, maintain, and (even) replace
the things the poor are, most of them, said to have, on $748 a month.
Let alone eat. Don't think, but look.
Robert Paul
The Reed Institute
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